Castlevania get! The bonus is very slick. Ripping the CD now, it's friggin' huge. The artbook is fantastic. Not as long as it could be, but still pretty comprehensive. I'm reminded of just how bland DoS's art was, though. Flipping between it and Aria, it's night and day. The artist ought to be embarrassed to be in the same book as Kojima. PoR's is better, but still a big step down. Still, next to Wind Waker's as the best preorder bonus ever.
Why didn't Kojima work on PoR's art, anyway? Is there another console CV in the works?
You're going to share, right?
That depends. Know anyplace I can upload a 104 MB file for free, preferably without signing up for anything?
He has a fileplanet account which he uses to distribute other mp3s and such.
Or pm him here (discoalucard).
I believe he's already in the process of uploading the soundtrack to the site though if he hasn't already. We had it before about a month before the game was even out in Japan which caused controversy for obvious reasons so it was stricken. Rightfully so. I believe what he has now is a much more quality copy of the game's audio.
That's more in reference to the complete Portrait of Ruin soundtrack rather than just the limited edition cd. Either way it's great music everyone must here.
Konami's always been well aware of the site's existence so I doubt there'll be any problem this time.
Neo Rasa on
"You know how Batman hangs people over the edge of buildings and gets them to spill information. That's Neo Rasa's way of it, but instead of information, he just likes to see people suffer." ~Senor Fish
If I can get the preorder bonus on eBay for 10-15 dollars, I should do it.
It's a soundtrack and an artbook, with a timeline/stylus/game case garnish. But it's a really nice soundtrack, and some great art. If you're a big CV fan, higher. If you don't care about the franchise, less.
He has a fileplanet account which he uses to distribute other mp3s and such.
Or pm him here (discoalucard).
I believe he's already in the process of uploading the soundtrack to the site though if he hasn't already. We had it before about a month before the game was even out in Japan which caused controversy for obvious reasons so it was stricken. Rightfully so. I believe what he has now is a much more quality copy of the game's audio.
That's more in reference to the complete Portrait of Ruin soundtrack rather than just the limited edition cd. Either way it's great music everyone must here.
Konami's always been well aware of the site's existence so I doubt there'll be any problem this time.
That's awesome that Konami looks kindly on these things.
It's always blown my mind that some companies shut down fan sites of their various products. Those sites really help get the word out on prior games and help keep peoples interest.
Spoilers be damned, I need a general outline of what I need to think about to get the good endings.
Same with Dawn of Sorrow, are there multiple endings? What do I need to do to not fuck up?
Dawn of Sorrow the trick was pretty much "find Paranoia".
Para who?
HAP HAP
You got the good ending, right? He was[spoiler:9a230d1e37]The red stabby mirror guy whose soul let you go behind mirrors. This let you kill the demon giving what'shisface power. Remember?[/spoiler:9a230d1e37]
Spoilers be damned, I need a general outline of what I need to think about to get the good endings.
Same with Dawn of Sorrow, are there multiple endings? What do I need to do to not fuck up?
Dawn of Sorrow the trick was pretty much "find Paranoia".
Para who?
HAP HAP
You got the good ending, right? He was[spoiler:037db0d843]The red stabby mirror guy whose soul let you go behind mirrors. This let you kill the demon giving what'shisface power. Remember?[/spoiler:037db0d843]
I know I'm going to get flamed for this, and I know I deserve it but...
I'm not a fan of the multiple endings in the castletroid style games. Yes it's nice to get rewarded for actually completing the game. However I've known people that only got the half assed ending and then called the game "two short".
To me it seems like they made up for the sheer amount of time (which I'll admit was absurd) it took to complete the level by level games due to their difficulty by extending the quest for your various endings.
And let's be honest. The "casual gamers" who don't know any better will just finish at whatever ending they have to encouter and call it a day. Those of us who love the series will go straight for the max ending and drop the rest.
Also the internet has made any "secret path/ending" a thing of the past. Back when I was a kid with the NES secret endings were pretty hard to find. I remember the shock when I found out there were cheat codes for metroid/zelda/kid icarus to enter a set name and not have to go through all the BS to get said character (from nintendo power). Now it's just silly, anybody with the internet can get all the answers in a few seconds.
I'd like to see a castletroid that just has ONE ending... but force you to do it the hard way, and for the love of god make the games harder. At minimum CV4 hard (which is still going easy).
Spoilers be damned, I need a general outline of what I need to think about to get the good endings.
Same with Dawn of Sorrow, are there multiple endings? What do I need to do to not fuck up?
Dawn of Sorrow the trick was pretty much "find Paranoia".
Para who?
