Really good
Biased as hell but I liked this as much as the original
Ainda tenho q zerar a versão original
Um remake competente. Apesar de eu não achar graça em como Castlevania era antes do Sotn. Um castelo aberto realmente metroidvania é bem mais interessante que fases sequenciais, por mais que as mesmas não sejam lineares.
O jogo tem bastante conteúdo, me supreendeu muito nessa parte, tendo até o Sotn e o Rondo of blood clássico pra jogar.
No mais, é um jogo divertido, apesar da movimentação ser meio cagada as vezes. Tem bastante conteúdo
O jogo tem bastante conteúdo, me supreendeu muito nessa parte, tendo até o Sotn e o Rondo of blood clássico pra jogar.
No mais, é um jogo divertido, apesar da movimentação ser meio cagada as vezes. Tem bastante conteúdo
This review contains spoilers
I've read that IGA had this made because he wanted to recapture the feeling he got when he first played Rondo of Blood, and how much of a jolt of electricity that was for the Castlevania series (also, to give international audiences a taste of Rondo). Noble sentiments, but IGA must've gotten something completely different out of Rondo than I did.
I think I dislike every change made in this version of the game. Rondo's a phenomenal title in its own right, and most of that goodness is still here, but it feels diluted. I'm never a fan of when platformers slow down action in the middle of a level - boss fight cutscenes are fine, but interrupting for a mini-boss or stage hazard completely kills the momentum. That sequence in 'God, Grant Me Strength'/'O Lord, Please Give Me Strength' with the zombie bull isn't nearly as effective when it's telegraphed by a cutscene. I get why Maria's been redesigned, and I honestly think the long ponytail and breeches combo is cute - but there's no comparison with the original. The new version of 'Wandering'/'Shudder' sucks. Bringing back the Dracula X "Annette becomes a boss if you don't save her" buzzkill sucks sucks sucks, particularly when they pull a fast one and not only change Annette's location but put in a "screw you" for players going by their memories of the original.
It seems to me the changes were made to bring Rondo of Blood to be tonally consistent with IGA's overall direction of Castlevania - that is, something that takes itself seriously. So much of the fun with Rondo in particular is how much it's unabashedly itself and perfectly content with being silly - that key art of Richter and Maria rocking out is a perfect encapsulation of what Rondo wants to be. Dracula X Chronicles trips over itself trying to slot this silliness neatly into gothic horror drama (stake opera?). Things that were jokes are no longer jokes (Maria's inexplicable control over animals is plot relevant!), things that weren't jokes now are jokes (Tera really, really believes that Richter is God, personally come down from heaven to save her - at least make her think he's St. Michael or someone like that, if you're gonna go that route), and things that were jokes still are jokes (Maria's still collecting parfaits in lieu of pot roasts). These things don't really mesh together, not in the way that's intended.
Still, it's Rondo of Blood at its heart, so it's not all bad - just a lesser version. I guess I don't hate Dracula's third form. If I thought about Castlevania the way I thought about Kirby, I'd be all for it, and I'd definitely learned these patterns for Drac and Cookie Monster already, so getting back to Safer Dracula was more tedious than anything. I also love that the original Rondo is there as an unlock - fully localized, no less, complete with the new English voice actors reading translations of the original script rather than the updated one - as well as Symphony of the Night for funsies. Jury's out yet on how the ports hold up (don't like that at least Rondo's teeny-tiny so as to fit the border - I wouldn't have minded upscaling it a little so it at least fit the full screen height), but that they're there makes this a perfectly worthy remake. Even if I don't prefer any of the changes.
I think I dislike every change made in this version of the game. Rondo's a phenomenal title in its own right, and most of that goodness is still here, but it feels diluted. I'm never a fan of when platformers slow down action in the middle of a level - boss fight cutscenes are fine, but interrupting for a mini-boss or stage hazard completely kills the momentum. That sequence in 'God, Grant Me Strength'/'O Lord, Please Give Me Strength' with the zombie bull isn't nearly as effective when it's telegraphed by a cutscene. I get why Maria's been redesigned, and I honestly think the long ponytail and breeches combo is cute - but there's no comparison with the original. The new version of 'Wandering'/'Shudder' sucks. Bringing back the Dracula X "Annette becomes a boss if you don't save her" buzzkill sucks sucks sucks, particularly when they pull a fast one and not only change Annette's location but put in a "screw you" for players going by their memories of the original.
