I hope warren ellis is never allowed to touch another video game franchise ever again
Curse of Darkness es una obra más que sólida en la que la fórmula de Symphony of the Night es trasladada finalmente al 3D de un modo sorprendente (luego del experimento que se queda a medio camino como lo fue LoI) , todos sus elementos crean una harmoniosa combinación, su mapeado extenso, la conexión de este entre sus distintas zonas, un combate con muchas más posibilidades que su predecesor gracias a la implementación de las invocaciones demoniacas, cada una de estas siendo distintivas y apoyando al jugador de múltiples maneras dependiendo cual se eligiera, una duración más extensa pero no por eso más monótona, personajes entrañables, un estilo artístico soberbio, una de las mejores bandas sonoras del medio y una historia aunque simple bien ejecutada, son algunas de las mejores cualidades de esta obra.
Me encantaría decir que CoD es sobresaliente, sin embargo, su último tramo resulta agotador por la cantidad de enemigos en cada habitación que se hacen presentes en muy cortos intervalos (una buena parte siendo combates obligatorios) y los picos de dificultad que aquejan a esta parte de la obra, que en comparación al resto del trayecto, que sabía mantener el equilibrio entre exigirle al jugador estar atento en todo momento combinado con enemigos que en un descuido nos pueden hacer mucho daño por su cantidad, se deja a un lado por jefes cuyo diseño se basa más en la experiencia conseguida en base a un prueba y error que por una cuestión de habilidad.
A pesar de cometer estos errores, no puedo dejar de maravillarme por una obra tan bien lograda, en la cual la mayoría de errores de su predecesor son corregidos y se expanden los conceptos vistos con anterioridad, mientras que las nuevas ideas funcionan de manera formidable.
Para concluir CoD se trata del punto más alto que la franquicia alcanzó en las tres dimensiones, una lástima que esta fórmula se abandonara en pro de otras tendencias de la época.
Me encantaría decir que CoD es sobresaliente, sin embargo, su último tramo resulta agotador por la cantidad de enemigos en cada habitación que se hacen presentes en muy cortos intervalos (una buena parte siendo combates obligatorios) y los picos de dificultad que aquejan a esta parte de la obra, que en comparación al resto del trayecto, que sabía mantener el equilibrio entre exigirle al jugador estar atento en todo momento combinado con enemigos que en un descuido nos pueden hacer mucho daño por su cantidad, se deja a un lado por jefes cuyo diseño se basa más en la experiencia conseguida en base a un prueba y error que por una cuestión de habilidad.
A pesar de cometer estos errores, no puedo dejar de maravillarme por una obra tan bien lograda, en la cual la mayoría de errores de su predecesor son corregidos y se expanden los conceptos vistos con anterioridad, mientras que las nuevas ideas funcionan de manera formidable.
Para concluir CoD se trata del punto más alto que la franquicia alcanzó en las tres dimensiones, una lástima que esta fórmula se abandonara en pro de otras tendencias de la época.
Cannot say I'm a fan of this one. Just more annoying than anything else.
Curse of Darkness é o quarto jogo de Castlevania em 3D e o segundo feito pra PlayStation 2 sob direção de Koji Igarashi, mostra avanços notáveis, como uma narrativa amadurecida e uma história significativa no escopo da série, como também mostra problemas em lidar com os ambientes tridimensionais no que diz respeito a construir um level design interessante que fosse capaz de acomodar suas características mais chamativas como o combate bem elaborado e sua estética sombria.
É difícil até tentar descobrir qual era a proposta, onde o jogo estava mirando com as suas confecções. Existem mecânicas como um pulo duplo, Hector, o personagem controlado pelo jogador, pode se agarrar em ressaltos de paredes, mas essas mecânicas que pressupõe certa verticalidade no level design pra que se tire proveito delas, se provam quase inúteis no que se mostra um ciclo interminável de horizontalidade na exploração de salas e corredores, seguidos de mais salas e mais corredores, quase sempre idênticos. O jogo tem áreas tematicamente distintas umas das outras, como cavernas, florestas, castelos, mas todos parecem os mesmos com as paletas de cores escuras e os layouts que parecem só diferentes na superfície, ao passo que até o combate e os sistemas de progressão são impactados de maneira grosseira pela repetição e monotonia do level design. Nem mesmo a trilha sonora consegue ajudar na distinção das diferentes localidades, tendo em vista que com exceção de duas ou três, poucas faixas se destacam entre a massa quase homogênea das faixas do jogo.
