Man fuck Rondo of Blood

Einhander

Seriously.



Fuck that shit.

I got ahold of CastleVania Dracula X Chronicles yesterday for the PSP because it's portable SotN that just so happens to have a free CastleVania game packed in.

Now I remember why I hate Castlevania Castlevania and love CastleRoid Castlevania.

Rondo of Blood should be renamed Rondo of Cheap Fucking Deaths. Here, let's throw 35 dudes at you while you're trying to jump over some fucking platforms over some water that will kill you because you're this mighty fucking vampire hunter who is so badass that he can't even swim Jesus Christ. Oh, and you're only on Level 2, so it's only going to get cheaper from here on out.

Alucard can fucking swim, and he's a half Vampire, which means his skin burns when he touches water. Does your skin burn when you touch water Richter? No? Then what's your fucking excuse?

In this thread let's discuss a mixture of how much better the CastleVania games have gotten once they added exploration/item collection and how much of a girly-man I am for sucking so hard at old Castlvania games.

The Dude With Herpes

The one thing I love about old castlevania games is that they have a kind and level of difficulty that you don't find in games these days.

The one thing I hate about old castlevania games is that they have a kind and level of difficulty that you don't find in games these days.

Every once in awhile when I'm playing SotN or any of the various GBA/DS Castlevanias I find myself pining for a good old run through Castlevania 3. Or Super castlevania, god that one was so good.

P.S. what was the name of the Genesis only Castlevania? I remember loving that one so much, being the spear duder.

Einhander

Bloodlines. Eric Lecarde was the spear duder, he comes back in Portrait of Ruin (which was pretty much a sequel to Bloodlines) for the DS. You can get his spear as well. It's awesome.

Sheep

In this thread let's discuss a mixture of how much better the CastleVania games have gotten once they added exploration/item collection and how much of a girly-man I am for sucking so hard at old Castlvania games.

Subjective. Personally, I myself have found the latest incarnations of the game to rely way too much on fetch quests, useless items, and that whole vibe of "Hey, it's like Symphony! You should buy it!"

On the other hand, I haven't played any of the DS games.

But, you know. At least with the PSP game you get Symphony included. So, it's still a viable purchase.

Nocren

Actually, I enjoyed Rondo remake and prefer it over Rondo original (though I never played original before the PSP version). The only boss I haven't beaten yet is 5' and I'm still working on it. I'm actually enjoying this old-school gameplay.

By contrast I got 200% in about 10 hours on SotN.

A couple of things about the swimming. Not everybody knows how, and Richter is pretty weighed down. Alucard, by your logic, is superhuman and can handle the extra weight. But in order for him to actually swim he needs the Holy Snorkel.

Arikado

Castlevania was challenging, I managed to beat it after like 4 hours straight playing.
Castlevania 2 pissed me the fuck out. Wonky ass inventory shit. Dracula's rib cage? What?!
Castlevania 3 was interesting. I don't remember beating it but I do remember doing the last stage.
Castlevania 4 was nice. It had some cool boss fights. It didn't have the infinite enemies all the time.

SotN I never played more than an hour because of a broken PlayStation.
HoD I managed to get far in but didn't have time to finished.
I loved Aria of Sorrow. That was the last one I played.

I forgot my old PA account's password and all my aliases were taken so I chose Arikado (I had just beaten AoS) as a "temp" account but it soon became permanant.

apotheos

Rondo is kicking my ass as well, but I did feel pretty clever/happy when I unlocked Maria.

What does one need to do to unlock Symphony?

Also, and only slightly related, was I the only one who found Portrait of Ruins boss almost impossible? I still have not beat it.

LordOfMeep

apotheos wrote: »

Also, and only slightly related, was I the only one who found Portrait of Ruins boss almost impossible? I still have not beat it.

You mean the last boss?

I've beaten it as Johnathan, but I'm struggling with the second form as Richter.

EDIT: If you're stuck on the part where

he shoots his wings out at both sides of the screen and tries to crush you with them, call your partner and attack one wing, they'll attack the other.

Saddler

The old Castlevanias actually demanded something of the player. I wouldn't call any of them cheap though. You can practice and get good at them.

Dirty

Einhander wrote: »

In this thread let's discuss a mixture of how much better the CastleVania games have gotten once they added exploration/item collection and how much of a girly-man I am for sucking so hard at old Castlvania games.

I have a problem with this statement. Castlevania didn't get better when they mixed it with Metroid-style gameplay, it just became different. I thoroughly enjoyed SOTN, AOS, and DOS, but they just can't replace the old school formula. I really like the challenge that classic Castlevania provides (the newer ones border on cakewalk, in my opinion).

Though difficulty aside, I think the biggest thing that hurts the newer games, in my opinion, is the almost complete lack of "platforming." I guess it makes sense, because you need to go through the same areas multiple times, and having to repeat difficult platforming sections would be a pain. Instead, they make it difficult by making the enemies tough, but not so tough that they slow you down much when you come back through after leveling up in other sections.

My ideal Castlevania would have a free-roaming world, like SOTN, but with absolutely treacherous platforming sections, and upon completion, you get some kind of shortcut to bypass it, or some turns the section into a normal hallway or something. The Metroidvanias have too many of the same boring hallways.