It seems to me the changes were made to bring Rondo of Blood to be tonally consistent with IGA's overall direction of Castlevania - that is, something that takes itself seriously. So much of the fun with Rondo in particular is how much it's unabashedly itself and perfectly content with being silly - that key art of Richter and Maria rocking out is a perfect encapsulation of what Rondo wants to be. Dracula X Chronicles trips over itself trying to slot this silliness neatly into gothic horror drama (stake opera?). Things that were jokes are no longer jokes (Maria's inexplicable control over animals is plot relevant!), things that weren't jokes now are jokes (Tera really, really believes that Richter is God, personally come down from heaven to save her - at least make her think he's St. Michael or someone like that, if you're gonna go that route), and things that were jokes still are jokes (Maria's still collecting parfaits in lieu of pot roasts). These things don't really mesh together, not in the way that's intended.
Still, it's Rondo of Blood at its heart, so it's not all bad - just a lesser version. I guess I don't hate Dracula's third form. If I thought about Castlevania the way I thought about Kirby, I'd be all for it, and I'd definitely learned these patterns for Drac and Cookie Monster already, so getting back to Safer Dracula was more tedious than anything. I also love that the original Rondo is there as an unlock - fully localized, no less, complete with the new English voice actors reading translations of the original script rather than the updated one - as well as Symphony of the Night for funsies. Jury's out yet on how the ports hold up (don't like that at least Rondo's teeny-tiny so as to fit the border - I wouldn't have minded upscaling it a little so it at least fit the full screen height), but that they're there makes this a perfectly worthy remake. Even if I don't prefer any of the changes.
Um otimo remake e reinterpretação de um jogo que já era muito bom, além dos ótimos bonus
Love u dog but u look like fuckin shit
Perfeito, e ainda vem com o Symphony e o Rondo of Blood melhorados no conjunto, e é triste saber que nunca vou ver isso em outro jogo.
As a remake? It's good, but certainly not perfect. The colors are muted(although I personally think it kinda fits), some of the remixes are inferior compared to the original soundtrack, and the completion requirements are a bit overblown. Thank god I already had a nearly 100% completed save before revisiting it.
Replacing the Stage 7 theme with Moon Fight was an A+ choice though. The original theme wasn't bad, but c'mon! It's Moon Fight!
As a package? Simply stellar. It has the original Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, all in one bundle! Who cares if the actual remake isn't perfect? You got two of the best games in the series, and an alright remake to go with it. You really can't go wrong here.
Yeah, the voice acting in SotN was replaced, but it's still SotN. On the go, no less!
Easy recommendation for any PSP owner. Even though the main dish is a bit undercooked, both of the side dishes MORE than make up for it.
Replacing the Stage 7 theme with Moon Fight was an A+ choice though. The original theme wasn't bad, but c'mon! It's Moon Fight!
As a package? Simply stellar. It has the original Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, all in one bundle! Who cares if the actual remake isn't perfect? You got two of the best games in the series, and an alright remake to go with it. You really can't go wrong here.
Yeah, the voice acting in SotN was replaced, but it's still SotN. On the go, no less!
Easy recommendation for any PSP owner. Even though the main dish is a bit undercooked, both of the side dishes MORE than make up for it.
Rondo of Blood remains one of my favorite Castlevania games, despite this remake lacking some of the charm of the original PC-Engine title. The music rocks, it's hard as hell, it has multiple characters and multiple paths to take for whatever playthrough flavor you're feeling. It's a dope-ass Castlevania game that I would still recommend to this day.
The big reason to get this version was because it contained Symphony of the Night as an unlockable, and that was my first real exposure to that game, lacking a PS1 growing up. Either way, great fucking games for a portable package.
