there's soooo many castlevanias and iv been wanting to get into the series but I get overwhelmed, I know I wanna play SOTN and AOS but are their other like "must-play" castlevanias that are worth checking out?

>but I get overwhelmed
Vidya isn't for girls anyway. Learn to crochet.

inb4 retarded console wars
you can have fun with all the castlevanias because they all have fantastic music. i'll recommend one that is not so famous: castlevania adventure rebirth on wii (only available in emulation). it does everything a castlevania should do

>>11853010
I'm glad you think I'm a woman anon that's very validating

>>11853014
I never knew the Wii even had a castlevania

Another thing I failed to mention is that I kinda struggle with game difficulty a bit and I know the castlevania games can be real hard espacially the earlier ones apparently

The action-focused ones are easy to try out because they're action games. Just jump in, play until you get used to the controls, play a little more until you start to feel like you're making a bit of progress, and then decide whether to continue. You could do all that in like twenty minutes. Just pick one on NES or SNES or Genesis and have at it. Unless you accidentally pick Simon's Quest you should be fine.

You already have two of the other main style of Castlevania games in your list so that's covered. If you like that then play some other ones in that style I guess.

The 3D ones don't matter that much.

>>11853001 (OP)
SCIV is the best starting point. rondo of blood and bloodlines after that.

So start with the ones you want to play.

If you want to play classic linear style:
>Rondo of blood (TG16 CD)
>Super castlevania 4 (snes)
>Castlevania Bloodlines (MD)
>CastleVania Chronicles (PS1, remake of 68k, which was remake of Nes)
>Castlevania adventure rebirth (Wii - not on mister, remake of gb adventure)
Then if you want to do some metroidvania, start with ps1 Symphony of the night. Theres 3 on the gba, Aria is probably the standout if you only want one. Then go for the DS ones.

>>11853545

(ugh typos)
chronicles is a port of 68k, but has an arrange mode with a few tweaks. Ignore the 'not on mister' - this was a list I made for myself as the vast majority were for my mister setup,

>>11853001 (OP)
All classicvanias are worth playing except 2.
>>11853023
>Another thing i failed to mention is I struggle with game difficulty
Try your best to git gud at Castlevania 1 since thats the easiest. until it "clicks" and you enjoy dying enough times to learn the games stages and beat the game. Otherwise don't bother at all and be one of those trannys that only likes SOTN and all the metroidvanias because they are baby level easy.

>>11853559
I mean they kinda seem like the ones for me since I'm a massive metroid tranny

>>11853001 (OP)
>iv
freudian slip
your own conscience is telling you to play this kino

>>11853559
Found the poseur who doesn't play video games and gets all his opinions from malding millennial youtubers.
Castlevania 2 is a fantastic game.

>>11853559
It's funny how you defeated yourself with your own argument
>waaah metroidvanias are too eeeaasy (so?)
>cv2 no goood
cv2 is a metroidvania
cv2 is hard
BOOM, killshot.

>>11853559
>SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT IS TOO EASY, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO ENJOY IT!!!

what drives this madness

>>11853559
SotN and 2 are both good. OP, don't listen to this guy, he's what you might call a "faggot" or possibly even a "retard"

>>11853001 (OP)
Rondo Of Blood is the best game of the series in my opinion.

>>11853014
not retro

>>11854434
cv2 fucking sucks cock. retarded guidebook selling slop.
dont listen to these contrarians OP skip 2
>>11854437
dumb faggot i didnt say sotn sucks i said if you only like the metroidvanias youre just a tranny with onions tranny taste

>>11853001 (OP)
Just start with SotN if that's what you want, since it basically becomes a different series at that point (one that I personally don't care for).

>>11854943
A fair and reasonable take. Putting SotN there would be the opposite.

>>11853001 (OP)
>I know I wanna play SOTN
Play that one. Play the rest if you want.
>>11854943
True, but it's hard too. Better play 1, IV or SOTN first in my opinion.

>>11853001 (OP)
Castlevania 1 and 3 are peak. Play 1 then 3 (or 4)
The metroidvanias are snoozefests where you knock down a bunch of glass enemies with overpowered spells and items. There's no challenge at all so you're just mashing buttons (great cure for insomnia though)

Stick to the classicvanias.

>>11853001 (OP)
If you wanna play the classics:
NES
>1 is good as-is, the fairest challenge. Has a minor hack that fixes Simon's name in the credits.
>2 has a retranslation + map and saving hack, essential if you want to enjoy closer to how it was intended.
>3 was gimped in US with no extra soundchip, harder difficulty, and censorship. The JP version has a translation hack, use that. Still harder than 1 tho
SNES
>Super 4 in US had censorship, there's a hack to remove it.
Mega Drive
>Bloodlines is good as-is
Gameboy
>The Adventure and Belmont's Revenge both have Speed hacks that make the player far less slow. They were also rereleased in "Konami GB Collection" carts (Vol. 1-4, along other Konami GB games), which in Japan were Super GB enhanced, but in Europe were GBC enhanced. The GBC ones have direct-boot hacks as well if you prefer individual rooms for each game.
>Legends for Super GB also has a Speed hack.
(I'm admittedly less familiar with the GB games, haven't fully beaten them all and I think it's fair to say they aren't mandatory, but people do like Adventure and Revenge a fair bit. Heard Legends was mixed, though).
Wiiware
>The Adventure Rebirth is a loose reimagining of the first GB game, very different gameplay but good. There's a hack that makes some unused music play in the levels, which is neat.
Bonus:
Kid Dracula on NES got an official translation not long ago, and both it and the GB sequel are peak. Very funny and charming games, play them now.
(Cont.)

