We each have a pretty specific game to discuss this week, and we spend almost an hour doing it.
Podcast (lifecast): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS
Haunted Castle is regarded to be one of, if not the, worst in the series. Castlevania’s first mobile title Order of Shadows kindly asks, “You think you’re bad!? Hold my beer.”
Castlevania: Order of Shadows is a mobile game…and not much else
When you’re only defining feature is the platform its available on, it shows how poor of a game Castlevania: Order of Shadows is. Starring Desmond Belmont (*groan*) as he goes on a quest to defeat..zzzz.
Ok, it’s a 10 dollar mobile game, there is not much to expect in terms of high quality, but it’s not like a mobile game HAS to be horrible. Take a look at the awesome Doom and Wolfenstein RPG games. Maybe going for a first-person dungeon crawler would have been a good idea? Point is, a side-scrolling platformer with all the awkward controls as the other games makes Order of Shadows basically unplayable. The controls are either unresponsive or too sluggish. It almost comes off as Konami trying to make the most actively frustrating Castlevania. Well, they succeeded.
Gameplay is nothing spectacular, just classic jumpin’ and whippin’. If the Metroidvania formula was slowly wearing thin at this point, this bare-bare-bare bones gameplay style is even worse. They try to shoehorn RPG elements…but eh.
Also, it’s super nitpicky, but the game looks horrible. Sprites are way too big, and the same problems Haunted Castle had are prevalent. Also, Desmond looks like a HUGE dork with the spiky hair.
So, yeah, Order of Shadows is bad. Don’t play it.
Luckily the next handheld game was an improvement. A massive, massive improvement.
At this point in the franchise, the Metroidvania format is what most gamers associate Castlevania with and its one that slowly became overdone. Released in 2006, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin manages to shake things up with a creative setting and some much-needed updates to the gameplay.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is a sort-of sequel to Bloodlines
Castlevania Bloodlines is a fan-favorite, so it’s nice to see Koji Igarashi and his team acknowledge it. Starring John Morris’ son Jonathan and his friend Charlotte Aulin, Portrait of Ruin takes place during the dying days of World War II. The evil Count Brauner, (the only Nosferatu inspired villain in the series, by the way) has been using the souls of dead soldiers to bring the evil of Count Dracula back to life through the paintings in his castle.
Hence the name, Portrait of Ruin.
Having the chance to mix-up to playstyles on the fly with Jonathan and Charlotte is a welcome addition. Jonathan wields the whip and all of the classic Castlevania sub-weapons (the cross, holy water, etc.) and Charlotte knows a variety of spells and fights enemies in a simplified version of the Souls system in Dawn of Sorrow. It’s a lot of fun creating attack combinations between the two and neither of them never feel useless.
They also amusingly shout their names when the player switches characters like a mid-2000s anime. Boss fights are probably the most fun they’ve been in a while and don’t rely on the gimmick of “drawing a soul.”
Unfortunately, the two friends share the same life bar, so there is a challenge here. Also, many of the enemies may come off as uncreative.
Level design wise, it’s pretty simple, but the aesthetics make it worth the trip. Jonathan and Charlotte jump into Count Brauner’s paintings and are transported into different worlds. Portrait of Ruin carries on the creativity in Egyptian deserts, a Roman colosseum, and a fun house-stage. The actual castle hub is also MASSIVE. The whole game doesn’t feel too daunting, but in order to get the 100%, exploring every nook and cranny comes off as a chore.
Other features make Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin worth checking out
The game gives players the option to play as the original guy-and-gal vampire fighting duo of Richter and Maria from Rondo of Blood. However, this is only unlocked after the game is beaten.
In a franchise full of great soundtracks, Portrait of Ruin can be added to that list. There’s a great collection of original music, but it’s the remixes by Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage 2, Actraiser, dozens of other phenomenal OSTs) that take the cake. His remix of “Simon’s Theme” is incredible.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin keeps the wheels rolling on the Metroidvania subgenre with its unique premise and tight gameplay. At this point, it sounds like the handheld Castlevanias can do no wrong.
