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How to make a game everybody loves or hates

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Legacy of Darkness, like its predecessor, is just one of those games that are so close to the line between excellent and mediocre that all the players either wind up loving it or hating it. While some people seem to want to hand Konami an Academy Award, others want to impale them on a wooden stake. I would love to claim open-mindness and 'moderation' but I shamelessly admit I'm in the first camp.
When I played the first Castlevania, I simply loved it. As soon as I saw my character use his awesome whip, I felt like I was playing a true Castlevania game. The feeling did not diminish throughout the game, and the final battle(s) with Dracula brought back memories of the first Castlevania. For those of you who have not played Castlevania 64, I apologize, because I am going to do A LOT of comparing between that game and Legacy of Darkness.
In Legacy, the character you start out with, instead of Reinhardt (the guy with the whip), is a strapping young fellow named Cornell, who packs a nasty whallop with his energy blasts and can turn into a werewolf (tho this is not very helpful, it sucks your energy like a vacuum). I can sympathize with those who do not find him or his quest very 'Castlevania-like', because of his method of attack and other reasons. But believe me, eventually you will unlock Reinhardt, and be able to flip that whip as often as you like.
Anyway, back to Cornell. His journey is very similar to Reinhardts--but with fewer cool bosses. (Another improvement over Castlevania 64 is the addition of some new bosses). On the downside, Cornell does not fight Death, or Rosa the Nice Vampire, or the vampire/victim duo. On the upside he (and everybody else) has two new stages in the beginning--whereas the Cv 64 had all characters starting in The Forest of Silence outside the castle, Legacy has them start on the ship traveling to Draculas Island, and then work their way to the docks and then the forest etc.
Once you complete Cornell's journey, you will unlock Henry. Henry's quest is quite unusual from the rest--instead of going all the way to Dracula you are simply trying to find and rescue a certain amount of children in a certain amount of time. Henry is armed with a pistol--a VERY powerful weapon that takes most enemies down with one shot. This is a fun quest in that while it definitely doesnt feel like castlevania it is nonetheless quite enjoyable.
Completing Henry's quest successfully results in the unlocking of Reinhardt Schneiders' and Carries' (the original cv 64 characters) quests. In my opinion Reinhardt's quest is the best of the bunch, both because of his familiar whip and his exciting storyline and boss encounters.

Now to the gameplay. My main gripe when playing this game is the 'lock-on' capability. When fighting enemies, especially vampires, it is very difficult to execute a 180-degree turn, a must in a fierce fight. Those guys are fast and often your lock-on button will be simply unable to keep up. Oh, and that godawful camera. When trying to execute precision jumps, like on a series of ledges against a wall, you have to do everything in relation to the camera which more often than not is in an awkward, difficult to see position. Often too if you're not quick the ledge you are standing on will disappear and you will plunge to a pulpy death on the rocks below. But these are not game-crippling problems so overall I give gameplay a 3.5/5.

The graphics in this game while not impressive are adequate, and my only gripe about them is that the character's faces hardly ever change, so the cutscenes are a little stiff. when I say adequate, by the way, I mean that, although the textures and polygons are not so well-done, the environments and objects are large and creative enough to keep you excited and playing to see where you'll wind up next. Graphics quality: 3/5. Creative environments and settings: 4.5/5.

The enemies in this game as in most castlevania games are AWESOME!!! Many old ones from the early games and several new ones. The 3d cv games also boast a new feature--you actually get to fight real live (more or less) vampires. And these aren't the pale-faced hooded-eye tall dark and handsome vampires of the movies--these things are truly monsters, and do some crazy stuff in fights--like run up walls and ceilings, scoot about on all fours, do spins and flips that would make Jackie Chan jealous, literally vomit bats, and suck your blood if you get too close. Fun fun fun!!

Allow me to be the first reviewer to praise the music in this game--it is definitely the finest I have heard on any n64 game. Creepy organs, and wonderfully dissonant melodies make for a skin crawling soundtrack. Oh, and the vampires--they make absolutely LOVELY noises, ranging from 'dysenterous pig' to 'vomiting schoolgirl' to 'constipated lion'. I'm not kidding they actually sound like that. And when you end the fight by sending them down where they belong, they make a disgustingly beautiful screech that sounds kinda like 'I'm melting! I'm MEEEELTING!!'

Storyline: 4/5. The story in my opinion is not something for Konami to be proud of. Most cutscenes will have you impatiently tapping your foot saying, 'cmon, cmon, les go fight somebody already!' An exception to this are the vampire cut scenes, which make full use of camera angles and cinematography to make chills run up your spine.

