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Castlevania turned Pokemon.... Are you kidding me?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

For the record, and like so many other reviewers for this game, I'm an avid Castlevania fan, following the series since the earlier title of "Simon's Quest." I've played nearly every Castlevania installment since then, and I must say that this is by far one of the worst ones. Disclaimer: I'm not one of those people who rates games just one the graphical value or game play attributes. I rate usually on story-line, music, character attributes, and overall fun and difficulty.

Pros:
- COD has far better graphics than all of it's predecessors (aside from the cut scenes, it's right there with Lament of Innocence). The cut scenes are immaculate and the overall environment is stunning.
- You are able to up-grade weapons and have a large array to pick from.
- Hector uses Devils as a kind of "Battle buddy" to help you fight your way through the Transylvanian frontier.
- I like the fact that you actually step away from the Castle and go out into the mountains and forests (analogous to Simon's Quest).

Cons:
- My biggest peeve with this game is that it's "Castlevania gone Pokemon." Essentially, everything about this game is "Japanimated." Believe me, I'm a huge fan of most Japanimation, but to use it to this extent in "Castlevania" is just ridiculous. I mentioned the Devils in the Pros list, but that does not necessarily make it a good thing. Hands down, these "Devils" ARE Pokemon characters. Like most pokemon characters, these things have certain bodily attributes that make absolutely no sense (i.e., large crystals coming out of their anuses). The fairy, makes that annoyingly cute girl noise that is inherent in nearly all Japanimation female archetypes. I just think that the Japanimation style would do better elsewhere, not in Castlevania.
- The plot is O.K., but I'm more partial to the original vampire hunter story. I have not finished this game yet, but have gone through enough of it to know the difference. One of your enemies (who is also your best friend that betrayed you. Yet another Japanimationism) looks like an extra from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Come on, he was wearing something that would make Tim Curry blush. Not a homophobe at all, but once again, it does not belong in this series. One of the cut scenes is way too reminiscent of a fight from "Fist of the North Star" or "Ninja Scroll."
- I usually like the eerie, desolate music that comes along with most Castlevania titles; it really sets the mode. The quasi-TechnoPop that this game is laden with is some of the most horrible music I've ever heard. What makes it worse, is that it's part of one of the best game series ever created.
- The game is way to easy. Unlike Lament of Innocence (a much better game by far), COD has enemies that seem content with just sitting back and becoming punching bags. In LOI, even the non-boss enemies had a chance of killing you.
- Character movement is very restrained. When running or fighting, Hector seems to be trying to do it all while underwater. The movements are not fast and fluid like they were in LOI.
- Many people did not like the idea of combos in LOI. Personally, I thought that the combos were a good idea. We are on a more powerful platform now, and should be shown the capabilities of it. If anything it show the player that your charater is getting more powerful.
- This game is not Dark. With similarities to LOI, this game does not exude the kind of dark, horrifying mood that it should have. Resident Evil and Silent Hill have the ability to be very dark and brooding; something comparable to "The Ring." Let's face it, Castlevania is taking place in Transylvania or like territories, these games should be some of the most frightening games on the market. Have some more realistic enemies than just "cartoony" skeletons and zombies as well as more blood and guts. The Mature rating (one of the main reasons I bought the game) is completely uncalled for; everything is so cartoony. I'd love for some game manufacturer to put out a traditional vampire hunter game that takes us back to traditional gothic horror.

All in all, I did not like this game; a very odd statement coming from me when regarding Castlevania. I did like how they involved a rovolving camera effect to this game, but it still does little to make the game any better. Honestly, if they were to make a Castlevania with almost the same format as Silent Hill, it would be a smash hit.

The best 3D Castlevania, ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: December 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Castlevania is a vampire hunting game series that has spanned over 20 games in almost as many years on over a dozen game systems. It is the longest running action/adventure series neck and neck with The Legend of Zelda. Through the years the games have had their ups and downs but it's mostly been up, and considering that the series has traveled thru half a dozen developers that's quite an exceptional record. One of the most highly acclaimed "ups" was for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the original Playstation. So highly regarded was that game (and even some others in the series) people tend forget the flaws in the game, thusly expecting it's highlights to be the general standard at which future Castlevania games should be all the way through. This was never more evident than when the director of Symphony Koji "IGA" Igarashi was promoted to Castlevania series producer in 2001. Expectations were impossibly high for the future of the series, and there was no way fans (including myself) would ever be appeased.

