Castlevania series

#1
G

G0 BIG 0RANGE

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#1
Have you guys tried out Castlevania Harmony of Despair for Xbox 360 and PS3?

I put over 250 hours into the 360 version and just downloaded the PS3 version just so I could start over fresh.

If you enjoyed Symphony of the Night, Order of Ecclasia, Aria/Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, Bloodlines, or any of the older NES, Sega, or SNES 2D games, you'd enjoy this 6 player co-op time attack RPG.

It is kind of MMOish like Destiny. You and 5 buddies choose a character, then run through a level and attempt to beat the boss in the 30 minute window, and hope that the boss will drop an awesome item. Rinse and repeat. Except 2D with swords and whips and magic.
 
#2
#2
I've played it a bit.

Otherwise I've completed every console and handheld CV game made.
 
#3
#3
VolsSportsFan said:
I've played it a bit.

Otherwise I've completed every console and handheld CV game made.
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Awesome. This series and Zelda were my childhood favorites. Probably why I enjoy Dark Souls so much, since it is basically their child.

What did you think of Harmony of Despair? I've put 55 hours into my Richter Belmont :p
 
#4
#4
About 3 months late to this thread, but I just ordered Order of Ecclesia (which would make 7 years late to that) because I'm in a the mood for a good Metroidvania and I heard good things about it.

This is one of my favorite series, with some music that ranks right up there among the best scores. I've played:

Castelvania (NES)
Vampire Killer (arcade)
Simon's Quest
Dracula's Curse
Super Castlevania IV
Rondo of Blood (Turbo Duo, SNES, and PSP versions)
Bloodlines
Symphony of the Night
Castlevania 64
Legacy of Darkness
Chronicles
Circle of the Moon
Harmony of Dissonance
Aria of Sorrow
Lament of Innocence
Lords of Shadow

I like most of them, but I have especially have soft spots for Simon's Quest, Symphony of the Night, and Rondo of Blood. I'm not too crazy about Chronicles (too stiff, even compared to the NES original) or Lord's of Shadow reboots, but it's entertaining for what it was.
 
#5
#5
Volwark said:
About 3 months late to this thread, but I just ordered Order of Ecclesia (which would make 7 years late to that) because I'm in a the mood for a good Metroidvania and I heard good things about it.

This is one of my favorite series, with some music that ranks right up there among the best scores. I've played:

Castelvania (NES)
Vampire Killer (arcade)
Simon's Quest
Dracula's Curse
Super Castlevania IV
Rondo of Blood (Turbo Duo, SNES, and PSP versions)
Bloodlines
Symphony of the Night
Castlevania 64
Legacy of Darkness
Chronicles
Circle of the Moon
Harmony of Dissonance
Aria of Sorrow
Lament of Innocence
Lords of Shadow

I like most of them, but I have especially have soft spots for Simon's Quest, Symphony of the Night, and Rondo of Blood. I'm not too crazy about Chronicles (too stiff, even compared to the NES original) or Lord's of Shadow reboots, but it's entertaining for what it was.
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Excellent buy. OoE was the last single player Metroidvania (I believe) and one of the more difficult ones. I had recently purchased it, Portrait of Ruin, and Dawn of Sorrow (my second favorite behind SotN) when I made this thread. Interesting choice with Simon's Quest, it rarely gets any love, but it reminds me of Zelda 2 and the backlash it received, despite being an awesome game in retrospect!

I agree with the reboot of the series...awful poor man's God of War in my opinion.

If you like the old school ones and have a 360 or PS3, I strongly recommend you pick up Harmony of Despair for $15. Worth every penny, especially if you can get a few friends to play with you. You can be Shanoa, Simon (NES version), Richter, Alucard, Soma, Charlotte, Maria, and a few others I can't recall. 6 player time attack. Conquer the castles and destroy the boss as quickly and flawlessly as possible to get loot. Addictive - I put hundreds of hours into the 360 version several years back.
 
#6
#6
G0 BIG 0RANGE said:
If you like the old school ones and have a 360 or PS3, I strongly recommend you pick up Harmony of Despair for $15. Worth every penny, especially if you can get a few friends to play with you. You can be Shanoa, Simon (NES version), Richter, Alucard, Soma, Charlotte, Maria, and a few others I can't recall.
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That's the problem. My friends wouldn't play it. They're all about online football, FPS, or MMORPG. Altho from what I can tell so far, I would be all about me some Shanoa all day, every day.

I only touched on it briefly, but I love great tracks like Bloody Tears, Ghost Ship, and Anti-Soul Mysteries Lab.
 
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#7
#7
Volwark said:
That's the problem. My friends wouldn't play it. They're all about online football, FPS, or MMORPG. Altho from what I can tell so far, I would be all about me some Shanoa all day, every day.

I only touched on it briefly, but I love great tracks like Bloody Tears, Ghost Ship, and Anti-Soul Mysteries Lab.
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Your friends sound like mine haha

It got very average reviews, but I felt like the people reviewing it "didn't get it" like Butch so famously does. It was a blast and Shanoa was OP if you managed to grind her spells high enough.

