Castlevania SOTN, COTM, HOD and AOS

[Anya 0]

So like, I just recently bought the 3 GBA Castlevanias after playing through Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission left me wanting more. SOTN is one of my favorite games ever, but I just never got around to them now. I've never really been into portable gaming.

 

I thought COTM was really good, but it didn't seem close to SOTN. The card system was messed up. Why are they such rare drops? By the end of the game I had like 3 cards. I basically never used magic the entire game.

 

How are the other two?

 

 

They need to make a new one on a console. Playing an epic adventure game like those on a portable is weaksauce.

[razazteca 0]

Aria of Sorrow is the best Castlevania game on the GBA. Supersize that game on the Gamecube with the Gameboy Player there is no reason why you are not playing the game on a tv.

[Anya 0]

I have a GB player. It just makes the picture big. It still looks and sounds like a GBA game, which doesn't compare to SOTN's presentation.

[AndrewTS 0]

CotM isn't terrible, but it is so outclassed by the other two it isn't funny.

 

I actually think Harmony of Dissonance is the best one. Not only do you actually control a Belmont for the "real" game (although ENOUGH with the white-haired bishie protagonists, Ms. Kojima!), but it has two castles just like SotN and seems to have the longer play life. I also prefer the level design of that over AoS, because you have to think more carefully about where you're going to go next. Out of all the GBA ones, HoD is the most like SotN. Although AoS's godlike Soma is far closer to the way SotN's Alucard plays than HoD's Juste (Soma actually have far more skills due to the number of souls there are to collect), I don't feel that so many of Juste's skills are unnecessary like in AoS.

 

I feel HoD's better for replay, because running in and out of a room trying to get a certain enemy's soul just isn't too fun in AoS.

 

 

Aria of Sorrow is excellent, though, too. If you really, really liked CotM, both of the followups are each about twice as good.

 

Incidentally, you know that site you were quoting for sales figures? I wonder how Lament of Innocence and the GBA CVs sold. SotN unfortunately didn't sell very well at all.

 

HoD's music isn't very good, but Aria of Sorrow's music is utterly fantastic. Both of them graphically absolutely smoke CotM. The effects "outside" that are similar to Mode 7 on steroids are quite awesome, for instance.

 

I say get HoD, then get AoS. Both are well worth your money, but HoD is harder to find.

 

They need to make a new one on a console. Playing an epic adventure game like those on a portable is weaksauce.

 

There is still LoI, but it...isn't nearly as good as the 2D ones. The best 3D Castlevania to date is still Devil May Cry.

 

Anyway, both are really good in different ways, so don't deprive yourself of either.

[Black Lushus 0]

i found HoD to be too damn easy...CotM was a bit trickier (that bitch on the flying skull and Death can suck my balls), unless you had the right comob of spell cards...I haven't played AoS yet...of course SotN still owns every Castlevania game ever with Super Castlevania IV coming in second (killer soundtrack, Dracula's theme rocks)...

[AndrewTS 0]

AoS is easier than HoD. There's a hard mode, but I can't seem to recall if I played that my secnod time through or not. I'llgive it a shot later and see.

 

All of the new CVs have been pretty easy, though. However, I didn't bother at all leveling up and thus I found HoD rather challenging. Through most of the first part of the game, save points are fairly infrequent, so I'd have to replay a certain section a few times.

 

CotM's most redeeming factor is probably the difficulty, though, since the others aren't quite as hard. However, with CotM I too often was wondering what the fizuck I had to do next, unlike the others where it was rather obvious.

[Black Lushus 0]

However, with CotM I too often was wondering what the fizuck I had to do next, unlike the others where it was rather obvious.

yeah, but wouldn't you rather it be that way rather than, say Metroid Fusion for example, where it's all practically laid out in front of you telling you what to do next? that's the only thing i hated about that game...

[Guest Ahhee]

I just recently got on this Castlevania kick as well. CotM was a pain in the ass, especially the arena and Dracula's final form.

 

I thought AoS was a bit on the easy end, including playing through hard mode as Soma and Belmont. You get to keep your items and (most) souls the second time around so having Claimh Solais (the big cross sword) right at the start, plus Succubus made hard mode seem like it was nothing but leveling up in anticpation of Chaos. I do agree running in and out of rooms trying to get 100% souls wasn't fun one bit, and that damn 300k ring didn't seem to help all that much.

 

I've got a ROM of HoD that I haven't started playing yet. You can still find the cart at random gamestop/eb's. Last time I saw it, the price wasn't jacked up to high hell like SotN has been.