Um aspecto interessante são os sistemas de gameplay que se fazem presentes e como eles se complementam de maneira simples, e eficiente, mas ainda assim não o bastante pra sustentar uma jornada de 10 horas de duração, que parece muito, perto do que esse jogo faz. O sistema de crafting usa materiais que são obtidos por drops de inimigos e também pela mecânica da habilidade de roubo de Hector, que permite a ele encontrar momentos chave na movimentação de inimigos e assim obter desde moedas de ouro, à materiais úteis pra confecção dos cinco tipos de armas diferentes e dois tipos de armadura, e vai ser por meio deste que se obtém equipamentos mais fortes. Pra além disso, as armas que se usa impactam diretamente na evolução dos companheiros de Hector, os já mencionados Innocent Devils, que vão auxiliar na exploração e no combate, com múltiplas habilidades, adquiridas através dos muitos desdobramentos evolutivos que diferentes armas oferecem. Os tipos de armas serem todos quase iguais em viabilidade e com características únicas, é um incentivo a experimentar diferentes estilos de jogo e descobrir novos Innocent Devils, mas os limites do sistema se mostram antes mesmo que o jogo acabe e o alongamento de um level design monótono arrasta o tédio pra todos os seus aspectos. Até aqueles que melhor se sucedem, como o combate, que nem com inimigos distintos com movimentos únicos e inimigos-chefe com padrões interessantes, salvo exceções de pico de dificuldade, se safa do desgaste trazido pelos corredores infinitos do Level design.
Quando não encantado por algumas de suas características mais intrigantes como sua narrativa, direção cinematográfica e dublagem muito bem feitas, um jogador pode facilmente se pegar exausto depois de passar pelo décimo corredor e quinta sala de uma área nova que supostamente devia ser diferente da anterior. Curse of Darkness poderia ter sido um acerto enorme, mas acaba muito mais como um vislumbre do mais interessante que Castlevania poderia ser no futuro. Trazer franquias consagradas do 2D pro 3D foi um desafio pra diversas equipes durante o salto geracional de 97 a 2000 e Curse cai no grupo de títulos vitimados pelas dificuldades que surgem em adaptar essas séries com suas características e traços centrais.
É difícil até tentar descobrir qual era a proposta, onde o jogo estava mirando com as suas confecções. Existem mecânicas como um pulo duplo, Hector, o personagem controlado pelo jogador, pode se agarrar em ressaltos de paredes, mas essas mecânicas que pressupõe certa verticalidade no level design pra que se tire proveito delas, se provam quase inúteis no que se mostra um ciclo interminável de horizontalidade na exploração de salas e corredores, seguidos de mais salas e mais corredores, quase sempre idênticos. O jogo tem áreas tematicamente distintas umas das outras, como cavernas, florestas, castelos, mas todos parecem os mesmos com as paletas de cores escuras e os layouts que parecem só diferentes na superfície, ao passo que até o combate e os sistemas de progressão são impactados de maneira grosseira pela repetição e monotonia do level design. Nem mesmo a trilha sonora consegue ajudar na distinção das diferentes localidades, tendo em vista que com exceção de duas ou três, poucas faixas se destacam entre a massa quase homogênea das faixas do jogo.