HAP HAP
You got the good ending, right? He was[spoiler:adad6e888f]The red stabby mirror guy whose soul let you go behind mirrors. This let you kill the demon giving what'shisface power. Remember?[/spoiler:adad6e888f]
I never finished the game and never met this guy.
I'm trying to replay the game and not lose focus this time.
The Wii and Guitar Hero make this hard.
What has me really worried is a review of PoR that states that there are twice as many portraits to go into if you play right... eesh... these are the things I need to be able to find.
Apparently the map seems to go to one thousand percent.
Neo Rasa on
"You know how Batman hangs people over the edge of buildings and gets them to spill information. That's Neo Rasa's way of it, but instead of information, he just likes to see people suffer." ~Senor Fish
K... before I leave this thread alone until I own a copy... someone spoiler me what I need to do to get to the other 4 portraits and get the full experience.
If I end up beating this game after the first 4 portraits I will cry.
So guys, three hours in, I think I just got the (these are real spoilers by the way) [spoiler:faf54d48f6]terrible ending[/spoiler:faf54d48f6].
[realspoiler:faf54d48f6]I fought the two girls you see in the intro movie, and kicked their asses. Their daddy swoops in, and warps out with them, destroying the castle. Game Over. Anyone else this far?[/realspoiler:faf54d48f6]
I just got here and I have tried different things:
[spoiler:faf54d48f6]having jonathon equip stella's locket, killing the other sister (ice casting one) with vampire killer, kiling the ice casting one normally (since she isn't stella, I figured killing her would trigger something since I have Stella's locket) and still nothing, what a waste of potions and money. If anyone know's, would be nice, if not, I may check an FAQ[/spoiler:faf54d48f6].
Somewhat surprisingly, my copy of Portrait of Ruin (with preorder bonus) was shipped on the fifth and arrived at my doorstep, in good ol' Blighty, on the morning of the seventh. Two days international shipping? Impressive. Not so impressive was the £20 customs surcharge. For one game! Turns out, the wankers at EBGames had labelled my package as having a value of £39.99, when in fact it was barely even half that. What a crock.
So, the preorder bonuses were somewhat overhyped. The art book is decent, save for the final few pages dedicated to Dawn of Sorrow onwards which are just frigging depressing. The game case is useful, and I'll certainly use it when out and about. I'll have to try the stylus out at some point, though I'm certain my current sub-$1 stylus is better, though it doesn't fit in the DS itself.
Probably worth it to those that didn't get stung by tossers at EBGames marking values up rather than down.
Anywho, this is my first Castlevania. At first, I was wholly unimpressed by the difficulty presented. Run up to enemy, duck, press A until everything dies. Woo. Then I got to the first boss. And I haven't beat it yet, after ten attempts. Partly my fault for not buying potions beyond the one for Wind's quest, partly the game's for making everything preceding that point embarrasingly easy.
So the pre-order bonus came shipped in a seperate wrapping, so I'm thinking I don't even want to open mine. But I want to get the soundtrack somehow. Is the soundtrack going to be freely available online somehow? Or is it actually a seperately sold product?
LCDXXA flask of wood and glassTerre Haute, INRegistered User, ClubPAregular
edited December 2006
Well, I barely got my feet wet in this game last night, but so far I'm diggin' it. Probably my biggest complaint is that from the beginning up until you beat the first portrait, the music sounds uninspired. But I'm pretty early into the game, so I'm not really all that disappointed.
The gameplay is, initially, a little complex (for a Castlevania game). It took me a little while to to get used to switching between characters, or alternating between having one or both of them on the screen at one time.
The animations are spectacular and from the moment I turned it on, I realized right away that this game must look AMAZING on a DS Lite. The Phatty's washed-out backlighting doesn't do this game any favors, that's for sure.
There is certainly more "story" to this Castlevania than in recent installments.
[realspoiler:94a05d2a28]The last hidden area is a place called the Demon's Den, which is a CotM style arena area full of all kinds of nastiness, such as bosses from past games. Like Gergoth, Zephyr and the SotN Castlevania 3 trio. I have no idea how to get to it, though.
[/realspoiler:94a05d2a28]
So guys, three hours in, I think I just got the (these are real spoilers by the way) [spoiler:4b0d07a7d8]terrible ending[/spoiler:4b0d07a7d8].
