Castlevania Megathread

[Fray Guillermo]

what a very rare way to write Castlevania Curse of Darkness

Currently playing through that one lmao. Although I don't know if I'll be able to stick with it in the long run, as it seems to carry the same problems Lament of Innocence had with the empty hallway design, although the more complex systems Curse of Darkness has are more engaging

Post automatically merged: Apr 26, 2025

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.

Maybe, dunno, I'm just going purely by vibes and feels here, and I always got that vibe from Demon's Souls

 

[Deleted member 73505]

Castlevania Judgment of course.

 

[Deleted member 61046]

This is a genuinely interesting take OP, but since everyone is talking about their 3D castlevanias I'll have to do my part as well

 

[happymasksalesman happymasksalesman]

I play it n64 version too. The one had a werewolf on it

 

[Plumpodrome Plumpodrome]

I genuinely don't understand the intent of this thread. I don't know what is the point of the "hot take" thing either. This is like me making a thread saying "Suikoden 2 is the best Devil Survivor game". You can probably see the connection I'm making here, yet to the untrained eye it completely falls flat. At the same time, it's a statement that lacks cohesion because the "point" and "subgenre" of the games is different (gathering an army vs tactics monster collector).
I'm utterly confused despite beating multiple classicvanias and igavanias.

 

[Action_Hank]

Is there a lot of backtracking in Souls games? I don't really like slow combat games, but what little souls I've played didn't involve platforming (or jumping for that matter). Personally, I don't see the comparison but that's probably because I despise both genres.

Nah, the best is lords of shadows.

I hate that dang ol' Castlevania, but even I got the joke.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

I think Demon's Souls was inspired by Spanish game Severance Blade of Darkness. Which was inspired by Heretic 2. Which was inpired by DOOM.

 

[Ikagura]

When you think about it Metroid Prime and Zelda Ocarina of Time could've been great groundworks for Castlevania in 3D but Fromsoftware made their best attempt with King's Field and -Souls/BloodBorne/that one samurai game.

But then what about DMC and even Ninja Gaiden?

 

[Neb Lleb]

Nah, the best is lords of shadows.

The MercurySteam era (barring Lords 2) was a damn fine swansong for this iconic franchise.

 

[MangaMunchkin]

The first 3d castlevania on the N64 was the best for me, I never finished it as I remember the final boss being harder because of buying items from the merchant throughout the game. Although I would never place any of the 3d games above the normal 2d castlevania.

 

[Ikagura]

I also think that "the best xxxx is yyyy" is a tiny bit dishonest when both franchises aren't aiming to be the best thing.

 

[partymembervii]

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.

imo as far as interconnected gothic rpg worlds i dont think anything will ever top bloodborne. patiently waiting to be proven wrong

 

[freebie#47]

Castlevania 64 games are my favorite 3d Castlevania games. Even has the classic multi endings based on how fast you can beat it....

 

[Graw]

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

I don't think I agree. Castlevania's gothic b-horror movie setting is what makes them Castlevania. If you're not fighting a bunch of classic cheesy horror movie monsters from the golden age of cinema then it's not Castlevania.

 

[Fray Guillermo]

I genuinely don't understand the intent of this thread

Guys no need to take it super seriously, I just always found intereseting how I connected both games in my head and wanted to share that, that's it, not really deep

 

[Esidemoken]

For me the best is Castlevania 64 because it's the only game of the saga in 3D that really feels like an adaptation of the classic style to 3D to me, the PS2 and the reboot LoS are just Hack n slash with the Castlevania logo on it.

And while I understand that the atmosphere of Dark Souls is very much in the style of the saga the type of game is quite different, the only game or rather saga that gives me vibes of a Castlevania is Ender Lilies and Magnolia, obviously they have a higher difficulty.

 

[stoicvampirepig]

The best 3D castlevania is Lords of Shadow.

 

[Firenoh]

I really liked Lament of Innocence.

