What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse--The Castlevania Discussion thread

[KenshiroX]

Because I felt it necessary, I created this thread. Anyway...

Been playing Aria of Sorrow lately. Just gets better the more I play, unlike Harmony of Dissonance which I personally found quite annoying. Also, is there anyone here who thinks that Konami needs to make a straight up action Castlevania again, and not a Metroidvania style adventure? More like the first Castlevania, Bloodlines, and Rondo, and less like SOTN and every other recent Castlevania.

Also, because it needs to be said:

WHAT IS A MAN? A MISERABLE LITTLE PILE OF SECRETS! BUT ENOUGH TALK, HAVE AT YOU!

[MrMatthews]

To Harmony of Dissonance, I say:

THIS WORLD ILL NEEDS A SAVIOR SUCH AS YOU!

Aria of Sorrow, on the other hand, was good people.

[Knuckle Duster]

Yes, Konami needs to bring back traditional 2D Action Castlevania.
Dracula X Chronicles on PSP was the best CV title in the past decade.

[Melf]

Dear Konami,

No more Metroidvanias, please. Give us a new, traditional Castlevania.

Thanks,

Melf

[GameUser-16-32-128]

Metroidvania? Are you guys talking about Castlevania Lament Of Innocence? I thought Castlevania transitioned well to 3d. What was so annoying about Harmony of Dissonance?

[MrMatthews]

"Metroidvania" refers to the games in the Castlevania series which eschew traditional multi-stage design in lieu of one large open world with certain areas unavailable without specific items or abilities; mimicking the defining gameplay mechanics popularized by the Metroid series.

Notable "Metroidvania" titles include:

Symphony of the Night
Circle of the Moon
Harmony of Dissonance
Aria of Sorrow
Dawn of Sorrow
Portrait of Ruin
Order of Ecclesia

[Knuckle Duster]

Metroidvania? Are you guys talking about Castlevania Lament Of Innocence? I thought Castlevania transitioned well to 3d. What was so annoying about Harmony of Dissonance?

Metroidvania is the widely accepted term to describe all Castlevania titles made to resemble Castlevania Symphony of the Night, they consist usually of one big stage/world to explore, with a linear progression throughout, maintained by specific item requirements. They usually have a 'leveling' and 'loot' system in effect, and there's the Map feature showing how much you've explored.

Super metroid is really the first game in this specific subgenre, and is why the name exists.

Traditional Castlevania's were level based,with occasional multiple paths through the game for exploration. There were secondary item powerups, but nothing complex like an RPG system.

Old Castlevania = Action/Adventure
New Metroidvania = Adventure/RPG

I know, boiling it down to genres sucks, but what can ya do eh?

[tomaitheous]

Metroidvania ftw! Dawn of Sorrow was great, Portrait of Ruin was awesome, Order of Ecclesia was fucking fantastic. I'm not much into the GBA ones. I think the second GBA one, iirc, has ugly bright/colorful scheme.

[MrMatthews]

"Metroidvania" refers to the games in the Castlevania series which eschew traditional multi-stage design in lieu of one large open world with certain areas unavailable without specific items or abilities; mimicking the defining gameplay mechanics popularized by the Metroid series.

Notable "Metroidvania" titles include:

Symphony of the Night
Circle of the Moon
Harmony of Dissonance
Aria of Sorrow
Dawn of Sorrow
Portrait of Ruin
Order of Ecclesia

Metroidvania is the widely accepted term to describe all Castlevania titles made to resemble Castlevania Symphony of the Night, they consist usually of one big stage/world to explore, with a linear progression throughout, maintained by specific item requirements. They usually have a 'leveling' and 'loot' system in effect, and there's the Map feature showing how much you've explored.

Super metroid is really the first game in this specific subgenre, and is why the name exists.

Traditional Castlevania's were level based,with occasional multiple paths through the game for exploration. There were secondary item powerups, but nothing complex like an RPG system.

Old Castlevania = Action/Adventure
New Metroidvania = Adventure/RPG

I know, boiling it down to genres sucks, but what can ya do eh?

So there you have it, GameUser. In stereo.

[17daysolderthannes]

Yeah, I definitely prefer the older castlevanias, I can't even stand Symphony of the Night. However, I DO like Castlevania for N64, and almost no one likes that game.

[The Sports Guy]

i stopped playing Castlevania after Castlevania. It was a good game, though.

[Jared]

I think they should make a new castlevania for wiiware.

[Knuckle Duster]

I think they should make a new castlevania for wiiware.

Agreed.

Speaking of Metroidvanias,
Cave Story's coming out for WiiWare.

[Ghaleon]

Been awhile since I played it, but couldn't even Castlevania II almost fall into the Metroidvania definition?

[Joe Redifer]

I can't remember the difference between all of the Metroidvanias (I can't remember which one was Sorror, Dissonance or Aria, etc) but I have played through the latest one for the DS and got up the final boss. I purposely did not beat him because I still had many side quests to do, one of which involves running through a boss rush on one life (f-dat!). I never got around to beating the game.