Two years ago Lament of Innocence made it's PS2 debut to mixed reactions. While most praised the music and atmosphere, the extremely repeditive level designs and lack of gameplay depth were blemishes that could not be ignored. Many fans still hail Lament as a bold and important step for Castlevania, but since the overall feel of the game screamed unfinished, those fans reside in the minority... enter Curse of Darkness.

Curse of Darkness like Lament begins with a seemingly simple and familiar story, but with an important twist or two in the middle that keeps the narrative fresh. It may not have the heart wrenching turn of the tide that Lament did, but the dialogue is exceptional in both Japanese and English.

The story goes, three years after Trevor and his friends defeated Dracula, (see Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse for the NES) a former devil forgemaster of Dracula (named Hector) whom had turned against his leader when Dracula began to harm humans, is lead back to the Castlevania ruins after another devil forgemaster named Issac, whom had Hector's finacee' burned at the stake for suspicion of witchcraft. Supposedly Issac blames Hector for Dracula's destruction, so in the most dire act of revenge he helped kill Hector's woman much in the same way that Dracula's love Lisa was killed some years prior. But nothing is as it seems, and the various characters whom should be your ally are enemies and allies may not be friends at all. The Curse of Darkness is clouding the truth.

The first thing you'll notice when you begin playing is how large the game is... the areas are huge! Normally this wouldn't be a problem for most developers with an enormous budget, but Konami seems to hold the reigns in on their classic series like Castlevania and Contra. As a result the level design seems to have a rushed feeling to them. There is certainly much more variety than there was in the previous game thankfully, just not enough in the way of enemies and landscape variety (whatever happened to bottomless pits?). Even with the somewhat helpful directional arrows and map, you WILL get lost many times. In this day and age when levels are designed huge with minimal loading time, the rooms of Curse of Darkness (PS2) have to load on an average of every other door for 2-3 seconds. This could have been eliminated by either the shinking and consolidating of the more interesting areas, or by a major reduction of the number of doors and doorways so that the levels continue without fading to black. Luckily the Xbox version has virtually no load time at all.

Fortunately, that is the only major criticism I have for this game. Everything else has been largely enhanced from when we last left Dracula. Much of this game has that nostalgic Castlevania feel. When running through hallways you will recognise the backgrounds, there is a waterway straight out of Castlevania 3, a highly impressive cathedral hints back to several games, a town full of zombies brings fond memories of Simon's Quest, and of course the all but required clock tower and Dracula's dwelling after a long staircase. Also the camera is less problematic with full control being at your fingers. And of course many enemies from previous games rear their head to cause more trouble. This is important because there is no video game series around that even comes close to the ambiance that Castlevania delivers. Truly gothic in the architectural sense and in a class of it's own. With brilliant characters by Ayami Kojima and exceptional music by Michiru Yamane, the mood of Castlevania is largely what draws so many fans to it (and what lead so many developers to copy it for games like Ninja Gaiden, Ghosts and Goblins and Devil May Cry).

While Lament had an interesting but often overpowered combo system, Curse introduces a new combat system that both draws in new players as well as challenges veterans. So instead of ridiculous button mashing and memorizing of lengthy combos there is but one attack button, however the brilliance of this system is that depending on how many times the attack button is pressed a second finisher button will create a different effect. So if you're weilding a spear and the enemies are surrounding you, press attack three times and then the finisher and you will spin the spear around you knocking most enemies away. However if you feel the need to launch one enemy in the air press attack twice and then finish once and the enemy will pop up and be open for arial attacks. With such an easy yet strategic interface, it is difficult to see why other games did not incorporate such a handy control scheme before. And since you have several different kinds of weapons to choose from, the gameplay variety has opened up tremendously.

