Post by: Halbred on May 27, 2008, 08:19:32 PM
As the staff's resident Castlevania fanboy, I am both excited and nervous about the upcoming DS game, Order of Ecclesia. On the one hand, running through a gothic castle while using a handful of weapons and magic attacks to subdue undead foes and giant bosses never fails to utterly kick ass. On the other hand, the series has grown fairly stale since 1998's seminal Symphony of the Night.
Let's face it: Koji Igarashi has been making the same basic game for the last ten years. A large semi-nonlinear castle, multiple weapons and armor items to equip, magic spells, item shops, and multiple endings depending on whether you've equipped the proper item at a critical juncture or not. Harmony of Dissonance, one of the GBA games, was practically a love letter to Symphony. Aria of Sorrow, the final (and best) GBA game, broke with tradition as far as plotline, but kept most of Symphony's devices intact while adding a maddening, grind-heavy magic system.
Dawn of Sorrow, the immediate sequel to Aria, and the DS' first Castlevania game, was really more like Aria 2.0, featuring similar plot devices, environments, and enemy designs. And then came Portrait of Ruin, which actually felt like a break from the norm again, with two playable characters, unique environmental puzzles, epic boss fights, and locations set outside of the usual castle theme (like Egypt). However, the magic grinding from Aria and Dawn was made worse by the fact that spells were split between the two characters, and the method of leveling up physical spells was beyond ridiculous.
So perhaps you can understand my anxiety toward Order of Ecclesia. While the core, surface-level gameplay of post-Symphony Castlevania games remains virtually unbeatable, the deeper intricacies of that gameplay have become stale and repetitious over time. In fact, some aspects of the game, like the magic system, have become worse. As I'm sure you all have read, Order will feature a "Glyph" system that promises to allow up to 100 kinds of special attacks. After the last few games, I can't help but wonder if a Glyph is just a magic attack I'll need to grind for. I hope it's not, and I hope that Order delivers new gameplay devices and, hopefully, a brand-new plotline. I eagerly await its arrival, but I am restraining my fanboyism until I actually play it.
In the meantime, all of you DS gamers who don't yet have PSP's should really check out Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. It's a remake of Rondo of Blood, a game which never made it to our shores in its original form. Both an updated version, as well as the original game, are packed within this tiny UMD. And if you search hard enough in the updated game, you might another full game or two. It's a great package, and I highly recommend it.
Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on May 27, 2008, 10:30:46 PM
Post by: Rize on May 27, 2008, 11:53:47 PM
That said, I agree with all of Zach's points here, except I don't recall having to grind anything in Portrait (it may have been an option, though not necessary for those without OCD).
Post by: blackfootsteps on May 28, 2008, 02:48:48 AM
Jonny? Who's the guy who wrote and recorded two castlevania remixes and has a castlevania avatar for the forum?
That said, I agree with all of Zach's points here, except I don't recall having to grind anything in Portrait (it may have been an option, though not necessary for those without OCD).
Yep pretty much. It was a boring process, only really needed to complete certain quests. I think the problem was that the reward for 'mastering' a particular skill just wasn't worth the effort (by effort I mean mindless repetition) involved in raising skill points.
Post by: KDR_11k on May 28, 2008, 05:28:50 AM
Yeah, glyphs will probably just end up as this game's flavour of magic, I hope they're varied enough to justify the new mechanism. Overall I pretty much hate levellable equipment that needs to be equipped to level, that just results in the things you're using all the time being much stronger than everything else and if you want to switch you have to level from zero again. I hope the segmented areas work better this time than in PoR.
Hell, PoR's skills had a tendency to be worthless even when levelled fully, expensive magic that would at best do as much damage as your physical weapon, usually less. With everything using magic I hope it'll balance out better this time.
But WTF is with the PSP recommendation? You said those of us who don't have a PSP should look into it but we'd have to buy a freaking 200 Euro/dollar system to be able to buy the game! I'd rather get an XBox 360 Arcade for that money.
Post by: Rize on May 28, 2008, 01:01:13 PM
But WTF is with the PSP recommendation? You said those of us who don't have a PSP should look into it but we'd have to buy a freaking 200 Euro/dollar system to be able to buy the game! I'd rather get an XBox 360 Arcade for that money.
Well, he did say he was a Castlevania fanboy. I don't even have a PSP yet honestly... there's so little on it that I'm interested in. I'll get one eventually, even if I have to wait for them to go on clearance.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 28, 2008, 01:03:05 PM
Post by: Rize on May 28, 2008, 01:04:33 PM
Playing Lament of Innocence once is enough to avoid all Castlevaniaing on Sony systems for good.
Actually, LoI isn't bad. You should see the second one... LoI at least had good music and good boss fights.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 28, 2008, 01:21:14 PM
That just re-affirms my original point.
"LOL at least had good music and good boss fights."
Music was remarkably unexciting for CD-quality orchestrated Sonyvania game music. Castlevania64 gives it a run for its money. Fighting was ridiculously reliant on the blocking mechanic, which sorta ruins the pace and mood of the fight. Oh, and the jerk jumps nearly vertically just like Dante -- way to maintain the aerial maneuverability of the 2D games.
I'll take Shinji Mikami's P.N.03 over Igarashi's Castleflops any day.
Post by: vudu on May 28, 2008, 02:13:20 PM
I don't recall having to grind anything in Portrait (it may have been an option, though not necessary for those without OCD).
Someone didn't unlock the OAA mode. ;)
Post by: Rize on May 28, 2008, 03:55:16 PM
Post by: KDR_11k on May 28, 2008, 04:26:35 PM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 28, 2008, 04:42:18 PM
Post by: vudu on May 28, 2008, 04:45:13 PM
No, I may be a huge Castlevania fan, but that doens't mean I'm unreasonable. I got tired of Portrait of Ruin after the first ordinary play through.
I beat it four times with each set of characters. 100% (well, except for the sisters, which the max you could get was like 60% or so.)
Post by: Rize on May 28, 2008, 04:59:15 PM
Post by: vudu on May 28, 2008, 05:13:13 PM
Post by: Halbred on May 28, 2008, 07:51:35 PM
Post by: vudu on May 28, 2008, 08:22:37 PM
/Cheshire Cat
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 28, 2008, 10:43:02 PM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 28, 2008, 10:51:18 PM
Post by: KDR_11k on May 29, 2008, 03:08:02 PM
Post by: Halbred on May 29, 2008, 03:19:40 PM
Post by: animecyberrat on May 29, 2008, 04:52:02 PM
So my point was, how does this game compare to those.
Post by: vudu on May 29, 2008, 05:24:33 PM
Post by: animecyberrat on May 29, 2008, 05:56:55 PM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 29, 2008, 06:22:18 PM