While they're at it, give you some kind of level cap that gets raised as you get through the game, so you still get the satisfaction of leveling up, without the possible side effect of leveling too much, too soon.

Nocren

Dirty wrote: »

Einhander wrote: »

In this thread let's discuss a mixture of how much better the CastleVania games have gotten once they added exploration/item collection and how much of a girly-man I am for sucking so hard at old Castlvania games.

I have a problem with this statement. Castlevania didn't get better when they mixed it with Metroid-style gameplay, it just became different. I thoroughly enjoyed SOTN, AOS, and DOS, but they just can't replace the old school formula. I really like the challenge that classic Castlevania provides (the newer ones border on cakewalk, in my opinion).

Though difficulty aside, I think the biggest thing that hurts the newer games, in my opinion, is the almost complete lack of "platforming." I guess it makes sense, because you need to go through the same areas multiple times, and having to repeat difficult platforming sections would be a pain. Instead, they make it difficult by making the enemies tough, but not so tough that they slow you down much when you come back through after leveling up in other sections.

My ideal Castlevania would have a free-roaming world, like SOTN, but with absolutely treacherous platforming sections, and upon completion, you get some kind of shortcut to bypass it, or some turns the section into a normal hallway or something. The Metroidvanias have too many of the same boring hallways.

While they're at it, give you some kind of level cap that gets raised as you get through the game, so you still get the satisfaction of leveling up, without the possible side effect of leveling too much, too soon.

I like the idea of a morphing castle. Maybe something along the lines that as you essentially master it, you bend it towards your will and make things easier.

to unlock SotN you need to have Stage 3' unlocked. Keep the ax and there will be a bone dragon just after you go up a set of stairs. In that first area is a set of vines that can be broken with the ax (or any upward attack weapon). this will reveal a platform that lets you take a path towards a tombstone. Break that and unlock the game.

shyguy

Symphony of the Night is one of my favorite games ever.

But MetroidVania < Castlevania.

While brutal, the good Castlevania games have so much going for them that I don't mind playing the same level over dozens upon dozens of times.

On the other hand, I've never been able to get into Portrait of Ruin, the only other Metroidvania game I've tried. It's... fine, I guess. But I don't see the point in playing it after I played the shit out of SoTN, a game that does everything PoR does but better.

I downloaded the original Castlevania on the Virtual Console a couple months ago and played through it. And yeah, yikes. That game doesn't pull any punches. Still fantastic, though. Can't wait for Castlevania 3 - my favorite game in the series - to show up. I still think that the Clock Tower in CV3 is the single best level in any videogame ever.

Edit: Oh, and I have the Drac X Chronicles, but haven't started on it yet. Can't wait, though.

slash000

Wait.

I though Vampires only got hurt when they touched Holy Water.. not just any water.

SirUltimos

My least favourite part is how the fucking bats keep flying at you constantly and makes it fucking impossible to do anything like jump. Or even fucking move.

Oh, how about how you don't get invincibility after being hit, so an enemy can hit you and knock you over and then fucking STAND on you until you die?

Mordrack

slash000 wrote: »

Wait.

I though Vampires only got hurt when they touched Holy Water.. not just any water.

Not familiar with the "can't cross running water" part about being a vampire?

Steel Angel

Mordrack wrote: »

Not familiar with the "can't cross running water" part about being a vampire?

I think it's pretty safe to say that Castlevania doesn't incorporate every single bit of vampire mythos into its universe. We don't exactly see the vampires in the series needing to feed on blood to survive. And given that it's Dracula's own damn castle and he has running water in it, I think it's safe to say that they don't consider the "can't cross running water" bit that important either.

geestack

The OP seriously just took the words out of my mouth. I never liked any of the Castlevania games before they made the switch to the SotN style; not only are there cheap deaths, but the fact that Richter in CVX controls like a freaking shopping cart on ice while trying to make timed jumps and battling patterned bosses makes the game have an artificial difficulty level. I mean, come on, if you're going to remake the game, at least give me controls on the level of SotN, where the jumping, platforming, and attacking are all responsive and precise. If I could describe CVX in a word, I would say "sluggish." It's as if you're also fighting the controls along with the enemies in the game. Like the OP, the inclusion of SotN was really the only selling point for me.

Edit: Also, another thing I've noticed, is that you literally cannot take any damage during the level. If you do, you're pretty much screwed for the boss fight in which he pulls out like fifty million moves and hits you before you can even react.

shyguy

While, like I said, I haven't started Rondo yet, I wouldn't call Castlevania games cheap, just unforgiving. The games are quite fair and up-front about what you have to do (navigate this long hallway full of bats and medusa heads while you command a character who controls like a giant sack of doorknobs), it's just that they demand perfection.

The thing about not taking damage throughout the level, for instance is pretty standard. Even though you have a health bar in CV games, getting his by one enemy frequently means instant death for one reason or another, which is why you spend so much time whipping bones and fireballs that come at you.

