Castlevania: Symphony of the Tits
 

All snatched from Cherrn at Highervoltage in the quotations, will also be stealing some translated info. Some more screen shots at the secondary link.

It was pretty aptly put in my eyes when a guy said "I wish Konami would make one good metroidvania, instead of 40 not bad ones." Colors, as pointed out by yet another guy look a bit more vibrant here, and in a surprise twist to me, Igarashi apparently put in a female lead. I guess since she isn't a Belmont, it's "ok."

Joystiq

Why not put it on the 360 with high def sprites and 2D artwork?

Use particle effects and all the other nifty tech for whiz bang shiney?

Have more on the screen? ZOMBIE HORDE!

You got Ayami Kojima back, be grateful.

That would mean something if I could view the game outside of a 2.5 inch screen.

Meh, I eat these Metroidvania games up, so I can't help but be somewhat excited for this. I do think they need to start taking these games to the next level, though (they've basically all been the same with different gimmicks thrown in), so let's just hope this is the one that does it.

As for multiplayer, I hope it's real multiplayer instead of another cheap boss rush mode (PoR would have been awesome if it was co-op all the way through the main story). Even if it's only local, it'd still be better than nothing.

Excited already. Hope the multiplayer aspect will be done good. Also hoping for cameos.

And lollin' at the "she's not belmont so it's ok". Man, Morris, Lecarde and those main heroes in every GBA and DS Castlevania aren't too.

Juste Belmont ring any bells?

This would be unbelievably awesome. I hope they do it someday, although I will not be holding my breath.

Anyway, I absolutely loved PoR, and honestly, I always love these games, so complaining about it seems a bit silly. As long as the music is good!

I do agree that it would be awesome to see some forward development in the series again, though. Or even backwards--I'd love to see a classic CV3-style platformer, but updated and supercharged. But I shouldn't really be singing this song every time a Castlevania-related thread comes along, so I'll leave it at that. :D

PS. Not related, but Sonia Belmont! <3

Iga says she doesn't exist. :mad:

He does? But I... She... :(

I know, man. I know. That's what I made the comment I did about it being "ok" that this female lead isn't a Belmont. That's right, I'm :mad:! Not :glad:, :mad:!

Harmony of Dissonance is a disappointment.

Not really. The guy just eluded me. My bad.

heh. He was always my favorite Belmont =3. I only wish the music was up'd a little more and not having it sound like an 8-bit nightmare. Chapel of Dissonance was always heaven.

As for this... I'm kinda surprised that we finally get to see a female character take an independant role in a castlevania game since Sonia Belmont. Looking forward to it and the music <3.

They've all been solid games for the most part, but I know a lot of us feel that we want to see some kind of movement forward. Hell, that's been said already in this thread as well. I just get tired of playing damn near the same game over and over.

At least we can all agree that the ditching of that shitty generic-anime artwork is a smart move. I'm looking forward to seeing the box for this game, just because Kojima usually comes up with awesome cover art.

I love those Metroid-vanias, although I've actually only played three of them (CotN, PoR and SotN). I wanted to play more but they're pretty hard now in stores.

That said, I'm looking forward to this new one. I am glad they're ditching the generic anime artwork as well. Gah. The older artwork was cooler.

Wasn't really "older", they claim she was just busy doing the art for those half-assed PS2 titles is why she wasn't able to do the DS games. Either way, I'm glad she's doing the art for this game.

Sure, this is the third game they've made for the DS but I can't help but get excited for the same reason as most anybody else I suppose; I love me some Metroidvania gameplays, it just never seems to get tiresome. :(

Garr, the only lame thing about Dissonance is its soundtrack. Everything else was decent (and it's pretty fun as well).

That aside, I hope it has an interesting "combat system" (Like the cards in Circle of the Moon or Portrait of Ruin's weapon mastery or Aria and Dawn of Sorrow's Monster Soul ability etc).

GOD IN HEAVEN, NO. PLEASE, NO. Talk about shitty, artificial ways to lengthen your game.

Zzzzz...What's that!? NEW Castlevania! OMG!

...

Oh wait, it's just another Metrovania...Thanks Igarashi! First one was fun, second was decent, couldn't stand the third or beyond. Just too repetitive mapping and collecting. Wake me up when you build off Castlevania 3 or Super Castlevania's greatness.

Zzzzzz...

The only thing that bothers me about these Castlevanias (lololo, Metroidvania) is the absurd drops rates some items have on certain enemies (fuck you Alastor and your goddamn Damascus Sword). It's one thing for it to be a rare drop, but it shouldn't be like... the drop rate of rare items in an MMORPG. As stunned as I am to be saying this, they really should take a page from Square-Enix and what was done with The World Ends with You-- allow the player to fiddle with the difficulty in various ways to manipulate drop rates.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia Impressions - Shacknews - PC Games, PlayStation, Xbox 360 and Wii video game news, previews and downloads

Even more impressions! And god help us, Glyphs sound like the Soul Absorption from Aria and Dawn of Sorrow. Well, here's hoping for the best, in any case.

