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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 14, 2016 18:37:32 GMT -6
I thought I saw CotM on the timeline? www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cv-por/bonusmaterial4.htmIt is there. Circle of the Moon is listed in 1830. Is this not the official timeline or are the games without a summary still not cannon? Of course, bloodlines is official since PoR is in essence a sequel to bloodlines.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 14, 2016 17:33:08 GMT -6
Sorry about that. I used the wrong name. Harmony of Despair is the multiplayer castlevania that came out on xbox 360 and ps3. I meant harmony of dissonance, which is Iga's homage to SotN on GBA. The music sounds like its from the gameboy but otherwise a pretty good game.
Nowadays, the DS (and even the PS2) emulator will run on a $300 bottom barrel computer. Funny how fast computer technology advances.
So I'll just do a quick run down of the Igavanias for anyone who has the same questions:
PS: SotN - The first and many say the best. Honestly, its aged but still fun to run through. Great soundtrack. Various stuff from unbalanced weapons to having a SHIELD just trivializes any difficulty. The lack of difficulty kind of makes it a little boring to replay for challenge runs but still worth playthrough at least once.
GBA - (they are all kind of short, why I don't know):
Circle of the Moon - Technically not an Igavania (Iga did not work on it), but still has the basic elements. Known for being harder than most Igavania games (how do I heal in this game?!) and being non-canon until Iga made it canon with the PoR timeline. Has a fun magic system that is used to do everything from boost stats to create elemental weapons. Criticized for poor graphics but the artwork is still decent.
Harmony of Dissonance - Iga tries to recreate the magic of SotN on the GBA and makes some mistakes. Criticized for the terrible sound quality of the music. Possibly even easier than SotN. lol In this game, you can upgrade your whip as well as cast magic through your sub weapons. Exploration is still fun though.
Aria of Sorrow - The best of the three. You can capture demon souls in order to use their powers. Fantastic. All the elements that made SotN great. Awesome soundtrack, visuals, fun story. Notable improvement to boss fights. Only down side is that its short. My recent run through hard mode was just 6 hours and it could even be shorter if I didn't grind for some souls I didn't end up using. If your new to the game it will take longer to beat. Getting all the souls will about double the play time.
DS games - (the best of the Igavanias IMHO)
Dawn of Sorrow - Sequel to AoS. Big improvement to graphics, ok story. The biggest improvement is in the size of the game. Iga really listened to fans of AoS and made the castle bigger. Hurray! Julius mode is improved with 3 characters to use. You can craft weapons with souls but I find the soul drop rate too low. Its probably best to stick to one weapon type(Golden Axe) to avoid grinding, especially if your going for the chaos ring (since you don't want to use boss souls till you get that ring).
Portrait of Ruin - Most experimental Iga game because this time you control two characters at once. Your able to switch between them on the fly just like Julius mode from DoS. One is a fighter and the other a mage. Its criticized because the maps are rather simplistic and the graphics are the most cartoony of the Iga games. However, its still a very fun game to play and has a pretty good story. The soundtrack is fun and upbeat as well. It also has decent challenge, including a level 1 hard mode.
Order of Ecclesia - My favorite. Iga has said in interviews that he made the first two DS games easy because of complaints his games were too hard. This time he listened to the hardcore fans and made this game hard. Normal mode is like the hard mode of AoS/DoS. Its still not hard but you might actually have to use potions (OMG). Hard mode is a decent challenge. Level 1 hard mode is a nightmare. lol The Glyph system is a refinement of the souls system from AoS/DoS. Now, all weapons and spells are Glyphs. Its notable that this game made making use of many weapons/spells necessary. Tough enemies have resistances to certain damage types so switching weapons is just necessary. Luckily you can switch between 3 set ups so its easy to switch between melee and magic on the fly. Also, has a solo female protagonist - not a co-protagonist. A solo female protagonist. The last time that happened in a castlevania is a game thats not canon. (CV legends) lol
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 14, 2016 1:44:50 GMT -6
I would say the more apt comparison for backers would be investors. Backers of a kickstarter have literally invested their money in the project and so should be entitled to some updates. This doesn't mean Iga has to address everyone's concerns all the time but the fact that he is paying attention to this forum (or more likely the community manger informs him of our concerns) is much appreciated.
Thank you, Iga. Get well soon.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 13, 2016 22:21:36 GMT -6
Since we got plenty of time to burn until Bloodstained comes out, I thought it would be fun to replay all the Metroidvania games.
I started with Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow. While I'm old enough to have play super CV 4 as a kid, I didn't actually get into any of the Metroidvania games until AoS (best highschool graduation gift ever). I'm currently more than 50% through CotM. I've started some OoE (my favorite) Because replaying DoS reminded my of everything I felt OoE did better. Less grind, utility of using different weapons improved, magic being overall more useful, etc.
I plan on going through Portrait of Ruin, Harmony of Dissonance, and of course SotN. In fact, I've already played a little of it and I'm reminded of how overpowered you are in that game, right from the start. Basilard is ridiculous in SotN. lol
So I thought maybe I could get others on this forum replaying the series with me and sharing their thoughts on the games.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 13, 2016 14:56:11 GMT -6
I'd like to applauded Pure Miriam's detailed analyst of backgrounds. Iga games are all about the small details adding up to a beautiful whole.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 13, 2016 13:21:50 GMT -6
Yeah, I prefer the real difficulty to be in nightmare mode. Normal should be accessible and beatable by anyone. Thats one of the strengths of an Igavania. I just want the harder difficulties unlocked from the start so the hardcore players can have their fun immediately too.
I hope there is a level 1 nightmare mode. These kinds of hard challenges increase the replayablity of the game.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 13, 2016 13:12:37 GMT -6
I imagine it might be too much animation work to have every armor change Mirian's looks. I'm happy enough with a few costumes.
