I’ve run out of clever award names, but I want to make sure this gets in as the last of my Top Pickz for the year. Consider it the “wild card” spot. It was such a nice surprise to play through it and be so consistently entertained.
It’s also been the most inspiring to me to track down other games in the series, at least the ones in the exploration-based “Metroidvania” genre. I’m certainly no design expert, but there was never a dull moment playing this. Exploring, finding upgrades, collecting abilities, it was such a good experience. The character-switching Julius Mode was a great extra, too.
Some years ago, I decided it was time to try a Castlevania game. After a quick Internet search, I somehow arrived at Aria of Sorrow being a good example, at least of the exploration-based “Metroidvania” style. I emulated it and was very impressed, loving the style and well-crafted gameplay, along with the addictive soul-collecting mechanic. Emulation problems meant I couldn’t actually finish it, but after briefly borrowing the DS sequel last year, I’ve been on the lookout for my own copy. And finally I procured one for myself!
I couldn’t be happier with the game. As I type this I’ve just finished my third playthrough, in the unlockable “Julius Mode” which lets you play as a team of supporting characters with different abilities that supposedly call back to earlier games. I wouldn’t know, but even without a deep knowledge of the series I found it an absolute delight. The sprites and animation are just gorgeous, and it’s a dream to play. Collecting all the items and souls is still a powerful drive, and the unlockables are satisfying.
In fact, I was so impressed that Order of Ecclesia went straight on my wish list, and I may even look into Portrait of Ruin later (the other two DS instalments, which reviewed almost as well as this one). Symphony of the Night has also, I am now aware, often been touted as the high point of the series.
My only question at this point is why has it taken me so long to get into this series of excellent 2D action-platformers, one of my favourite genres? I don’t know, but I’ll try not to play them all so quickly, as I’m afraid of burning out on the seemingly homogenised aesthetics. Despite many taking place in radically different time periods, the castle and enemies always seem to look pretty similar in screenshots.
Oh well, as I said the sprite art is amazing anyway. The plot is also not too deep or groundbreaking, but I did get attached to the characters involved, despite the slightly spotty localisation. Touch screen use is a tad gimmicky but does add, rather than detract, from the experience. So despite a few small quibbles, I loved this one. I have absolutely no complaints about the control or structure of the game itself, it’s wonderful.
I find myself running short on words for this, because it was just so good. So I’ll leave it at that. I hope other games in the series can engage me as much as this has, even if they don’t have the addictive soul-collecting mechanic.
I recently had brief experiences with both these games, so I think it’d be fruitful to compare them. I’m certainly no expert on Castlevania but even I could see the differences here. I played DoS for a couple of hours when my sister-in-law borrowed it from a friend. I previously played through all of Aria of Sorrow (GBA) via emulation, and this was a direct sequel. The other, MoF, was a demo on the 3DS eShop that I got the gist of with one playthrough (about 10 minutes).
For being not so far apart, the two games are radically different. DoS is an extension of what the series has always been, more exploration-based but with a new “soul-capturing” system where you can collect abilities from every enemy. This was introduced in Aria and I like it as a motivation for defeating as many enemies as you can and changing up the combat however you want (even if I only ever used a few abilities once I found ones I liked). But the combat was tight, with responsive controls (accounting for lag of your actions) and highly defined pixel art. These factors are, from what I can tell, typical of classic Castlevania games (except for the soul ability thing).
On the other hand, MoF is more centred around combat, doing combos on enemies with high health and moving linearly through 2.5D environments (ie. 3D modelled backgrounds, 2D playing area). I’ve heard it’s an attempt to bring the mechanics of 3D Castlevania games to 2D gameplay, and that makes for a very different feel and mechanics. The areas may look very nice, but they are very small and flat compared to DoS’s sprawling castle. You may have a lot of moves in MoF, but they’re all pretty samey and not better than mashing the same button, plus they seem very slow and laggy, the comboing being at cross purposes with the need to avoid attacks. It may be I’m not used to that style of game and I’m not, but it is certainly very different to most Castlevanias, insofar as they are represented by DoS.
MoF is reviewing very badly, and I tend to agree. In addition to the gameplay criticisms I’ve noted, there are serious framerate issues and the game is constantly switching between three characters, undermining progression in the traditional exploratory sense in favour of plot-driven linear set pieces. It doesn’t seem that mashing the 3D style into the 2D world works very well, especially if people are expecting traditional Castlevania. To be honest, the demo was maybe not enough for me to see all these issues, but I found it frustrating. And too many Quicktime events, seriously why are we still doing that?
I guess it’s part of the modern vs retro thing. DoS evokes classic games that were well tuned, and simple in presentation (ie pixels) but deep in mechanics. MoF seems indicative of modern games that are big on flair but shallow in gameplay and half-baked in execution.
I don’t know a whole lot about Castlevania lore so I don’t think I should go into it, but I’ve said the important part I think so this one’s short and sweet. You can thank me later.