...A world map is nice, though I know it will be painfully underutilized. Can't be worse than Dracula's Castle acting as a hub, though.

The Glyph system sounds like a combination of weapon mastery and soul absorption. All weapon attacks use MP, though? I hope that's not the case.

Probably only when Glyphs are activated, I imagine. I don't know, there are so many things I expect weapons to do in Castlevania, rather I would like weapons to do, and yet here I am swing gigantic cleavers into foes and having numbers pop up. My favorite weapon moments are when you actually do things like toss enemies across the room. A sense of somewhat visceral combat would be very refreshing, in my opinion.

They better not, that's nostalgic!

Also, over the course of this thread I began to realize just how much I hate the term "Metroidvania".

Anyway, the information is pretty limited, but I'm not so sure about the whole world map thing... It could work out really well, but it sounds a bit shady to me. Technically though I didn't feel that PoR really took place in just the one castle--every painting was its own level really, so the castle was just the central level through which you reached each sub-level.

The Glyph system sounds fun to me, I always like combining different stuff to see what happens, I can't wait to see how it's handled. I just hope that it's actually balanced, that's often an issue with this kinda thing. Bat Glyph + Door Glyph = Armageddon!

I always thought it was "Castleroid". It certainly rolls off the tongue better.

It's funny, I was playing Symphony of the Night again on the PSP and I was thinking "I want a new one of those DS games". The following day this thread pops up and makes my day. The milk on this cow hasn't spoiled for me yet. I do hope the game can be a bit longer though.

The Glyph system seems to be a fusion of LoI style combos + item crashes/crushes. What interests me most is the former: COMBOS! It's about time we got a 2D Devil May Cry ;)

I may be completely alone in this thought, or it could be crossover fetishism talking, but we need an actual Metroidvania. Like Samus pumping holy missiles or something into Dracula, or the Belmonts/Soma/Alucard picking a fight with Ridley.

That being said I love me some new Castlevania, and hope this game doesn't invoke the redundancy clause in the level themes like the last game did.

If I can find it, I'll link ya. But I've read a few very convincing arguments for HoD.

I hate it too, but probably for different reasons. A small minority of Castlevania games are "Metroid" in style.

Color me excited. I loved Portrait of Ruin as well as pretty much every single other Castlevania game to date.

Still, I clamor for a console 2D sequel to SOtN more than anything. An enormous, expansive 2D world on the 360 with HD sprites, obscene amounts of enemies and particle effects would make me cream. Imagine a 40 hour 2D Castlevania game? Ahh, I can dream...

Has clearly never grinded for anything in a Castlevania.

*imagines*

I see a game that wears out it's welcome, who's setting and artstyle eventually become dull, and gameplay that relies more and more on pointless fetch quests and scarcity of items.

Also maybe lengthy FMV.

No thanks.

Grinding isn't real gameplay.

Think REALLY hard about what you just said. Please.

Curse of Darkness was almost 40 hours but in 3D. It's still dull as all-know fuck though.

Also travel outside the castle walls? I hope they expand on that, not just "you go to this town to do all the mission pertaining to this stage. Finish these missions and you'll never set foot on this town again."-type.

Okay, grinding is the dark side of gameplay. How much time you're willing to put into a game shouldn't be a challenge. I think that game length has become a large factor in the critique of a game that grinds (and pointless side quests, etc.) are used far too often because we actually ask for that shit.

I believe games have become less about the quality of the gameplay, and more the quantity. Too many can only justify the purchase if it wil satisfy them for X hours. This isn't speaking against sidequests and such, but please leave out elements that are ONLY there to deliberately lengthen the experience, not add to it. In movies, you don't see people going to a movie because it runs 20 minutes longer than the much better film running alongside it, but in games, people tend to put up with much more fat than I believe we should. "Over 40 hours of gameplay!" shouldn't be a selling point on every box I see now, the classics have come in all sizes.

When did I ever say I liked Grinding or that it was a positive trait in video games, Wraith?

I'm sorry if it sounded like I did. I was just trying to explain my earlier statement, not place accusations on anyone, aside from possibly the gamer community as a whole. Anyways, I'm sorry for derailing this thread somewhat, I'll be good.

It was a good statement, at that. I agree with it wholeheartedly. I find that people talk about "length" as if it means an extension of the parts they find enjoyable. Most games are fairly long, as you stated, but yeah... a lot of that length is masochistic type shit like grinding or other repetitive boring tasks. I just feel that asking for a 40 hour Castlevania is stupid, as "completing" everything certain Castlevanias have to offer is often times a lengthly task.

Fun-sponge :(

40-hour Castlevania meaning 40 hours from beginning of the main quest to the end of it, side-quests and completionism not included.