The big reason to get this version was because it contained Symphony of the Night as an unlockable, and that was my first real exposure to that game, lacking a PS1 growing up. Either way, great fucking games for a portable package.
First time playthrough, and my first Castlevania game. I beat it... which means I liked it! It's also the first game played on my old PSP since I dug it out and revived it recently.
Frankly, it's not as beautiful-looking as Rondo of Blood—not a controvertial statement, I think. The music is a side-grade too. So when I unlocked the original (and SotN) early on in my playthrough I did have to decide if I was gonna keep playing the remake or start over in OG Rondo... I chose to keep playing Dracula X Chronicles because I wanted a PSP-native experience and also because even though it isn't better I still find the new presentation charming in its own way. Plus I already know what most of Rondo of Blood looks like via GameCenter CX, etc.
When I've dipped my toes into Castlevania in the past I've been scared away by how slow and deliberate you have to be to succeed. It's the anti-Sonic, basically. In my increased age I am a much more patient person and much more receptive to at least this specific game's charms. Also, fuck that guy Dracula he sucks.
Frankly, it's not as beautiful-looking as Rondo of Blood—not a controvertial statement, I think. The music is a side-grade too. So when I unlocked the original (and SotN) early on in my playthrough I did have to decide if I was gonna keep playing the remake or start over in OG Rondo... I chose to keep playing Dracula X Chronicles because I wanted a PSP-native experience and also because even though it isn't better I still find the new presentation charming in its own way. Plus I already know what most of Rondo of Blood looks like via GameCenter CX, etc.
When I've dipped my toes into Castlevania in the past I've been scared away by how slow and deliberate you have to be to succeed. It's the anti-Sonic, basically. In my increased age I am a much more patient person and much more receptive to at least this specific game's charms. Also, fuck that guy Dracula he sucks.
Fine game, fine remake, I like some of the changes and additions...but nothing beats the beauty that is the original for me...man I hate this erasure of Anime pretty boy Dracula lol.
Visually it's really dull tho...I get that this is PSP but that's no excuse to make the textures so colorless...I have no idea why this happened when they didn't have this problem when trying to bring Kojima style to 3D before. Maybe one day it'll be redeemed by a PPSSPP texture pack, so far only an HD upscale exists.
I appreciate them keeping the difficulty and gameplay feeling exactly the same though...this remake doesn't hold your hand unlike the many "remakes" now and I gotta give it props for that.
Also I used Richter more this time and actually saved Annette as her...I felt a bit dissatisfied when I rescued her as Maria in Rondo so I'm glad to find bring that to a closure.
Remakes lately leave a bad taste in my mouth and I'm sick of them, so that definitely made me tired of this one near the end...yes that's not the game's fault but what can I say?
Screw Stage 5' tho, I'm not doing that, especially after having already beaten Dracula.
Also why PSP? What an odd choice of platform going from PC Engine...
Rondo is easily the better version.
Visually it's really dull tho...I get that this is PSP but that's no excuse to make the textures so colorless...I have no idea why this happened when they didn't have this problem when trying to bring Kojima style to 3D before. Maybe one day it'll be redeemed by a PPSSPP texture pack, so far only an HD upscale exists.
I appreciate them keeping the difficulty and gameplay feeling exactly the same though...this remake doesn't hold your hand unlike the many "remakes" now and I gotta give it props for that.
Also I used Richter more this time and actually saved Annette as her...I felt a bit dissatisfied when I rescued her as Maria in Rondo so I'm glad to find bring that to a closure.
Remakes lately leave a bad taste in my mouth and I'm sick of them, so that definitely made me tired of this one near the end...yes that's not the game's fault but what can I say?
Screw Stage 5' tho, I'm not doing that, especially after having already beaten Dracula.
Also why PSP? What an odd choice of platform going from PC Engine...
Rondo is easily the better version.
Os cara botaram um remake, e o port dos dois melhores jogos da franquia, apelação demais pae.
I don't think it's better than the original, but it's good.