Maybe a mobile game won’t be a bad idea….
Soma Cruz returns in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for the Nintendo DS. (Author’s Note: Wait, Dawn of Sorrow…Nintendo DS…oh I get it!).
By now, the Metroidvania format is a well-traveled road, but somehow Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow manages to keep things fresh with refined gameplay, and tons of extra modes and characters to make Dawn of Sorrow an adventure worth going on.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow continues the great handheld Castlevania trend
Taking place only a year after Aria of Sorrow, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow has a trio of vampires, Celia, Dmitri, and Dario, wanting to resurrect the Count. Luckily, since Soma Cruz is still living in Japan, he is up to the task of stopping them using a more powerful version of his Soul system in Aria.
First thing players will notice is the massive art style change, going for a full out anime style similar to Rondo of Blood. It’s a bit jarring at first, but it works. The actual in-game graphics are well-animated as well, rivaling Symphony of the Night.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow retains the typical Metroidvania-style and the controls have been perfected for this style. Although, would it have killed Konami to change up the level design a bit? The throwback level to the first Castlevania stage ever is great, but the rest of the levels have a big case of the “same.”
Dawn of Sorrow fleshes out the soul-gathering system by having the souls of the enemies not only improve Soma’s combat prowess but also help with puzzles and certain boss fights. It’s a more rounded out system where players will feel like they are armed to the teeth with all kinds of useful souls. The touchscreen is even utilized well, although it can come off as gimmicky having to draw to defeat a boss.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow adds some great features to the complete package
In several entries to the series, there has been an option to play as another character without any real change. You can play as Simon Belmont in Harmony of Dissonance, Richter Belmont in Symphony of the Night, etc. But this game adds the lesser-known Julius Belmont as a playable character with an actual story with him.
Playing as Julius is, without question, one of the highlights of Dawn of Sorrow since he is a BLAST to play as. You can also play as Alucard and Yoko from Aria of Sorrow (who plays like her canonical predecessor Sypha), almost making Dawn of Sorrow a pseudo-remake of Castlevania III.
Despite the hiccups with the levels and the game starting to feel too well-traveled, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is still one of the better games in the Metroidvania subgenre. The gameplay is still as fun as ever, and the addition of more characters to play as makes it a great addition to the series.
When I was told that some cutsey looking high school dating sim by the name of Doki Doki Literature Club had some pretty bleak warnings at the beginning of it about how its not suitable for children, I felt there were 2 strong possibilities as to why:
Normally if I’d been told I was wrong I’d be more interested in the game–after all, it’s clearly trying something different, nobody would talk about it otherwise. Perhaps it’s more worth looking into than I thought. In the case of Doki Doki Literature Club, on the other hand, had I been told that its version of “doing something different” was just becoming a self-aware deconstruction game I wouldn’tve thought twice about ignoring it.
Frankly speaking, I’m just getting tired of self-aware deconstruction games. It’s become somewhat of a fad in the past 2 years or so. Like any fad it had its high points, sure, but now it’s just getting old, trite, and even somewhat predictable to me now. I’m ready for the next genre/trope cycle because I’ve had my fill of this one.
Before I go any further, let me elaborate on what I mean when I say “self-aware deconstruction games”. Like the name implies, a deconstruction game is a game that deconstructs its genre–it breaks it down and exaggerates it, maybe even parodies it in a way. If you’ve ever watched Cutthroat Kitchen, this is the exact same thing as when someone says they’ve made a deconstructed BLT and just put some meat, lettuce, and tomato on a plate. As for the self-aware part, it means games that are aware that they’re games and makes sure that the player knows that the game knows it’s a game and probably utilizes that in some way for progressing. To be more specific, it’s not games that make maybe one or two self-aware jokes that I’m talking about (EX: if someone in a game says, “WE’LL BE FINE! IT’S NOT LIKE WE’RE IN A VIDEO GAME OR SOMETHING!”), I’m talking about games that utilize their degree of self-awareness as game mechanics or a necessity to progress. Games in which their level of self-awareneness directly ties into the main story/gameplay. Some examples of such games are Undertale, Pony Island, The Stanley Parable, and of course, Doki Doki Literature Club. It may seem niche or overly specific, but these are exactly the kinds of deconstruction games I’m getting sick of: Deconstruction games that use fourth-wall breaking as their means of deconstruction.