That would have to be the last game in the series, a literal magnum opus. And that just ain't gonna happen.

PS: It'd be an 80 hour game, then.

SOTN, Aria, Dawn and PoR are not long at all. Not even going for pretty much everything they have to offer. The only thing that takes awhile is unrecorded things, like if for some reason you want one of every item in SOTN, but why would you even bother save for WANTING the game not to end?

I mean, the soul system in aria+dawn seems daunting, but it isn't. I beat both of those games with every soul in like 20 hours. My Dawn save I could even snap a picture of- of my replay at 26 hours, guys. :(

Couldn't hurt for them to actually extend the game's lengths just a little. Not asking for a lot, but just a small boost would be nice. Of course, that's the obvious fanboy in me talking. I'll honestly be happy as long as they keep churning out decent games.

OCD level completionism is pretty much what these Castlevania games prey on. I don't think anyone argues that the main game is long, it's that the side shit is tedious and pretty much what you have to squeeze in order to get a longer return on your investment in these games for some people. It probably wouldn't hurt them to extend the campaign... but then again it probably wouldn't hurt them to stop rehashing the same damn game every time they want to do a supposed "new release."

Soul collecting *was* the side stuff though. I guess I see the point that the game would have likely been about 6 hours without it in there though. I mean, rushing through SOTN, even filling in 199~201% of the map (close to perfect) I can beat the game in around two hours these days. Considerably less if I just make a shot for the end.

Never bothered to speed through the DS games, I imagine it'd be mostly the same in those too though. Oh well.

I imagine the preparation to be able to do those runs isn't exactly a short process starting out... that is unless you use a guide or some such. I mean, I see where the game can have its longevity, and it's just unfortunate since I hate doing it. The last Castlevania handheld game I enjoyed was probably Aria of Sorrow.

For SoTN it's just that I've played that game to death and have the map pretty much memorized is why I can race through it so quickly. Even on the 360 arcade release, I got all the achievements in like 4 hours.

I'd guess you were talking about trying to speed through the other games though, since the souls are mostly how you become so overpowered in the first place. (jetting through the games would probably get you killed since there are no amazing level spots I've found)

But i mean, there are only a few "awesome" souls anyway and in Dawn especially, you can boost your luck with another soul that isn't hard to get at all (right near a save, exit<>re-enter and kill til you get 9 of them) and the rest are pretty easy to get. I'd imagine the game would be pretty short if you knew exactly which souls were actually worth it.

I just honestly haven't liked any of the castlevanias THAT much since SOTN to bother with any speed runs through the rest of the games; though Aria was a interesting idea and I also loved it a ton. The rest of the games have been "good enough" to warrant buying and playing through, but not good enough to warrant several replays. Not even close. :(

To each is own. Even SotN has its limits. I mean, explore, explore, explore. Castlevania needs a more in-depth combat system to make it last eternally. Like DMC3. Except not.

I'm looking forward to this game, even if it'd be pretty much the same as the last portable Castlevanias. Am I the only person who actually likes (moderate) grinding in these kinda games?

If you're a fan of the gameplay, there's nothing wrong with enjoying the grinding. It's not like having fun isn't the entire point of playing in the first place.

Grinding as a forced extension of length is just poor design though, and often results in detracting from the overall experience instead of adding to it. That's all they were saying. But if you actually enjoy it, more power to you.

GRINDAN,you say?
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/3842/grinderzb2.jpg

I'm really impressed by you guys,though. For once,there's an actual Castlevania discussion by people who have a deep knowledge,understanding and affection for the series. Jolly good show,old chaps.

That said,I really need to catch up to my Metroidvanias. Of the handheld ones,the only ones I played so far are Circle of the Moon and Portrait of Ruin (in progress at the mo),though I certainly intend to play every one out there (in b4 slowpoke). I have Dawn of Sorrow,but I'm not going to play it until after I've bought and beaten the shit out of Aria of Sorrow.

As annoying as GRINDAN is,it's ultimately voluntary (rare drops aren't required to beat the game on any of the endings),so if you do it,you obviously do derive some masochistic OCD pleasure out of it. I certainly do on some level,so I don't mind it as much. I know I'll do it anyway.

That said,the drop rate in PoR is BULLSHIT. I mean,jesus christ. Pretty much the only thing my Charlotte does nowadays is run around casting Luck Boost nonstop. I'm not even sure it does anything. Sometimes I see the star ratings on drops go down as she does it. Does that mean they become more likely to appear? Am I doin it rite?