Rating: This game is, in my grave personal opinion, borderline M. Blood there is a plenty, albeit in a cheesy and pixellike form. Corpses lie strewn about, and many of the monsters are just plain gross. Quite naturally death is a major theme with this game, so don't play it if you are easily depressed. I'd say kids under 13 should not play this game...thats my opinion, anyway.

Bang for your buck: 10/5. The reason I say this is you don't even need to purchase this game only if you have an n64, go find it on the net in ROM form and play it on your computer instead!

Summary:

PROS:

Exciting and exotic locations

Creative enemies

Good use of camera in cutscenes to create proper mood

EXCELLENT music

Makes you want to keep playing

Multiple endings

Fun characters

New bosses

CONS:

Annoying camera

Less than stellar graphics

Basically cv64 with some new stuff added

Many sections are very difficult (Frankengardner and his vicious dogs are back)

gameplay difficulty (jumping, turning etc)

Thank you for reading my lengthy review. Once again I repeat, DO NOT BUY CV64!! BUY THIS GAME INSTEAD, IT INCLUDES THE WHOLE OF CV64!!

Graphics isnt the main factor in a game...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

People need to understand this, instead of passing the game off as poor quality just cause the graphics blow.. its the gameplay that counts. Look at Star Craft, one of the greatest RTS games ever made, its graphics suck but it still has massive players. same with Final Fantasy 6. Gameplay > Graphics dont judge a game based on its cover... i mean graphics ^.^

Now on to the game.
The game is pretty identical to the 1st one as far as gameplay goes. So if u liked the 1st one then u will like this one. I think the story part is sort of a filler. Something to get ur mind in a transilvania type of state. Not a very difficult game, once you know how to play. Still fun tho.

Very underrated

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The original Castlevania 64 was under par, not just because of the twitchy camera or the graphics but because of the short length of the game. The "Legacy of Darkness" expansion brought two new characters including the one I thought was strongest and most well-rounded, Carrie. I enjoy her stages the most.

The graphics look extremely dated and they weren't the best even when the game came out, but I don't think they take much from the gaming experience. My biggest gripe was the difficult controls, which made jumps difficult, and the camera wasn't the best, but most games have a camera problem.

There isn't all that much of a story to speak of, it's mostly straight adventuring, which is what I want out of a game. It's colorful and has a lot of action, and in general it's engaging fun, although not that deep. I'd recommend it.

I'll be short but sweet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a very underestimated Castlevania game. Althought the 3D graphics are not that good, the gameplay is awesome; you can play four different characters! It is a game I have played over and over again. If you have a Nintendo 64 this game is a must have!

It IS Castlevania

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The Castlevanias on the N64 got praise upon first release, then slowly everyone jumped on the bandwagon of bashing the heck out of them. I have to say that this is totally undeserved. One has to remember that this game was done under the limitations of the technology at the time. Compared to todays games......sure, it's not that pretty to look at. But for its time, LoD was as good a 3D interpretation of Castlevania as one could hope to create (and don't get me started about "it could have been done better on the PS1", just don't). The reason I highly recommend this game to Castlevania fans is that this remains, to date, the best way to experience Castlevania in the third dimension. I've played Lament of Innocense....and while that game did get everything right that LoD was weak on: super tight graphics and a solid action gameplay engine, it suffered from a far more horrid curse: it didn't FEEL like a Castlevania game! Outside of some of the enemies and the whip-toting hero, I felt no connection to the Castlevanian atmosphere I had come to know and expect. LoD delivers this, even if not in the prettiest or most action-centric way. It's a more deliberately paced game, and unlike LoI, you actually feel like your traversing the dark lair of Dracula. LoI felt like an overextended dungeon crawl that sported very few familiar castle locals traditional to the series. On top of that....I absolutely LOATHED the feminine look of the hero Leon.
All the classic creatures are here and represented in a refreshingly original manner. You'll find plenty of cool boss battles, and Dracula's final incarnations in this game are the coolest I've seen yet. You'll also have access to four different playable characters (the only time this has been done since Castlevania 3). Reinhardt is the classic whip toting hero, and of course, my favorite. Carrie takes up the classic magic using style of the Belnades clan. Cornell, the game's signature character, can tranform into a powerful werewolf....though, honestly, I find him to be the least enjoyable character. And then there's Henry...an all-together new style of Castlevania hero who brandishes a firearm instead of whips and magic. His slightly shorter "search" quest is a fun change of pace from the others and definitely worth checking out.
Outside of the graphical and tighter gameplay enhancements....LoD does feature a better-implemented weapon upgrade system over it predecessor; allowing you to upgrade the game's special weapons in addition to your primary weapon. I'm still waiting to see something like this in upcoming Castlevania games.
Bottom line, LoD is done in the tradition of the classic 8 and 16 bit Castlevanias....not in the more Japanish RPG styled recent additions. Perhaps this is what has caused it it's lack of praise. But either way, if you're a fan of the simpler classic, action-styled Castlevanias.....I recommend trying this one out. If you didn't fall in love with the series till after Symphony of the Night, you probably won't like it. But I thoroughly enjoyed it and wouldn't hesitate to snatch it up again if someone were to go in and remake it with current gen graphics and LoI's better action weapon gameplay. And I have to say, on a final note, that this game's story line was far more inventive than any Castlevania to date.