[realspoiler:4b0d07a7d8]I fought the two girls you see in the intro movie, and kicked their asses. Their daddy swoops in, and warps out with them, destroying the castle. Game Over. Anyone else this far?[/realspoiler:4b0d07a7d8]
I just got here and I have tried different things:
[spoiler:4b0d07a7d8]having jonathon equip stella's locket, killing the other sister (ice casting one) with vampire killer, kiling the ice casting one normally (since she isn't stella, I figured killing her would trigger something since I have Stella's locket) and still nothing, what a waste of potions and money. If anyone know's, would be nice, if not, I may check an FAQ[/spoiler:4b0d07a7d8].
I figured it out. Try and do some of Wind's quests. [realspoiler:4b0d07a7d8]After one of Wind's quests you get the Sanctuary spell, which can cure vampirism.[/realspoiler:4b0d07a7d8]
So, does Jonathan ever serve a purpose, ever? I mean, beyond using his face as an improvised stepladder?
I stuck with Jonathan for almost the entirety of the first area, simply because I wanted to be the badass with the whip. Then I got my arse kicked on the first boss. In desperation, I tried it again with Magic Girl. Oh dear. Rock Riot spam dealt over 120 damage per cast and toppled the boss before he did so much as swing his weapon. Then I sauntered throughout another hour or so of gameplay just pissing around with Gale Force and never getting touched.
Methinks magic is perhaps a teense too powerful. At the very least, using Jonathan during the first few hours of the game is a bloody silly to do.
I've used jonathan 90% of the time so far. Guess I'll try Charlotte out for a bit and see how it goes. She gets obliterated if she gets touched though.
Anywho, this is my first Castlevania. At first, I was wholly unimpressed by the difficulty presented. Run up to enemy, duck, press A until everything dies. Woo. Then I got to the first boss. And I haven't beat it yet, after ten attempts. Partly my fault for not buying potions beyond the one for Wind's quest, partly the game's for making everything preceding that point embarrasingly easy.
Castlevania games have been very easy ever since SoTN on the PS1... and each game after has become even easier.
That doesn't mean they aren't fun though.
If you want a hard castlevania trying playing 1 or 3 on the NES (I think 1 has a gba port). Both of those are obnoxiously hard.
So, does Jonathan ever serve a purpose, ever? I mean, beyond using his face as an improvised stepladder?
I stuck with Jonathan for almost the entirety of the first area, simply because I wanted to be the badass with the whip. Then I got my arse kicked on the first boss. In desperation, I tried it again with Magic Girl. Oh dear. Rock Riot spam dealt over 120 damage per cast and toppled the boss before he did so much as swing his weapon. Then I sauntered throughout another hour or so of gameplay just pissing around with Gale Force and never getting touched.
Methinks magic is perhaps a teense too powerful. At the very least, using Jonathan during the first few hours of the game is a bloody silly to do.
Meh. Johnathan is who I'd rather be if I'm low on distance-between-me-and-my-enemies or MP. Steel-whip is a good thing. Essentially, I switch between the two regularly, depending what the room looks like, enemy-wise.
ViolentChemistry on
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JebralThe guy nobody pays attention toDown South in the land of free thinkingRegistered Userregular
edited December 2006
Keep in mind you have to level Jonathan's sub weapons up. If you look in the guide section of the pause menu at skills, you can see your progress with your weapons.
How you earn points varies from weapon to weapon, some you simply use, while others you have to finish an enemy off with it.
Jonathan's a lot better when his subs don't hit for beans.
It's my understanding that if you use Charlotte in such a manner her magic is crazy gimped. I believe that regardless of the charge, she fires off the "uncharged" effect. Having her as your main makes her deal approximately double damage and in most cases grants her spells additional effects (more attacks, wider AoE and the like).
It's my understanding that if you use Charlotte in such a manner her magic is crazy gimped. I believe that regardless of the charge, she fires off the "uncharged" effect. Having her as your main makes her deal approximately double damage and in most cases grants her spells additional effects (more attacks, wider AoE and the like).
interesting. I still think I would rather use whips, and other weapons.
It's my understanding that if you use Charlotte in such a manner her magic is crazy gimped. I believe that regardless of the charge, she fires off the "uncharged" effect. Having her as your main makes her deal approximately double damage and in most cases grants her spells additional effects (more attacks, wider AoE and the like).
interesting. I still think I would rather use whips, and other weapons.
As a side note the 1000 knives thing is awesome.
I have been using 1000 knives to kill every non-flying boss I've fought. It's stupidly good.
So, does Jonathan ever serve a purpose, ever? I mean, beyond using his face as an improvised stepladder?
I stuck with Jonathan for almost the entirety of the first area, simply because I wanted to be the badass with the whip. Then I got my arse kicked on the first boss. In desperation, I tried it again with Magic Girl. Oh dear. Rock Riot spam dealt over 120 damage per cast and toppled the boss before he did so much as swing his weapon. Then I sauntered throughout another hour or so of gameplay just pissing around with Gale Force and never getting touched.
