Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness

[MegaHiro91]

I could've put this in the "Nintendo" section, or made it a post about Castlevania in general, but I just wanted to talk about this game specifically as I've often heard it get a bad rep, like it being a really bad first 3D entry. I guess in more "recent" times it also didn't help that Angry Video Game Nerd did a less than flattering episode on it. But I have now (via emulation because a physical cartridge is expensive) made it a fair bit into the first out of the game's four scenarios, and I really like it so far. It's thematic, its just colorful enough to stand out and with a decent variety in locations, and the gameplay ain't half bad either.

I have made it a habit to constantly hold the Z-button which keeps the camera following faithfully behind you. Your character locks on to the nearest enemy as long as you are facing them, and if you want to climb a platform (which there is a lot of) you more or less just have to strafe the edge after which your character with snap to it like a magnet as long as you hold det action button. Making it like a more forgiving Tomb Raider.

Most of the time whatever music is there is just for ambience, but every now and then a pretty chill tracks kicks in. I also like the story and the cinematic presentation for its time.

I hear Legacy is a re-release of Castlevania 64 with a lot of initially cut content restored, which is why I went with that version.

 

[Eclipse14]

Legacy of Darkness was the second 3D entry. Castlevania 64 was first, coming out on the opposite end of the year (January for 64, December for LoD).

That said, I actually have this game physically. It's definitely more of an improvement than the first one. I thought it was okay, myself.

 

[MegaHiro91]

Legacy of Darkness was the second 3D entry. Castlevania 64 was first, coming out on the opposite end of the year (January for 64, December for LoD).

That said, I actually have this game physically. It's definitely more of an improvement than the first one. I thought it was okay, myself.

Slip of the tongue. By calling it "the first" I meant it was a re-iteration of the first.

Regardless, I like to play these early 3D games that I have no nostalgic connection to, judging them fairly for what they are, and imagining how I would've liked it as a kid.

 

[Haganeren]

The game can be quite uneven with some not very interesting platforming levels sometime but i remember that the manor was especially great from a narrative and atmosphere perspective ! In general, i liked the more "adventure" feel of this one... And found it more interesting than the IGA ones on PS2 ( the Metroidvania formula really didn't worked for me on 3D ) and the god of war-like Lords of Shadow that seemed too derivative for my taste.

That being said, those two ( 64 and Legacy of Darkness ) are still games with tons of problems and can be very hard to like so i understand the bad reputation.

 

[G.L.a.D.O.S.]

Castlevania 64, both of them were, in fact, pretty ho-hum games. But hey, they were still entertaining in a "let's see how many monsters we can slay without throwing our controller" kind of way. I've always cut the N64 Castlevania games a break for being the first foray into 3D, as if they were the brave pioneers stumbling through the dark abyss of 3D gaming. After all, someone had to take that leap into pixelated hell

 

[Amag0k1]

The biggest reason i liked this game, was the lore dump it provided.

It was much improved compared to C64, indeed very much ho hum compared to Sympathy of the night and Rondo of Blood for sure. But if we take it as a platform game, i think it was still a good play!

 

[Grumpy_Old_Man]

For someone that vastly prefer the classicvania titles, N64 games hit sweetspot with good ambiance, plenty of adventure and exploration while still having emphasis in platforming.
I would have wanted more development in some of the characters, like that Van Helsing lookalike.

 

[MegaHiro91]

The game can be quite uneven with some not very interesting platforming levels sometime but i remember that the manor was especially great from a narrative and atmosphere perspective ! In general, i liked the more "adventure" feel of this one... And found it more interesting than the IGA ones on PS2 ( the Metroidvania formula really didn't worked for me on 3D ) and the god of war-like Lords of Shadow that seemed too derivative for my taste.

That being said, those two ( 64 and Legacy of Darkness ) are still games with tons of problems and can be very hard to like so i understand the bad reputation.

Oh they aren't perfect by any stretch so if you aren't like me who can forgive a lot of bs I can see why it gets a bad rep too. That said, from what I have played and seen so far they still get way over hated in my opinion.

Post automatically merged: Mar 16, 2025

Castlevania 64, both of them were, in fact, pretty ho-hum games. But hey, they were still entertaining in a "let's see how many monsters we can slay without throwing our controller" kind of way. I've always cut the N64 Castlevania games a break for being the first foray into 3D, as if they were the brave pioneers stumbling through the dark abyss of 3D gaming. After all, someone had to take that leap into pixelated hell

Ho-hum?

Yeah you gotta cut it a bit of slack for treading unknown grounds, and even then some franchises had way worse transitions into the 3D realm. Maybe I am more forgiving because I play this game in retrospect and am aware of all the hate it gets, whereas if I had played it day one and had higher expecations for it I might've sung a different tune. Alas, I'll never know, so all I can say is that for an adult in 2025 playing this game way after the fact, I am enjoying myself so far and while it ain't perfect by a stretch, I have also yet to come across any straight up bullshit.

 

[Graves Ruinwalker]

I think Castlevania 64 ( including legacy of darkness ) is the best 3D Castlevania and actually the best way to let the Castlevania series evolve in the realms of 3D .

The levels were actually awesome and suprisingly huge while being open which makes exploration such a treat . The time mechanic brought cool stuff too and changed some aspects of the levels that either makes a level hard/easy and the pathways that unlocks rooms and ways to get some items .

The combat of this game needs some getting use to it but its snappy , had cool movement-mechanics , its about timing and precision ( like the 2D classic castlevanias had ) and had flexibility that goes for efficiency instead of combos . The whip Vampire-killer is known to be a powerful weapon against the undead and the spawns of the darkness .
The ps2 game (Lament of innocence) made it look and feel weak to whip enemies that even need multiple attacks to actually kill/defeat those monsters except you level up enough or use items to make the whip effective towards elementally resistent enemies or power it up . Even Curse of Darkness ( Ps2/ Classic xbox ) actually made the Vampire-killer look like a regular and weak weapon that aint special overall because the Main-character can craft weapons more destructive that can kill Dracula with ease .
The N64-games were very faithful overall .

The beta-content and Development-story is very interesting too .

But what we got was a game that`s very ahead for its time ( even nowadays ) which never deserved the slander and had such HUGE potential to evolve action games into more bigger and interactive games which had a combat-design like Ninja Gaiden ( fast paced movement and flexibility ) mixed with Dark Souls ( Precision and timing ) that has exploration like the ps1 Resident evil games and still has Room for multiple paths and ideas for secrets like the Classic Tomb Raider games did .

Konami actually missed out an golden goose that just needed improvement and evolution in its gameplay-concept but were bamboozeled by its bad sales and later on even in its false infamy .