via gameplay.tips
Now that we’ve got that established, let me explain myself: In this gamer’s opinion, if you’re going to break the fourth wall effectively, it has to be done with a lot of finesse to not feel arbitrary or just shoved in for the sake of just having it there. Bioshock, for instance, does this in Andrew Ryan’s famous A Man Chooses, A Slave Obeys monologue: Without flat out telling the gamer that they’re a sheep who just does whatever a game says, it still says it vicariously through the speech by likening the player to Jack–a brainwashed test tube baby who has to do what he’s told. This blew my mind the first time I played it. And the second. And the third. And every single time after that. That, dear readers, is breaking the fourth wall powerfully and with finesse.
So if that’s what finesse looks like, what doesn’t finesse look like? What does it look like for a game’s fourth-wall breaking to not seem forced? To understand that, we have to talk about this fourth-wall breaking trend in video games: It’s been around for a while, but has only recently started to see a significant rise in the number of games that use it, particularly in indie games. The first time I noticed this was when I played Undertale 2 years ago (feels like much longer, right?)–the game directly addresses save files, directly addresses the player, and even makes use of uninstalls and reinstalls. This is definitely much more elaborate than most other fourth-wall breaking games, and to be honest, I was impressed at the time.
And then it became a small trend. Or perhaps the preamble of a full-blown trend.
The next time I noticed it was in Pony Island, where some boss puzzles will require you to actually go into the game’s coding to progress. Seemed kinda ridiculous to me, but I rolled with it. Then it was The Beginner’s Guide–but that was made by the same group who made The Stanley Parable (also a fourth wall breaking game) so I honestly wasn’t surprised with that one. Then it was Thimbleweed Park’s polarizing ending, which requires the player to look at the original trailer of the game. By this time I was starting to notice making use of a game’s “sentience” was becoming a thing games did now. And now it’s Doki Doki Literature Club, requiring you to go into the game’s files and deleting/bringing back characters.
via youtube.com
I’m sure to some gamers this is quite fun and clever, but to me it just feels arbitrary more times than not. I can honestly say I’ve never picked up a game and thought, “Yea, I can’t wait to dig into this game’s files to progress!”. And again, I’m sure for some people it is fun–this is an incredibly subjective article, after all–it just feels very unnecessary to me. Why can’t there be an in-game solution? I get it–it’s a game that knows it’s a game. It’s poking fun at the plethora of staple dating sim tropes. This might’ve been clever if a notable amount of other indie games hadn’t done the same thing in the past 2 years, and it’s starting to feel old to me.
“But Kennedy,” you’re thinking, “you only listed off 5 games. You’re overreacting.” Fair, probably true in some regard. But every trend once started with only 5, and based on the general gaming community’s love of games like this (after all, shock value will make games go a lot farther than you think, and if nothing else, these games all have shock value), I think 2018 and 2019 will have notably more entries to turn this into a full-blown trend. Until then it feels more like the beginning of one to me. Perhaps it’s because I’ve never been too keen on self-aware/deconstruction games in the past (again: they have to be done with so much finesse not to feel forced for me) but 5 entries is plenty for me to already feel like it’s getting old. Maybe one game like that every other year is my threshold for appreciation for them, which admittedly, is probably lower than most other people’s. Even ignoring all that though–totally forgetting that I usually don’t like these kinds of games–I still don’t think Doki Doki Literature Club is a good game even after all this is factored out.