Overall,though,I really like PoR. The lengths Iga went to to squeeze the game into the chronology right after Bloodlines really impressed me. I mean,when it's revealed that Wind is in actuality
[SPOILERS]Eric Lecarde[/SPOILERS]
,bricks were shat. Plus the whole WHAT A TWIST with the Vampire Killer and the Belmonts,and the Morris' and whatnot was pretty interesting (Whip's Memory,fuck yeah!). The whole premise with the portraits (btw lolwut,since none of the pictures you go through in the game are,you know,portraits) allows you to go into all sorts of crazy places without physically venturing outside of Castlevania. Abandoned schoolhouse (wut) in the middle of a swampland,trippy circus freakshow mindfuck (definitely one of the more original environments in a Castlevania game)and a goddamn Egyptian pyramid. AWESOME. Not too hot on the whole second palette-swapped visit part,but eh,there's enough differences between the the old portarait and the new one that I usually don't mind. The characters' little animations (especially Charlotte's) are adorable. Weapon upgrades are great. I'm having a blast so far.

As for the new one,fuck yeah,female protagonist! It's going to be at least on par with the other handheld Castlevanias,so I'm definitely looking forward to it.

I really like the two DS vanias, and it's great to see some news about the sequel.
However. It reminds me even more that hell - we need a 2D Metroid for the DS.

Certainly, and that's why I considered my rant off-topic. Castleroids for the most part avoid the artificial game lengthening bullshit that other games try like fighting all the bosses over again for no reason, and side quests that don't add to the game at all. Yes, some voluntary grinding on side quests that aren't necessary for the full enjoyment of the game can be healthy, god knows I've grinded out rare items and overleveled shit just for the hell of it before.

Can I get an amen? I'm tired of desperately following rumors of new GBA, DS and WiiWare Metroids, either release a new one soon (not likely) or at least tell us not to expect one (even more full of unlikeliness). 2D metroid is a perfect example of a series of amazing games that don't pretend to be something more than they are.

Some people like fighting bosses all over again. Of course, they have to be good in the first place ay. A good boss is hard to start with, but easier with experience, yet still a fair challenge e.g. DoS/PoR Death (more the former).

Re: 2D Metroids. The series is still fresh - and Nintendo are wise to keep it that way. Fusion wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and Return of Samus? Ick. That leaves only ZM and Super, which is only two games. I dunno what I'm on about exactly when I write this, but I DO wish to see another one of ZM quality, albeit 3-4 times in length, sometime soon.

I totally agree. But then it's not like any of the Castleroids have forced you to grind right? You can skip any kind of collecting and just run through the game if you want to.

I mean, Fusion and Zero Mission (my personal favorite Metroid) did wonderful on GBA. Metroid is like Nintendo's coolest series, and it should be natural for it to get a couple of games on the DS - preferrably 2D if you ask me. Although being fairly quiet, there has to be some freaking demand among the fans?

EDIT: Oh and I have to give DoS kudos for it's alternative extended ending. That was awesome.

Eh,Zero Mission,as much of a nostalgia bomb as it is,annoyed me greatly. The main reason would be the bullshit amount of backtracking required to get 100% completion. People derided Fusion for generally restricting the amount of exploration,but what Zero Mission took it to another extreme. Super was,of course,the perfect balance,no doubt about that.

Speaking of Fusion,it's definitely my favorite in the entire series. I generally end up enjoying the red-headed bastard stepchildren in any given series the most (my favorite RE is the third one,my favorite Golden Axe is the third one,ect.),because the reason they are declared the bastard stepchildren is usually because they try to introduce some radically new elements into the stale series,and I always appreciate such boldness. Fusion introduced an actual storyline,something the Metroid series has long been starving for.
That and it's the creepiest game in the franchise.
SA-X made me shit a fucking brickhouse every time she appeared.
OH GEEZ FUCK SHE'S HERE RUN RUN RUN OH SHIT IT'S DEAD END FUCK I'M GONNA DIE QUICK HIDE UNDER THE FLOOR GOD I HOPE SHE DOESN'T HEAR ME FUCK ME!1!1
Don't even get me started on Nightmare.

Epic game is epic.

I'm not even sure Resident Evil 3 would be considered that, wouldn't that be RE4 technically considering, despite it's success, it was still, by your definition the red-headed stepchild of the series? It definitely did piss off a lot of hardcore fans with how drastically the formula changed anyway.

Anywho, I think most people just didn't like Fusion because of the "less talky more walky" mindset. It had a lot more un-skippable story elements which bogged it down as a "Metroid" title. I played through it once and loved it, but quickly realised it was not a good game to replay, which pretty much every other game had been up to that point and afterwards too. (Never played Prime 3 so I dunno about that one)

I don't think the dialogue killed Fusion for a lot of players. It was all too linear and hand-holding for a Metroid game. Prime 3 suffers from this too on a lesser scale, and is mostly a great game because of the grapple beam and fuck awesome controls. Prime 2, on the other hand, suffered from too much backtracking: it's just paced too slow. I still loved Fusion, but it didn't have a Metroid feel at times because of the wierdness, and instead, just felt like some great fan-service piece, especially with the twists at the end.