3.5 stars - an improvement, but not much of one

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: May 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

In 1996, when Nintendo released the Nintendo 64, fans of Nintendo and Konami alike were wondering, "when is there going to be a Nintendo 64 Castlevania game?" Many screenshots of the forthcoming game filled Nintendo Power magazine, but numerous delays continues to occur. Finally in 1999, the game got released. Many fans of the series tend to bash this game, and many tend to praise it. Despite the mixed reviews, Konami released a "Special Edition" version of the game before the year was done. Read on for my review of Castlevania: Legacy Of Darkness.

PROS:
-THE GAME PLAYS LIKE THE CLASSIC NES GAMES, ONLY IN THREE DIMENSIONS. If you're one of those people who just likes a straight-up action/adventure title with some puzzle elements thrown in to keep things fresh, this is an excellent game for you.
-THERE ARE FOUR CHARACTERS. You start the game as the werewolf Cornell, and can unlock Henry Oldrey, a revolver-toting knight. And then, there are two other characters to unlock. As always, there's the typical descendant of the Belmont family. And the other character this time around is a young female magic user, probably the ancestor of Sypha Belnades from Castlevania III. Both characters have their own strengths and weaknesses, and each one explores some areas that the other one doesn't.
-IN THIS GAME, YOU CAN UPGRADE YOUR SECONDARY WEAPONS IN ADDITION TO YOUR PRIMARY ONES! If you pick up more than one of a secondary weapon, you will make it more powerful! This is an awesome idea, and it's a shame other games in the series didn't make use of it.
-EACH CHARACTER HAS TWO ENDINGS. Depending on how long you take to complete the game, you'll encounter one of two endings.
-YOU CAN OBTAIN MONEY AND USE IT TO PURCHASE GOODS. In most Castlevania games, money bags just give you a few points. Not true here. In this game they actually use a money system! This was used by some other entries in the series, and the ones that used it benefited greatly from it.

CONS:

-THE PLAY CONTROL ISN'T TOO GOOD. This is mostly Nintendo's fault and not Konami's, because of the godawful Nintendo 64 controller (what exactly were the guys in Nintendo's R&D department smoking when they developed that thing?) You may want to get a third-party controller if you decide to play this game, accordingly. Admittingly though, the control is better than the previous game.
-MOST CHARACTERS HAVE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME STORYLINE. Basically, if you beat the game with one character, and you go through and beat it with the other, don't be expecting anything drastically different (other than a few different levels.)
-THE GRAPHICS ARE A RATHER PATHETIC ATTEMPT AT A FULL THREE DIMENSIONS. THE Nintendo 64 never really made any graphical process in its five active years, and here it really shows. Even with the Expansion Pak, the game doesn't look much better (contrary to what some people say, the Expansion Pak does NOTHING to improve the graphics of games.)

OVERALL:
Overall this is a good game, and it's definitely better than people say. However, it's not great by any means, and I really only recommend it to Nintendo 64 owners - this game is NOT good enough to buy the system for, though.

Castlevania LOD

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I Have Castlevania 64 And i liked it so i went to my local [electronics store] and i saw it so i bought it and i must Say EVERYONE MUST OWN THIS game!

This is 1 of my favorites!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you are thinking about getting this game well then what the heck are you waiting for. This game delivers the goods if you want some frightning good entertainment. Believe me, if u want to get a chill from this game turn off the lights, make sure no one is around, turn it up really loud, and go to the hedge maze...
I have to say if this game can freak me out it's gotta be good...

