kunonabi
Member
Dawn just feels like a redundant cash grab in general.
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Castlevania Dominus Collection [Out Now]
- Thread starter EviLore
- Start date
Zephyranthes
Member
Finished Portrait of Ruin. I seem to recall people saying that it was one of the weaker CV titles, but I rather enjoyed it myself. The partner system is unique and well implemented, and the game does a good job of giving you reasons to switch between the two characters: whether it be enemies having gender-specific attacks or just being easier to deal with using one over the other. I also like the portrait domain gimmick as an excuse for the game to let you explore some wildly different locations than you'd normally see in a Castlevania game. The endgame section where you go through the remixed portraits is kinda lame, but it makes up for it by having one of the coolest final boss fights in the series. Unfortunately the post-game modes are really weak, especially compared to Dawn's.
simpatico
Member
Dawn is easily my favorite of the collection. Maybe only behind Symphony overall for Iga's. I didn't think the grinding was too bad and I don't even play many genres that have grinding. I never had to resort to multiple session grinds and I don't think I ever spent more than 10 minutes on any one uber rare. The Symphony drop grinds are galaxies worse than anything I went for in Dawn (true ending and weapons I liked).
Zephyranthes
Member
Done with Order of Ecclesia, which I found to be the most challenging of the GBA/DS games by far. Difficulty aside, though, I didn't end up digging it as much as I thought I would. Shanoa's design is cool, but I think her kit is lackluster compared with Jonathan/Charlotte or Soma. Most of her weapon glyphs have the same basic range and arc, with their main functional difference just being damage type, so they don't really feel distinct from one another. I like the move back to having separate levels instead of just the one large castle map, but it feels like a wasted opportunity when their design is so bland and repetitive...a few of them are just entirely flat zones where you fight the same 2 or 3 enemies over and over. On the plus side, it does have one of the better CV stories, and some of the bosses are really cool.
My ranking of the two collections:
1) Aria of Sorrow
2) Portrait of Ruin
3) Circle of the Moon
4) Order of Ecclesia
5) Dawn of Sorrow
6) Harmony of Dissonance
My ranking of the two collections:
1) Aria of Sorrow
2) Portrait of Ruin
3) Circle of the Moon
4) Order of Ecclesia
5) Dawn of Sorrow
6) Harmony of Dissonance
cartman414
Member
Disagree. Even though it was sort of a mission pack, it further refined various mechanics from Aria (looking past the soul grinding, which could have been pulled back a bit).
NeverYouMind
Member
Took me a while but I finally beat every game in the collection. The only one I found underwhelming was Haunted Castle extra as it has aged poorly. On top of oversized hurt boxes that often activate when crouching and tiny hitboxes for the whip it lacked responsiveness. The remake of it reminded me of Castlevania Bloodlines on the Genesis mechanically despite being on par visually with Rondo of Blood on PC Engine. It is odd that it is the only one in the collection that does not have rewind or save state features but there are enough checkpoints to make it through without losing a lot of time re-tracking. It was an extra that was neat but altogether unnecessary.
My most enjoyed installment to my surprise was Portrait of Ruin. Greatly varied in its aesthetic due to exotic painting locations and super fun mechanically with some of the most abundant Belmont skills and magic spells to unlock. Though the characters did not appeal to me at the start, the plot was done so well that I ended up liking them. That said, I did not enjoy the rotated 4-part destroyed city with carnies which showed up twice and would probably have never been able to do the mandatory bike obstacle course without rewinding or save states. Beyond that it had a little too many side quests and excessive special weapon grinding to make using them effective and spells that took too long to cast if one wanted to play as only the witch. I suppose it was intentional because by the end game the special weapons were more practical than the seemingly overpowered spells at the start. However, that is something that kept it from being as smooth of an experience as Symphony of the Night. The end game Nest of Evil challenge rooms were also amazing with Dawn of Sorrow bosses and Castlevania III trio impersonators. It is too bad it took so much exploration to unlock (especially with needing to enter rooms hidden by breakable walls and ceilings). Pretty unforgettable entry in the series.
My least liked installment to my complete disappointment was Order of Ecclesia. It had such amazing art that I was completely flabbergasted when the game looked like this:
Even with the extensive dual wield magic/weapon system and fast regeneration of hearts in the end I was more frustrated by constantly changing my loadout as the game would necessitate that a specific element be used against an enemy or a specific enchantment be used to traverse an environmental hazard. Some of the new enemy types were also beyond frustrating:
On top of that, even in Albus mode with his omnipotent arsenal most areas failed to distinguish themselves and would be near impossible to navigate without a map. Even more impossible were the challenge rooms in the Training Hall. They reminded me of Laser Man level in Mega Man 2, which had me constantly dying to environmental hazards.