[AndrewTS 0]

However, with CotM I too often was wondering what the fizuck I had to do next, unlike the others where it was rather obvious.

yeah, but wouldn't you rather it be that way rather than, say Metroid Fusion for example, where it's all practically laid out in front of you telling you what to do next? that's the only thing i hated about that game...

Yeah, but the trick is to reach a nice balance between non-linear and linear without making it a pain in the ass to figure out what to do next. Super Metroid was virtually perfect in that regard, and the lack of leveling-up meant you could skip to nearly the end of the game fairly easy if you weren't in great need of too many upgrades. Much of Super Metroid's non-linearity is actually theorized to be accidental, but it's still fantastic regardless of how it came about.

 

 

I just recently got on this Castlevania kick as well. CotM was a pain in the ass, especially the arena and Dracula's final form.

 

I think my main gripe about it is that, unlike in HoD or AoS, those bastards removed the warp rooms. Even the Metroids had the elevators to speed up backtracking. In CotM, you'd have to get a hunch of what to do next, then fight, fight, fight, fight to get where you think you need to be, and then if you were wrong, you have to fight, fight, fight to get to another area you think might be where you need to go. The warp rooms made backtracking a breeze. CotM lacking it made it tedious.

 

I thought AoS was a bit on the easy end, including playing through hard mode as Soma and Belmont. You get to keep your items and (most) souls the second time around so having Claimh Solais (the big cross sword) right at the start, plus Succubus made hard mode seem like it was nothing but leveling up in anticpation of Chaos.  I do agree running in and out of rooms trying to get 100% souls wasn't fun one bit, and that damn 300k ring didn't seem to help all that much.

 

I just gave it another shot. It seems that I already beat Hard Mode, because I have the Silver Gun, and other "hard mode" items. I put on the crappiest weapons and armor and started playing. The enemies are the same, they move at the same speed, they appear to be the same numbers--I just think they do a little more damage. Since I can usually mow through them without getting hit much, this basically meant it was only noticably harder when I fought a boss.

 

Although using the Silver Gun to wreak havoc from the start is great, because when you normally get it in Hard Mode the first time, it's basically useless by that point.

 

I've got a ROM of HoD that I haven't started playing yet. You can still find the cart at random gamestop/eb's. Last time I saw it, the price wasn't jacked up to high hell like SotN has been.

 

The only problem is that you'll get in in a paper carton with the store logo on it, because so damn many careless bastards throw away or lose the box and instructions.

 

Also, if you really want SotN, it's available usually from 20 to 25 bucks on Half.com (well, there's shipping...)

 

http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid...=1794&meta_id=4

 

However, I lucked out and got my SotN at my EB for $9.99 Pre-owned. Some moron actually traded in that game. Stupid! Stupid! It's one of the few PS1 games that have survived my constant old game purges.

*plugs in headphones* Did I mention the AoS music is great?

[Black Lushus 0]

whoa whoa whoa, i swear to god there were warp rooms in CotM...i distinctly remember warping right to a couple spots that yeilded great exp. points to build up with prior to entering that fucking arena...i need to go play that shit again...

[AndrewTS 0]

whoa whoa whoa, i swear to god there were warp rooms in CotM...i distinctly remember warping right to a couple spots that yeilded great exp. points to build up with prior to entering that fucking arena...i need to go play that shit again...

Maybe I'm wrong then. It's been a hell of a long time, but maybe I'm just confused and they didn't have many of them. And HOLY CRAP there are a lot of save points in CotM.

 

I checked some maps: CotM had 5 and they were obviously spaced further apart. AoS had 8 warp rooms. I, embarrassingly, don't think I realized at the time that CotM had warp rooms. Doh.

 

HoD had a ton of warp rooms, but that was because there were two castles in that one.

[Guest Askewniverse]

I've got a ROM of HoD that I haven't started playing yet. You can still find the cart at random gamestop/eb's. Last time I saw it, the price wasn't jacked up to high hell like SotN has been.

The only problem is that you'll get in in a paper carton with the store logo on it, because so damn many careless bastards throw away or lose the box and instructions.

 

Also, if you really want SotN, it's available usually from 20 to 25 bucks on Half.com (well, there's shipping...)

 

http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid...=1794&meta_id=4

 

However, I lucked out and got my SotN at my EB for $9.99 Pre-owned. Some moron actually traded in that game. Stupid! Stupid! It's one of the few PS1 games that have survived my constant old game purges.

