Can we all agree that this is the peak of modern Castlevania artstyle and all future Castlevanias should do all in their power to emulate it?
Yes and no. The non-weapon glyphs were neat, but proper weapons were so much better.
Level design was sub-par with all the repeated and lenear zones.
Everything else was good. Basically, everything should take notes from this, SotN and AoS.
>all future Castlevanias
Aren't you adorable. But it looks like Bloodstained at least is mostly adhering to the above anyway.
>>344278446
OP is talking about artstyle tho.
But no, anon while masooka is great, I still prefer ayami kojima's portrayal.
Why does every character in that game look like they just ate some really bad indian food and they're about to vomit?
>>344278943
I agree that the gameplay was hit or miss. The entire thing lacked a proper protagonist I say.
And that's not me being sexist, its just me missing a proper Belmont.
>>344278446
Nah. The pinnacle is SoTN concerning artstyle. It is pure Castlevania quality through and through.
Some of the bosses in the game were hit or miss. Most good but some were awful.
Like the crab in the elevator. Holy hell cheesing him was easy.
I don't think he landed one shot.
>>344279365
>>344279405
The problem with SoTN was that it did everything so right that it's very hard to find anything better.
>>344278446
No, that artstyle is ugly and boring as fuck.
It's a step up from Dawn of Sorrow, but that's not saying much.
>>344279365
>>344279405
This. Next is AoS, then Ecclesia.
>>344279517
The point wasn't improvement, it was emulation if we're still going by OP.
>>344279448
The crab would be a good fight if you could finish him off quickly on subsequent playthroughs. Once you know what to do the fight becomes a total joke and boring as hell because of how long it is. On my first playthrough on the other hand it was one of the most memorable fights.
Well, Bloodstained IS obviously emulating it. It's just that their artist(s) aren't as good at rendering which is understandable because they had to commit to cheaper ones before the game got funded.
Also: I really hope that Iga will scrap this bullshit where the game forces you to do obscure shit to get to the Dracula. I'd rather have it Cave Story style where it lets you finish the game properly but doing a bunch of obscure sequence breaks lets you play some sadistic version of true final last boss.
Portrait is the best Igavania because it forces you tu fight Death AND Dracula simultaneously.
>>344279661
Really? The first thing I noticed was that he only attacked with his right claw. After realizing that you could just crouch in the bottom-left corner and wail on him, it became a cakewalk.
For fucks sake every single hit you dished out would land, and couldn't do ANYTHING about it.
I had the same problem with the giant floating skeleton-head, Maneater, was it?
He would always try to drop on you when you jumped a certain way and once you realized that, he was essentially unable to land a hit on you.
>future Castlevanias
>He doesn't know
The only faults with OoE:
>no Belmont in the lead - not even anyone interesting like Alucard or Soma
>weapon ammo - the glyph system was interesting but not fun
>the stupid "slingshot" mechanic - I never found this fun
>>344279797
That's literally the only thing PoR has over the other games. Everything else is meh.
>>344279841
I figured his claw attack would touch me on the platform since it was aimed so I didn't try it until later. Maneater's just a shitty boss all around though.
>>344280048
Maneater looked cool. His moveset was promising but his AI was too conservative with the interesting stuff.
>>344280032
PoR has a genuinely fun level 1 hard mode
Ecclesia has great art. I haven't played it yet but it's been sat on my shelf for years. Been on a CV binge the past few weeks, finished the GBA trilogy, Dawn and PoR. DoS fucking sucked. Portraits of Ruin was really fun, the art was bad but the gameplay was awesome and I liked the area variety. Egyptian castlevania fit perfectly. Anything I should know going in?
>>344280132
Nah he's an extremely easy, forgettable boss even if you don't exploit his AI. The only time his attacks pose a threat is on hard mode.
I vaguely recall OoE had some amazing sprite animation.
The way whats-her-name's hair swayed and she did that little spin when she dodged.
Great pixel-work.
>>344278446
What does the art style matter when the sprites all look pretty much the same between games anyway?
I got my ass raped apart by the first boss in the jail-place. The big skeleton thing that required you to git gud at that weird magnet-slingshot thing the game had going.
>>344278446
I don't know, senpai. Lords of Shadow had its problems but the art wasn't one of them.