Methinks magic is perhaps a teense too powerful. At the very least, using Jonathan during the first few hours of the game is a bloody silly to do.
Man, I don't know what kind of crazy version of Rock Riot you're using, but I couldn't get it to deal more than like 20 damage.
So far I've used Jonathan exclusively. I try not to even have Charlotte on as a partner, because the AI kinda sucks and causes me to lose MP from her constantly walking into attacks.
It's my understanding that if you use Charlotte in such a manner her magic is crazy gimped. I believe that regardless of the charge, she fires off the "uncharged" effect. Having her as your main makes her deal approximately double damage and in most cases grants her spells additional effects (more attacks, wider AoE and the like).
interesting. I still think I would rather use whips, and other weapons.
Okee-day, I've just tested this, using Gale Force as a tester. When used as "backup", Gale Force fires a single blade of wind at an opponent, carrying on after said opponent is hit to deal damage to enemies directly behind. When Charlotte is your main, Gale Force fires two larger blades of wind, each dealing double damage. Each blade homes in on a seperate opponent, almost perfectly, and when said foe is hit carries on in the direction it was travelling, hitting any foes that get in the way for the same amount of damage.
Basically, Gale Force as backup is weak as all get-out. Gale Force as your main is obnoxiously powerful.
Man, I don't know what kind of crazy version of Rock Riot you're using, but I couldn't get it to deal more than like 20 damage.
Rock Riot, when fully charged, drops four large boulders directly in front of you in the space of around two seconds, each one dealing substantial damage. It's fantastic against large enemies (such as bosses) because they will take all four boulders. Small enemies probably won't get hit once.
Man, I don't know what kind of crazy version of Rock Riot you're using, but I couldn't get it to deal more than like 20 damage.
Rock Riot, when fully charged, drops four large boulders directly in front of you in the space of around two seconds, each one dealing substantial damage. It's fantastic against large enemies (such as bosses) because they will take all four boulders. Small enemies probably won't get hit once.
...I wasn't really aware of any "charging", but in any case, I can't remember using Rock Riot and NOT having four large boulders come down right in front of me. In fact, that's what was so frustrating about it; usually I couldn't get close enough to the bosses to use it.
Keep in mind you have to level Jonathan's sub weapons up. If you look in the guide section of the pause menu at skills, you can see your progress with your weapons.
How you earn points varies from weapon to weapon, some you simply use, while others you have to finish an enemy off with it.
Jonathan's a lot better when his subs don't hit for beans.
I just sold a Fishman some Gold Plate in my online shop for 6400g. I was amused to find it still in my inventory when I went back to my game. I found this little gem in the manual after that:
"Note: You do not lose items that are sold in the shops."
That reminds me, I still haven't done Wind's second quest.
[spoiler:a072e34f35]What butcher? In what town? The City of Haze?[/spoiler:a072e34f35]
Yes, that place. [spoiler:a072e34f35]In the room with the beefs hanging down from the ceiling, punch some meat with one of your fist weapons. I used the Bagh Nak.[/spoiler:a072e34f35]
Posts
Or pm him here (discoalucard).
I believe he's already in the process of uploading the soundtrack to the site though if he hasn't already. We had it before about a month before the game was even out in Japan which caused controversy for obvious reasons so it was stricken. Rightfully so. I believe what he has now is a much more quality copy of the game's audio.
That's more in reference to the complete Portrait of Ruin soundtrack rather than just the limited edition cd. Either way it's great music everyone must here.
Konami's always been well aware of the site's existence so I doubt there'll be any problem this time.
Para who?
HAP HAP
That's awesome that Konami looks kindly on these things.
It's always blown my mind that some companies shut down fan sites of their various products. Those sites really help get the word out on prior games and help keep peoples interest.
I know I'm going to get flamed for this, and I know I deserve it but...
I'm not a fan of the multiple endings in the castletroid style games. Yes it's nice to get rewarded for actually completing the game. However I've known people that only got the half assed ending and then called the game "two short".
To me it seems like they made up for the sheer amount of time (which I'll admit was absurd) it took to complete the level by level games due to their difficulty by extending the quest for your various endings.
And let's be honest. The "casual gamers" who don't know any better will just finish at whatever ending they have to encouter and call it a day. Those of us who love the series will go straight for the max ending and drop the rest.
Also the internet has made any "secret path/ending" a thing of the past. Back when I was a kid with the NES secret endings were pretty hard to find. I remember the shock when I found out there were cheat codes for metroid/zelda/kid icarus to enter a set name and not have to go through all the BS to get said character (from nintendo power). Now it's just silly, anybody with the internet can get all the answers in a few seconds.
