Thread 718362292

It's better than Aria of Sorrow

>>718362292 (OP)
It's very well paced. Not difficult, but it might be my favorite igavania. The 3d backgrounds are neat.

>>718362292 (OP)
yup

>>718362292 (OP)
The bosses are really easy compared to aria. Aria might be the hardest handheld igavania.

I like how each weapon has a different swing animation unlike Aria.

It's better than all igaslop

>>718362292 (OP)
It's really not.
More obnoxious gimmicks, and less memorable world, story, and characters. The bosses are also on the whole pretty bad.
You could at least make an argument for Portrait of Ruin because it has pretty good core gameplay and bosses without any of DoS's baggage (aside from the artstyle, which serves PoR better because it has a more lighthearted tone and isn't constantly being compared to its predecessor).

>>718362940
>double tap to run
>drab visuals
>entire ability system is locked behind 100% random drops (unless you exploit a glitch to break the game)
>bosses are annoying
>level design is tedious
>knockoff-tier plot
It's alright but nothing special.
It compares slightly favorably to Harmony of Dissonance because that game is a fucking mess, but HoD looks better and feels better to play. Magic is still broken but you can at least play around with it freely instead of having to rely on RNG or glitches.

>>718363353
>HoD looks better
Debatable

>>718362292 (OP)
Portrait is the best DS one

>>718362292 (OP)
Agree. It's the most complete igavania, it's the sum of everything he did with the series.
If you play it with the mods that remove the touch screen glyph gimmick and restore the aria of sorrow artstyle is basically perfect

>>718362292 (OP)
>ds gimmicks
nope

It's the creme of the crop.

OHHH YEAHHHH

>>718362862
Do they really? I don't remember Dawn having much more variety than Aria in terms of dividing the weapons into different types, and each type having its own animation (slashing swords, swinging swords, katanas, spears, etc.). Both games did that.

>>718362862
you're mixing Aria with SotN, SotN is the one who has a single fucking animation for every weapon

>>718362292 (OP)
patently false

>>718362292 (OP)
>ds gimmicks
>portraits
>ultra dogshit story that just shows why you shouldn't have direct sequels to these games
apologists will say that none of these are a big deal, but they undeniably worsen the experience
>dude just grind extra soul levels even though simply getting different souls is already a good incentive
>like 5 actually relevant item pickups, stupid ass crafting system used for progression instead for some reason
>bloated boss healthpools even though the boss movesets aren't actually any more complex
justify this garbage then

>>718362292 (OP)
Only if you play it once and never again.

>>718362940
this game was probably pretty good but my memory of it will forever be tainted by the final boss. overwhelmingly terrible (unless you grinded out all cards and used one of the many busted combos). i don't think i even ended up finishing it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXDMfpN9byM

Since when was Dracula's castle this funky?

>>718362940
>Biggest and most defining game mechanic of CoM is the DDS card system
>Arena completely drains your MP to 0 and keeps it there preventing you from doing any card combos besides maybe squeezing out a summon right after chugging MP pots before it can drain you
>No music there
What the fuck were they thinking when they made that Arena? Absolutely awful area with absurd rooms like the minotaur gangbang room.
I did like CotM though, I just think the Arena is nonsense.

>>718362292 (OP)
absolutely not

>>718370450
Haunted Castle

>>718362292 (OP)
FUCK YOU JOHNNY, YOU PIECE OF SHIT
I'M GONNA PISS IN YOUR GODDAMN RAYCONS

>>718373086
Wear a mask and get vaccinated :^)
t. Johnny

In every aspect except the story, yes.

>>718363132
The entire cast of characters is the same except for the villains, and while the villains in Dawn aren't great the bad guy from Aria is super bland.

PoR is the best one

>>718373376
Giga based

>>718362584
I don't remember any boss being hard in Aria aside from maybe Death.

>>718362292 (OP)
Is this in any of the Castlevania collections?

>>718362940
Nah. I mean, it was leagues more soulful: the design of Nathan's moveset was a clear step towards a more traditional style of Castlevania combat, as even when you do get a "dash," it's a tackle that's far more committal than any other dash in the franchise; however, the game is still incredibly lackluster, the boss design is all over the place, the all-drops system for getting items needed a lot more thought put into it, and the DSS mechanic that was meant to tie everything together was so hard to actually get the cards for that most people finish the game without many of them at all.