>>344280218
>DoS fucking sucked. Portraits of Ruin was really fun, the art was bad but the gameplay was awesome and I liked the area variety. Egyptian castlevania fit perfectly
I don't know what to say when I simply can't understand your opinion.
Regardless, OoE is fucking great, probably the best of the DS games. It's more linear but functionally more fun to play than most. The side-characters are better than the MC, but they really make up for it.
A lot of areas are incredibly small, and simple. Skeleton Cave was disappointing as hell, because it was such a cool idea, but it's so short.
>>344278446
>Future Castlevanias
If only anon.
>>344280693
>Implying Bloodstained won't at least be good
Did you even play the demo, son?
>>344280693
I-I like to think it can come back.I'm lying to myself, aren't I.
Am I the only one who really prefers the "one big castle" thing over "many smaller sub areas"?
I know it adds variety and all that, as there's only so much you can get away with having in Dracula's Castle, but it feels much more impactfull when you're traversing this massive fortress of evil.
>>344278446
>all future Castlevanias
A-anon... I...
I'm so sorry
>>344280773
I was implying that was the most we were ever getting actually.
>tfw people defend Aria Of Sorrow just because it has Kojima's art
Easily the worst metroidvania out there. Too slow. Too grindy. Not that good at all.
>>344280883
The large castles generally have better level design, yes. PoR and OoE have questionable level design at best.
Although the biggest offender is HoD with the double-layered castle that fucked you about around the half-way point of the game. That was really annoying. It's possible to do that shit and do it well, though, with La-Mulana being a perfect example.
I was playing through X Chronicles for SOTN and I don't think I like 2.5d at all. I'm interested in seeing how Bloodstained turns out.
>>344281142
>Too grindy
>Having to grind in Metroidvania for anything other than souls in DoS
How embarassing.
>>344281146
>>344280883
>when you first discover that SOTN has an upside-down castle and it's built for perfect traversal even upside down
To this day I'm still surprised how well that castle flowed even upside-down.
>>344281142
>too slow
confirmed for never played
>>344281142
>trump image
>retarded post
Checks out
>>344281270
Wait, actually, that's not quite true.
>Grinding for the three core souls in AoS
>Grinding for cards in CotM
>Maybe farming gold in OoE and DoS
And possibly some others I don't remember, but whatever. Grinding for levels is pleb tier.
>>344281142
I just played the GBA trilogy in order and Aria seemed amazing. It could easily be because I played HoD just before it and anything seems amazing when compared to that shitfest. I think CotM is still better than Aria though. It felt like a fusion of Classic and Metroid.
>>344281475
Now go replay Symphony or DS ones. Dawn of Sorrow shits on Aria super hard in every aspect except for character art.
>>344281795
Dawn is the worst of the DS trilogy. It tried way too hard to be SotN2.0
>>344281795
>Dawn of Sorrow shits on Aria super hard in every aspect except for character art.
Not strictly true. It has better most things except:
>Weapon attack animations aren't as useful for the most part
>Having to soul-farm for non-shit weapons instead of just organically finding them through thorough exploration
>Fucking Magic Seal stylus bullshit
I agree it generally was better otherwise.
>>344279518
>No, that artstyle is ugly and boring as fuck.
Kill yourself tbqhfamily
>>344280465
The vistas and the landscapes were gorgeous
>>344279253
Shanoa was one of the best protagonists the series has ever had.
>>344282305
Shanoa was okay. Her arc could have been better handled though, having a character literally drained of her emotions for 80% of the game when there are colourful characters to intereact with was a waste. Although it was kind of funny seeing her deadpan responses to the more eccentric villagers.
I wouldn't really say it's a particularly fair comparison, considering that most of the classicvanias didn't even have dialogue for the most part.
>>344282305
>''What am I fighting for'' tier protagonist the best.
>>344279971
You have never played OoE
>>344280032
I really don't understand why people shit on PoR so much. Are you so insecure that you can't play anything with animu artworks?
>>344281146
People who think OoE has bad level design don't understand a fucking thing about level design. Do you think terrain is all that counts? Play Ruvas Forest on level 1 hard mode. Even if it's a corridor you can't afford running in a straight line. You have to consider the enemies, the bullets and all the rest. It's because of this obtuse mentality that we can't have good games anymore.
So is Castlevania as a series essentially "over" now? OoC is 6-7 years old and the LoS series was mediocre, do you see it coming back from this?
