Board 8 > Castlevania?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Please pitch this franchise to a huge Nintendo fan who has never played a single entry in the series. I just watched a playthrough of super castlevania iv and literally no part of it looked fun or compelling. But I like platformers (which is what I call what I just saw) and I always hear this term "metroidvania" which I associate with the concept of exploring an open-ish world (2d or 3d) and backtracking once you have certain skills/items. But I witnessed none of that. Was it always a staple of castlevania, or did it come to that later in the series and the early entries were straight up platforming? Where in the series should a Nintendo vet start? Gimme the skinny on the franchise.

it was a later thing which didn't happen until Symphony of the Night on PS1

Castlevania games top 3 in terms of video game soundtracks and that alone makes them worth playing
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Kill skeletons with a whip and eat food from walls
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Castlevanias aren't metroidvsnias until SotN
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There are two types of Castlevanias. The older type (1-4) are pure platformers. Everything after that is what's called Metroidvanias. They are like Metroid in gothic castles where you explore and find new skills and magic and stuff, but you level up and get equipment to use.

Symphony of the Night is universally loved. The other metroidvanias all have their lovers and haters, though generally people like Aria of Souls and Dawn of Souls.
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Anagram posted...

Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow

FTFY
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Anagram posted...

There are two types of Castlevanias. The older type (1-4) are pure platformers. Everything after that is what's called Metroidvanias. They are like Metroid in gothic castles where you explore and find new skills and magic and stuff, but you level up and get equipment to use.

Symphony of the Night is universally loved. The other metroidvanias all have their lovers and haters, though generally people like Aria of Souls and Dawn of Souls.

1-4, Bloodlines, Rondo of Blood and the Gameboy games

also the N64 games are not Metroidvanias but 3D platformers
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hey here's a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2guEIH6Hqs
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JonThePenguin posted...

Anagram posted...

Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow

FTFY

Derp

Also, whatever you do, don't start with Order of Ecclesia. It's the weirdest of the metroidvanias, the hardest, and in my opinion not very good.
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Iv is easily the least fun castlevania. If you want to play an super fun castlevania with power-ups and endless possibilities start with aria of sorrow and dawn of sorrow. The Soma games are pretty easy and just more about pure fun and exploration.

If you want a fun platforming challenge akin to mega man try 1 and 3 to get a taste of the series. 1 is a solid game and a blast all the way through but 3 is a much more polished game with branching paths and switchable characters with different abilities.

If you find you like both types, then youre in for a treat, the other games are combinations of the two formulas, games like rondo and adventure rebirth are more like refined versions of the nes games, whereas sotn and all the ds castlevanias are closer to the sorrow types.

IV is the most dull game in the series, so dont judge it by that.
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I fucking love Order of Ecclesia but it is harder than most other games in the series
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Super Castlevania IV is definitely my favorite game in the series. Very fun and compelling. Fantastic soundtrack too, and really well made for being released in the first year of the SNES.

Castlevania was fairly ahead of the curve for atmosphere in games, with more attention to style and details than other games. The games also generally have had really strong music.
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