What a horrible night to have a curse! ~ Castlevania Appreciation Thread

[Mr G]

Ah, Castlevania. The games have caused me untold rage, but yet I continuously find myself coming back to them time and time again. The story, music, atmosphere, and characters all draw me back to some of the most challenging games ever. There is nothing quite so satisfying as getting to the end of Castlevania game and putting Dracula back in his place. With that being said, HJU needs a place where we can talk all about the timelines, different games, and everything else Castlevania-related. So let's do this thing!

The first Castlevania game I remember playing is Lament of Innocence on the PS2. I'm fairly certain I played one of the original NES games in my childhood but I can't exactly recall it. Nonetheless, I enjoyed LoI very much. The gameplay was okay but the story was what really drew me in. Since then I've played pretty much all of the different Castlevania games, though I haven't beaten them all...yet. :laugh:

What is your favorite Castlevania game? Quote? Character? Most difficult? Anything and everything Castlevania goes here. :thumbs:

 

[FlashNeko]

For those of you interested in Let's Plays, here's an interesting one that's going through every Castlevania game possible.

Castlevania Megathread

 

[KingRanger]

My first CV was CV1 back when it came out. I loved the hell out of it. CV2 came out, and I was like WTF. It was awful. I hated the changes made to it. Then CV3 came out and it OWNED. CV3 is still to this day my 2nd favorite CV game. I never got into the gameboy CV games. The GBA games were OK. And the DS CV games were also just OK imo.

SOTN was the next OMG THIS OWNS CV. Everything about it, outside being on the easy side, was just outstanding. The n64 cv games were pure ****. The first CV game on PS2 was just a joke IMO. The 2nd CV game on ps2/xbox was a lot of fun. Yeah it had issues, but it was a fun game.

I have only played the new 360/ps2 cv game a little. I want to play more.

 

[wildwolf]

The Castlevania franchise is one of my favorites.

Reposting from the What Game Did You Just Beat? thread:

Replayed and finished these Castlevania games a few days ago:

Super Castlevania IV (SNES)
Castlevania: Bloodlines (Genesis)
Castlevania: Dracula X (SNES)
Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (PC Engine)

Playing Dracula X made me want to try the original one for the PC Engine so I got the emulator and ROM. The original definitely is a lot better than its watered-down SNES counterpart.

These are the Castlevania games I've finished:

Arcade
Haunted Castle

NES
Castlevania
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

SNES
Super Castlevania IV
Castlevania: Dracula X

GBA
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

DS
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Genesis
Castlevania: Bloodlines

PC Engine
Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo

PS
Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku
Castlevania Chronicles

PS2
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

PS3
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow


I tried looking for Castlevania: The Arcade where I live but no such luck.

To this day, Gekka no Yasukyoku (SOTN) remains the best Castlevania game I've ever played. I love the Valmanway (Crissaegrim) sword. It's super-effective against every enemy in the game.

Has anyone played the N64 Castlevania games? How were the gameplay and story?

 

[Mr G]

Wow, wildwolf, you've beaten a lot of CV games! I'm currently playing Portrait of Ruin and liking it very much so far. The difficulty is not too bad so far on it but some of the bosses have been tough. That is one of the features I really enjoy with CV. The games are challenging but the enemies and bosses really don't come off as cheap with their attacks.

I was wondering what others thought about Lords of Shadow. I personally enjoyed it although it did deviate from the classic CV formula and felt like a God of War rip-off from time to time. I thought the storyline was excellent and I haven't grabbed the DLC yet so I still have more story to go. Some of the visuals were truly stunning and the entire game was very atmospheric and appropriately gothic. And the last boss battle...well, I won't ruin it for those who haven't played but it is an incredibly epic battle. Thoughts?

 

[wildwolf]

I like the multiple twists near the end in Lords of Shadow. This game is in my top five Castlevanias. I wish it had some RPG elements, though, like leveling-up to increase your stats and equipping items (armor and/or accessories) to improve defense or give other beneficial boosts.

Haunted Castle is the most difficult I've played. It's harder than even Castlevania (NES) and Castlevania Chronicles.

 

[Domon Kasshu]

Sorry i couldn't resist. XD Kajet is awesome BTW !!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrze-nKw9zQ"]A Day in Dracula's Life - YouTube[/ame]

Love Castlevania. My absolute favorite would have to be Super Castlevania IV. The work they did on the engine was phenominal. It really is such a shame we never got a proper Castlevania 5 with Super Castlevania IV engine. :\ I also miss the old school platformer gameplay. Not really a fan of the RPGs (Even thou i enjoyed Symphony of the Night. ).

 

[Mr G]

I downloaded Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo on the Wii this weekend and beat it. Wow...what an excellent game. As far as the classic formula for CVs go (pre-Metroidvania), I believe it is one of the best. I enjoyed it more than Super Castlevania IV. The bosses were great, there were hidden stages, an additional character to play as, nice graphics, and those awesome anime cutscenes.