Topic: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

[vudu]

The DS games are infinitely better than the GBA ones if for no other reason than the map/enemy info is visible on the top screen during game play.

[Monteblanco]

As such, which of the DS Castlevania titles is more forgiving?

I'd recommend Dawn of Sorrow.  It's easily the best of the DS games.

If you tend to get turned off by the 2D Metroid games you might want to considerPortrait of Ruin instead.  It doesn't have a single-castle design of DoS, so it's a little easier to not get lost if that's a concern.

Super Metroid is, by far, my favourite game. I'll try Daw of Sorrow, thanks for the tip.

[vudu]

****, maybe I should have looked at your avatar before saying that. 

[vudu]

I'm about halfway finished with the game and I've come to terms with the Glyph system.  Unfortunately, while it sounds very promising, it seems to be more limiting than the regular weapon/soul system of the other DS/GBA games.

While I really like double-wielding Glyphs, I've found I get the best results when I equip the same Glyph to both my right and left hand and attack by alternating between the X and Y buttons as fast as I can.  I'll typically equip swords in my A slot, hammers in my B slot and some sort of magic in my C slot and switch between them depending on current enemies' weakness.

At first I tried equipping a regular weapon in my X slot (e.g. a sword) and a magic or projectile attack in my Y slot but quickly discovered that the system didn't work as well as I had hoped.  Most enemies have a significantly higher HP than in past games (or maybe I just don't do as much damage) so I need to attack with both hands in order to quickly defeat them.  Since lots of enemies are strong to one attack (e.g. swords) and weak to another (e.g. hammers) holding one of each doesn't do much more damage than just attacking with one glyph that they're weak against.

In order to maximize my effectiveness I need to double equip what they're weak against.  And even if an enemy is weak against multiple weapon types it doesn't really make sense to equip different weapon types because they deal different damage amounts and (more importantly) they have different attack speeds (which can mess up your flow if you are tapping X and Y repeatedly to vanquish a strong foe).  Nine times out of ten the best course of action is to pick your strongest weapon and equip it in both hands.

Off the top of my head I can think of only four types close-range, non-magic glyphs--swords, hammers, rapiers, sickles.  Each has two (that I've come across so far, but I'm willing to bet there's at least a third) strengths--weak and strong.  Once you get the strong version there's no reason to ever use the weak version.  Gone are the days of balancing whether to use a quick,weak stabbing-sword vs. a slow, strong overhead-swinging sword.

And since you can no longer power up your magic by collecting the same soul/glyph multiple times there's little reason to switch from your best weapons until you come across something stronger.

New armor also seems to be far and few between so there's little reason to change your equipment unless you want a hat/accessory to increase your luck or help you find treasure.

The core gameplay is still excellent and I have no complaints about the level structure or the combat (bosses are particularly awesome).  However, I can't help but be a bit disappointed by the new weapon system.

[Caliban]

I'm having more fun with the game once I understood that Ecclesia isn't the usual Castlevania DS/GBA game, and it took me a good while, and a lot of killing to understand that. The funny thing is that I think that sometimes the bosses are much easier to beat than the enemies. Ecclesia has its own unique charm, and I hope that's what the developers were going for because it is a nice change.

[Adrock]

Souls > Glyphs

No Castlevania since Symphony of the Night has been as good. Aria of Sorrow was the best non-SotN entry. The main problem being gameplay. Symphony of the Night completely changed the series and subsequent games have just piggybacked off its formula. Still fun, just lacking originality. They don't need to start from scratch, but a little innovation can go a long way.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Yeah, they could like go 3D.

Symphony mainly brought Metroid for people who didn't like Metroid.  Basically, a sidescrollers for casuals.  That was way too easy.

[DAaaMan64]

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/455/455583p1.html

The PS2 game, Lament of Innocence is suppose to be excellent.  I mention this because it is 3d.

[KDR_11k]

Yeah, they could like go 3D.

Symphony mainly brought Metroid for people who didn't like Metroid.  Basically, a sidescrollers for casuals.  That was way too easy.

SotN is indeed easier than later Cvs, the lack of invulnerability timers on bosses makes it really easy to rack up massive damage and wipe them out in no time.

[Tybo68]

I haven't played any GBA Castlevanias but I love all of the DS ones. Lots of people have their opinions on which ones are better than the rest and you can't go wrong with any of them (at least the ones I have played.)

[KDR_11k]

It finally came out here.

[Caliban]

I got to a part in the game where I compared my percentage done with how much I explored and the only thing running through my mind was "holy ****". Oh, by the way I'm on the second part of the game in continuation with my initial investment of 10 hours of gameplay. I don't think I gave that much play time with the other Cs even though I finished the games... well except for Circle of the Moon which I played multiple times over.

The only thing I don't like about this game is the optional missions villagers give you because some items are just really hard to get sometimes because the freakin' enemies decide not to drop 4 to 5 star rare items even after I've killed them 500 times.

I really like that I don't have to keep getting money to keep on getting better weapons, but on the other hand there is much weapon variety either, but that something I'm willing to cope with considering back in the day all we had was a whip. Heck I don't even use that much money on potions because I think the game makes you quite strong even though it has a slow rate of ascension. Boss fights are awesome because it's no longer just hack and slash because you can die quite fast if you just go head on. There's this boss that I defeated with just one move, and I was so surprised with such event because it shows how diverse these boss battles have been.

Yes. I'm lovin' this game. Even though I didn't like it so much in the beginning. Change is hard to accept, and this C has many changes of which I welcome and hope that Konami releases a few more Cs just like this one.