To further drive the nail into Doki Doki’s pink, anime coffin is that the whole story stems from Monika feeling frustrated over wanting to date you but it’s really hard for me, at least, to feel justification from this because she wasn’t even an option that they player has–everyone has to ignore her her. I know you’re thinking, “Well duh, that’s the point of the game–that she can’t have you.” but it makes no sense. Any other dating sim would’ve had her be a datable option–the club/student council president is another one of these staple tropes that this game likes to parody so much, so why not make her datable? There’s no reason. Obviously she won’t get any attention from the player–we don’t even have the option to give her attention. I bet there’s a fair share of players who would’ve dated Monika first, given the option. This could’ve been alleviated by perhaps having a true route where you do date Monika on your first run which could in turn maybe affect other save files where she perceives you as cheating on her when you try to do another route (which leads to Sayori’s suicide, etc.). Maybe if you decide halfway through a route to start her instead (EX: Starting Natsuki’s route, seeing Monika act out and then switching to Monika’s route again) she becomes incredibly jealous and possessive of you–effectively causing conflict with the other girls. Suddenly, Monika’s getting upset over you not choosing to love her feels more justified and maybe even makes the player feel a tad guilty. That, to me, would’ve been better.
I think what makes me especially bitter about Doki Doki Literature Club is that I actually would’ve enjoyed it if it were the aforementioned Higurashi clone. Or even just a regular, basic dating sim. When everything’s a deconstruction, there’s nothing left to deconstruct–so why not get back to the basics? A real dating sim where I don’t have to flat-out delete characters or deal with a club president who’s messing with everyone’s dialogue. I think I might’ve genuinely enjoyed Doki Doki Literature Club at least somewhat if it hadn’t broke the fourth wall so needlessly and just perhaps made Monika an ultra-manipulative bitch without superpowers–if nothing else, to highlight how insane she really is: Maybe you get to Sayori’s suicide and Monika threatens/blackmails the other members into avoiding you or acting out so you avoid them, but to no avail. Maybe Monika is driven to murder other club members to get your attention. She could easily be a classic yandere and it could’ve made the game much darker. If Monika has the power/sentience to remove characters from the game without reprimand, of course she’d do it–there’s no punishment. But if she were a regular character who couldn’t break the fourth wall who sought to remove other characters by, say, murder, then suddenly it’s much darker: There’s more for her to lose if it doesn’t work out, there’s more pressure on her to make sure it’s worth it. In a sentence, it’s much darker because her character has a lot to lose now. She has to put in effort to get what she wants now.
If nothing else, Doki Doki Literature Club cemented my being sick of fourth wall breaking deconstruction games pre-trend. I guess this all boils down to me just not liking this flavor of deconstruction and the game not being otherwise good enough to make up for it (Thimbleweed Park, for instance, was so excellent that it vastly outweighed its fourth-wall breaking deconstruction segment at its end). To the gamers who are also getting sick of games breaking the fourth wall arbitrarily, this is 100% a waste of time for you. To gamers who wanted a cute dating sim, the warnings on this game, albeit a bit over exaggerated, aren’t kidding: This game is definitely not what it appears to be. To the less jaded gamer or the gamer who likes fourth wall breaking deconstruction though, I can see how this could be entertaining (I know that sounds kind of condescending but I mean it–I 100% understand why people love this game so much and I can think of a handful of people I know who’d like it, too, if they tried it. I see the appeal, it’s just not an appeal that works on me). Combined with the fact that this game is free, I’m really not surprised this game is so popular right now. I’m disappointed because now this might further promote more fourth-wall breaking deconstruction games, but not surprised.
via vndb.org
Released the same year as God of War and Devil May Cry 3, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is part of that action game subgenre that combines hack n’ slash and RPG elements.
Unfortunately, while it is a slight improvement over Lament of Innocence, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is just another hack n’ slash. It’s not a terrible game by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn’t overshadow Lament of Innocence as a superior sequel, but just stands as a good 3D Castlevania game.
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is another prequel in the series
Taking place a mere three years after the events in Castlevania III, Dracula’s evil is still alive and well in the land of Wallachia thanks to a Devil Forgemaster, who are sort-of generals in Dracula’s army (Author’s note: AMAZING name for an industrial metal band) named Isaac. Hector, a reformed Devil Forgemaster who ALSO looks like Alucard is going on an adventure to fight Dracula. Along the way, he will lazily stumble come across characters in Dracula’s Curse.