HoD was a clear attempt to "fix" things, and only ended up being incredibly forgettable as a result, yet it is still technically better (even with all the dead-end bullshit and the hidden rooms)

>>718373316
AoS has the virtue of novelty going for it, along with simple and coherent elements. Dracula dead, big bad wanna be be Dracula, actually main guy Dracula. The rest of the cast has like 4 dialogues each, it's simple and clean.
DoS is way too contrived, from premise to bosses to finale, and Julius is the only one from the returning "cast of characters" to not retread the first game entirely. Being one-note stereotypes is not really any better just because there are three of you.
Also I'm incredibly mad how terribly the true end key progression souls were implemented. Aria had relevant movement options and the whole "use souls fitting for Dracula" gimmick. Dawn has the motherfucking swap puppet, worse versions of giant bat and black panther, as well as completely non-diegetic HEY RETARD THIS MASSIVE WALL CAN ONLY BE BROKEN BY THE SOUL SOURCED FROM THIS MONSTER obstacles. What were they thinking?

>>718362292 (OP)
Why not post the 10 out of 10 cover?
As for the game, it suffers from the obligatory stylus use a release title had to have. The weapon upgrades are very grindy. It's worse than Aria and also not the best DS Castlevania.

>>718373708
It's in the Dominus Collection

>>718362862
That, the improved backdash, julius mode leveling and INT fix are the only improvements DoS does. Everything else is shit, even the new sprite art

>>718362940
Kotaku contrarian retard
https://backloggd.com/u/Vinaluna/review/2141521/

>>718363504
HoD has hundreds of backgrounds. CoTM has a few dozen. HoD has animated enemies and Juste. CoTM has a 2 frame run cycle and 2 frame enemy sprite sheets
Non fucking debatable

>>718374527
HoD has colors, so it's not a mature game for adults like him.

>>718365536
Only things I liked about OoE was the atmosphere, music, albus and shanoa. I did NOT enjoy it as much as prior games for some reason.

>>718367708
You forgot
>atrocious shop selection
>boss soul crafting
>flaccid soundfont
>no julius hard mode
>soul set mode
>jobber city
DoS is true dogshit, token and phoned in as sequels get
>>718362292 (OP)
I literally only play this complete garbage to use the katana weapon class, which is kino. Portrait not having katanas fucking sucks

> better enemy roster
> better souls
> better weapon design
> better bosses
AOS only has like 2 good bosses. I'm also in the camp that the level design is better.

>>718374641
Same. All weapons have the same animation like some of the older games, stamina makes no sense in Castlevania, and the game is not fun at all until the castle.

>>718374754
dawn has gergoth and the timestop guy maybe? are we gonna pretend that balor and puppetteer and the HAHAHAHA fireman aren't the most obvious flowchart gaming?

>>718374905
Ooe is a mess. It's the only igavania where side mode is better than main mode.

>>718374930
You're cherry-picking. AOS is full of worthless bosses, like, you can kill the first three bosses by spamming spear in the corner of the screen.

>>718363132
I really like the bosses and 90% of the time I see anybody complaining about them in this game its solely because they are too fucking clumsy to do the deal on the touch screen.
Yeah I think the seal was unnecessary but it doesn't ruin anything like many spergs claim

>>718374964
It's a shame that Albus needs the touchscreen to teleport. I play him without using it whether I'm playing on DS or emulator because it's annoying.

>>718375025
true enough, but again: what does dawn have going for it boss-wise? copy dork, flying armor, giant bat? i literally can't remember anything besides gimmicks and gergoth

>>718374964
PoR as Richter/Maria is better than the main game. It turns the game into an even better Rondo of Blood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEdgubvviYk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHpMdgM0Sb4
High energy, gritty, gothic rock, dynamic, evocative, cohesive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi87mE7z-WA
What the ACTUAL FUCK. Tinny, soft, repetitive, forgettable.
If Dawn of Sorrow wasnt a 0/10 before getting here this will change that. Worst song in the franchise. Youre fucking lucky I didn't pull up Curse of darkness, this is my mercy post Dogshit of sorrow.

>>718375010
Just BDC the katana with devil or you deserve to be bored

>>718374237
I can't believe Konami couldn't even do something so simple. You still have to draw the fucking glyphs in the Dominus Collection, just in a different way.

>>718374964
I used to argue with my friend all the time when I said I preferred PoR to OoE. PoR gets a lot of shit, but I truly thought (and still do) it was better than OoE as a game.

>>718373376
This is just fact

I played all the Igavanias, SotN and CotM so much that I don't think I'll ever replay them again, but it makes me sad. Why is it so hard to let go of the past?

