When did Castlevania turn in to Tran(svestite)sylvania?

[BAD PIXEL]

I don't want to sound like some old geezer talking about how "shit was better back when I was a kid," but there's one thing that has bugged me recently as I've tried out a few of the GBA Castlevania games; When did Konami decided that all the male characters in the Castlevania games should wear eyeliner and have feminine haircuts? Seriously, I'm still not sure if Soma Cruz is man or a woman (and the name Soma Cruz just sounds like a downtrodden Mexican drag queen, which just adds to my confusion)...

Again, trying to hold back my "inner geezer," but I'm also wondering why do modern Castlevania games have all of these RPG-type features? Didn't everyone bitch and moan about Simon's Quest because it had RPG elements? Now everyone is okay with these elements in a Castlevania game? I really dig Simon's Quest, but it seems like the newer games which feature the action RPG style gameplay are just too much of a departure from what the game was originally.

Personally, for me, I find that Super Castlevania 4 or even Dracula X, were the peak of the series and that, since then, the games have all either become populated with androgynous characters or have altered their gameplay styles to the extent that I'd barely consider them Castlevania games anymore.

What do you think?

[weasels]

first thing you gotta remind yourself is that castlevania comes from japan, and in japan, pretty boys are something you see quite often. i can't say i like this as much either....but i have found myself getting over it. now the rpg elements came from the game castlevania: Symphony of the night, a roaring success in the castlevania series. this i personally like...but i can see how some of the more hardcore fans miss the trial and error, tough as nails games...as do i once in a while. i personally like SotN, and i consider it my top and then under that i enjoy Castlevania bloodlines.

[Ziggy]

The RPG elements are because of Symphony of the Night. The game was such a success, other Castlevania games are trying to be like it. You haven't played SOTN!? Seriously, stop what you're doing right now... seriously, stop reading this, and go play it!

Castlevania 4 was the first game I played in the series, so it'll be hard for me to argue it's not one of the better ones. Dracula X on SNES though is a horrible game, I do like it, but it's probably the weakest title in the 2D series. The game Dracula X was suppose to be, however, is suppose to be the holy grail of the series. Rondo of Blood, released only in Japan. But when SOTN was coming out, they needed to tie the story in since we didn't get Rondo so they gave us Dracula X on SNES which is pretty much a watered down version of Rondo. Not to worry though, Rondo of Blood is coming out on Wii Ware.

I think the 3D Castlevania games are shit though. I played through Lament of Innocence. It was a half was decent game, but a horrible Castlevania game. It's just one of those series that didn't make a good jump from 2D to 3D. It plays more like a Zelda game than a Castlevania game.

[MrPopo]

Welcome to the world of Metroidvanias. Symphony of the Night gave us the first of these; taking the gothic style of Castlevania and mixing it with the exploration of Metroid. It turned out to be quite the successful fusion, and that's the direction that the good Castlevanias have taken since. I think one of the reasons it worked so was well that it gave the castle so much more depth. In classic games you move from one section to another, but it all feels quite contrived. Now you get to explore this huge castle filled with the minions of darkness. It makes the adventure grander in scope. And thematically it still seems to fit.

I think the reason that Castlevania 2 was poorly received was less about the RPG elements and more about the forced grinding. You'd have to talk to many villagers, which was an annoying task on the NES. And then to get your weapons you'd have to grind up hearts. And let's not forget the day/night system. If you compare with the modern Castlevanias you see that everything is streamlined. NPC dialog happens at key points without you needing to seek things out, and they are few and far between. You have the option of using stores to grow your character, but you can spend the entire game treating it like a platformer and making do with what you find without seeing a major step in difficulty by doing so.

[BAD PIXEL]

You guys bring up great points, and I guess I understand that a) there are a lot of pretty boys in the Japan and b) Symphony of the Night was sort of a breakout success that changed the direction of the series.

I guess what makes me still scratch my head is that a) the games have always been made in Japan, with pretty boys around, and b) I just find it funny that with all the bashing Simon's Quest has gotten, it's the RPG elements of SotN that redefined the series.

