Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Like running and jumping? Discuss it here!
User avatar
Ziggy
Moderator
Posts: 14528
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:12 pm
Location: NY

Re: Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Post by Ziggy »

The only way I can beat it is to cheese it. I stay on the lowest platform in the middle for the entire first form and use the axe. But there's something distinctly not fun about doing that.

I'd really like to ask the person(s) responsible for that design why they thought it was a good idea. Like, they must have thought they were doing something good and I want to know what they were thinking.
MrPopo
Moderator
Posts: 23908
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:01 pm
Location: Orange County, CA

Re: Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Post by MrPopo »

Ziggy587 wrote:I'd really like to ask the person(s) responsible for that design why they thought it was a good idea. Like, they must have thought they were doing something good and I want to know what they were thinking.

You can ask that question about most of the decisions in that game.
Image
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
User avatar
Ziggy
Moderator
Posts: 14528
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:12 pm
Location: NY

Re: Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Post by Ziggy »

Yes, there are some questionable design choices throughout the game, but the pillars Drac fight is entirely another league!
User avatar
o.pwuaioc
Next-Gen
Posts: 8367
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 7:59 pm
Location: I miss NYC already.

Re: Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Post by o.pwuaioc »

Ziggy587 wrote:The end of the third season gets a little... more adult, if you catch my meaning.

It was a pleasant surprise, except...

I thought the voice actors behind Sumi and especially Taka were awful and their deaths were rushed yet obvious, so it wasn't as erotic as it could have been. But the juxtaposition of Lenore/Hector and Taka/Sumi/Alucard was pretty awesome.


Watching the series definitely gave me the kick to dust off the ol' Castlevania games. I've been playing a bit of III. Who is your favorite sidekick to Trevor? What routes do you like to take?
User avatar
Ziggy
Moderator
Posts: 14528
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:12 pm
Location: NY

Re: Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Post by Ziggy »

Castlevania NetFlix series spoilers...
o.pwuaioc wrote:I thought the voice actors behind Sumi and especially Taka were awful and their deaths were rushed yet obvious, so it wasn't as erotic as it could have been. But the juxtaposition of Lenore/Hector and Taka/Sumi/Alucard was pretty awesome.


It was just kind of out of left field for me, how all of a sudden it turned into a sorta porno. The way the early seasons of Shameless could be sorta porno at times.

But I can say that the Taka and Sumi death scene was pretty awesome. Alucard used the mother fucking Sword Familiar!


o.pwuaioc wrote:I've been playing a bit of III. Who is your favorite sidekick to Trevor? What routes do you like to take?


Funny story (which I probably told on this forum already, but whatever) about III. The first time I played it was when I got a cart-only copy from Funco Land. This was during the N64 era, so no one was playing these old Nintendo games. And I didn't have the manual. So I had no idea that you could even switch characters! I mean, I met them and choose to take them with me which puts their face in the HUD, but I always wondered what significance that had LOL. It never occurred to me to press select because pretty much no game uses select outside of the menu (and even then you usually don't need to use it). My mind was BLOWN when I found out you could actually switch to them!

But who is my favorite? Hmm, I'm not sure if I have one. When I first found out that you could switch characters, my favorite for the longest time was Grant. I liked how fast he was, but I really loved being able to skip over sections with him. That's probably what I liked most about him, using him to "cheat" past areas.

For a short time, I use to like using Alucard, but only for his bat ability. He's a pathetic attacker. Using his bat form gets you a few unique skips that Grant can't do, but Grant also has a few skips that Alucard can't do. But I loved to use Alucard's bat form to get past that last room in the last level before the last checkpoint door. With the skull pillars and bats, and the floor falling out from under you, I use to have a lot of trouble with that room. It was easier just to use Alucard and fly over everything to the door.

I never really played as Sypha until just recently when I did a solo Sypha run, and I had a blast! She's really fun to play through the game as.

If I had to choose a favorite, I guess it would still be Grant. I love how fast he is and his ability to cling to walls and ceilings. I like using the Alucard bat form, but it's not always easy to pull off because getting hit knocks you out of bat form. And it consumes hearts, which can be annoying. Also, his attack is weak and not fun at all to use. I attempted a solo Alucard run and just gave up with it. Most of the time I play though, I play as Trevor. I just like the classic Castlevania gameplay you get with Trevor. So I pretty much only switch characters to uses skips. Which I guess is why I never used Sypha, I'd rather play as Trevor. But the solo Sypha run was a lot of fun, I might do that from time to time.

As for which routes I like to take, I really like to take all of them! Often when I would playthrough the game, I would usually play it at least twice in a row so I could hit up different levels. Having the branching paths was a lot of fun when the game was new to me, it really felt like a massive game to explore. But since I've experienced everything in the game already, when I replay it these days I'd rather not have to play through the game multiple times to play every level. Which makes this hack awesome...

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4735/

That hack makes it so that you can play through every level of the game in one go. I'll still play the vanilla version of the game, but I love this hack when that's the experience I want.

Sometimes if I just wanna romp through the game quickly, I'll grab Grant and then do the "easy" route which goes to the ghost ship. Before I beat the game for the first time, that was the route I would always take. Probably because it was the easy one to get through. These days though, I might like that route because of nostalgia.
User avatar
o.pwuaioc
Next-Gen
Posts: 8367
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 7:59 pm
Location: I miss NYC already.

Re: Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Post by o.pwuaioc »

Ziggy, have you played the Famicom version of CVIII? Grant's a little better in the original: his main weapon is a projectile knife!
User avatar
Ziggy
Moderator
Posts: 14528
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:12 pm
Location: NY

Re: Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Post by Ziggy »

Yep, I love the Famicom version! It's one of the few Famicom carts that I own.
User avatar
nightrnr
Next-Gen
Posts: 1824
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:56 pm

Re: Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Post by nightrnr »

My go to sidekick was always Sypha. I think she was the only character I could beat death with (can't remember which spell I spammed).
I haven't played the game that far in ages though.

That game is all about the soundtrack. Also the reason I finally broke down and got me a famicom cart which I've been meaning to play.

Can anyone comment if the music is much different if using a regular famicom everdrive? I had read it's an approximate sound chip emulation, but not perfect.
...just another lost soul...
User avatar
Ziggy
Moderator
Posts: 14528
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:12 pm
Location: NY

Re: Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Post by Ziggy »

I haven't played Akumajo Densetsu on my Everdrive yet, but I use to play it all the time on my Power Pak. And I once recorded sound samples from it, as well as from an authentic cart on my Famicom, and I couldn't hear a difference between them.
User avatar
Raging Justice
Next-Gen
Posts: 1277
Joined: Sun May 30, 2021 2:11 pm

Re: Castlevania Appreciation Thread

Post by Raging Justice »

Is it just me or is Castlevania getting a lot of attention right now?

Castlevania Advance Collection
https://www.ign.com/articles/castlevani ... ings-board

Rondo of Blood Turbo Duo release from Limited Run Games
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/ ... sical_form

Castlevania Requiem physical release
https://www.shacknews.com/article/12507 ... ase-on-ps4

Bloodstained Ritual of the Night 2 sequel announced
https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2021/05/28 ... confirmed/

Announcement of a spinoff to Netflix's Castlevania featuring Richter and Maria (after the almost universally praised season 4)
https://www.dualshockers.com/castlevani ... ia-renard/

Hell, I'd even toss in the remake of Castlevania-ish Bloodrayne Betrayal
https://www.psu.com/news/bloodrayne-bet ... eir-roles/

It's a good time to be a Castlevania fan
Post Reply