The setup is intriguing, but not really taken advantage of. There’s no real throwback or tribute to certain levels or bosses from the NES game. Trevor Belmont shows up to share some incredibly hammy dialogue and to have a pretty good boss fight, but it screams “glorified cameo.” It’s all kind of a waste of an idea. Not to mention, the level design is already bland to begin with (oh wow, a haunted forest! A castle! Wow…) so having it takes place around the same time as one of the most iconic games in the franchise and not revisit locations from that game, it seems like a pointless idea. At least the newish areas do take advantage of the XBox and PS2 hardware and are nice to look at.
The gameplay is solid…and not much else in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
However, from a gameplay standpoint, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is a lot of fun. Hector can be equipped with an absurd amount of weapons, including a variety of swords and melee weapons. Being a former Devil Forgemaster, he also has the ability to cast powerful spells and raise stats thanks to the Devil system; Hector can have a little minion attack enemies, improve his damage, or give him weapons.
It’s a unique system, and on-top of the customization with armor and weapons, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness welcomes some much-needed RPG elements.
The combat itself is also refined. Curse of Darkness adds a lock-on feature to make battling enemies easier and the combos aren’t so “dial-y” and feel more free-flowing.
Finally, the soundtrack is thankfully very good. It’s far less atmospheric than Lament of Innocence and has some great tributes to other classic Castlevania tunes.
Despite the improvements made to the gameplay, the rest of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is just shy of being “great.” The bland level design and completely un-compelling story make it a huge chore to get through most of the time. It’s a shame since Curse of Darkness could have been great and as good as the other action games released this year.
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence is the first 3D Castlevania after the ill-fated N64 games. When the game was announced, fans were concerned Lament of Innocence would repeat the “quality” of those games. Fortunately for many fans, Lament of Innocence is a massive improvement over the N64 games. It went on to receive mixed, but mostly positive, reviews.
Lament of Innocence is a good action game that takes cues from many popular games of its time. Many features of Lament of Innocence, such as the graphics, soundtrack, and gameplay, are all well done. Although, the level design and somewhat repetitive boss battles bring the game from “great” to “good.”
Lament of Innocence is the official “start” of the series
Lament of Innocence is a prequel and takes place at the beginning of the series’ canon. The story is a basic video game plot, and there are plot lines that don’t go anywhere, but the twist at the end is a phenomenal set-up for the series. If players can push through the awkward voice acting, it’s worth it.
Taking place during the Crusades, the game’s lengthy intro cutscenes, the game establishes Leon Belmont as its protagonist. Leon is a knight who has won many battles with his tactical leader, and friend, Mathias Cronqvist. There have been reports all across the land of monsters appearing, including a vampire. This vampire has abducted Leon’s fiancée Sara. Mathias, who is grieving over the death of his wife, urges Leon to go after the vampire. He ventures into the Forest of Eternal Night and into the castle owned by the vampire, Walter Bernhard.
Lament of Innocence is a flawed, but an overall good, experience
One game Lament of Innocence takes inspiration from is Devil May Cry. The action is not too platform heavy, but more reliant on stylish combat. Leon is armed with the Whip of Alchemy, given to him by the game’s shopkeeper Rinaldo Galdofi. He also can use various weapons, including the classic weapons of the series, like holy water. The combat is very action heavy and is a ton of fun. Thanks in part to the great control set up and responsiveness, chaining combos is not difficult at all.
Two interesting aspects of the combat: players will learn new and intricate combos as they progress the game. Instead of buying moves from an in-game store, it’s nice to see a game reward the player for doing so well. Items can be combined with crystals the game’s bosses drop. Combining the items with certain crystals will result in new attacks based on a particular item. For example, players can turn the holy water into a geyser.
There is a great variety of enemies and bosses. The classic skeleton and flea man enemies show up, but Leon has to fight man-eating plants, ghosts and gigantic suits of armor. Each boss fight is challenging and always has something new for the player. The gigantic parasite boss at the beginning is far different from the fight with the Madusa.
The soundtrack is not full of true songs, but rather atmospheric songs. It’s not every player’s cup of tea, but the songs work for each area. It is nice to hear some orchestral music, instead of electronic music.