Mystical demon gun - this weapon feeds off the mana of its host, firing magical bullets at enemies. Drains mana as you fire.
Hey, its a way to get a "pistol" like weapon in the game even if its the wrong time period.
Then again, a pistol or laser gun could be a joke bonus weapon from boss rushes. Just like there was a laser rifle in AoS from its boss rush mode.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 12, 2016 21:15:57 GMT -6
I think this is also overlooking how games are developed. Its not like they shoehorned in a female lead into a story they already had. They decided on having a female lead while they were brainstorming ideas for their game's themes. I'm pretty sure Iga will have the game built around Miriam. Considering Iga's track record, I have no reason to doubt him. I've enjoyed every Igavania game hes made.
Igavania games tend to have limited story anyway. So I'm not worried about some embarrassing female lead.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 12, 2016 17:54:58 GMT -6
I've played Salt and Sanctuary. Its very much 2D dark souls. If you like dark souls you'll like Salt.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 12, 2016 17:00:41 GMT -6
All I want out of classic mode is the 8-direction whip from Super Castlevania 4. That made the game fun for me. This. It's a damn shame 8-directional attacking was barely in any of the CV games. I don't think 8 directional attacking belongs in an Igavania. One of the ways in which different weapon classes are distinguished is by their hitbox. Even if you prefer speedy rapiers, a greatsword is still useful for easily hitting flying enemies. If I could just stab up with my rapier then that lessens the need to use different types of weapons. Miriam can choose what direction to shoot her bullet spells out so its possible you can do the same in classic mode. Whether or not well even get a whip in classic mode is unknown. Then again, Iga is well aware of how much of a connection his fans have to whips. lol If we do get a whip in classic mode then I would like 8 directional attacking but its not a deal breaker.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 11, 2016 18:08:26 GMT -6
I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this, but I'd like the side characters to actually HAVE A STORY. Typically, the special mode of an Igavania game is just a fancy speedrun mode. I would love if the side characters had theres own story. DoS Julius mode extra dialogue was very short but still a nice touch. I would like it if we got a little snip bit of extra dialogue at each boss. Even this small amount of added story would be fun to see.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 11, 2016 17:44:27 GMT -6
Oh no, you made a perfectly valid point with Dark Souls. I'm just being nit picky because it bugs when people say its such a hard game. I'm a terrible player and even I can beat Dark Souls 1 with very few deaths, heck even zero deaths if I'm lucky in boss fights.
However, Death seems to like to trash me in Castlevania games and then I watch speedrunners crush him without taking damage and I feel bad about myself. lol So yeah, which is the harder series again?
On a related note, IGA has said that DoS and PoR are easier games because of complaints his games are too hard. And then he got the opposite reaction after those games so he made OoE. So clearly he knows how to make a Metrovania game both easy and challaning. And since Bloodstained is having difficulty modes including nightmare, which I believe will be selectable right off the bat, I'm sure both casuals and hardcore players will be happy with the challenge in the game.
One thing I disliked about DoS is that you have to craft the best weapons. Some of my favorite moments from games like AoS are discovering the best equipment, such as the cleverly hidden Eversing and Claimh Solais. The feeling of accomplishment and progression through discovery is a big part of what makes Metrovania games fun for me. The crafting didn't ruin DoS for me, heck I love CotM where your alt weapons are from magic, but still its a negative for me. Its one reason why I prefer OoE (or heck even AoS).
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 11, 2016 13:27:42 GMT -6
So one of the features I love in SRW games is the ability to change the music thats playing during a mission. Imagine if we could select the music we want playing in the background? AoS with heart of fire playing from start to finish? I never understood why this wasn't a feature in more of the Castlevania games but it should be one for Bloodstained.
I know farming is more bearable when your favorite tune is playing.
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 11, 2016 12:33:40 GMT -6
1) Claimh Solais, AoS version. I want a huge elemental weapon thats well hidden in the game that obliterates everything. lol
2) I'll second high risk/reward equipment like the death rings in OoE.
3) Elemental weapons you can grab early in the game so you'll actually have a reason to use them.
(If theres something CotM did right, its giving access to the elemental weapon card rather early on)
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Post by wissenschaft on Dec 11, 2016 12:14:16 GMT -6
I'm a big fan of the souls games but they are actually easy.....I'm not even skilled, I find OoE a harder game than any dark souls game. Thats because I have the reaction speed of a snail (bullet hell games are impossible for me). Dark souls is about information, if you know how to fight, where to fight, and with what set up, the games are a cake walk. The notorious difficulty of Dark Souls games comes mostly from the game telling you almost nothing useful. Once you learn the mechanics, its a far easier game. #1 tip, be super cautious, slow moving, alert, and constantly scanning your surroundings (and keep that shield up!) and you'll rarely ever die.
Yes, that means I like to play tank builds in dark souls and yes bloodborne is harder game because you must dodge but its till not that hard.
On the other hand, OoE and CotM are games that require me to actually dodge enemy attacks and again, I have terrible reflexes. I still find the challenge fun but those two Castlevanias are harder for me than any Dark Souls game ever was. OoE normal certainly feels like AoS hard.
I guess my point is that the Souls games are nowhere near as hard as people think they are. Souls games being hard is purely a meme that doesn't match reality. On the other hand, OoE lvl 1 hard mode is a real nightmare. lol
Whats more important to me is the level of Grind. Ginding for souls in DoS really killed my enjoyment of the game. It feels like the drop rate is far worst than AoS. I would prefer soul drops in Bloodborne to be more like AoS. Some souls were annoying to get but nothing too bad. And more importantly, my weapons weren't tied to farming souls.
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