>>11855279
PC Engine CD
>Rondo of Blood is decent whether you play it with the fan translation, or in the PSP/PS4 official port. Personally I wonder why there's no hack that adds subtitles and keeps the voices undubbed? Same for SotN. Anyway, this game is hard - I'd even argue harder than JP CV3.
PSX
>SotN: a fun and pretty easy game, also fine whichever version you play; the PSP/PS4 ver. has extra modes tho. However, it's not a Metroid game. Metroid games are more Adventure games, solving puzzles to get keys to unlock more of the map and solve more puzzles. SotN, the entire map is open to you from the start, and the only thing blocking you is higher-leveled enemies, whom you get past by leveling up and finding stronger gear. It's an action-RPG that's a platformer.
Can't comment on GBA/DS (haven't played yet), but they also have some hacks I've noticed. None essential at a glance I think, aside from Dawn of Sorrow having a hack that removes the touchscreen mini game during bosses.

Heard some ppl like Legacy of Darkness and Lament of Innocence, never played em tho.

>>11855281
>SotN, the entire map is open to you from the start
I doubt that's the experience for a first time player without a guide. There will be obstacles you'll return to after finding abilities. Less than Metroid.

>>11855316
Sure, just wanting to illustrate that they are structured fundamentally differently. They're both good games, but I simply think it's a misnomer that people treat them as the same genre, just because they're both 2D platformers with open maps.

>>11853001 (OP)
Play Japanese CV3, if you don't like it you won't like any lesser classicvanias

All the RPG Castlevanias have good and bad points so I can't point to one as being the supreme representative.

Play the first one, then Aria of Sorrow, then the DS ones in release order.

>>11855324
>people treat them as the same genre
I don't think they do. It's metroidvania, not metroid-like.

>>11853026
>The 3D ones don't matter that much.
Wrong.

>>11853001 (OP)
Most of the series is "must play". Just start with Castlevania 1 and work from there

>>11853001 (OP)
Always start with the first game. If you go and play super castle Vania and really like it you'll likely be disappointed in whatever came before it

>>11853023
Everybody struggles with difficulty, that's why it's called difficulty. The trick is to rise to the challenge and grow as a person along the way. Castlevania 1 is hard, but you can do hard things. Now get to it.

>>11853001 (OP)
Play 1, Bloodlines and RoB for classicvanias. They're not that hard, have good music and look pretty.
SOTN and AOS are good choices for metroidvanias. I also like PoR and OoE but the latter is really frustrating sometimes.
For 3D games try CV64. It can be hard but the atmosphere is great.
First LoS game is good GoW clone with awesome artdesign but the other two modern games is okay at best.

>>11853023
>struggle with game difficulty
It's mostly a matter of memorizing the challenges. No one here cleared the games on first try.

>>11853092
This. IV looks good, sounds good, and doesn't ramp up the difficulty until later in the game so you can get used to the classicvania style without beating your head against the wall.

Some people would call it too easy, I think it's more that I and III are excessively hard and IV is reasonable. But either way it's the easiest of the three so why start with the more brutal ones.

>>11853023
>I kinda struggle with game difficulty a bit

Then IV and SOTN are the magic combo, like everyone is saying. IV is the most noob-friendly classic cone and you can just brute force SOTN with level grinding and OP equipment if you have to. Don't get baited into a frustrating experience, anon. Start with the obvious choices. You can always work your way up the difficulty ladder from there

>>11853001 (OP)
Most games are unique and don't require playing in order.
CV1 is a hard action platformer.
CV2 is the Zelda 2 of the franchise.
CV3 is a polished action platformer with multiple characters and paths to choose from.
SCV4 is a polished 16bit action platformer with stunning effects for its day.
Bloodlines is a two character selectable action platformer that is polished for the Sega Genesis's capabilities.
Rondo of Blood is a difficult modernization of CastleVania. And the begining of a new series and playstyle.
Dracula X for SNES is a waste of time demake.
SOTN is the polished sequel for Rondo.
The GBA games are good and a continuation of the playstyle of Rondo and SOTN.

>>11856652
Yeah the old consensus was "4 is not as hard as the NES games, but still not easy"
Somewhere in the 2010s, online discourse got distorted and it's not uncommon to read stuff like "it's too easy and broken!", but you never know when it's bait or not, since modern internet is everything but sincere.
I think Rondo, 4 and Bloodlines are all reasonable with their difficulty, Rondo being the most forgiving one imo.
But honestly, 1 isn't that hard, 3 is the real hard as balls game.

>>11853001 (OP)
All the ds games are good. Get the dominus collection if you can't play on original hardware.