[Caliban]

Finished it yesterday with 15 hours and change. The last 2 bosses were a bit of a disappointment because they were rather traditional to beat, but the effort put into the design of the majority of the prior bosses definitely deserves kudos. Of all the 3 Cs for DS this is my favourite, 9.5/10. I do miss the use of the whip as a primary weapon, just because Circle of the Moon was badass.

[Tybo68]

I am on my way through the game for the third time already. I accidently deleted the file before finishing everything on the first play through and I upgraded to a harder difficulty after the second play through. I think I might go back and play some of the GBA ones because I never had a chance to play those.

[DAaaMan64]

I got this for Christmas and am all ready to play it! I love Castlevania!

[NWR_DrewMG]

I got this a month or two ago from Goozex and played maybe the first 6-7 hours of it.  I put it away for awhile, and decided to pick it back up last night.

Now I remember why I put it down.  This is one of the most frustrating gaming experiences I've had in ages.  It took me probably about 25-30 tries just to get through the Skeleton Cave, which is a tiny, tiny part of the game.   

[vudu]

You are either are bad at video games or you're not properly leveled up.

[NWR_DrewMG]

I'm willing to accept either as probable.  But, how is it possible I wouldn't be properly leveled up?  I've played through the game the same way everyone else has to that point - level by level.  Some of these enemies take 8-12 hits to kill, unless you're keen on wasting your hearts before you get to the boss.  Maybe there's something in the glyph system I'm not quite grasping.  I did notice that my stronger weapons were pretty useless against some of the monsters in that cave, and I had more luck switching to a "weaker" weapon. 

Anyways, now that I have the double jump, I've been working my way back through the other areas to see what chests I missed.

[KDR_11k]

Obviously blunt weapons hurt skeletons more but yeah, the difficulty in the game is pretty high and I don't feel any desire to do the grinding necessary to dial it down to the levels of the previous games.

[NWR_DrewMG]

I suppose the fact that the game has three different hotswappable weapon slots (6, really) should tell me that I will be catering my glyphs to the particular enemy on a regular basis.

Did other CV games have this kind of paper-rock-scissors thing going on?  I don't remember ever having to worry about it before.

[vudu]

I'm willing to accept either as probable.  But, how is it possible I wouldn't be properly leveled up?  I've played through the game the same way everyone else has to that point - level by level.  Some of these enemies take 8-12 hits to kill, unless you're keen on wasting your hearts before you get to the boss.  Maybe there's something in the glyph system I'm not quite grasping.  I did notice that my stronger weapons were pretty useless against some of the monsters in that cave, and I had more luck switching to a "weaker" weapon.

Even though the game has a set number of levels, it expects you to play through some of them multiple times.  Now that you have the double jump I suggest revisiting levels not only to find hidden equipment but also to level up.

Also, you know that enemies have different weaknesses, right?  If an enemy flashes blue when you attack it's resistant to that particular weapon type (same goes for magic).  I can't remember all the weapon types, but I think there are 3 or 4 of them--swords, hammers, axes, etc.  If one isn't affective try another.

Like you said, you need to put the three weapon slots to good use.  I usually had swords in slot A, hammers/axes in slot B and some sort of magic in slot C.

[Halbred]

Ro-Sham-Bo isn't as much a factor here, Drew, but you will want to equip three "weapon glyphs," mainly: the lance, the scythe, and the hammer.

There are three slots to each glyph set, and usually it's not a big deal to have two weapon glyphs in any one set. Always use a weapon, an enhancement, and a magic attack. For example, one of my sets has the scythe, ice shot, and wings (you'll find wings later). Another one has the hammer, fire shot, and rapid movement.

And yeah, grinding is a necessity here. It doesn't hurt to go back and redo every stage you've previously completed once you acquire a new power (double-jump, wings, etc.). You usually get good items for your trouble and plenty of EXP.

[NWR_DrewMG]

All good advice.  I'm hoping to finish this game and list it for trade back on Goozex in the next week or so, so I can move on to Dead Space or Prince of Persia. 

[KDR_11k]

I suppose the fact that the game has three different hotswappable weapon slots (6, really) should tell me that I will be catering my glyphs to the particular enemy on a regular basis.

Did other CV games have this kind of paper-rock-scissors thing going on?  I don't remember ever having to worry about it before.

They did but the modifiers were nowhere close to this. Those pink and blue symbols on the monster info screens are a list of strengths and weaknesses. Basic damage is piercing, slashing, bludgeoning, then there's the elemental types. AFAIK stone weakness means the enemy gets petrified when hit with a matching weapon. I usually have a mixed (slash/magic unless I'm facing mostly blunt enemies), a fully ranged (both magic, usually with different trajectories, elements depending on situation) and a double hammer (can do big hammer attack and strikes much faster when I really need to bludgeon something) set.

[NWR_DrewMG]

I finished the game last night.  I think the difficulty was at it's highest toward the 40-50% stage of the game.  As soon as I got the Superior Rapier, I was pretty much tearing through everything.   They give you so many awesome weapons in the Castle at the end; it'd have been nice if they spread that through the game a little more evenly.

Anyways, I didn't 100% the game.  I'm not the kind of guy who needs to 100% a game.  I got through at least 75% of the quests (down to the ones that require grinding for hours to find incredibly rare items)  and unlocked about 94% of the map.  Good enough for me.  Great game.

And now someone else can enjoy it.  It's in the mail.