I didn't realize SotN was going for those prices. Around here, I can get a new copy (in the Greatest Hits packaging) for $10 at TRU.

 

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one of my favorite PS1 games. I bought it over 6 years ago, but it still holds up really well.

 

Out of the three GBA games, Aria of Sorrow is my favorite. It's reminiscent of SotN, and I like being able to choose from a variety of weapons. I haven't finished HoD yet, but it's pretty good so far. I don't like CotM that much, but that might be because I played the other two first. I guess I really shouldn't complain though, since I basically got the games for free.

 

 

I just gave it another shot.  It seems that I already beat Hard Mode, because I have the Silver Gun, and other "hard mode" items.  I put on the crappiest weapons and armor and started playing.  The enemies are the same, they move at the same speed, they appear to be the same numbers--I just think they do a little more damage.  Since I can usually mow through them without getting hit much, this basically meant it was only noticably harder when I fought a boss.

 

Although using the Silver Gun to wreak havoc from the start is great, because when you normally get it in Hard Mode the first time, it's basically useless by that point.

How or where do you get the Silver Gun?

[Anya 0]

I have LOI. It's decent.

 

 

I'm not really hyped for HOD having two castles, if it's like SOTN. I always thought that was pretty lame.

[AndrewTS 0]

I didn't realize SotN was going for those prices. Around here, I can get a new copy (in the Greatest Hits packaging) for $10 at TRU.

 

Heh. Pick up a spare or so just in case. Makes a great gift!

 

Out of the three GBA games, Aria of Sorrow is my favorite. It's reminiscent of SotN, and I like being able to choose from a variety of weapons. I haven't finished HoD yet, but it's pretty good so far. I don't like CotM that much, but that might be because I played the other two first. I guess I really shouldn't complain though, since I basically got the games for free.

 

Well, Soma PLAYS more like Alucard than Juste, but Aria doesn't have the two castles.

 

I'm in the minority that prefers HoD over Aria, but ah well. I actually played Harmony last out of all of them, though.

 

And Harmony has "Vampire Killer" in it, unlike Aria.

 

How or where do you get the Silver Gun?

 

It's in the middle room in the battle arena, before you fight Balore, and you can only get it on Hard. There's a less-powerful Hand Gun found in in the room in the roof over the waterfall in the underground passages, but it sucks.

 

The Silver Gun does less damage than the stronger weapons, but you can fire it rather quickly in succession, and it has the best range of any regular weapon.

 

I'm not really hyped for HOD having two castles, if it's like SOTN. I always thought that was pretty lame.

 

It's not upside down, it's basically different colors/backgrounds/enemies in the same castle layouts.

 

EDIT: to correct a mistake.

[Guest Askewniverse]

I didn't realize SotN was going for those prices. Around here, I can get a new copy (in the Greatest Hits packaging) for $10 at TRU.

 

Heh. Pick up a spare or so just in case. Makes a great gift!

Sounds like a decent idea. That way, I can make a few bucks by selling my current copy. The one I have now is in great condition (no scratches, instruction booklet pages aren't bent, no cracks in the case) and it's the original release (non GH packaging). There's probably some gamers out there who are stupid enough to pay extra for the non-GH packaging.

 

Well, Soma PLAYS more like Alucard than Juste, but Aria doesn't have the two castles.

That's pretty much what I meant. The two castles thing isn't very important to me, but it does greatly increase the replay value. The second castle was a cool, yet frustrating surprise in SotN (just when you think you're out, they pull you back in). After all that work, I found out that the game was only half-over. Bastards.

 

The Silver Gun does less damage than the stronger weapons, but you can fire it rather quickly in succession, and it has the best range of any regular weapon.

I'll probably stick with the Claimh Solais. It can be used quick enough in succession, and works pretty damn good when combined with the Flame Demon, Giant Bat, and Succubus souls.

[AndrewTS 0]

Sounds like a decent idea. That way, I can make a few bucks by selling my current copy. The one I have now is in great condition (no scratches, instruction booklet pages aren't bent, no cracks in the case) and it's the original release (non GH packaging). There's probably some gamers out there who are stupid enough to pay extra for the non-GH packaging.

 

Probably, although given the choice of two games at the same price, I'll take the regular over the mucus-green GH version. However, both versions of SotN suck because they aren't the original Ayami Kojima art. They're just...a CGI castle. Yuck.