My experience with Dawn of Sorrow was middling. The levels were fine. The bosses were fine. The mirror mechanic and plot dragged. I hated farming souls and lack of good weapon drops or weapon treasures required leveling mundane ones up with souls which really stretched out the game to a point where I just wanted to get it over with. In the end I pretty much spammed (purchased) throwable weapons with the high drop rate Skelerang soul (projectile multiplier) and Mandagora soul (AoE blast). Playing the unlockable Julius with Yoko tag in might mechanically be the lamest Castlevania experience I have had since before Rondo of Blood. I had a better time replaying sections of the game featured in Harmony of Despair to be quite honest.
P.S. It is kind of wild to hear how games in the franchise after Symphony of the Night evolved the formula because when playing them it still feels like they all sit in its shadow in terms of mechanic versatility, progression, and loot.
My most enjoyed installment to my surprise was Portrait of Ruin. Greatly varied in its aesthetic due to exotic painting locations and super fun mechanically with some of the most abundant Belmont skills and magic spells to unlock. Though the characters did not appeal to me at the start, the plot was done so well that I ended up liking them. That said, I did not enjoy the rotated 4-part destroyed city with carnies which showed up twice and would probably have never been able to do the mandatory bike obstacle course without rewinding or save states. Beyond that it had a little too many side quests and excessive special weapon grinding to make using them effective and spells that took too long to cast if one wanted to play as only the witch. I suppose it was intentional because by the end game the special weapons were more practical than the seemingly overpowered spells at the start. However, that is something that kept it from being as smooth of an experience as Symphony of the Night. The end game Nest of Evil challenge rooms were also amazing with Dawn of Sorrow bosses and Castlevania III trio impersonators. It is too bad it took so much exploration to unlock (especially with needing to enter rooms hidden by breakable walls and ceilings). Pretty unforgettable entry in the series.
My least liked installment to my complete disappointment was Order of Ecclesia. It had such amazing art that I was completely flabbergasted when the game looked like this:
Even with the extensive dual wield magic/weapon system and fast regeneration of hearts in the end I was more frustrated by constantly changing my loadout as the game would necessitate that a specific element be used against an enemy or a specific enchantment be used to traverse an environmental hazard. Some of the new enemy types were also beyond frustrating:
On top of that, even in Albus mode with his omnipotent arsenal most areas failed to distinguish themselves and would be near impossible to navigate without a map. Even more impossible were the challenge rooms in the Training Hall. They reminded me of Laser Man level in Mega Man 2, which had me constantly dying to environmental hazards.
My experience with Dawn of Sorrow was middling. The levels were fine. The bosses were fine. The mirror mechanic and plot dragged. I hated farming souls and lack of good weapon drops or weapon treasures required leveling mundane ones up with souls which really stretched out the game to a point where I just wanted to get it over with. In the end I pretty much spammed (purchased) throwable weapons with the high drop rate Skelerang soul (projectile multiplier) and Mandagora soul (AoE blast). Playing the unlockable Julius with Yoko tag in might mechanically be the lamest Castlevania experience I have had since before Rondo of Blood. I had a better time replaying sections of the game featured in Harmony of Despair to be quite honest.
P.S. It is kind of wild to hear how games in the franchise after Symphony of the Night evolved the formula because when playing them it still feels like they all sit in its shadow in terms of mechanic versatility, progression, and loot.
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March Climber
Member
NeverYouMind
What's your ranking of every franchise game so far?I've been waiting on the Castlevania 3D collection myself.
NeverYouMind
Member
I have played to completion only a small subset and I am strongly into the 2D installments so I will just give a top 5:
I've been waiting on the Castlevania 3D collection myself.
1) Symphony of the Night - It is just everything I want in a 2D action RPG game immediately.
2) Harmony of Despair - There is just so much refined content and you can even play it with others.
3) Portrait of Ruin - Slightly flawed but has some mesmerizing abilities, engaging story beats, and memorable locations.
4) Rondo of Blood - Probably the only game where I am not embarrassed to play as a magical girl.
5) Castlevania III - Ridiculous amount of action content for an NES title.
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Blank Space Invader
Gold Member
It is still awesome to read through a cool conversation amongst gamers about a classic and cool collection of games from a franchise as cool as Castlevania.
I still owe this collection a playthrough. And I abandoned my last run of SotN on PS5. That damn hallway of spikes always gets me, Mist be damned!
I still owe this collection a playthrough. And I abandoned my last run of SotN on PS5. That damn hallway of spikes always gets me, Mist be damned!