Prime 1 and 2 sprinkled the artificial game-lengthener into their product with the end game artifact hunts that NO ONE LIKED. There was another scavenger hunt in 3, but honestly, by the time the game told me to find the energy cells, I had all but one of them already just from playing the game, although this is sadly mostly due to one of Prime 3's largest flaws: a distinct lack of difficulty. Once you get used to the controls, and learn that corrupted mode is unstoppable and completely abusable, you'll blaze through.

RE3 is a black sheep of the series due to the obvious lack of effort put into it. That's why some people (like myself) consider RECV to be more of a full-fledged sequel in the series than RE3 was.

As for RE4, it's a good action game, but it doesn't feel like an RE title. I can understand why the hardcore fans would feel a bit bothered by that one too.

That along with the frequent dialog parts definitely made the game feel less like a true Metroid title. The problem with Fusion is that the mission-based approach kills the sense of exploration that defines the Metroid series. I actually thought it was kind of cool to have a story as well, but I preferred the less invasive way in which Metroid Prime handled it. It breaks the sense of atmosphere and isolation to be answering calls while you're exploring an alien world. Metroid Prime 2 also irked me with the Chozo guy ordering you around and I haven't played MP3.

That and the Chozo Ghosts were kind of annoying in Prime 1, but I still think the game was a masterpiece, and it was my favorite title of the PS2/GC/Xbox era.

Oh yeah, the Castlevania discussion... Well, the new game probably won't be better than SOTN, but I'm sure it'll be fun. Either way, my favorite Castlevania (Dracula's Curse) isn't going to be threatened by yet another Metroidvania.

I liked having story in my Metroid games. Prime perhaps had it better with the less invasive backstory. Fusion was good, but like the 3-D games it felt sequence-break unfriendly.

As for Castlevania, I hope they keep busting out the unique level themes (the circus, The Abyss, etc.). So far I only see the pirate ship but all the other screens look typical fare.

Try playing through it again.
From what I know,the game doesn't really allow to stray from the main storyline path on your first walkthrough. It's physically impossible to obtain 100% on your first run. However,on subsequent runs,the hatches that lock you inside or outside of the lab sectors supposedly remain open,allowng for actual freedom of exploration,just like in any other Metroid title.
Bastard stepchildren usually don't end up being multimillion hits and the most successful games in the series that finally bring it out of the bog of repetition and stagnation. Butthurt fucking fans bawwwing "IT GOTS NO ZOMBIES SO IT'S NOT A REAL RE!1!!!1" doesn't change that.
As for RE3,I love it for the improved gameplay,the opportunity to explore environments from RE2 and,of course,Nemesis. I was a wee young lad,and that was my first real experience with a "terrifying invincible monster stalker" mechanic in a horror game. Naturally,I shat enough bricks to build the house that I live in right now. I don't think I was ever more scared of a monster in vidya than I was of Nemesis at that point.
Then I beat Mercenaries and earned enough money to buy myself a ROCKET LAWNCHAIR. Nemesis isn't that scary anymore. =(
In Fusion's defense,it helps that you are talking to a soulless automaton rather than an actual being. And to balance out those breaks,the rest of the game is way creepier than even Super ever was. Creepy in lots of subtle ways that you won't really get until you think about it really hard. Fusion is actually the closest in atmosphere and spirit to the movie that inspired it - the Alien franchise. I can elaborate,if you want.
Agreed on both counts. Chozo ghosts were ass.

To get back on the topic of Castlevania again:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...l/img_0265.jpg

First female lead in a Metroidvania. I love how Igarashi hates Sonia Belmont. Eh, no biggie. Sounds like we're gonna be getting standard fare here.

Well, like most sane people, he doesn't really want to remember Legends. Can't say I really blame him for that.

Castlevania Legends on the Gameboy was fine. I'm assuming you're referring to the Dreamcast abomination.

Castlevania Legends also wasn't a Metroidvania anyway... It was classic style platformer and it was alright for a gameboy game I guess, but I honestly couldn't get into it. Still, it claims "first time" period really, so it is funny to see him hate on her so hard he refuses to even acknowledge she existed at all.

Edit: My bad, that was the point in your post, I misread since I'm tired and on my way to bed. I guess we are in complete agreement then.

Look, I already talked to Skills about this, but I bring up Legends because every time the subject of a woman comes up in Castlevania... they're generally subordinate or outright fucking helpless. The only reason Igarashi brought up Legends was to say it never happened, which I find funny because it was solely for the storyline stuff. Nevermind that it was as "to formula" to Castlevanias back then as his are now.

The reason that Sonia's been retconned out of this shit was not my point. Legends was wholly dull and uninspired. It was basically a more boring version of Belmont's Revenge. Hell, the fact that it doesn't do the "Metroidvania" thing was beside the point. In a series already full of extremely similar titles, it was *too* cookiecutter. I couldn't care less about it if I tried.

