Castlevania Megathread

[mini pancake]

This is the music of order?

 

[NeonKnights]

What do you guys think about the PS3 games though? Personally I don't like them, they're not Castlevania anymore. Still though, IF they were given the proper Castlevania gameplay loop and kept the combat, polished it up a bit, they would've been great games in my opinion.

Didn't see this post. I haven't got around to most of the PS3 games as the only PS3 I have is a delicate backwards compatible model with the onboard Emotion Engine, and I only use it as a PS2. Though I have been playing Lords of Shadow on my Trinity 360. I was initially interested in this title because of the involvement of one Hideo Kojima. After playing it quite a bit and loving the narration by Patrick Stewart I have really been enjoying it. At first I was not liking the gameplay, this improved immensely however once I switched the difficulty to hard. It's not my favorite, yet it's Hands down my favorite Hideo Kojima related Castlevania.

Back from work and a nap. Now, I shall speak up.

Castlevania's one of my all-time favorite game series. I will admit I am most well-versed in the Igavania platformer-RPGs, and not the old-school hard Classicvania games. Still, I've got Rondo of Blood and the original trilogy on my bucket list. Let alone 64 / Legacy of Darkness!

Top three games are probably in order: Portrait of Ruin, Curse of Darkness and Dawn of Sorrow. Honorary mentions to Aria of Sorrow and of course, Symphony of the Night. I've played Which brings me to this post.


Yep, SotN seems kind of easy. I get they were experimenting with a new game system, and it'd make sense for Dracula's dhampir son to be seriously powerful. But yeah, the late game becomes a slog because the only way they could challenge you is to make the Inverted Castle unfair at times. In theory I should like an open-world scavenger hunt for Drac's body parts, in a map that works surprisingly well upside-down. In practice, I despise the Inverted Castle.

After a while, none of the Igavanias are quite challenging. Mostly. Circle of the Moon and Order of Ecclesia are still a challenge to me, but perhaps for all the wrong reasons at times?

If there is a concession for the Igavanias compared to Classicvanias though, it's the Belmont fights. They are agile and hard-hitting just like the player, and really sell the idea that the Belmonts are badass even compared to your main protagonists in those games.


Yes. Even though Reinhardt Schneider is more my speed. But have you considered:

View attachment 47506
Jonny Morris? Or even...

View attachment 47507
...Charlotte Aulin might be more your speed? And if you're ignoring how dirty he got done in the Netflix series, there's also...

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...Hector. :)

I am more a fan of the Classicvania games and I find it odd that Symphony
repurposed elements of Simon's Quest such as finding the Dracula Relics.
I also am also not a fan of the inverted castle as on my first real playthrough in
2009 I beat the game without even knowing this was possible and got the bad/fake
ending. A few years later I was made aware of the inverted castle and was quite incensed.
The Richter boss fight is I have to say one of my favorites in the entire game and amazing.
I have many of these games on my DS Lite. I need get around to beating them sometime soon. Out of the DS Igavanias which should I play first? I must add as an aside that I felt lied to, and very nearly cheated out of an amazing game the first time I played/beat Castlevania 64, imho. There's one that didn't live up to the hate. Had I listened to popular opinion my life would be a poorer one.
"Let us go out this evening for pleasure. The night is still young."

 

[Raziya The Seeker]

Out of the DS Igavanias which should I play first?

I'd definitely recommend Dawn of Sorrow and/or Portrait of Ruin first.

Dawn can get a bit grindy at times when looking for monster soul drops, in order to create stronger weapons. That said, the various abilities from said souls are fun, so Gotta Catch 'Em All™. But Portrait is straight-forward with its progression, and you control both a vampire hunter and a witch and can swap between them. One can even have both characters fight at the same time, where your inactive partner will only make you lose MP on hit and not HP.

Plus, the big gimmick of Portrait of Ruin? While the game mainly takes place in Dracula's Castle, it's mostly a hub world of sorts. There are various different main stages within these pocket dimensions in magical paintings. I feel this keeps things fresh. Yes, even three of four "remix" versions of those stages before the finale are still fun.

Beware: Order of Ecclesia is not for Igavania novices. It's a challenging one, and actually fighting through Dracula's Castle later on felt like a slog to me. Healing items and equips aren't as powerful, the game relies on skill, and all of your attacks all use MP.

I must add as an aside that I felt lied to, and very nearly cheated out of an amazing game the first time I played/beat Castlevania 64, imho. There's one that didn't live up to the hate. Had I listened to popular opinion my life would be a poorer one.

Oh yes. The older I get, the more I find that people who bitch about games aren't the sages we once thought they were in the aughts. I'd rather just form my own opinions over the media I consume, not listen to some outrage peddlers who are probably full of shit.

"Let us go out this evening for pleasure. The night is still young."

