Best handheld CV game?
| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Nintendo DS | 9.20 |
| Overall | 9.20 |
|
This is the 6th handheld CV game in the SOTN style, you'd think that by now this would be getting very repetitive and old. In some ways that is true but somehow the forumla still works, Castlevania is always a great action game. The best part about this game is that it tries different things while refining all the additions to the gameplay that has come before it. The largest change from this game is that it mostly takes place outside of Dracula's Castle. Like Simon's Quest its an adventure that takes you all over Translevania. Unlike SQ its more linear in that you unlocke new areas once you get through a current area, so its not this open world type setup, you choose a location from a map. I loved this cause it gave the game a sense of adventure. How many times can we do the castle and have it feel fresh. Portrait of Ruin tried to get out of the castle but it was done in a way that felt half way, as if they were not fully commited to the idea. In this game you play a full games worth before you ever step foot in the castle, best part is that the castle is still huge. So its a massive game, with tons to do. Like some of the last few CV games it has side quests form NPCs, in this game it comes from villagers. There are some neat quests like taking a picture of a rare monster. Each villager has specific rewards like one gives health items, one gives armor, etc. My favorite is a dude that gives you classic CV1 music that you can play at any time! There is a lot to do and find, it will keep you going back to explore the various locations over and over. As you play you unlock secret areas that are skill tests, one in the form of platforming and the other in combat. It has all the hidden areas and secrets you come to expect from a CV game. Continuing the tradition of new attack systems, OoE has the gylph system. Using weapons is no more, the entire game is based on spells. Some spells generate a sword or an axe so don't worry, its not like its all magic spells. However it allows you to really customize your character and make it so magic can be treated the same as a normal physical attack, normally you have your weapon and magic is secondary. In this game they evened it all out where having only magic attacks can be as powerful as using weapon spells. It is also not as overwhelming as some of the other combat systems which have so many spells and weapons that many end up as useless. Here you have your 10 basic types of attacks/spells and you find updated versions of those types as you play so you hardly find something thats useless, its more about progression than experimenting if this enemy skill you learned is worth using. I really like the third slot, which allows for a special skill, like summoning familiars, stat buffers, or even transforming you into an enemy character. The best one is this magnentic bubble that lets you grab onto certain points and slingshot, it comes into play in many different scenarios from platforming to boss fights. Speaking of boss fights, this game has a great collection of them. Right from the first battle you get a boss fight that feels fresh, mainly cause of the use of the magnentic bubble. The game has a great mix of pattern bosses with straight up combat bosses. Like the rest of the game, the difficulty of these bosses are tuned to perfection. While this game is taking elements of all the past CV games, what sets this one apart from the rest, aside from the outside the castle game world, is how fined tuned everything feels. They took how many years of this formula and refined it so you are only getting the best aspects of the gameplay. The difficulty is perfectly balanced as well, its hard as hell when it should be, it rewards leveling up noticably, and using the right type of attack has a dramatic effect. It is a game where playing strategically makes all the difference and in some past CVs it felt like you could just plow through the game with a few powerful attacks. I guess the only complaints I have is that the game is kind of linear. Yeah you can choose where to go but you always progress from one location to the next. It elminates backtracking which is fine but at the same time it doesn't allow for that feeling of exploring, of not knowing which direction to go next, of discovering an area you are not ready for. The castle portion brings back a bit of those feelings but never to the extent of say SOTN. Overall the game feels like it takes the SOTN forumla and polishes it up as much as it can. It has all the best ideas form the series rolled into one great game. For some it may not be enough cause there is no doubt that there has to be some fatigue with this formula, it's almost a yearly event to get these games. I think it is time for a drastic change to the formula but I am happy we got this last hoorah. |
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Posted by Dvader Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:37:16
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travo (1m)
The problem with them changing the formula is whenever they have in the past is has resulted in a massive failure.
Leveling works just like every CV game since SOTN, kill things to earn exp and you level up which makes all your stats better. I just noticed that leveling made a more significant impact that usual. Some of the areas at the start are brutal, but once you level up a few times it starts to become clearly easier. No grinding is really needed unless you want the game to be really easy, the game makes sure you earn enough exp the natural way. Well i guess if you go for side quests you will be replaying the areas over and earning much more exp which is what I did. I felt that the later half was easiler than the first half maybe cause I was leveling up from replaying sections.
Replaying the game is the same as the others as well, you can start with all your skills on another playthrough, but this time on hard. Or you can play a new game with the new character. As you say its not really a Metroid like speedrunning game.
Okay so the next Castlevania should have:
Yep, that would make it perfect.
@ Iga
Wow, that idea sounds great! Yet oddly familiar . . .