EDIT: Mo0 makes sandwiches, Skills is an ass(hole), I make fun of Igarashi for bringing up a game that no one remembered anyway for the sole purpose of women hating, and Castlevania Legends is also not worth remembering but was brought up anyway for various retarded reasons.

But we have this already. It's called item crashing.

But can't wait due to said descriptions.

Guess what. The trailer is out. Check it out

I'm real happy that they've abandoned the old "manga-like" art that they've used in the previous DS games.
I have to say that the graphics in this game seems to have improved, it seems more fluid and the background areas look amazing (I mean, just look at the water area with a boat in the bg).
Gameplay looks very interesting, and I can't wait to actually get a feel of how extensive the Glyph system really is.
The music in the trailer sounds great so I can't wait to hear the whole OST.

I'm not usually too hyped about games nowadays, but this trailer was smokin' and it seems like the game will be as well.

The trailer's in English, so it looks like we'll have the game soon. I myself can't wait. Screw next gen, the DS has EVERY DAMN THING.

YouTube - Castlevania Order of Ecclesia First Video

Also Youtube link if the site's too retarded for you.

So, basically, traditional MP has been replaced with a stamina bar that recharges when the player takes no action. I think I'm okay with that kind of system.

Let's see how it matches up with the actual game. The trailer made it seem like it's much more action intensive, but R-Type Final did the same thing and that game is still as slow and methodical as most every other R-Type. Looks good, though, perhaps there will be a demo or some such.

It'd be nice if they'd toss up demos for interesting games on the Nintendo Channel, but I'm not expecting that to happen for a long time. If ever, anyway.

It'd sure help, me anyway, for releases like this, I'll say that much. In any case, I've got you suckers for impressions.

I don't want to sound like I'm not enthused for the game, but that trailer just made the game seem like standard fare. That's hardly a bad thing though, as the other two DS Castlevania games are some of my favorite games on the system, so it's good to be getting more of it. I just still kind of wish they went and did something drastically different.

I think we've all felt the same way since the thread began, Rock.

Agreed, these CV games never disappoint me. Glad to see the original 2 (michiru and ayami) doing their thing again. Seeing a few of the same elements and a few boss returns isn't a bad thing. I approve u.u. That one track in the beginning of the vid sounds familiar. Any idea?

And here's an interview with Koji Igarashi (Also including some new material).
Youtube - Koji Igarashi Interview

The trailer really pumped up my hype. I've been longing for the new 'vania.

I just watched the new video at gametrailers and the animation and detail looks splendid. Can't wait <3


Oh, I see it's the same trailer people talked about. My bad :(

That trailer has left me extremely excited for the game, moreso than I expected even. The art looks absolutely spectacular, and the gameplay footage seems really intriguing too. As Rotor said it looks a bit more intense than most Castlevania games but I think that might just be clever editing--we'll see.

Rocky pointed me to the trailer last night. While it definitely looks like standard fare, it certainly looked a tad more er, epic to me. Ya know, bigger sprites, some cooler boss fights, and even her dialogue is cool.

Hoping this comes out soon.

It looks like they added a few neat "Relics" to the game too, even if one just looks like a ripoff of the grappling hook from Super Metroid... it's still new for a Castlevania game!

After watching the trailer a few more times, I will say that it does look pretty awesome. I still don't think it will do enough to be drastically different, but it looks like it could be the best of the handheld games so far.

If I'm not mistaken, the game's supposed to come out near the end of October.

YouTube - New Castlevania:Order of Ecclesia Gameplay Trailer E3 2008

"You've danced well, woman. Now, shall we go for the finale?!"

Wow! Looks quite nice for a DS title :3 Think I'll be playing this one.

Kinda miffed that they are moving away from the trademark of using musical movements in the title (Stopped in Portrait of Ruin, but still). Figured that'd be something they would keep doing :x Eh well. Looking forward to the game!

Are they just going for kitsch with the voice acting now? The game looks great though, will be picking this up for sure.

Barring any preorder bonus, I can't see myself buying this one on day one. While I'm still pretty excited for the game, there's not enough to where I just have to play it as soon as it comes out, and these Castlevania DS games drop in price pretty quickly.

Better quality of the recent gameplay trailer. Damn this is looking fine <3

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Comes out tomorrow

For those who preordered it, you get a soundtrack. No clue whether or not it's a download or anything.

I'm concerned it might have some copyright BS on it, and I've heard the soundtrack is already leak'd. Any points in the right direction will help. Or if nothing happens, I might rip it by Thursday or so. I'll have the game in my hands on WEDNESDAY!

Check out the animation on that trailer :orange:
But hey, according to Game-Releases.net it's out today?