Speaking of weapons, no longer will you need to scour the entire castle to find that special weapon, armor or item. Now with items that baddies drop (and other that you can steal) you will be allowed to create your own, with dozens and dozens to choose from. Some are hand weapons for up close and fast martial arts, some are swords for the more traditional player, and still others are powerful but heavy axes. And depending on what weapons you use, will determine how your familiar evolves.

Returning from Symphony are familiar side-kicks, (helpful monster friends always by your side) but now known as innocent devils (or IDs) they can now grown and change into more powerful creatures with different abilites. Some will carry you over chasms yet shoot a barrage of needles at foes, others will open new doors yet offer you strong protection from enemy attacks. As you play thru the game the IDs will lay even more powerful ID "eggs" that can be stored with a shopkeeper until you wish to use them to become even stronger as both you and your ID level up.

With recent 2D incarnations still borrowing heavily from Symphony and Aria of Sorrow for Gameboy Advance, the series 3D outings like Curse of Darkness are a breath of fresh air to this veteran. I've been fighting Dracula and his minions ever since I first put a quarter into Vs. Castlevania the arcade game almost 20 years ago, and to see major improvements and enhancements in the series does my heart good. I know I'm in the minority, but to me Dawn of Sorrow for Nintendo DS doesn't really add a lot to the Castlevania table. And while I have nothing against 2D... I strongly reccomend to producer IGA and his team to revisit and re-release the classic, out of print and never released in the USA games to rediscover what made them so great before their 2D games start showing their age!!!

But until we see a Castlevania Collection, (or perhaps even the long sought after Chi no Rondo from the Japanese PC Engine console) the greatest strides in Castlevania are definately made in 3-Dimensions. If you think Devil May Cry is a bit trendy and are looking for something that doesn't insist that you slam a Mountain Dew while skydiving to sub-standard "extreme" Nu-rock music... Castlevania Curse of Darkness has all of the action you need with none of the post-Matrix BS. Zombies and skeletons should never be kung-fu masters that take several minutes to outwit, and Castlevania needs weak enemies as much as strong ones.

Concept: 10
Graphics and Art Design: 9
Gameplay and Control: 9.5
Music and Sound: 10
Fun: 10
Replay Value: 10

Total Score (not an average): 10/10 (5 stars = DON'T MISS THIS!)

Still a Great Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: December 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

After playing this game for more than a year, it is still one of the best for the PS2 in my opinion. The price has now dropped quite a bit, also.

Many people tagged this game as being "mediocre" or "boring". That would be true for the average gamer who runs through a game expecting cut-scenes every 5 minutes. That isn't the case with this game. If you ask me, Castlevania has never really been about story. It's about awesome soundtracks, killing monsters, and finding hidden items in unexpected places. This game follows the traditional nature of its series.

If you're a person who hungers for variety with each sequel, you won't get it with Castlevania. Each game is fairly similar, and the monsters and weapons are usually the same. This game gives you a lot to find and experiment with: items, weapons, IDs, attacks, etc. You can create new weapons and armor by combining items you find, which adds to the overall interest of the game.

In my opinion, this game was made for the typical Castlevania fan; it isn't really a game for everyone. Depending on what kind of person you are, you will either love this game, or you'll hate it to death.

To me, it's a work of art--> Some people get it, some people don't. If you're not really sure, rent it first, then buy it if you like it.

good but not great!!!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: November 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

this game is just like any other of the castlevania franchise....the plot is way to simple and not intriging at all...your girlfriend gets killed by the bad guys and you want revenge....WOW!!!!!!!!!! INTERESTING!!!!!!!! it took a genius to figure that one out!! anyways the controls are very confusing, the character just looks like alucard therefore not giving it originality as they said it has......grafics are not too crisp anyways......the soundscore its nice thou, but not as nice as synphony of the night....its not a bad game , but you wouldn't want to pay 50 on this one...wait until it goes down to at least 30.00...save 20 bucks and buy a greatest or platinum hit........thats my honest advice...