 

[Picorin81]

the first devil may cry was the 3d castlevania game I ever wanted

but then lord of shadow happened

 

[Lokgamer]

Is there a lot of backtracking in Souls games? I don't really like slow combat games, but what little souls I've played didn't involve platforming (or jumping for that matter). Personally, I don't see the comparison but that's probably because I despise both genres.

I hate that dang ol' Castlevania, but even I got the joke.

Joke? who was joking?

 

[gwardojones]

imo as far as interconnected gothic rpg worlds i dont think anything will ever top bloodborne. patiently waiting to be proven wrong

It's just the best. Were you as hyped and immediately disappointed by the Duskbloods trailer as I was?

Me at the start of the trailer: Wait... I feel like I know this... Something in me is screaming "hype!" Oh my god... Oh my god!! It couldn't be! It's not possible! On a Nintendo console?! It's Bloodbor--Duskbloods??? And it's PvPvE??? I'll never walk this trauma back...

I really liked Lament of Innocence.

Me too. It's kind of dopey, but in a really charming way. Plus the track from the first major area of the game might be my all-time favorite Castlevania track. And the bait-and-switch ending should have been infuriating, but I laughed my butt off and thanked Castlevania for its service. Such a fun, dumb, awesome game.

 

[partymembervii]

It's just the best. Were you as hyped and immediately disappointed by the Duskbloods trailer as I was?

Me at the start of the trailer: Wait... I feel like I know this... Something in me is screaming "hype!" Oh my god... Oh my god!! It couldn't be! It's not possible! On a Nintendo console?! It's Bloodbor--Duskbloods??? And it's PvPvE??? I'll never walk this trauma back...



Me too. It's kind of dopey, but in a really charming way. Plus the track from the first major area of the game might be my all-time favorite Castlevania track. And the bait-and-switch ending should have been infuriating, but I laughed my butt off and thanked Castlevania for its service. Such a fun, dumb, awesome game.

when the intro of it started i was having a weird feeling like "why do i feel like i know this" then the video showed the rune on the hand and started talkin about The Dream™ and instantly i knew it was at least related, was definitely disappointed to hear its not a full scale exploration, but im also keeping my mind open, as i know a full ass bloodborne or elden ring level production takes a long time, especially with fromsoft already working on other big projects like nightreign

 

[legsrjust4show]

I thought this would be a debate over the official 3D ones, but I also agree that the FromSoft stuff somehow captures some of the vibes of the Castlevania games

I was about to make a joke and go "lol bloodborne" but you beat me to it!

But also I just wanna throw my hat in the ring and say that I'm also on the "The N64 ones were good!" team. They can be a bit cumbersome and have a few tedious moments, but they're really cool!!!!!

 

[Fray Guillermo]

Were you as hyped and immediately disappointed by the Duskbloods trailer as I was?

Me at the start of the trailer: Wait... I feel like I know this... Something in me is screaming "hype!" Oh my god... Oh my god!! It couldn't be! It's not possible! On a Nintendo console?! It's Bloodbor--Duskbloods??? And it's PvPvE??? I'll never walk this trauma back...

Was a bit of a letdown to me, too. Feels like a kinda low-effort game just so they can get exclusive sales on switch 2. Did you notice the stiff animations in the trailer? Like out of a ps2 game. And that's two multiplayer focused games in a row, I feel like FromSoft are starting to allow themselves to relax due to the massive following they have nowadays lmao

 

[gwardojones]

Was a bit of a letdown to me, too. Feels like a kinda low-effort game just so they can get exclusive sales on switch 2. Did you notice the stiff animations in the trailer? Like out of a ps2 game. And that's two multiplayer focused games in a row, I feel like FromSoft are starting to allow themselves to relax due to the massive following they have nowadays lmao

Totally. The movement was weird looking across the board imo. Duskbloods and Nightreign both look really... I don't know... Floaty? FromSoft's games usually have a weight to them, but these two games look like they've lost that.

And I think you're right. I think they've started to let go of what makes their games work. I think Elden Ring might be the beginning of the end of their era. I hope I'm wrong, but these multiplayer-focused games don't look great (at least compared to everything else FromSoft has done lately) and they're doing two back to back.