I'd like to see a castletroid that just has ONE ending... but force you to do it the hard way, and for the love of god make the games harder. At minimum CV4 hard (which is still going easy).
I'm trying to replay the game and not lose focus this time.
The Wii and Guitar Hero make this hard.
What has me really worried is a review of PoR that states that there are twice as many portraits to go into if you play right... eesh... these are the things I need to be able to find.
100% x 8 portraits....
900%
WHERES THE OTHER HUNDRED?!
If I end up beating this game after the first 4 portraits I will cry.
I just got here and I have tried different things:
[spoiler:faf54d48f6]having jonathon equip stella's locket, killing the other sister (ice casting one) with vampire killer, kiling the ice casting one normally (since she isn't stella, I figured killing her would trigger something since I have Stella's locket) and still nothing, what a waste of potions and money. If anyone know's, would be nice, if not, I may check an FAQ[/spoiler:faf54d48f6].
So, the preorder bonuses were somewhat overhyped. The art book is decent, save for the final few pages dedicated to Dawn of Sorrow onwards which are just frigging depressing. The game case is useful, and I'll certainly use it when out and about. I'll have to try the stylus out at some point, though I'm certain my current sub-$1 stylus is better, though it doesn't fit in the DS itself.
Probably worth it to those that didn't get stung by tossers at EBGames marking values up rather than down.
Anywho, this is my first Castlevania. At first, I was wholly unimpressed by the difficulty presented. Run up to enemy, duck, press A until everything dies. Woo. Then I got to the first boss. And I haven't beat it yet, after ten attempts. Partly my fault for not buying potions beyond the one for Wind's quest, partly the game's for making everything preceding that point embarrasingly easy.
I killed some spear monster guy and saw his weapon skill drop.
Then I get KNOCKED into the next room by an enemy and the drop vanishes.
After that I died.
sucks to be you, that's a great weapon.
This game is fun. Two erections up.
The gameplay is, initially, a little complex (for a Castlevania game). It took me a little while to to get used to switching between characters, or alternating between having one or both of them on the screen at one time.
The animations are spectacular and from the moment I turned it on, I realized right away that this game must look AMAZING on a DS Lite. The Phatty's washed-out backlighting doesn't do this game any favors, that's for sure.
There is certainly more "story" to this Castlevania than in recent installments.
Oh and...
JONATHAN!
CHARLOTTE!
[realspoiler:94a05d2a28]The last hidden area is a place called the Demon's Den, which is a CotM style arena area full of all kinds of nastiness, such as bosses from past games. Like Gergoth, Zephyr and the SotN Castlevania 3 trio. I have no idea how to get to it, though.
[/realspoiler:94a05d2a28]
Not sure, I doubt it though. It's just the best weapon you get early on. Atleast the best one you get easily.
Try farming it alittle.
I stuck with Jonathan for almost the entirety of the first area, simply because I wanted to be the badass with the whip. Then I got my arse kicked on the first boss. In desperation, I tried it again with Magic Girl. Oh dear. Rock Riot spam dealt over 120 damage per cast and toppled the boss before he did so much as swing his weapon. Then I sauntered throughout another hour or so of gameplay just pissing around with Gale Force and never getting touched.
Methinks magic is perhaps a teense too powerful. At the very least, using Jonathan during the first few hours of the game is a bloody silly to do.
Castlevania games have been very easy ever since SoTN on the PS1... and each game after has become even easier.
That doesn't mean they aren't fun though.
If you want a hard castlevania trying playing 1 or 3 on the NES (I think 1 has a gba port). Both of those are obnoxiously hard.
How you earn points varies from weapon to weapon, some you simply use, while others you have to finish an enemy off with it.
Jonathan's a lot better when his subs don't hit for beans.
interesting. I still think I would rather use whips, and other weapons.
As a side note the 1000 knives thing is awesome.
So far I've used Jonathan exclusively. I try not to even have Charlotte on as a partner, because the AI kinda sucks and causes me to lose MP from her constantly walking into attacks.
Basically, Gale Force as backup is weak as all get-out. Gale Force as your main is obnoxiously powerful.
Rock Riot, when fully charged, drops four large boulders directly in front of you in the space of around two seconds, each one dealing substantial damage. It's fantastic against large enemies (such as bosses) because they will take all four boulders. Small enemies probably won't get hit once.
[spoiler:9842ab6252]What butcher? In what town? The City of Haze?[/spoiler:9842ab6252]
"Note: You do not lose items that are sold in the shops."