Okay, but not worth the money

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: January 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The one major problem that I have with this game is that it seems very short and small. Compared with the other games in the series, Curse of Darkness doesn't have as many secrets or hidden items to find. For example, you could spend months trying to acquire all the extra stuff in Symphony of the Night. And Lament of Innocence had hundreds of hidden items. I don't think that the replay value of this game is very high, and the gameplay controls (especially the camera angles) were not very smooth. I got the feeling that Konami rushed this game to get it to market. The storyline wasn't as interesting as previous games. Even when it is considered independently of the other series games, it just isn't all that great. I think that the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Great Game in the Series

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: August 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

After a very disappointing experiment with the N64 games I was happy to see the rebirth of one of my favorite game series Castlevania .Like every 3D environment game there are some glitches but nothing that is horrible .The storyline is fairly straight forward but has enough mystery to keep you guessing .The gameplay is a lot like the previous entry C:LOS but different enough to be a new experience . I'm looking forward to the next release .Be Seeing You .

disaster

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 13
Date: January 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

ive been playing the castlevania series since the first title came out in 1987 when i was a little kid and has been a big fan since then, i tried my best to get every newest CV that came out but this one i must say the worst ever, ive never been this disappointed, CV is never been this bad!!!
i bought it $60 (plus tax) and sold it the next day $15, i knew the guy at the video store ripped me off but still i sold it, because i never wanna see this game ever again, simple as that!!!
gosh, when did the joy of exploring the Castle and a game this good turned into a beat 'em up game?
no more 3D castlevania please!!!
stupid game! im still mad!
i recommend u stay away from this game as far as possible, or u'll make the biggest mistake in ur life
those who said this game is good knows are those who never heard of CV and never play a CV before
man, this is not castlevania, this is... what the hell i dont know. i dont know that stupid game this is, just plain STUPID and CHEATING!!!!!!! DECEIVING!!!! LIAR!!!! DREAMS SHATTER!!!!!
i dont care about good graphic, i dont care about nothing, i want a good CV, thats it!
this game sucks, now im going to play the orniginal CV 1986 :D
i finish the game with 1 continue in half an hour, any true CV fans up for the challenge?

castlevania- curse of bad design

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: November 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

3.5 out of 5
I'm not much of a gamer, but I have followed the castlevania series, and think the current benchmarks reside in Devil May Cry 3 and God of War, so if you havent checked them out, an adventure is waiting for you.

The Pros of game
-Innocent Devils feature is interesting, yet can be
timely because you have to collect items, and I wish you had more control over creating them.

-Forging weapons is different, offering new fighting methods.

-3-d--something new

Cons
-The graphics are not up to par, laments are better.
-The fighting combinations were not interesting to me
-Castlevania has been around for almost 20 years you think
Konami could think up a better structure and plot to the
story. There could have been more of a story line with the different bosses, you just go in a room and fight a creature half the time.

-The 3-D issues weren't fully worked out
-The worst is the levels and different environments. Same hallways and virtually the same creatures as Lament.
-The game is not overly challenging, its almost the same formula for every boss, screen, hallway and level.

Castlevania with a few Capcom-isms

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: December 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm not really an old school fan of the Castlevania series, but I did remember playing Super Castlevania for the Super NES and loved it! Lament for PS2 was my second try at a Castlevania game. Then this one. I found many repteated features that Capcom offers. The Innocent Devils feature is very familiar if you've played Chaos Legion. So is the shock of white hair (Dante (or Drizzt?)). Gameplay is similar to Onimusha and Devil May Cry.

The weapons evolution system is really cool here as you can combine various elements you find and steal along the way to create bigger and badder-ass weapons/armor. For example, I created, another Capcom-sim, an electric guitar!

The graphics are fluid as are the CGI scenes. Nice to see a 3-D Trevor Belmont. Whip it, girl!

Hint: I found the bosses were easier to defeat with Crimson's carpet bombs. They did more than half the work!

game good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: February 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The game is good,I dont know why people give it so low ratings.Graphics are not outta this world but they're good,gameplay is good and well,its a fun game.Way better than Lament of Innocence,but I'd pay $30 for it,if you not gonna buy it,atleast rent it,I assure you'll like it.

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