Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

[Cheebs]

To be fair, Castlevania has a really bad habit of only creating a few new enemies each game and then ripping the sprites directly from the previous ones for the next game.

I'll give you that Castlevania recycles enemy designs. I'll also give you that Dracula X, SotN, and SNES Drac X shared sprites. But Castlevania has for the most part always re-drawn the sprites for each new game. Look at SotN and the 3 GBA games. Each game has a skeleton, a flying Medusa head, an Axe Armor, a Disk Armor, etc.... But for all 4 games, the sprites are re-drawn entirely. Even small enemies like the bats. Either load up your GBA or search online and see for yourself. I was actully amazed that they took the time to re-draw everything between GBA games even.

[NoFace]

I'm nearing the end, and the game is certainly much better towards the end. I've had fun just exploring the castle, making money and finding rare items and what not. The action is just really well done, ever new move Leon gets is cool. There are still so many relics I don't have according to that sphere.

So tempted to look at spoilers, but I'm so close I'll try not to.

And for the record...

I was totally right about Mathias, even after being told otherwise.


The Forgotten One was such a cool boss, I won't soon forget that fight.

Wow, what a complete bullshit ending this game has.


Where the fuck is Dracula, they seem to imply the Mathias becomes Dracula, but they really dropped the ball on that one. I remember even seeing artwork of Dracula in one magazine, so what the fuck? What a let down...


I'm hoping there's a second ending somewhere in here...

[AstroBlue]

[thumbnail]http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2003/20031027l.gif[/thumbnail]

When I saw that, I Just thought "How many Castlevania fans are going to email them and tell them that Trevor's real name is Ralph, so the first panel totally doesn't make sense!"....

Anyway, is this game going to have a European/Australasian release? I haven't heard anything about one

[Captain Vegetable]

Where the fuck is Dracula, they seem to imply the Mathias becomes Dracula, but they really dropped the ball on that one. I remember even seeing artwork of Dracula in one magazine, so what the fuck? What a let down...

Rinaldo is teh Dracula!

Not really.

I agree that his abscence is a bunch of crap, but the history provided is much appreciated.

About the rest of the game: I really like it. I made a "joke" in the DMC 3 thread about this game being 18x better than either DMC, and though that statement might be a bit in the extreme, it isn't without it's core truth. I don't have as big a problem with the hallways as everyone else seems to, and the action, as you've stated, is excellent.

[NoFace]

Play mechanics wise, and the way the camera is setup, I do think this game is better than DMC. DMC does a bunch of things better (and what, two years ago?), but in terms of control and playability, Castlevania just rocks. Glad that you ended up liking this one too CV!


Hopefully they'll say that Mathias isn't Dracula, and we'll get another game where Mathias gets his ass beat down by Count Vlad and that'll be good stuff.

And oh yea, IGA... just because you changed the name of the series in Japan from Dracula to Castlevania does not mean you cannot include Mr. Tepes in your games, ok? Fans will not get mad if your game is called Castlevania and it does include Dracula. Thanks guy.

P.S. Make the next one 2D and amazing. TTYL.

-NoFace

[ferricide]

i have mixed feelings whether or not this game is better than DMC. sure, technically, it's more accomplished on a gameplay level. and no, intellectually, DMC's level design didn't offer a whole lot more ... but somehow just that visual and elevatory variety just makes them seem all the more interesting anyway.

[Captain Vegetable]

DMC does a bunch of things better (and what, two years ago?) . . .

Care to name a few? Everyone seems to be pissed off that I would say such a thing (excluding yourself and several others, of course), but then they offer no reasons as to why they think I'm wrong.

To be very honest, I can't see DMC being better than Castlevania in any area except for the fact that it had fewer hallways, which is an assanine complaint to begin with.

Story:
Dracula and vampires will always be more interesting than some Satan pretender named Mundus. Dracula's story involves love, betrayal, hatred, Christian convention, the questioning of said convention, redemption, etc. DMC contains none of this. Not to mention the voice acting in CV, dispite Leon's femaninity, is leagues better than that found in DMC.

Play Control:
Everyone seems to agree here, so I'll not restate the obvious. I will say, however, that I agree with you, NoFace. Leon is much more easy and satisfying to control than Dante will ever be (barring DMC 3, of course ).

Sound Effects & Music:
The soundtrack in Castlevania is the best modern video game soundtrack, period. It suits it's setting, draws the player in, and sets the mood wonderfully. DMC's music, though good, is nothing more than a few heavy guitar riffs to artificially set the pace of the action, and ambient noise and sound effects to artificially set the mood of the surrounding areas.

Graphics:
This topic, as usual, is up for debate. It's a matter of style, and in all matters of style, it boils down to a matter of individual personal preference. I love the design in CV, and I love the design in DMC1. DMC2 was a bit too washed-out for my tastes, so I'd have to just leave it out, as there's really no competition.

If a product is greater than the sum of it's parts, then it would appear that Castlevania is the better game. Petty quarles concerning "boring" hallways should be a non-issue.

[Cheebs]

Petty quarles concerning "boring" hallways should be a non-issue.

I have to dissagree. It's 60 seconds of nothing before every single room (a room that may or may not be "nothing" itself depending on if it locks you in). If the game had 60 seconds of load time before every single room and then threw you in the room with some hearts replenished, would that be a non-issue? Well, that's more or less what those hallways are like.

Besides it's not like the rest of the level was any more interesting than the hallways, so the boring halways aren't even the whole issue.

[Dyne]

isnt halo rooms connected by long ass repeating hallways? course i dont know how bad castlevania is since i have yet to play it but it seems like a trivial complaint. or is it really that bad?

[Captain Vegetable]

I have to dissagree. It's 60 seconds of nothing before every single room (a room that may or may not be "nothing" itself depending on if it locks you in). If the game had 60 seconds of load time before every single room and then threw you in the room with some hearts replenished, would that be a non-issue? Well, that's more or less what those hallways are like.

Your example doesn't make sence. It has nothing to do with loading, so, frankly, no. Loading interupts the flow of the game, the hallways do not. Also, there are many hallways that include some form of enemy, so while if it were loading for 60 seconds you would be doing nothing, and expecting to do nothing, in Castlevania you're curious as to what lies behind the next door, be it hallway or room, and it's that curiosity that lends itself to the fun.

Granted, you can just run past them, but for people like me who actually like the action and combat, you'll take the time out to kill them. Because it's essential? Nope. Because it's fun. And the same goes for the rooms that don't lock you in. I don't need to clear the room, but it's damn fu to do so.

I still don't see anything about why DMC is so much better than LoI in your post.

Besides it's not like the rest of the level was any more interesting than the hallways, so the boring halways aren't even the whole issue.

Well, I didn't find the level design half as boring as some of you did, but to say DMC is better than LoI because of level design is rediculous. It's OK to say LoI has bad level design, and that DMC has that same bad level design. It isn't OK to say that LoI is worse off than DMC because of level design, all the while conviently ignoring the fact that DMC's levels were just as bad.

isnt halo rooms connected by long ass repeating hallways? course i dont know how bad castlevania is since i have yet to play it but it seems like a trivial complaint. or is it really that bad?

It's trivial. People, for some unexplainable reason, are looking for excuses to not like the game.

It looks like "hallways" is all they could come up with.