I've been playing this yesterday (japanese rom). So far, there's nothing wrong with this game. We have lots of returning goons and the system is a little more challenging compared to dawn of sorrow. Portrait of Ruin is still awesome but this doesn't suck either. I like the idea of controlling your character to capture souls/abilities in a few ways and of course, the strongest point of the game being the OST. All I can say is that it's awesome. I haven't noticed any returning tracks yet but I'll get there when the time comes. Don't wanna spoil it too much since I dunno what's going on.

EDIT: Already enjoyng this glyph system. A friend of mine, so far, is pissed cause he can't handle it ;p.

Played it today.

I haven't encountered any hair pulling difficulty, but so far I've had to watch out and take care more than I normally do compared to past castlevanias.

Glyph system is fun, and the one boss fight I've dealt with so far was awesome too.

I'll play more when I get back.

Alas, I didn't reserve at the right place, so no soundtrack for me :/ Dammit, I want my arranged Distortion of Black Fear plzkthnx.

First impression speaks of a very promising Castlevania, but it sure feels way harder than DoS an PoR. I had some serious trouble with the second boss before figuring out some unfair kind of "exploit". After that, I died from a normal enemy. Two times :(

Still, awesome. Shanoa is totally hot, so are the improved sprites and backgrounds (animations too). Haven't got that many Glyphs so far, standard swords and axes, but I hope to see some awesome magic later on.

I enjoy the new level system too. It feels refreshing, and I'm sure we get to see the castle by the later part of the game anyway.

Yea with the bosses in this game, you have to be careful or they tear you a new one in seconds. :p

The Glyph system is nice, where you don't have to worry about finding new weapons and so forth.

As the magic aspect goes, there's some that look nice, but so far haven't found any good applications for them aside from regular enemies.

Yeah. I got tear to shreds by some normal enemies too, ugh.

I picked this up yesterday, and I'm really enjoying it so far. Most of these first levels are too short for my liking and I miss the somewhat open-ended castle exploration of the other GBA/DS Castlevanias, but I hear that changes considerably later in the game. So far it's been a lot easier than the others too with the exception of that nasty lighthouse crab. I had to fight him 4-5 times before finally getting all his attack patterns down.

I gotta say the only annoying stage has to be that mist forest filled with 3 deadly enemies. Took me a while to get the hell outta there. So far, I still like it. I think there's some more places to explore on the other side. I guess we need certain abilities to get to that destination. I do miss exploring that mountain.. That track is by far my favorite so far.

Really? I get the impression that the enemies takes a lot more hits and dish out a lot more damage. I had quite a hard time with that big red head flying around.

I still love it so far though. I like the layout of going between places, stopping by the village for healing up and maybe visiting a new villager you saved earlier.

I take back what I said about the game being really easy. The misty forest is such a sharp spike in difficulty, it's crazy. Especially those guys who throw the bloody lances.

yeah. I stopped playing for 2-3 days because of that. But you can also jump over them since they possess shitty experience points. After that, it becomes more challanging .

With the exception of the current lighthouse crab problem, I'm doing A-ok. Good balance of difficulty and fun all around in this game.

Currently level 15 and just rescued like.. 2 villagers even (the old man doesn't count). Will grind more until I can defeat that pesky crab with either the axe glyph or the lightning glyph.

I used the crystal glyph you get after rescuing the old man in the village. It drops pretty much straight down and deals 10-12 damage to the crab.

IMPOSSIBLE REQUEST: Can someone with more ripping/talent than I make an avatar of the Wallman?

A combination of the Scythe and Lightning glyphs worked well for me. The special attack the lightning will give you is sooo useful.

Used this on the third try after trying (with little luck) on the axe; defeated him with that. All boils down to evading his attacks mostly (with the crystal shedding 15 HP per hit).


Quite true. The lightning one is darned useful against a lot of enemies. Then again, since my heart meter is quite low for now, I mostly depend on the X and Y buttons to do the work (plus the occasional special).

Also set the sword/sword/magnet set for A, lance/lance/magnet for B and either axe/axe/magnet, lightning/lightning/magnet or any type of close-range weaponry for C for now, until I find a combination better. Also will use that zombie glyph sooner or later.

Beat the game. The final boss pulls some surprising shit on you but doesn't reach the frenetic awesome of PoR.

BTW, full OST is out. From what I've heard, the (unfortunately mere) six arranged tracks blow their DS counterparts out of the water.

We seem to have some naming differences between the tracks though...

Wow I just went through my other CV ost's and Tower of Dolls was originally in Castlevania Chronicles. Overall, the game was great. Now we gotta wait til next october..

Also, the arranged tracks are good but I prefer Scorched Earth of Solemnity's original version over the remix.

Oh lol. Got the bad ending myself.

Now to play it all over again.

So I just decided to check this out, the game seems pretty fun, standard fare so far... but what the fuck do I do at that boss in the prison? The giant skeleton. Getting killed in 3-4 hits isn't fun.

Use the 3 magnets to your advantage. And don't forget the backdash/stepping away as far as possible.