A star above Castlevania 64, but only average...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

After the horrid Castlevania 64, Konami releases Legacy of Darkness, the prequel. While it's not entirely terrible, it's a very overrated Castlevania title in my opinion. Hey, I'm a huge Castlevania fan, so needlesstosay I have to be critical. Read on:

THE GOOD
This game has four playable characters and each have their own storyline. You start off as a were-man named Cornell and he's an interesting character. The graphics are slightly improved over the previous outing and the character designs are much smoother.

THE BAD
Just like the previous game, this one's got the same controls and that same damn N64 controller. It's quite bothersome controlling your character in getting him/her to do what you want. The were-man character has his problems, too; he has virtually no difference between his human and werewolf forms, and even then, he can't transform immediately. A shame, because he is an interesting character. The music, while not terrible, doesn't stand out like most of the Castlevanias.

OVERALL
While this game does hold onto the style of Castlevania and it has more unique storylines thrown in, it's still a pretty average game. My guess as to why many gamers give it raving reviews is because "it's in 3-D." Bah. I'm not saying Castlevania was meant only for 2-D (after all, the upcoming Castlevania for PS2 sounds very promising), but my point is that many of today's gamers only care about graphics and 3-D stuff. This game had potential, but it comes off as merely average. Check out the NES games and Symphony of the Night instead.

Best CastleVania Ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The 3D CastleVanias on N64 have been getting a lot of heat from the CastleVania "fans" that have compared it and have deemed it sub-par against the "oh-so-great" Symphony of the Night(SotN).

First off, SotN wasn't all that great in my opinion, a 3 out of 5 at the most. Legacy of Darkness is far deeper than SotN could ever hope to be.

First off, your basic storyline. You are Cornell, a man-beast(werewolf), you have been training for a long time and when you return to your village, its set aflame and your sister, your only blood relative, has been kidnapped. You track the scent of her blood to the ominous Castlevania, and so begins your quest.

Trust me, this game has one of, if not the deepsest stories of all the Castlevanias. Unlike SotN, which you really need only see the intro and the ending and you have pretty much the entire story, LoD has twists, rivalries, and even a backstory for some of the NPCs. Not only that, but the game is comprised of three storylines (the fourth is little more than fun mini-game used to unlock various things including the second and third stories). The first storyline, Cornell's, sets up the events that occur eight years later in Carrie and Reinhardt's games (the original Castlevania 64) which you unlock by playing Henry's game, which also ties into Cornell's.

Now, some poeple complain about how the graphics are sub-par, even when comparing it to SotN. I myself have to say that this game beats SotN flat out, graphically, in every way. Whereas in SotN, you could get really artsy enemies and chars, they were still little more than flat sprites. In LoD, you really get a sense of size and depth of your enemies. The possesed suits of armor look much more impressive in 3D than their 2D counterparts. And in the final battle with Dracula, you really, really, notice his size. Sure in SotN, he takes up the entire screen, but in SotN, you can run about 500 feet away from him and he still fills up like half the screen. And trust me, there are few sights in games more beautiful than the Tower of Sorcery.

SotN became a hit by incorporating RPG elements by equiping weapons and gaining levels and such. That was all well and good for it, but let's face it, CastleVania was not an RPG to begin with, it was an Action/Adventure game, which this game succeeds in recapturing. No fancy weapons or armor to equip. No strength to level up. Just you and your enemies. SotN had spells and abilities that were left out of LoD. Why? Because they were uneccessary in the first place. LoD isn't designed to work around your abilities, its linear, so you just play through level after level, which may seem a bit old, but works just fine for this game. Now, you can upgrade not only your reqular weapons like in old school CV games, you can also upgrade your secondary weapons (knife, axe, cross, holy water) so they do more damage, and look cooler too! The Axe, for example, is just a regular axe at first, but as you upgrade, the axe does its damage then summons a lightning bolt to strike at your opponent.

Now, some poeple complain that the werewolf form is useless as you can't revert back until you've drained your jewels(jewels replace hearts in this game). The werewolf form adds a very noticable difference in attack and defense strength. Thing about the werewolf form is that it must be used strategically. Boss battles are the best choice as you'll revert back to normal when the battle is over and so not waste all your jewels.

Lastly, I'll cover music. SotN is considered the apex of CV music for a reason that is beyond me. I only enjoy 4 or 5 songs and the rest just sounds the same. LoD doesn't use music to overide the game, LoD uses music to enhance the game. The music is now more ambient, which has some fans pissed. Thing is, the ambient music now adds a subliminal touch to each of the levels. The song, "Silent Madness" in the Villa, for example, adds a disturbing undertone to the level.

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