Repetition goes hand-in-hand with Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Lament of Innocence captures the spirit of Castlevania thanks to its graphics and creepy atmosphere. Walter’s castle has dozens of sections that make up for some great horror themed environments, like a untended garden or haunted theater.
Unfortunately, as creative as the stages’ premises are, the actual stages are quite boring. Save from some generally good platforming and puzzle solving in certain sections, nearly every room in each level looks the same. Rooms in the dungeon area all look like dungeons; rooms in the waterway area all look like waterways. It’s a shame since the ideas behind the levels are interesting enough and could be fleshed out into something truly horrifying.
The level design also makes the game feel like drudgery. Rooms will be locked off if Leon defeats all the enemies. The save points are also far apart, resulting in many “game overs.” This happens all too often and makes Lament of Innocence feel more like a sluggish dungeon crawler than a straight-up Castlevania game.
All things considered, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence is a good game, even if it does seem like a chore at times. The gameplay itself is generally a lot of fun and the whole game looks great for the time. And the twist at the end is a fantastic one. Lament of Innocence is in no way a total package, but it is worth playing.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is the third Metroidvania game on the GBA. It appeared Koji Igarashi and his team were going to keep on going in this direction, as the formula is a proven success. Aria of Sorrow was also released in 2003, which was probably the best time to own a GBA, thanks to games like Advance Wars 2, Fire Emblem and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga among others.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is, depending on how you look at it, the most bizarre or most creative the Metroidvania era. It completely ditches the “Belmont v. Dracula” story, in favor of something different. Even with strange new plotlines and characters, Aria of Sorrow features new gameplay features and has some of the best music out of all the handheld Castlevanias.
Aria of Sorrow’s plot and characters are unique
Aria of Sorrow takes place in the not-so-distant future of 2035. Instead of it being a period piece set in the European countryside, it is in modern Japan. Dracula’s castle also does not occur because of dark magic or it is the result mad cult leader or priest, it appears in Japan during a unique solar eclipse.
Huh?
Setting itself even farther apart from other entries is the actual lack of the Count himself! Instead, it’s his “spirit” or “energy” that curses the Land of the Rising Sun.
What?
To add to the weirdness, players don’t take control of a vampire hunter at all. Instead, they play as Soma Cruz, an exchange student living in Japan. Cruz also has secret powers and a dark one hidden inside.
Ok?
This may sound like a premise for a bad early 2000s anime, but it does flesh itself out into an engaging story with rich characters. The story has Cruz trying to defeat the evil in the land while trying to figure out what is going on himself. It’s a great set up, and the storyline practically begs players to explore the castle.
The main villain is an American cult leader named Graham Jones, who wants to control Dracula’s evil. Helping Soma Cruz along the way is Japanese government agent Genya Arikado aka Alucard under a different identity; Yoko Belnades, a local religious figure and a possible descendant of Syhpa from Dracula’s Curse; Hammer, a former U.S. soldier who is a weapons dealer; and Soma’s childhood friend Mina Habuku, who is acts as travel guide. There is even a missing Belmont, who goes by the name “J.”
Aria of Sorrow is another great Metroidvania for the GBA
Despite the changes to the classic plot and ideas from other Castlevania games, Aria of Sorrow contains fresh gameplay ideas. Aria of Sorrow brings back the array of weapons in Symphony of the Night. Cruz’s sword and hand-to-hand combat skills are up to part with Alucard. This is also one of the few games in the series where the main character can wield firearms. Combat is still as engaging and fun as ever.
The newest feature in Aria of Sorrow is Tactical Soul System. How the system works is, after defeating an enemy or boss Cruz can absorb its soul to gain all kinds of abilities. The souls of the enemies will contain attack enhancements, helpful uses, and even brand new attacks. Some souls allow for summons and using the attacks the enemies use. It’s yet another new process, but it allows for even more creativity. Players can have near endless customization with the souls and weapons.