NeverYouMind
Member
You can give yourself enough time to open a door by drinking a potion. Alternatively a spike resistant armor in a dark room in the lower right of the map should do the trick.
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I liked Portrait of Ruin best out of the handheld CV's back then. I've been playing it again on and off on 3DS and still really like it. Beautiful stages, great soundtrack and I like the contrast between the characters. I like it more than Symphony of the Night. I need to try the extras this time round. I liked Julius mode on Dawn of Sorrow especially the bosses and in particular the fight with Death. It's far more balanced in that mode so more challenging.Took me a while but I finally beat every game in the collection. The only one I found underwhelming was Haunted Castle extra as it has aged poorly. On top of oversized hurt boxes that often activate when crouching and tiny hitboxes for the whip it lacked responsiveness. The remake of it reminded me of Castlevania Bloodlines on the Genesis mechanically despite being on par visually with Rondo of Blood on PC Engine. It is odd that it is the only one in the collection that does not have rewind or save state features but there are enough checkpoints to make it through without losing a lot of time re-tracking. It was an extra that was neat but altogether unnecessary.
My most enjoyed installment to my surprise was Portrait of Ruin. Greatly varied in its aesthetic due to exotic painting locations and super fun mechanically with some of the most abundant Belmont skills and magic spells to unlock. Though the characters did not appeal to me at the start, the plot was done so well that I ended up liking them. That said, I did not enjoy the rotated 4-part destroyed city with carnies which showed up twice and would probably have never been able to do the mandatory bike obstacle course without rewinding or save states. Beyond that it had a little too many side quests and excessive special weapon grinding to make using them effective and spells that took too long to cast if one wanted to play as only the witch. I suppose it was intentional because by the end game the special weapons were more practical than the seemingly overpowered spells at the start. However, that is something that kept it from being as smooth of an experience as Symphony of the Night. The end game Nest of Evil challenge rooms were also amazing with Dawn of Sorrow bosses and Castlevania III trio impersonators. It is too bad it took so much exploration to unlock (especially with needing to enter rooms hidden by breakable walls and ceilings). Pretty unforgettable entry in the series.
My least liked installment to my complete disappointment was Order of Ecclesia. It had such amazing art that I was completely flabbergasted when the game looked like this:
Even with the extensive dual wield magic/weapon system and fast regeneration of hearts in the end I was more frustrated by constantly changing my loadout as the game would necessitate that a specific element be used against an enemy or a specific enchantment be used to traverse an environmental hazard. Some of the new enemy types were also beyond frustrating:
On top of that, even in Albus mode with his omnipotent arsenal most areas failed to distinguish themselves and would be near impossible to navigate without a map. Even more impossible were the challenge rooms in the Training Hall. They reminded me of Laser Man level in Mega Man 2, which had me constantly dying to environmental hazards.
My experience with Dawn of Sorrow was middling. The levels were fine. The bosses were fine. The mirror mechanic and plot dragged. I hated farming souls and lack of good weapon drops or weapon treasures required leveling mundane ones up with souls which really stretched out the game to a point where I just wanted to get it over with. In the end I pretty much spammed (purchased) throwable weapons with the high drop rate Skelerang soul (projectile multiplier) and Mandagora soul (AoE blast). Playing the unlockable Julius with Yoko tag in might mechanically be the lamest Castlevania experience I have had since before Rondo of Blood. I had a better time replaying sections of the game featured in Harmony of Despair to be quite honest.
P.S. It is kind of wild to hear how games in the franchise after Symphony of the Night evolved the formula because when playing them it still feels like they all sit in its shadow in terms of mechanic versatility, progression, and loot.
bender
What time is it?
Well, I finally beat Order of Ecclesia. My feelings are very reminiscent of Dark Souls 2 in that even a "bad" Souls title is still pretty good. The difficulty spikes in the game certainly put me off which happens with both levels and bosses. Segmenting out the maps is also an interesting concept that I'm not sure totally works. I also understand the mechanics of enemies being weak to certain weapons and magic and virtually immune to others and how they allowed for three switchable sets on the fly, but I just found managing all this a bit cumbersome. I also thought the Glyph UI was unituitive.
NeverYouMind
Member
Agreed. If they made glyph selection simpler it would be much better. Single button tap to switch loadouts and hold to engage loadout wheel for selection would be ideal. However, we don't really know the limitations the game was made under so it is easy to critique its implementation.
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bender
What time is it?
Lack of buttons would be my guess as the limitation. Even with Glyph switch, the difficulty spikes from zone to zone or boss to boss was pretty jarring. At one point I felt like I wasn't playing the game correctly which very well may be the case.
Edit: I'm an idiot. I keep thinking it's a GBA game.
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