Um aspecto interessante são os sistemas de gameplay que se fazem presentes e como eles se complementam de maneira simples, e eficiente, mas ainda assim não o bastante pra sustentar uma jornada de 10 horas de duração, que parece muito, perto do que esse jogo faz. O sistema de crafting usa materiais que são obtidos por drops de inimigos e também pela mecânica da habilidade de roubo de Hector, que permite a ele encontrar momentos chave na movimentação de inimigos e assim obter desde moedas de ouro, à materiais úteis pra confecção dos cinco tipos de armas diferentes e dois tipos de armadura, e vai ser por meio deste que se obtém equipamentos mais fortes. Pra além disso, as armas que se usa impactam diretamente na evolução dos companheiros de Hector, os já mencionados Innocent Devils, que vão auxiliar na exploração e no combate, com múltiplas habilidades, adquiridas através dos muitos desdobramentos evolutivos que diferentes armas oferecem. Os tipos de armas serem todos quase iguais em viabilidade e com características únicas, é um incentivo a experimentar diferentes estilos de jogo e descobrir novos Innocent Devils, mas os limites do sistema se mostram antes mesmo que o jogo acabe e o alongamento de um level design monótono arrasta o tédio pra todos os seus aspectos. Até aqueles que melhor se sucedem, como o combate, que nem com inimigos distintos com movimentos únicos e inimigos-chefe com padrões interessantes, salvo exceções de pico de dificuldade, se safa do desgaste trazido pelos corredores infinitos do Level design.
Quando não encantado por algumas de suas características mais intrigantes como sua narrativa, direção cinematográfica e dublagem muito bem feitas, um jogador pode facilmente se pegar exausto depois de passar pelo décimo corredor e quinta sala de uma área nova que supostamente devia ser diferente da anterior. Curse of Darkness poderia ter sido um acerto enorme, mas acaba muito mais como um vislumbre do mais interessante que Castlevania poderia ser no futuro. Trazer franquias consagradas do 2D pro 3D foi um desafio pra diversas equipes durante o salto geracional de 97 a 2000 e Curse cai no grupo de títulos vitimados pelas dificuldades que surgem em adaptar essas séries com suas características e traços centrais.
I know this is getting a reevaluation from fans and a lot of people enjoy this game, but personally this was a painful experiance for me. The combat is fun, but the game around it fucking sucks (rimshot.wav) due to how boring as sin the level design is. The entire game is you walking down a bunch of hallways were you encounter different enemies.......and that's it! That is the entire game in a nutshell. The total absence of variety just killed my enjoyment for this game, and it doesn't help that the story in this game, while not nearly as lacking, does very little to make up for it. This is an 8-9 hour game, right? Well there is less 1 hour's worth of cutscenes. You can view all the cutscenes in this game in one Youtube video that lasts around 40 minutes. I'm not saying I want half of this game to be cutscenes, but I would have liked something a little more substantial than this underdeveloped platitude where a guy is on a mission to get revenge on another guy for the death of a loved one. It's not awful, just completely uninspired (apart from some convoluted nonsense thrown in at the end because why the hell not). And that pretty much sums up my thoughts on this game overall - not awful, just uninspired.
Como eu queria um remaster ou remake dessa obra prima, devo ter zerado umas 5 vezes fácil...
I picked out this game in a random whim and i never imagined i would come out considering it one of my favorite castlevania games, as well as perhaps the best one in the 3D category. Even if that might not be an amazing feat when the N64 games are the series' black sheep, Lament of Innocence people are mixed on, and the Lords of Shadow games have come to be seen as casualised 7th gen slop.
The starting impressions for this game can be pretty weak. A crafting system in a castlevania game? Beasts that help you fight and can evolve? What is this? Digimon? It all sounds like a bunch of bells & whistles, but give the game some time and you'll see how well everything works out.
Innocent Devils were a pretty cool addition. There's six types of IDs which evolve accordingly to which weapon types you use to defeat enemies. Fairies with healing and supportive spells that can come in very handy, Battle-types that can ragdoll enemies around, Mage-types with a great range of powerful offensive spells as well as the ability, Bird IDs with long-range attacks that are also useful for gliding into previously unreachable areas, and Devil-type IDs which are far more limited evolution-wise than the others but are pretty balanced and not bad for combat. Plenty of badass ones like Rasetz and The End, and plenty of adorable ones like the Fairies or Brow. There's like 51 IDs, all of which have their own unique spells which are just fun to use in combat. And you're not even forced to use IDs at all, you can just send them back and take fights into your own hands if they feel too much like cheating.