And, Ziggy, you're exactly right, I am ashamed that I've never played Symphony of the Night and should stop what I'm doing now and start playing it. If I had a Playstation I'd snag a copy off of eBay and fire it up ASAP. I have an older PS3, that I know is compatible with the PS2 games - would Symphony work on that, you think? The original Playstation came out the Fall after I graduated from high school and while I bought one that September, I rarely had time to invest time in it and just lost interest. The direction of the whole industry at the time, with the heavy focus on polygons, etc., really made me lose interest so I really didn't pay attention to gaming around that time.

The 2D Metroid games are some of my favorite games, with Super Metroid being such a classic that, in my eyes, still hasn't been topped. So, I guess I'm not really complaining about these elements being folded into the Castlevania games. MrPopo is right in that it does bring a more realistic and adventure-like feel to the game. And the grinding of Simon's Quest was a very true annoyance I had forgotten about.

I actually have Rondo of Blood for the PC Engine. Seriously an awesome installment, a true example of what the PC Engine could do - but I feel both Rondo and Dracula X were also the first steps in steering the series away from it's original mood with their more pop-like soundtracks and brighter, flashier graphics.

I was playing Castlevania 4 yesterday and it just got me thinking about how this series has changed and why it changed. Newer gamers who've never played the 8- or 16- installments have a completely different perspective on the series and I just thought that was sort of interesting.

All this being said, I think all the successful franchises have evolved and refined themselves to remain competitive as the industry and new gamers enter the market. What looks to be the trend recently is a lot of these franchises coming full circle and back to the roots they started from (Sonic, Contra, Castlevania Adventure, Mega Man, Super Mario, etc.).

I still don't get all the eyeliner-ridden male characters, but hopefully it's just a phase.

Sorry about the length of all this. I had some coffee.

[Dylan]

I've honestly enjoyed Castlevania in all its (2D) forms. It's definitely a different feeling between playing the Classics on my NES and then popping Symphony of the Night into my Playstation, but I really like both. I see what you're saying about the characters, but fortunately they 1) Don't have faces ingame and 2) there is comparably little dialogue to other RPGish games. I can avoid the bishonen weirdness because it doesn't apply itself too liberally.

[weasels]

I have an older PS3, that I know is compatible with the PS2 games - would Symphony work on that, you think?

im not sure on that (since i don't have a ps3) but if you don't mind it, they have SotN on PSN store for $9.99. i mean it's not a hard copy of the game, but you would be saving money and maybe time.

[thecommontask]

I loved playing Castlevania and Castlevania III but haven't really touched any of the others - not sure why. BUT I do have a DS now and still haven't touched the series. Could you guys recommend which of the DS titles would be a great way to get back into the series?

I'm open to the Action/RPG approach but I understand it's drawbacks from the traditional style. It's too bad the new look is very concerned with that somewhat androgynous theme but it's just part of the evolution... I would hope someday we could embrace the super masculine vampire hunter image of years gone by. Looking cool and sexy has trumped looking badass and grizzled.

[Ziggy]

I believe all PS3's can play PS1 games, even the PS3's that can't play PS2 games. And yes, you can also download it for $10. I believe that game fetches a decent amount on eBay these days. And since you don't own a PS1 and would only be able to play it on your PS3 anyway, a digital copy wouldn't have any drawback for you. DOWNLOAD IT RIGHT NOW!!! lol

Let's not forget about the other annoyances of CV2, the fact that you have NO idea what to do unless you read a FAQ or something. Or is it just me?

If you like CV4, you might consider getting the Super Famicom version. I did. After you can get over how pathetic the label art is, it's pretty much the uncensored version of the game. You can read about the differences at the Castlevania Dungeon (where you can read about all the games and the differences between regions)...

http://castlevaniadungeon.net/Games/scv4foreign.html

And if you read through the region differences you'll notice that the American version almost always has much more masculine looking artwork.

[MrPopo]

I loved playing Castlevania and Castlevania III but haven't really touched any of the others - not sure why. BUT I do have a DS now and still haven't touched the series. Could you guys recommend which of the DS titles would be a great way to get back into the series?

In terms of level of awesome, I'd rank them thusly:

Order of Ecclesia
Dawn of Sorrow
Portrait of Ruin

All three are fantastic, but OoE's first half is in a more traditional vein (go through each stage sequentially) and only in the second half do you get the big Metroidvania castle. Of course, many of the early stages still have secrets you can get once you get a few more powers, but each of the early stages is roughly linear.