Of course, the MetroidVania games are so different that they might as well have been called something entirely different. You basically have to work to get killed in SoTN. Once you learn Soul Steal and Dark Metamorphosis, there's really no risk of dying in the game.

Pb

I have to say that I'm really, really happy to see a harder game that isn't "cheap." Between this and Godhand I'm sort of having my old love for games come back, and I'm going through both without touching Gamefaqs and just having fun trying to figure everything out. I think because for the first time in a while I'm not fighting the gameplay to enjoy the story. Different strokes for different folks, but I also enjoyed Castlevania 2 and Zelda 2, so I really have poor opinions.

Einhander

The thing that pisses me off the most was that I spent $30 on it expecting to enjoy Rondo when I could have just paid $10 to buy it at the PSN store. I've bought SotN on three separate platforms now.

I liked Bloodlines a lot, though. That game felt much less "cheap" to me.

Rear Admiral Choco

I don't really understand all the talk about how difficult it is. I mean, yeah, it is, but practice enough and you can pretty easily compensate for damage taken early.

I ended up getting fucked early in the final fight with Dracula since I make silly mistakes pretty often, but I managed to beat him even then.

Including the final third form. It was a bitch, though.

Worktruck

Yeah, I had no problem beating this game. I mean this game doesn't even have the ass buggery that was kill something move left a bit and it respawns again. Also you generally don't have too worry about falling to your death all the time especially in the end game no real inane jump puzzles to speak of. I think the only real frustration I had was what Choco mentioned above in the spoiler. I got more pissed off trying to play through Castlevania IV a few years ago.

apotheos

Even though it is quite forgiving, the game is on rails of sort. Once you learn the patterns its pretty easy to not get hit at all in many cases.

So once you accept that you'll die a few times per level figuring it out you'll be fine unless you are all thumbs

emnmnme

Has ol' Iga revealed what style the next DS Castlevania game will be? The Metroid-style was perfected in 1997 - time to move on and do something fresh with the series. I hear party games are all the rage these days; maybe they'll make a Castlevania-themed Brain Age title.

dmauro

Thread for girly-men. The old-style of Castlevania games is much better. Castlevania II is a nice happy-medium, but Castlevania III and Rondo of Blood can't be beat.

shyguy

I've never played it, but from what I've seen and heard, Castlevania 2 seems more like the worst of both worlds than the best...

Magic Pink

Once I unlocked Maria and SOTN and realized I'd already played SOTN about 10 times I put the game down and won't go back to it. It's really not very fun.

LBD_Nytetrayn

Pb wrote: »

I have to say that I'm really, really happy to see a harder game that isn't "cheap." Between this and Godhand I'm sort of having my old love for games come back, and I'm going through both without touching Gamefaqs and just having fun trying to figure everything out. I think because for the first time in a while I'm not fighting the gameplay to enjoy the story. Different strokes for different folks, but I also enjoyed Castlevania 2 and Zelda 2, so I really have poor opinions.

You're not alone, Castlevania II and Zelda II are favorites of mine, too. I'd love to see CVII remade... frankly, I think it's like "Castleroid" before that became the norm, but a bit more like the original as well. Plus, I think Simon, the ORIGINAL franchise hero, deserves some better character development than Worlds of Power or Captain N.

I'd love to see a new Zelda II as well... though, it wouldn't necessarily have to be Zelda...

I loved Portrait of Ruin, that was my breaking in to the new-style of game. I'd tried SOTN before, but it didn't quite hook me. Having it on PSP is great, though. Too bad they got rid of the original voice acting entirely. I understand why they'd do the new voices and scripts, for consistency and all, but still... "what is a man?" is nothing short of legendary.

SOTN is great, but I think that, at least for gameplay, PoR felt more refined to me. For one thing, I don't lose my Holy Water by accident, with the characters throwing it off a cliff so I can't pick it up again. THAT, friends, drives me nuts. That, and the whole equipping potions and such.

...also, Charlotte is a hotty.

Rondo was tough. I wound up using Maria to play through when I got her, though I've beaten it with both characters. She just controls a bit better. I hear the original is easier, due to the sprites' hitboxes being different.

I was surprised that controlling Richter in Rondo was nothing like controlling him at the start of SOTN.

Oldschool Castlevania, though, if they ever return to that, they need to ditch the lives system. Let's face it, you are going to die. A lot. Before you ever succeed, and that's IF you ever succeed. Sending you back to the start practically naked of all items and hearts isn't just pouring salt in the wound, it's breaking the shaker off in the wound and shaking it violently.

shyguy wrote: »

I've never played it, but from what I've seen and heard, Castlevania 2 seems more like the worst of both worlds than the best...

As you might tell by now, I would dispute this.

Funny enough, before I knew about this thread, I had made a bit of a comment last night on PMO, remembering that Ninja Gaiden on the NES was pretty much based on Castlevania to great degree, and wondered a) what it'd be like if we got a new 2D Ninja Gaiden in the style of the Castleroid games, and b) what it'd be like if 3D Castlevanias took after Xbox's Ninja Gaiden.

MHYoshimitzu

Hard games?

After watching this guy playing through this entire game and going insane, I don't believe there ARE any hard games left.