>>344282912
>I really don't understand why people shit on PoR so much. Are you so insecure that you can't play anything with animu artworks?
DoS did everything better than PoR bar the final boss and the soul grinding, despite having the same artstyle, so no.
>People who think OoE has bad level design don't understand a fucking thing about level design. Do you think terrain is all that counts? Play Ruvas Forest on level 1 hard mode. Even if it's a corridor you can't afford running in a straight line. You have to consider the enemies, the bullets and all the rest. It's because of this obtuse mentality that we can't have good games anymore.
How about you fuck off? Ruvas Forest is bad level design for a line of games that sold based on exploration and backtracking. This isn't negotiable, it's fucking fact, and it's reflected in the fact that Metroidvania got packed in after OoE. Enemy placement doesn't count for shit if the core principles aren't there.
>>344283185
Maybe if Konami decides to sell the IP. Otherwise? Fuck no.
>>344283291
>a line of games that sold based on exploration and backtracking
Look, I don't want to say you don't know shit about Castlevania, I think you do, so I'm not going to take you seriously after this, you're just baiting.
The thing i really loved about Ecclesia is that Shanoa is weak as fuck and game reflects that, like with Dracula dicking around and kicking her. She's just a weird caster, not a superuman like Belmonts/Soma or immortal vampire like Alucard.
>>344283632
Yeah, it was though. The GBA and DS were built on the SotN model after it proved to be so successful. OoE wasn't supposed to emulate the classicvanias and you fucking know that, don't pretend to be retarded.
I know you're trying to defend a straight line corridor as best you can, but come the fuck on.
>>344283358
Is this how Mega Man fans feel? It never actually hit me that the series had died, I've been sort of blindly living in hope :(
>>344283950
>Yeah, it was though.
And who says it, you? Couldn't it be that they wanted to bring back the best of the two worlds? Yes I am defending a corridor because there's literally nothing wrong with it if it's well executed and if it isn't the whole game. Else Rondo of Blood is shit because stage 7?
>>344283185
Play Bloodborne. It's more of a Castlevania game than LoS ever was.
>>344284246
Corridor design suits classicvania, not metroidvania, it's that simple.
>And who says it, you? Couldn't it be that they wanted to bring back the best of the two worlds?
Maybe they did, but in that case they dropped the fucking ball on the exploration part of design. Very little important/interesting shit is actually hidden in OoE and off the beaten path. The underwater ship and Large Cavern/trail area were exception rather than the rule.
>if it isn't the whole game.
A lot of the levels in OoE were mostly straight lines. I'm not double checking all the names, but I know that's true.
>>344283954
Nah, Bloodstained alpha demo is already looking better than final release of MN9. Nothing but bright future ahead for us.
>>344283843
Underrated post
>future Castlevanias
F-fuck you.
pls don't be rude to Shanoa
>>344285846
She is really cute.
>>344279708
Igarashi is a joke boss in the game who fights like Dracula traditionally does, he'll probably make the path to get to him obtuse and the path to the proper final boss pretty straight forward.
Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclessia improved in that area compared to Symphony and the Sorrow games.
>>344283185
Even if Konami makes another attempt at Castlevania despite their shift to pachinko it's not going to be what it was. The proper Castlevania series ended with Harmony of Despair, and the Lords of Shadow trilogy is done too.
I'm honestly okay with it. I'm going to miss the characters but they were running out of ideas to do with the series, and basically every spot on the timeline from Dracula's beginning to his demise was filled in. It's a shame we never got a 1999 game but Dawn of Sorrow's Julius Mode is a pretty good finale to the series' story.
>>344280693
>Theres no featuring dante from the devil may cry series
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
All I remember from OoE was that it went waaay overboard with the Medusa-head-like enemies.
I swear every level had some variant of the small-hitbox-spawn-anywhere-flying enemies.
>>344278943
He said "Artstyle" numbnuts.
>>344288864
>mediocre animu trash
Fuck off.
>>344278446
Sure, I never liked Kojima.
>>344289038
the art style sucks but CotM is in no way mediocre
>>344279971
The biggest problem with OoE is that it didn't have a whip glyph.
>>344290227
I meant the artstyle was mediocre, as that was OP original topic.
The game's actually quite tight, I'll agree with you there.