The Castlevania music is top notch, I agree. Since Konami is being an incredibly stupid business right now, they lost the original creator and composer. Fortunately for us, they've Kickstarted a new game which is basically SotN Part 2.

See Castlevania spiritual successor Bloodstained's early version in action | Polygon
 
#8
#8
I downloaded the demo and played a little bit this morning. I didn't look anything up. I'm not sure whether I was just being stupid or overlooking something on the first map, but it seems like you can't progress unless you have other people helping you?
 
#9
#9
Volwark said:
I downloaded the demo and played a little bit this morning. I didn't look anything up. I'm not sure whether I was just being stupid or overlooking something on the first map, but it seems like you can't progress unless you have other people helping you?
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You can beat all 6 castles solo, but it is much harder (on Hard difficulty).

There are parts of each castle that require you to have at least two people (one stands on a switch while the other opens a chest for everyone), but those aren't that common and the loot in those chests are typically common drops.

The gold chests for beating bosses on Hard difficulty is where the rares drop are - and it was incredibly addictive for me. I fought Ch 10's Dracula, where the map is the entire NES Castlevania with all of the bosses included as mini-bosses, 600 times before finally getting all of the "Retro Gear" for my NES Simon. Lame, I know...
 
#10
#10
No shame in that. Better to have a game and enjoy the hell out of it than to buy a bunch of games that you barely touch. I'm a bit of a completionist myself, especially if I really enjoy the game.
 
#11
#11
Volwark said:
No shame in that. Better to have a game and enjoy the hell out of it than to buy a bunch of games that you barely touch. I'm a bit of a completionist myself, especially if I really enjoy the game.
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True. Well if you get it let me know how you like it. I have it on both PS3 and Xbox if you need help.
 
#12
#12
Good God, how did I miss playing Ecclesia before? So far it is may be my favorite CV game. My only gripes are that I wish it had more classic tracks, and I wish it had more towns (like Simon's Quest). I love how difficult it is. It prolly took me 10 tries just to beat the crab boss in the lighthouse.
 
#13
#13
Volwark said:
Good God, how did I miss playing Ecclesia before? So far it is may be my favorite CV game. My only gripes are that I wish it had more classic tracks, and I wish it had more towns (like Simon's Quest). I love how difficult it is. It prolly took me 10 tries just to beat the crab boss in the lighthouse.
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It is absolutely brutal
 
#16
#16
Another thing I'm really enjoying about this game is the utility of different gear sets. Like this is the first CV game I've played where magic is extremely useful (more often than not) than physical, but having gear for both situations comes in handy.
 
#17
#17
Volwark said:
Another thing I'm really enjoying about this game is the utility of different gear sets. Like this is the first CV game I've played where magic is extremely useful (more often than not) than physical, but having gear for both situations comes in handy.
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Yeah, she's definitely a magic focused character compared to previous Castlevania heroes. I'm excited about his next game. Hope it lives up to these.
 
#18
#18
G0 BIG 0RANGE said:
Yeah, she's definitely a magic focused character compared to previous Castlevania heroes.
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She's also the hottest.

I mean...uh...I'm just starting to realize her magic potential. I found a combo that beats axes, and that's double Luminatio (circling light balls).
 
#19
#19
Volwark said:
She's also the hottest.

I mean...uh...I'm just starting to realize her magic potential. I found a combo that beats axes, and that's double Luminatio (circling light balls).
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Haha it's okay, I don't judge... Does she have the wolf head fist glyphs? Can't remember their name
 
#20
#20
Finally beat Ecclesia. Very satisfying altho I wish the ending would've been a little more cinematic. Just something like Symphony of the Night would've been enough. Still Ecclesia is up there with my favorites now.

Going thru a 2nd playthru now, and its ridiculous how much easier it is being leveled, having the death ring, and being able to exploit glyph unions. So far I've got the medals for all the bosses, past the shadow one. The crab is still the hardest boss to avoid being it by, IMO, with the shadow being a close second.
 
#21
#21
Volwark said:
Finally beat Ecclesia. Very satisfying altho I wish the ending would've been a little more cinematic. Just something like Symphony of the Night would've been enough. Still Ecclesia is up there with my favorites now.

Going thru a 2nd playthru now, and its ridiculous how much easier it is being leveled, having the death ring, and being able to exploit glyph unions. So far I've got the medals for all the bosses, past the shadow one. The crab is still the hardest boss to avoid being it by, IMO, with the shadow being a close second.
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Good job on beating it. Maybe 1/10 ever finish it, it seems. I never went through it twice. That big green crab?
 
#22
#22
Yeah the one in the lighthouse. The hard part about it he has like four different stages, and if you have one lapse of concentration, you lose the medal.
 
#23
#23
i used to be a big castelvania fan back in the day, so i decided to download the harmony of despair demo and see if i might like it. the demo is tiny on the screen and seems to show different rooms all at once. is that just because its the demo, or is the game like that?
 
#24
#24
rpvol said:
i used to be a big castelvania fan back in the day, so i decided to download the harmony of despair demo and see if i might like it. the demo is tiny on the screen and seems to show different rooms all at once. is that just because its the demo, or is the game like that?
Click to expand...

You can zoom the camera in. I think you click in one of the controller sticks.
 
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