 

That's pretty much what I meant. The two castles thing isn't very important to me, but it does greatly increase the replay value. The second castle was a cool, yet frustrating surprise in SotN (just when you think you're out, they pull you back in). After all that work, I found out that the game was only half-over. Bastards.

 

On the contrary, it was a Great Moment in Gaming for me, realizing there was more to it. Did you think you were going to get off without fighting Dracula? That would suck to only fight him in a introduction level.

[Guest Askewniverse]

I agree that the SotN cover art isn't much. The Kojima art thing doesn't bother me though, since it's on the inside of the case.

 

 

That's pretty much what I meant. The two castles thing isn't very important to me, but it does greatly increase the replay value. The second castle was a cool, yet frustrating surprise in SotN (just when you think you're out, they pull you back in). After all that work, I found out that the game was only half-over. Bastards.

 

On the contrary, it was a Great Moment in Gaming for me, realizing there was more to it. Did you think you were going to get off without fighting Dracula? That would suck to only fight him in a introduction level.

I thought it was a great moment too, but at the same time, it was also frustrating in a "damn, that game was pretty hard...wait, what do you mean, it's only half over" sense. As for the Dracula thing, I did think it was kinda weird at first, but didn't think much about it. I thought having a Belmont as the "final" boss was a nice twist.

 

Another thing I just remembered about SotN is that you can play as Richter. The only bad thing is that Richter's game is pretty hard.

[Anya 0]

I didn't like the upsidedown castle because it felt artificial. Like they felt it had to be longer so they just had you repeat it all but slightly different. It looks lame too. I'd rather have it so there's like an extra hour or so of the first castle with a couple more bosses than do the upside down thing.

 

It makes for a cool extra for beating it or something, but as part of the regular game it's pretty weird.

[AndrewTS 0]

I feel similar, but I'm not complaining about it. The difference with HoD is that you don't play one castle, then the other. You move back and forth between the castles until they merge into one. So it's a bit different in execution. So, depending on your opinion, you may find that a positive or a negative.

 

As for that last sentence, yeah, I know, but you should probably mark that as a spoiler.

[AndrewTS 0]

Note: I mistakingly thought the 2nd castle in HoD was reversed mirror-style, but I was wrong. Same layout, different look/enemies/etc. (corrected above).

 

Maxim's pretty cool to use in HoD, much more so than "J" in AoS. He has a version of the Samus Screw Attack/Space Jump, too. Yes, it does damage enemies as you safely go past any enemies in your path as you do it.

 

The games also have neat little references in them, also. The two succubi in AoS are green and red-hued (the latter is called Lilith, actually), there's several Lizard Men knock-offs in HoD, complete with sword and shield.

[AndrewTS 0]

Bumping this thread because I own Dawn of Sorrow, Curse of Darkness is supposedly getting a playable Jampack demo to be released soon, and darnit, we need some conversation that isn't sports-related or limited to the comments folder.

 

Anyway, not sure if I'd call Dawn as good as SotN yet, but it's darn close, and more challenging, fun, and more pleasing to the eyes and ears than Aria. Unfortunately, there are fewer hidden rooms (tons of times I've taken a swipe at a wall that seemed to scream "secret room," but came up with nothing).

 

The graphics are fantastic, with tons of tiny little details in the animation (multiple levels a parallax, the snow falling, including piles of snow on a van that--when you jump on it, the weight pushes the van down and snow falls off the tope of the van, Soma's hair and amulet, the Witch's "jiggling," a few huge bosses so far), and some areas that even put SotN to shame (the underground cavern looks amazing, better than similar areas in the DKCs by far).

 

The music is incredible as well, on par sometimes with SoTN's despite being in a tiny cartridge. There's no extended speech, unfortunately.

 

I've still got a long way to go, haven't even fought the undead T-Rex yet.

 

Gameplay is pretty much the same as Aria of Sorrow but with new features. The Doppelganger soul lets you swap between two sets of souls and equipment with X. You get a "super" attack that varies by weapon with A. Double jump is in, but second jump is a front flip. The touch screen's features aren't used immensely--you can bust ice blocks it, sic familiars on enemies you touch, etc. Of course, the main feature is the Magic Seal system.

 

The major bosses are provided with unlimited power, so to defeat them you need to weaken them and then use the magic seals. Stronger enemies need stronger seals, and you can't open the boss room without the appropriate seal (which unfortunately makes the game's nonlinearity take a hit by quite a bit). If you fail, the enemy revives and you have to knock its health down again.