>>718375596
I've never gotten a game with atmosphere as heavy as SoTN since my first playing of it. It's unironically saddening that there isn't much that scratches that itch

>Experienced medieval knight with hundreds of war battles behind him
>Decides to go to a huge vampire castle filled with monsters without any weapons

Was it autism?

>>718362292 (OP)
The best part was gibbing Zombies in the first area with the RPG.

>>718374082
Still love the fact that LRG wanted to do a version of this for the Dominus Collection and Konami personally stopped them.

>>718374082
>it suffers from the obligatory stylus use a release title had to have

>draw a few lines once per boss fight
>completely unused otherwise
fucking skill issue. how shit are you to even make that a problem worth remembering let alone complaining about

>>718362584
>Aria might be the hardest handheld igavania.
I know difficulty is subjective and everything but I'm curious to know why you think so
imo Aria is actually as easy as everyone says SOTN is and the double standard of the latter always being criticised for this but never the former rubs me the wrong way, I find Aria's bosses in particular such pushovers that I forgot the manticore was in the game last time I played it

>>718378902
That's a shame, it's one of the most iconic covers, on par with Arkham City GotY or SMT: Lucifer's Call.

>>718374434
Why has this random fucker from Backloggd of all places been getting posted here the past couple of days? Is this spillover from the Metroid Prime thread the other day?

>>718362940
Everything about it annoyed me. Well except the colosseum post-game, which was the toughest content. I don't like the controls and the card drop rate was worse than souls. Contrarian take.
>>718365536
Atmosphere and style over substance. The Albus mode was good. Lacked like 20% content, Konami rushed them.
>>718374082
Dawn is more flexible for experimenting with different builds. I still prefer it the most out of the 3DS era, with Portrait second, and Ecclesia last.

>>718378996
>why are you even talking about that garbage nobody likes that was put there for a stupid reason? don't you know it's easy? what are you, a child that doesn't want to eat his vegetables before the dessert in hide bideojames?
what pathetic excuse, embarassing even
ever wonder why everybody brings up seals, but never ice blocks, despite being the same kind of pointless hardware gimmick?

>>718374434
I'm >>718379490 and I apologise for calling him a fucker in case it's you, his reviews deserve credit for being higher effort than most on that site (even if I don't agree with some of his reasonings). I think I was just grumpy because Backloggd is in the gutter compared to how it was a few years ago and I have a reflexive distaste for it.

>>718362292 (OP)
in gameplay yes, in story, not really.

>>718375261
>Youre fucking lucky I didn't pull up Curse of darkness, this is my mercy post Dogshit of sorrow.
this song is literally referencing/or is referenced by eronomaos machine tower. also despite CoD having good music it has one of the shittiest clock tower levels i've ever seen worse than even n64. Anyway I love the DoS tower theme but honestly if you thought the music was bad by the time you hit pinnacle you would know you are objectively wrong and splitting hairs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h97kt9kKRes

>>718362292 (OP)
>The sequel with a horrendously mangled aesthetic is better because of [minor gameplay change]
t. Sovlless button mooshers

>>718381115
>portrait style is a massive soulcrushing change
>doesn't impact the actual sprites at all

no need to sign your posts btw, there is a NAME field in the post window

>>718362292 (OP)
Think fast cunt

>>718381341
They took away his fur collar, yurusen.

>>718374434
buy an add, backloggd troon

>>718381094
>referencing means its good
>goes off on CoDs notoriously bad level design
Holy mother of deflection. It doesn't matter if you like it the DoS clock tower clearly doesn't fit in with the rest and is a very boring 1 note song. I like some DoS sonds but Cursed clock tower is uniquely shit

>>718380909
Thanks bro, even if it is a gutter im not afraid to fight the ocean with my endless autism

>>718362292 (OP)
I want to get into the series. Where should I start? Do I play them in order?

>>718382452
>Cursed clock tower is uniquely shit
Fuck you! That's the only one I actually like.

>>718384340
You can start with any of the Metroidvania games, despite all the fan infighting over which game is best they are all worth playing. Those games are
>Symphony of the Night
>Circle of the Moon
>Harmony of Dissonance
>Aria of Sorrow
>Dawn of Sorrow
>Portrait of Ruin
>Order of Ecclesia

Before they were Metroid style games they were level based like most platformers at the time, and if you want to play those games then I'd either start with Castlevania III or IV.

I've played Lament of Innocence a couple of days ago and the only thing I can say is
>I can tell this has potential
That's it, it never actually goes beyond "having potential", is Curse of Darkness better?