The story is absolutely inconsequential, so I wont talk about it other than to say theres a time rift and different characters from the Castlevania franchise are all fighting each other for no obvious reason. Dracula is involved somehow; its not really clear. The game is divided into different sections: traditional Story and Arcade modes, an interesting Castle mode (more on that in a minute), and online matches. Sadly, I cannot comment on the online content, because I couldnt find anybody to play with.
The games control scheme is its biggest hurdle. Do not play this game with a Wii Remote and Nunchuck, because youll be whipping yourself in the foot. Shaking the Remote to attack is awkward and tiring, and the button configuration makes the game nigh-unplayable. The GameCube controller is an option, but the button layout makes certain attacks awkward. Your best bet is the Classic Controller, which, in spite of its own problems, is your only viable choice. Jumping and blocking are handled with the shoulder buttons, while attacks are mapped to the face buttons. You move around the 3D battlefield with the left stick and dodge with the right stick. Learning the ropes (whips?) of attacking takes some practice. The B button will be your primary attack button. Like Smash Bros., pressing different directions on the left stick in conjunction with the attack buttons results in different attacks. The A button charges attacks. Using it and the B button along with analog stick directions (or while jumping) produces different results, too. If you hold down the A button until your character flashes, the ensuing attack will (usually) be unblockable. The Y button is used for sub-weapons, and the X button is your super attack. Sub-weapons (Holy Water, Knives, etc.) are useful only when fully charged, and even then youre better of simply attacking the usual way. They are an interesting addition to the standard fighting formula, but haphazardly implemented.
However, there is no lock-on button, and unlike a technical fighter such as Soul Calibur or Tekken, characters do not automatically face each other. This makes it very easy to run away from the opposition, although the camera will swing around like a drunken monkey as it tries to keep you and your opponent on-screen at all times. Because of the erratic camera, evading attacks is difficult: what you perceive to be the backwards direction may be different from the cameras perspective. Very often, you will evade directly into an opponents attack. Movement problems are compounded by the various items sprinkled around battlefields, from barrels and crates (which hold items) to traps like spikes or scythes. Because the camera doesnt give you a broad enough view, I found myself inadvertently stepping into disaster time and time again, or just falling right off the stage. The game already has a Soul Calibur bent to it, what with the weapons and certain character designs, but it either needed to be a more traditional 3D fighter or limited to two dimensions like the old King of Fighters games or Street Fighter.
Once you learn your and your opponents attack combos and adjust to the camera, the game becomes significantly easier. But in order to really feel like you know what youre doing, you need to put some time into it. This is not a learn-as-you-go game, which I found irritating. The tutorials (accessed via the main menu) help drill skills into your head, though, and with its help youll be chaining combos with move cancels and recovering from falls in no time. Spending some time in practice mode helps, too, but without going through Training mode, Judgment has a pretty high learning curve, even compared to a more technical game like Soul Calibur IV. Another good place to pick up your skills is Castle mode, which resembles the old Soul Calibur Mission and Conquest modes, where you move from room to room fighting enemies under special conditions. They range from ridiculously easy (break five objects in the room) to unbelievably hard (keep enemies from breaking any objects for twenty seconds). But as long as you avoid the uber-hard challenges, Castle mode is pretty cool, and it unlocks cosmetic accessories for your characters.
This game's character design has been largely ridiculed, and for good reason. Absolutely none of the characters, except maybe Alucard and Shanoa, look like their canonical counterparts. Some, like Death, look like they belong in a different franchise. Others, like Aeon, look straight out of Death Note. The main problem is that each characters costume is way too busy and modern. I dont think they had intricate belt-coats in the 1600s. Yet incredibly, theres a Soul Calibur influence to the design. Carmilla is basically Ivy with a red (instead of purple) corset. She even has a whip. Grant DeNasty, whos supposed to be a pirate, looks like Voldo here, even to the point of being covered in bandages and adopting bizarre postures for attacks. And then there are the non-canonical characters like Cornell (Castlevania 64) and Golem (from no game in particular). There are plenty of other canonical characters that could have filled those shoes, like Soma Cruz, Shaft, or Charlotte Aulin. The designs of some of Judgments canonical characters, like Maria Renard or Eric Lecarde, are hideous. Rather than redesign Maria based on her teenage Symphony of the Night form, Judgment gives you the little kid Dracula X form instead. Eric Lecarde looks like a 12-year-old boy, and giving him the Alucard Spear just emphasizes his small stature that much more. Even Dracula looks kind of silly, what with the gold and the spikes. .In all, these are not Castlevania characters.
At least Konami was kind to the musical score, which features remixed versions of classic Castlevania themes, including the seminal Bloody Tears and plenty of Symphony tunes. Additionally, the voice acting is good, but in a campy way. Few combatants sound out of character, but theres definitely a strong anime influence (Maria's voice is straight out of Inayusha). Castlevania fans are also rewarded with bonus content for both Judgment with Order of Ecclesia when the two are hooked together, although the DS bonus content isnt all that great.
If you work at learning the game, and view it as something thats not necessarily Castlevania proper, Judgment can provide a decent romp. If you're looking for a good lighthearted fighter, Judgement is outclassed by Brawl. However, if you like Soulcalibur but dont own a PS3 or Xbox 360, Judgment is your only real alternative, and its not as terrible as people have been saying.
Pros:
Lastability: 8.0
Taking all the characters through Story and Arcade will take awhile, as will Castle mode. More characters are unlocked as you progress through the story.
Final: 7.0
There are some really scary aspects to this gamelike the art directionbut when you remove all the anti-hype, Judgment succeeds at being a perfectly playable, albeit obtuse, fighting game. Wii owners should definitely check it out. It wont please everybody, but I can guarantee its not the crap-fest it has been made out to be.
I'm curious -- do you really think this kind of connectivity between Wii and DS is a good thing? It seems like a craven marketing ploy to require owning two different games to unlock everything in each. Maybe it's not so bad when there's an alternate method (as I think was done for some of the unlocks in Metroid Prime).
Smash Bros. isn't really GANON but at least it goes for proper representations.
Smash Bros. isn't really GANON but at least it goes for proper representations.
True, but still since this is a quick side project for Konami I don't see it as a major entry in the series.
Then again, I am not a big CV fan, so maybe I have to be a major fan in order to be disgusted with the designs.
You can unlock Shoana and Aeon in Judgment by alternate means, and you can unlock the new level cap in Ecclesia by alternate means, too. So the connectivity isn't a requirement, but I s'pose it's nice to have.
I know the Death Note guy designed the characters. I put that in the review!
So far we haven't seen GOOD Wii-DS connectivity yet.
Where's my secret agent spy game where we get to use the DS as a PDA or hAxors gadget? or as a radar map? or some camera display device? Hell, I don't think the Wii Remote's been employed as a Geiger Counter yet.
What if the DS was used to spot... GHOST AURA in a game setting?
Yeah, Nintendo dropped the ball again.
Think about it, Nintendo's experimenting with online a bit this gen despite never making it a priority to fuel Wii's success.
Next generation, Nintendo will leave out online completely. This is how Nintendo works.
PSP-PS3 connectivity success is only reinforcing Nintendo's stance.
PSP-PS3 connectivity success is only reinforcing Nintendo's stance.
Unless you are being sarcastic, isn't the connectivity kind of limited there?
It seems most of the features are for the PS store.
What PS3 game use the PSP to the fullest, as an alternative way to control your games?