 

So far I've been able to do a six-point seal without much difficulty using just my finger. It doesn't have to have perfectly straight lines to take, but you can't take your finger off the screen, you have to hit all the points in the right order, and you have to do it fairly quickly.

 

Anyway, I've been really engrossed in this game and I can't really recommend it highly enough if you like the recent games. It smokes Harmony and Aria by far, IMO. I can't wait to unlock the extra mode.

 

Although the usual "short and easy" complaint could still be leveled at it, I've actually died 3-4 times, something that rarely occured in the others games.

[razazteca 0]

In about a month or so there will be a double pack rerelease of 2 GBA games.....will it be HOD and AOS?

[Guest ABOBO]

Why isn't there a Castlevania Collection out yet?

[AndrewTS 0]

Why isn't there a Castlevania Collection out yet?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

There is. Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania and Contra for PC. It's a bare-bones compilation of the NES games, and CV2's passwords are all different in that version (but some translation errors were fixed up).

 

Konami hasn't really done a good job of compilations. Aside from that and some GBA compilations of old arcade titles, that's it really.

 

If they did a spiffed up console version, with artwork, Haunted Castle, Rondo of Blood with an option for Arranged Mode, the SNES Drac X and SCV4, and Bloodlines, I'd be willing to pay $50.

 

I wish if such a compilation was done that they'd squeeze in Legacy of Darkness. It got such a bad rap because of the overblown backlash on CV64 that hardly anyone ever gave it a chance. Iga has taken it upon himself to strike them from canon and doesn't think much of them. Despite that, it's still better in many ways than his last 3D CV and beats the utter trash that was Nanobreaker. Iga's talented, but he's a sexist, egotistical moron at times.

 

In about a month or so there will be a double pack rerelease of 2 GBA games.....will it be HOD and AOS?

 

Source?

 

 

It would be welcome, though. Harmony had very low production. Getting a used copy even without box/manual can cost you 30-35 bucks, and EB/Gamestop don't cut you any breaks on it.

 

Aria of Sorrow seems to have much higher production, but Aria's also been bootlegged out the arse. However, unlike most illegitimate copies of GBA games, the Aria that I had ended up with saves perfectly.

 

The GBA is extremely popular to pirate games for these days, and the knockoffs are admittedly quite well done. The super-shiny stickers, darker carts and differently shaped logos sticking out help you denote the phonies, but generally they're not as good at bootlegging the boxes and instructions.

 

The Puzzle Fighter bootleg I ended up with looked horrific, and the save feature didn't work.

 

Some of Dawn's souls are better and more useful than the norm. The Killer Clown soul kicks ass--you launch an ultra-quick playing card that does great damage. Axe Armor is the traditional angled ax attack. The Sniper is slow but does great damage. The familiars aren't as useful as they were in SotN, or even the Ice Card/Cross combo in Harmony.

 

Maybe that will change if I stock up on more souls of that type.

 

Soul abilities get stronger if you collect more souls. Plus, you can use some soul types to fuse to old weapons and make them stronger. I've been doing that a lot, since Hammer's a greedy bastard.

[Anya 0]

I want the new one but have no DS. They need to release this stuff on PS2 or Xbox, portables are lame.

[AndrewTS 0]

I want the new one but have no DS. They need to release this stuff on PS2 or Xbox, portables are lame.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Not going to happen, because of too many idiots like a guy I saw up at EB who looked at the back of the Metal Slug 3 box, saw the screenshots and said that it "looks like the old Nintendo."

[Anya 0]

They could do it in 3D.

 

More 2D games need CPS3 quality animation.

[AndrewTS 0]

2.5D games haven't really had a vast amount of commercial success lately, I think.

 

But I'm fine with a new 2D Castletroid every year and a half, and allegedly there's going to be a new one for DS as well after this.

[Anya 0]

They could do it in full 3D too. Metroid Prime worked. Not a CV fps, but with Prime like level design.

[AndrewTS 0]

Gotcha, although Konami's track record with 3D action games has been quite spotty, save for MGS3.

 

The Primes can get away with being less graphically intense, though. More organic environments are acceptable. CV is expected to have top-notch art design, otoh.

 

Legacy of Darkness came darn close to doing everything right. If CoD sucks, Iga needs to get over himself and let some of the KCEK folks who worked on them to help contribute input and design ideas.

 

Although the Curse of Darkness hype supposedly has it geared more like a SotN-style game than the glorified hack-n'-slash that was LoI.