The graphics of the game take a more dark approach, which fits the tone of the game. It even looks more colorful and crisp than other GBA Castlevanias. Aria of Sorrow has one flaw and is shockingly enough its level design. The backgrounds and themes of the stages are classic Castlevania, but it’s a tad repetitive. Considering this is a massive exploration-based game, it makes Aria of Sorrow a bit of a slog.
To cap off the game, there is the soundtrack. Castlevania is a franchise with a consistently good soundtrack in each game, and Aria of Sorrow is no different. It’s a bit more atmospheric than most Castlevania soundtracks. There are some touches of native Japanese music too. Which makes sense, since that’s where the game takes place.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is easily one of the most original of the franchise. Its new premise and unique look on the classic Castlevania story is worth looking into. If it’s a bit too odd than players should still give it a shot, thanks to some imaginative gameplay. Aria of Sorrow’s levels may be a bit samey, but pushing that aside, fans and newcomers can enjoy a gripping Castlevania experience.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is the second Game Boy Advance title and one that follows the Metroidvania format once again. Improving here and there on Circle of the Moon’s minor setbacks, Harmony of Dissonance proves that lightning can strike three times. Although, this time around, the overall package might come off as underwhelming.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance follows Symphony of the Night more closely
Taking one look at the box art, and one can see Konami used a similar art style to the PSOne classic. Starring Juste Belmont (Author’s Note: Who kind of looks like Alucard?) as the latest Belmont to take on the Vampire Lord. Dracula has kidnapped Juste’s childhood friend Liddy, but in typical shonen anime, his best friend/rival/shipping-partner-in-many-a-fan-fiction, Maxim Kishine, wants to save her first.
Gameplay-wise, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance utilizes the whip seen in most Castlevanias. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s a missed opportunity to do something different with the combat. The new Spell Fusion system is similar to Castlevania Legends’ sub-weapon system but offers more variety. For example, Juste can combine the ice with the dagger weapon to shoot multiple targets at once. It’s a nice touch, but it doesn’t have a lot of customization, which is a downer.
Luckily, Konami piled on the RPG-elements with an overabundance of armor and sub-weapons to collect throughout the game. When you beat the game, you can play as Maxim, who has shurikens and can double jump. It doesn’t change a whole lot, but it does make the game much easier playing as him.
Music is fine, and the graphics have been improved over Circle of the Moon. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is one of the better-looking games on the GBA.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a good, 4/5 game
Overall, there is nothing truly horrible about Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. However, it doesn’t do too much different that sets it apart from the other Metroidvanias. The castle is overall pretty plain, and while there are some good platforming elements, it just has a very “been there, done that” vibe. However, it’s simple nature and the genuine decrease in difficulty make Harmony of Dissonance a great “beginner’s entry” to the Metroidvania-genre.
Regardless, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is worth playing, whether you are a hardcore fan or a newcomer to fighting Dracula.
On our three-person episode we discuss a few games, answer a few questions, and announce changes to our giveaways. We also cover the pressing issue: do you prefer Eminem or Nas?
Podcast (lifecast): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was one of the first Game Boy Advance games and is Konami’s second attempt at the Metroidvania-style. Thankfully for them, lightning struck twice.
Circle of the Moon not only succeeds in repeating a formula but is also a great game on its own. Circle of the Moon introduces a new system and takes on a refreshing plotline to the long-running series. While the music is a tad weak and the graphics may become choppy, Circle of the Moon is an impressive game.
Circle of the Moon creates its own story and new gameplay features
Circle of the Moon takes place a few decades before Bloodlines and stars vampire hunter-in-training, Nathan Graves. Graves is embarking on his last training session with his mentor Morris Baldwin and Morris’ son, Hugh. Upon entering a dark castle, recurring villain Camilla appears to kidnap Morris. Hugh and Nathan are separated, and players take control of Nathan to find Morris and Hugh. Unfortunately for him, his last test of training involves taking on a resurrected Count Dracula!
