MY MOST BELOVED GAMES IN THE CASTELVANIA SERIES
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Some Remarks
============
I've never had any Castlevania games when I was growing up. As an
adult I developed an interest for the whole series presumably
sparked by various AVGN episodes (check out my AVGN Top11). Over
time I played and finished most of them. I really like the Gothic
themes, the gameplay and the kick-ass musical scores. As this is not
really a Top-10 list I will just say a few words to every game worth
mentioning from different video game eras so this list is not
exhaustive.
NES
===
Castlevania (1986)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the first entry in the series. It's a hard game but a bit
short if you figured it all out. I briefly tried to speedrun it and
got a 13:33 which is not really good. I stopped because after all
speedrunning is nothing a but a huge time waste anyways :^)
I played through this once with my cousin. One of us would read the
walkthrough and the other one would play the game. It was fun but if
you play alone without any help this game is notoriously cryptic.
This game was the subject-matter of the very first AVGN episode
which on of my favorites to this day. Also the "Bloody Tears" music
track absolutely rocks.
Definitely the best game on the NES-era Castlevanias and maybe even
of the series. It is much longer than the first one but is not a
where-fuck-do-i-go game like Simon's Quest. There are multiple paths
to Dracula's mansion and you can chose between four different
characters of which I like Sypha the best.
For me this is better than CV4. Debate me! The artwork and graphics
effects are amazing, definitely pushing the MegaDrives capabilities
to its limits. The game is set in Europe during World War I which
makes for some remarkable travel locations like a German ammunition
factory or the Tower of Pisa. You have the option to play two
different characters which can take different paths in the levels.
One is equipped with the traditional whip the other with a spear.
Michiru Yamanes soundtrack is throughout superb. I especially like
"Reincarnated Soul" and "Iron Blue Intention".
Super Castlevania IV (1991)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I cannot say much about this one. I don't think this is a bad game I
just like the others more. The soundtrack is kind of dull and more
like ambient music. There is one exception of course: "Simon's
Theme", one of the best tracks the series has to offer.
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good game. Fun Maria mode. Hilarious anime cut-scenes.
Playstation/N64
===============
Castlevania Symphony of the Night (1997)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SotN is fantastic looking and sounding game. This time the main
character is Alucard, Son of Dracula. You start out with
top-of-the-line gear which kills everything in one hit but shortly
after Death takes it all away. Leaving you with nothing but your
bare fists you have to fight your way through the castle to get your
gear back and face your own father in battle. Epic! This is maybe
the most beloved game in the series but I think it has some serious
flaws. It starts out a bit difficult but as you progress and find
better items this game becomes piss easy. For example the final boss
fight is a complete joke. There are also many gameplay elements
which one can completely overlook. Some items have special magical
abilities or you can use a awkward button combination to pull of
some magic attacks. This is all neat but you never really need this
to get through. Most of the time you don't even know it is there.
Besides half of the game map is just the first half but horizontally
mirrored. That's a bit lazy. There is also some cryptic shit in the
game. Maybe not Simon's Quest tier but close. Don't get me wrong.
Like in the case of CV4 I enjoy this game very much. I just don't
think it is the best one.
Castlevania (N64, 1999)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I never owned a N64 and I never played this game. But from what I
heard it is not that hot. Very creative title by the way.
GameBoy Advance
===============
There are three Castlevania games on the GBA.
- Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (2001)
- Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (2002)
- Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2003)
They all feature the Metroid-Vania play style. As I try to remember
them they all blur together. I didn't like the controls and the
card-skill system in CotM. Aria of Sorrow is my favorite on the GBA.
Any of the 100+ enemies can drop a soul which you can equip to give
you special abilities. I also recall some good boss fights. Harmony
of Dissonance was ok but forgettable if it was not for the strangely
captivating disharmonic sound track.
Nintendo DS
===========
There are three Castlevania games on the NDS. Like on the GBA they
are all Metroid-Vanias.
- Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (2005)
- Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (2006
- Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (2008)
The first one has a gameplay element where you have to draw symbols
on the touch screen using the stylus. I'm no fan of that especially
if you play on an emulator. All in all I found it to be mediocre. In
Portrait you can switch very fast between a male and a female
character. The idea of entering Portraits to fight monsters is very
interesting. Second best for me on the system. Order of Ecclesia is
a very straightforward game with linear stages and a skill system
very similar to that in Aria of Sorrow. You get one character to
rescue some villagers and fight Dracula. I can't put my finger on it
but I liked this the most. Maybe because of music and art-style. If
you seek a challenge try complete the game in Level1-Cap hard-mode
(I haven't).
Igavanias
=========
Since Konami stopped making Castlevania games Koji Igarashi (also
called IGA) made two spiritual successors on his own. IGA worked on
many CV games like "Rondo of Blood", SotN and "Order of Ecclesia".
Even if they are not official titles they surely feel like it.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I really, really enjoyed this game. It is basically a CV3 clone but
with a modern spin. The graphics and music are amazing and surpass
the capabilities of the NES by a whole lot while keeping the retro
look. We get four very distinct characters, really good multi-phase
boss fights and many different play modes with different endings.
There is even an option to turn off the knock-back when getting hit
by an enemy. Definitely thumbs up for this one. Favorite track:
"Blasphemy unto Heaven".
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To make it short: I was very hyped for this game, played it two
weeks straight and had a lot of fun but ultimately I liked CotM
more. This is a solid SotN clone for sure but nothing stuck really
out to me. The one thing I most vividly remember is how I spent two
or three days IRL crafting dishes and items for the "Item Collector"
achievement. Maybe the promised DLC will make it a bit more
interesting.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On my first playthrough I was not a big fan of this direct sequel to
CotM. One of the playable characters is a dog in a mech which is
just **OP af**. It's super strong, it can fly, it has a special
power to become invincible and it even does not slip on ice like all
the other characters. I mean, come on this just feels cheap. The
redeeming factor of this game is the replayability. There are
multiple episode where you can play as the characters from the first
game and have to achieve various goals. If you go for all the
achievements you play this game like 7 times over. It's fun, it's
good, all in all a good sequel.