A lovely and underrated quote from the most famous Castlevania. I adore it~

 

[NeonKnights]

Bravo.
Wow that was mind blowing. I had no idea Portrait of Ruin was like that.
This is a revelation. I long for such deep gameplay mechanics in this empty era.
That's one of the reasons I fell in love with Circle of the Moon's card system.
The hub world part is somewhat reminiscent of Lament of Innocence to me.
Another game in the series I find to be far too underappreciated and mysterious.
I'm going to give Portrait of Ruin a shot first as I have yet to complete Aria of Sorrow.
I played it but got stuck grinding Tsuchinoko souls, one of the most reticent monsters

in the game. I will make sure to try Order of Ecclesia after I beat Portrait.​

 

[thanonyx thanonyx]

I know a lot of people love Circle of the Moon but it feels a little rushed to me. Like, some aspects of it feel like they needed more time to bake. I blame this on Konami wanting it out in time to be a GBA launch title.

 

[Ginbruhk]

This is the music of order?

Actually, it was originally made for Castlevania Chronicles. (from what I know) But it was also used in Order of Ecclesia in the Mechanical Tower.

 

[Stolas_SMT]

I will say, you human-folk have QUITE the knack with making some tunes.... Perhaps I should pay a visit to the overworld more often, hmm?

(OOC: This theme ROCKS WOW!!! Like this sick as hell tune popping in as there's all this wacky moving wall nonsense and rotating rooms is.. IDK Peak!!)

 

[Dyne]

Bloody Tears, and it isn't even close.

But I know that's the boring answer (along with Vampire Killer, Simon's theme, etc) so I guess my answer is Heart of Fire

Here's a cover, but with lyrics. Because I like Game Over

 

[MrBird]

Aria of Sorrow has a top-tier soundtrack (My favorite being Julius's battle theme), but one song I'm not sure gets talked about a lot is the Cloud Castle theme from Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge on Game Boy.

 

[YoshifreakZX]

Can't really choose a favorite, but I will share ONE of my favorites which is Wandering Ghosts from Symphony of the Night.

 

[Maresia]

I haven't seen this one so I'll post it. Can't say it's my favorite, but I like it a lot

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

Oh sick, a thread for peak

Why it never got remixed?

It did, actually. A few times. X68000/Chronicles turned it into a new jack swing (or experimental acid for Arrange Mode) type of song and Smash has a version of Wicked Child

 

[KyleOnDemand]

Super Castlevania 4 - Drawbridge - Simon's Theme (Theme of Simon? I see so many names for this one)
I can listen to that one all the time and it gets me so hype.

But if I'm being honest? The NESkimo's version of it is the one I reach for every single time

 

[gokusmacksmyds]

the best bloodlines song for the best bloodlines stage

 

[Ikagura]

the best bloodlines song for the best bloodlines stage

View attachment 57662

Pics you can hear.

 

[Fray Guillermo]

Some of my favourites have already been posted, although I haven't checked the whole thread so I hope not to repeat myself too much.

This one doesn't hit quite the same without the rain and thunder effects, but it's an amazing version

This one has some amazing tunes that often fly under the radar

I'm currently playing Lament of Innocence for the first time and this track is fantastic, never really played any of the 3D games despite always being a huge Castlevania fan lmao.

And bonus:

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

 

[Mithraslogos]

 

[gothic soda]

 

[Sheepy765]

The Castlevania Legends take on Bloody Tears is probably my favorite Castlevania song of all time.

 

[Fray Guillermo]

The best 3D Castlevania is.....

Spoiler

Demon's Souls

No, wait, hear me out. In the sense of the traditional stage-based Castlevanias I truly believe Demon's Souls is one of the games that best reflected that vibe to a 3D enviroment

-Demon's Souls structure is practically a level based one. You have 5 worlds and each one of them progresses linearly through a couple of levels.
-Those levels are practically linear (with shorcuts in some cases)
-You got a boss at the end of every level, but in most cases (couple exceptions) the bosses are fairly easy, the tough part lies in reaching them while battling (or avoiding) the enemies and mantaining your health, just like the old Castlevania games.
-Both games have a pretty slow and calculated rhythm in contrast to other action games
-Really, Demon's Souls gives me major old-style Castlevania vibes but in 3D, trust me bro. I know DeS has equipment, inventory management etc but still

I can't be the only one that feels the same, despite the many differences they also have, but think about it

 

[NotReallyHere]

While I have nothing to add directly on-topic...

I have long believed that the best 2D Metroid is Symphony of the Night. Thank you for reminding me of my own "only halfway joking" logic

 

[Stare best girl]

what a very rare way to write Castlevania Curse of Darkness

 

[Hourai]

I haven't played ma- oh this is about Demon's Souls.

The way you describe the games doesn't feel particularly unique to Castlevania. Honestly, describing it as not being like Castlevania would be just as convincing, even if you would need new arguments. You could even use "it's like Phantasy Star II" if you want.

 

[gwardojones]

Totally with you. Always felt that Bloodborne was what an evolution of 3D Igavania Castlevanias would look like if it was given the proper resources.

 

[Lokgamer]

Nah, the best is lords of shadows.