Played this just to unlock the original Rondo of Blood lol
After playing RoB, I feel like the bosses in this game telegraph their moves unclearly. Like with the alternate stage 4 boss, I could not tell if he was gonna jump attack or stab horizontally. It was more obvious in RoB.
I also prefer the chiptune sound of RoB.
After playing RoB, I feel like the bosses in this game telegraph their moves unclearly. Like with the alternate stage 4 boss, I could not tell if he was gonna jump attack or stab horizontally. It was more obvious in RoB.
I also prefer the chiptune sound of RoB.
played this game to get to symphony of the night. tbh this game is kinda ugly and it felt like booty to control. Maybe its not as bad as the score im giving it, but from what i played i didnt really care for this game at all.
Only really good as a way to play Rondo and Symphony on your psp, sadly.
I dont like that this game removes the 90s anime aesthetic of RoB and attempts to be more serious in tone, but the gameplay is overall the same as RoB so i cant really say its worse. Those psp graphics dont age as well as pixels tho lol. The revamped Stage 5’ was nice
The Original PC-Engine release of Rondo of Blood was already an incredible game by itself but this just makes it even better. Not only that but if the remake version doesn't tickle your fancy and you want the original experience then that is bundled in this game as an unlockable
Not only that, however, but you can also unlock Symphony of the Night in its entirety to play if you need a metroidvania fix after a session of classic Castlevania, the value for money this game provides is incredible
One minor criticism I have of the game is that Maria, who you can unlock quite early if you know what you're doing, makes the entire games difficulty pretty trivial and even with Richter its not that hard. If you're looking for a gentler classic Castlevania experience then this is a good place to come to
Not only that, however, but you can also unlock Symphony of the Night in its entirety to play if you need a metroidvania fix after a session of classic Castlevania, the value for money this game provides is incredible
One minor criticism I have of the game is that Maria, who you can unlock quite early if you know what you're doing, makes the entire games difficulty pretty trivial and even with Richter its not that hard. If you're looking for a gentler classic Castlevania experience then this is a good place to come to
Então, lembra do Richter todo estilo anime dos anos 90 do Rondo Of Blood? Meio que pode esquecer dele, agora ele virou emo gótico e tenta matar o Dracula ao lado de Maria Renard (que nesse jogo recebeu um novo visual, parecendo que saiu de sakura card captors???????????), uma amiga muito próxima de Anette, namorada de Richter. Como todo Castlevania o Belmont da vez caceta o dracula de chicotada até o arrombado ressuscitar de novo pra encher o saco. Depois de tanta encheção de linguiça, posso concluir que Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles é o melhor Classicvania da série (na minha opinião)
Been warming up to it.
Amazing music. I'm glad games aren't like this anymore. At least it has SOTN. Why is that locked to PS1 STILL?
Maneirinho
The slightly changed puzzles for two unlockables (finding Iris and Annette) were both an interesting twist and a bit of a "bruh I gotta get a guide to find these now?" with how they are.
Otherwise it seems all arond like Rondo but with a muddier 3D facelift (though it made the snake boss easier to stop fearing), and some songs are good if not kinda close to Rondo's ,others are alright but definitely not as good, and then there's Stage 7/Moon Light which is the one song I would say that beats the original song used.
Stage 5' isn't THAT different in that it did have a neat visual overhaul but when you have played Rondo, the stage does share a similar structure and layout (ducking under spikes over platforms in water, the split with knights guarding the areas, and that going the upper path will have you meet two black knights). Very similar in the first-time frustration factor as well.
A few moments were jankier to platform due to the 3D hitboxes (and Stage 7 has been tweaked to be a little bit more difficult) but other than that, the stages are often the same as Rondo in difficulty, and the bosses feel easier to keep track of which is kinda funny (though I couldn't bother with the Lesser Vampire so I ended up looking up how to find Annette and fight the real boss there)
Its still a version of Rondo which means that it does hold up, and having Rondo/SOTN in the same package really adds to value (even though you will likely need to look up where to find them, or at least Rondo in my case), but while the music remapping feature is cool, having to search so much to find EVERY song from both past games isn't so much. That and not being able to put the OG Rondo music for Dracula's fight; why show the option but lock that out?