Circle of the Moon keeps the emphasis on non-linearity and exploration found in Symphony of the Night but manages to change up the core gameplay. Dracula’s castle is still a massive one and will take more than a few hours to explore it. The portions of the castle have a heavy emphasis on platforming. Thankfully, jumping and attacking are quite fun thanks to the GBA’s control set up. While certain sections of the Count’s castle may appear samey and will have the player questioning if they have been there before, the level design is overall good.
Circle of the Moon begins a trend with the GBA Castlevanias
Instead of a huge variety of weapons, Nathan is equipped with a Castlevania staple; he combats the forces of evil with the whip. Players can upgrade the whip with the card-based Dual Set-Up System. Enemies will drop cards after being defeated by Nathan. From there, the player will collect them. From the status menu, players will set up whichever ones they want to use. Certain cards can change the whip attacks or summon monsters from magic. It’s an intuitive system that allows for creativity and mixing things up.
For a launch title on the Game Boy Advance, Circle of the Moon shows off what the system is capable of doing. Unfortunately, this also shows the system’s shortcomings as well. The graphics within the game are crisp and colorful, but not quite as animated as they were in other games. The music is catchy and full of atmospheric anthems, but some of them are repetitive. Although, the remixes of classic Castlevania tracks are quite good.
For too long, fans were given mediocre, or outright terrible, Castlevania games on handhelds. Circle of the Moon managed to change that, thanks to engaging and entertaining gameplay. It’s a shame Koji Igarashi removed the game from the series canon, as Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is easily one of the franchise’s better games.
Castlevania Chronicles is a port of Japanese home computer version of the game Akumanjo Dracula (translated: Devil’s Castle Dracula). The Japanese original was released in 1993, and the Chronicles version was released in 2000. It was also Konami’s second Castlevania game on the PlayStation.
Chronicles is, in essence, another remake of the NES original. The game may be brushed off as a run-of-the-mill entry. However, Chronicles manages to stand on its own with new modes, bosses, stages, and remixed music. The new character designs are done by the team behind Symphony of the Night.
Castlevania Chronicles is another solid entry in the long-running series, but not much else. The new features are fine and all, but at the end of the day it’s just there. Not to mention, the newly designed levels and music aren’t up to par with the rest of the series.
Chronicles is a fun game to play and experience with new modes
Castlevania Chronicles starts out the exact same way the NES original did, but with added cutscenes at the beginning. They are full-motion video and they have not aged well one bit. Regardless, once the actual game kicks off, the 2D graphics are actually quite good looking. Instead of emulating Symphony of the Night, Konami went a more traditional route. It almost looks like Super Castlevania IV, but with a good facelift. Simon Belmont has been recreated with a generally good re-design.
Beating the game allows for Time Attack mode, which is basically a mode to speed run the game. Castlevania is known on the Internet for speed runs, so it’s nice for a game to present a mode design for this trend.
Gameplay is stripped down to the bare essential Castlevania formula. Simon Belmont can only whip forward and jump. Weapon attacks have players returning to use the attack and up button combination. There are only four weapons this time around too. The gameplay works and is as tight as its ever been.
There is not much else to Castlevania Chronicles
The simplistic gameplay is one of the reasons why Chronicles is just OK. It’s about as old school as one can get with Castlevania and does not go above and beyond.
One of the worst aspects of the game is the remixed music. Konami went a different route. Instead of utilizing the PlayStation’s audio capabilities like they did with Symphony, it’s just weird sounding. The classic track “Vampire Killer” has been turned into this bizarre song that would fit in an Eastern European disco.
The level design is all over the place with some levels becoming labyrinthine mazes or staying as basic as possible. Although, some of the later levels are challenging in that classic Castlevania style.
The game also has a difficulty curve more resembling Dracula’s Curse. However, the game does give the player a chance to change the difficulty.
Since Castlevania Chronicles is an updated re-remake, Konami added the original for fans to check out. It’s an incredibly average game with somehow even worse music and bowling shoe ugly graphics.
Castlevania Chronicles is absolutely worth giving a shot if you’re a Castlevania fan or even a newcomer to the series. The new graphics are actually nice to look at and the gameplay is straightforward and solid. The random level design, difficulty spikes, and bizarre soundtrack really take the polish off.