If still hard then well.. time to grind a bit. Fought the giant skeleton at around level 5-6.

Alright, will do then. The problem with the magnets for me is that sometimes if the skeleton gets too close, Shona or whatever her name is, will get hit and then automatically fall back in a "hurt" pose, which is like,
counter-productive to me getting onto the bloody magnet in the first place. Maybe I'm just rusty in 'Vanias.

If the boss is too close, backdash/step back. Magnet when he stoops down, then back to his front since fighting with his back turned to you is challenging enough.

Also don't rush here dude. Take your time. Memorize attack patterns and if you die, apply learned patterns. That's what I did even if it took me numerous tries. Game's challenging as heck but satisfyingly rewarding when you kick that boss' ass.

Also what glyphs are you using dude?

Hey folks, anyone else getting medals for beating bosses? What's that all about?

I read that each boss gives a medal if you can beat him without taking any damage.

Oh shit, really? I just beat Eligor and now that I think about it, he didn't touch me once. Can't remember old shadow puppet dude doing it either. Do you get anything for beating all the bosses like that and getting all their medals?

I haven't seen anyone actually mention what effect, if any, they have. Just that you get them for beating bosses without getting hit.

Eligor's pretty awesome. I beat him using the auto-targeting bow, but I imagine the axes would have been just as good, if not better.

Oh, well at least I know why I was receiving them. Knowing that it's a reward for a good player is more than enough.

He was definitely pretty wild, since the battle demands so much from you (destroying the jewels while he's facing you, running underneath when he rears up, figuring out how to destroy both bows, slide through a microscopic gap between his hoof and the ground when he hops, etc)

I used Melio Ascia for the bows since it was stronger than Melio Arcus. The latter is way safer because, as you mentioned, it auto-targets rather than having to make several short hops underneath him so the axes will reach him.

BTW, another question which has stumped me: What the hell does the Justice Ring do? It says that "Enemies killed increase attack power" but I'm not seeing any kind of damage boost when I put it on.

Its possible that you just haven't killed enough monsters to see an effect?

That was probably it. From the time I posted that message to now, I've racked up an obscene amount of kills. It's currently giving me +15 in attack power, too bad Justice Rings don't seem to stack (like Death Rings).

BTW, I did all the Large Cavern and Training Hall hullabaloo and the rare items from both. The latter was feeding me my ass until I picked up a Ruby Hairpin and made full use of Emperor Ring + High Potion/Refectio.

I tossed all that stuff on and ran through hard mode with the level 50 cap, and just tore through both Boss Rush courses in ~ 3:10 for Course A (goddamn Brachyura) and ~2:30 for Course B. The speed rewards you get are kind of lame.

Eye of Devil counts as headwear and basically makes the game run at 1/2 speed. This includes Shanoa, if you were wondering. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be useful or a novelty item. The Eye of God just replaces the figures that appear when you inflict damage with the target's remaining health. Good for bosses?

The reward for beating it on hard (Queen of Hearts hat), is phenomenal. Using glyph unions like a madman is great, and it easily leaves Laura's Royal Crown in the dust with its stat boosts.

I finally had a chance to pick up the game the other day, and I have to admit I'm actually enjoying this game a lot more than Portrait of Ruin just due to the fact of how challenging it has been. I only just finished the skeleton cave and I actually love how they have ramped up the difficulty.

I've also been having problems with the giant prison skeleton and also the giant crab. After memorizing attack patterns I finally beat them even if it took me quite a few tries. I had a miserable time beating the crab because I was totally oblivious to the fact that you had to kill him using the elevator. I just kept swinging at him till I got fed up and knew something else had to be done to beat him.

Sometimes I find the boss fights quite tedious but it adds to the challenge of the game and also my enjoyment. I found with the boss fights in Portrait of Ruin too straight forward and incredibly easy. This game however I find requires patience and attacking at the right time since it is so incredibly easy to get killed.

Overall, I hope the rest of the levels are just as challening and entertaining as the levels I've already played in this game. I'm getting a bit of nostalgic love for the castlevania series with this game because I just recently finished Super Castlevania IV on the VC and playing that game made me realize how dreadfully difficult the castlevania series can be since I died quite a few times trying to finish that game. It is good to see this game have a good amount of challenge factor that is so well known in many of the games in the castlevania series.

http://i37.tinypic.com/1jolcm.jpg

Rest assured, you weren't the only one who felt that way. Figuring out that the elevator was the key and how he gets killed more than made up for it, though. Elevator piledrive, baby.

This is actually the first Castlevania game I've enjoyed and played for more than an hour since Symphony of the Night! Is this made of win or is it made of WIN?!

Hard 1 or Hard 50?

For Hard 50 = Queen of Hearts
For Hard 1 = Level 255 cap

Doing the Hard 1 nets you both, but I did Hard 50 because I just wanted the hat.