That aside, I think that the visual style being kinda cluttered in some stages, the music unlocks (not going for a 100% run because of those when they are kinda useless if I have played everything already unless you want to revisit in the future or are a completionist) and getting a bit frustrated over "OH SO THEY WERE HERE ALL ALONG" moments with Iris/Annette along with Stage 5' being Stage 5' might have knocked off that one/half star from the Rating (though that frustration is also likely because I only played it the most on a phone...but it also means that I can say I beat Dracula and all stages except 5' so far on that of all things), but on the other hand, at least it doesn't break everything and what's still familiar feels more accessible than before.
I like Rondo more but a lot of what done here was clearly done with care for the fans, and PSP owners were eating real good when this came out.
Otherwise it seems all arond like Rondo but with a muddier 3D facelift (though it made the snake boss easier to stop fearing), and some songs are good if not kinda close to Rondo's ,others are alright but definitely not as good, and then there's Stage 7/Moon Light which is the one song I would say that beats the original song used.
Stage 5' isn't THAT different in that it did have a neat visual overhaul but when you have played Rondo, the stage does share a similar structure and layout (ducking under spikes over platforms in water, the split with knights guarding the areas, and that going the upper path will have you meet two black knights). Very similar in the first-time frustration factor as well.
A few moments were jankier to platform due to the 3D hitboxes (and Stage 7 has been tweaked to be a little bit more difficult) but other than that, the stages are often the same as Rondo in difficulty, and the bosses feel easier to keep track of which is kinda funny (though I couldn't bother with the Lesser Vampire so I ended up looking up how to find Annette and fight the real boss there)
Its still a version of Rondo which means that it does hold up, and having Rondo/SOTN in the same package really adds to value (even though you will likely need to look up where to find them, or at least Rondo in my case), but while the music remapping feature is cool, having to search so much to find EVERY song from both past games isn't so much. That and not being able to put the OG Rondo music for Dracula's fight; why show the option but lock that out?
That aside, I think that the visual style being kinda cluttered in some stages, the music unlocks (not going for a 100% run because of those when they are kinda useless if I have played everything already unless you want to revisit in the future or are a completionist) and getting a bit frustrated over "OH SO THEY WERE HERE ALL ALONG" moments with Iris/Annette along with Stage 5' being Stage 5' might have knocked off that one/half star from the Rating (though that frustration is also likely because I only played it the most on a phone...but it also means that I can say I beat Dracula and all stages except 5' so far on that of all things), but on the other hand, at least it doesn't break everything and what's still familiar feels more accessible than before.
I like Rondo more but a lot of what done here was clearly done with care for the fans, and PSP owners were eating real good when this came out.
The best package involving Richter's games. It's a 2.5D remake of the original Rondo of Blood that also comes with that original game and a remaster of Symphony of the Night tho without the fun dialogue
Castlevania The Dracula X Chronicles is a remake of Rondo of Blood that improves the game in just about every aspect. Not only does it add 3D graphics and voice acting as well as a new art style that helps modernize the game, but the game also has several other improvements such as better movement options for Richter and Maria, as well as new content in the form of games that can be unlocked by the player and different pathways that spruce up the game’s progression. The game feels a lot better to play as a whole than the original thanks to these QOL improvements. It does come with the original game as well as Symphony of the Night which is a direct sequel to the game, for people who have not played those I highly recommend experiencing them too, even if I do consider Dracula X to be superior overall to the original Rondo of Blood.
y a symphony of the night dedans en plus
de los mejores juegos de psp este juego es un remake en el cual puedes desbloquear otros juego me gusto mucho tiene finales diferentes segun lo que hagas.
Cristiano Rondo
Nice remake (and collection) overall, PSP keeps offering really interesting ones. Maria, even if she can't get many hits like Richter, make the game feels like a breeze. And, trust me, you will be grateful for that in many segments.