The combat is simple, with combos definitely on the simplified "Square Square Square, Circle" side mostly as a way to standardize attacks for all the different weapon types. You don't get anywhere as broken as in SOTN and capable of spam-melting away Lv. 100 bosses in 3 seconds, but you are faster than most of the enemies you'll meet movement-wise and have a lot of freedom to maneuver around and dodge enemy attacks, specially when compared to Lament of Innocence. But what really makes the combat in this title shine, in my opinion, is Perfect Guard, basically this game's DMC3 Royalguard. It just fucking rocks. It is almost as mechanically important as Innocent Devils. Nearly every single attack in the game, including beams and energy blasts, can be immaculately parried away from any direction, even while mid-air, and sometimes even during some attack animations. The game will reward you for doing this with an opening for an attack or steal from an enemy, and a small amount of hearts every time you do it. This can be vital for long endurance test fights where you could burn out your hearts for your spells quickly.
It might be no Ninja Gaiden Black combat, but it's just so satisfying to juggle an enemy with aerial sword attacks while split-second parrying oncoming enemy projectiles in the air, all while your ID fights other enemies in the background. And i hold that any game that lets you do a Daigo and parry 99% of the attacks in the game (including lasers and explosions) has the authenticity seal of excellent vidya combat.
The only boss fights i really hated were the Skeleton Diver which loves to waste your time, and the final Dracula one which is basically the world's most intense game of Punch-Out. The rest are excellent. The Isaac ones basically put you on the shoes of the poor enemies you obliterated with your ID spells minutes ago, the Trevor ones force you to adapt and git gud, Saint Germain is a nice change of pace with an interesting time manipulation gimmick (he poisons you and then accelerates time to make it hurt faster, but you can use this at your advantage with Serum + Time Heal) and Nuculais is a certified "oh shit" moment and so nerve wrecking to fight it's no wonder why it's an optional boss. I even found myself keeping around old saves just to replay the Legion/Nuculais and Trevor boss fights until i beat the game and unlocked Boss Rush.
The crafting system is also neat. I admit i hadn't really done much with it until like halfway through the game since i had been fighting without lock-on, but finding out about Stealing from enemies and how it allows you to obtain certain unique materials which i thought you'd only get once made me enjoy the crafting a bit more by turning it into a bit of a treasure hunt, figuring out tactics to squeeze out rare materials from enemies. If you're so lacking in time-draining adult responsibilities that you feel you have the time to craft everything in this game, then i recommend you look through this website which contains a handy stealing guide for getting certain rare materials for crafting, and how to get them, although in most cases i recommend just using lock-on on certain enemies and figuring out yourself to make it more fun and so it doesn't feel too much like a grocery checklist.
This is also the most collectathon Castlevania out there. There's a big treasure trove of stuff to get or craft. Many weapons which while mostly just offering stat upgrades, some have their own special combo finishers, secret ID spells, two enemy endurance test towers which reward you with rare items, and of course, no IGA castlevania game is complete without some wacky anachronistic easter egg stuff, including special weapons like Gatling Guns and Bomberman Bombs, chairs and thrones in levels that get added to a collection, a lot of rare healing food items like burgers and tomato juice stolen from bosses, joke Innocent Devil evolutions that can actually be some of the most useful, like Iytei, a battle-type yeti doll thing, and even a whole secret ID type of cute pumpkin characters, which boost up your Luck stat and help you find rare items easily. Oh, after beating the game you also unlock the aforementioned Boss Rush mode, 'Crazy Mode' which is basically the main game but with enemy XP levels amped up, with a more souls-like weight to combat where you can't afford to get hit too much, and being able to play as Trevor Belmont, who has a different, although much simpler playstyle.
Exploration is definitely the weak point of the game, it's very "you hate it or you tolerate it". They were clearly attempting to get some of that "metroidvania" feel from SOTN with the massive halls, seemingly not understanding that it's important for these types of games to have interesting and fun ways to traverse such giant levels. Pretty much every room in the game is a corridor or a huge box/cylinder and you never get any significant speed boosts or any other sort of other movement upgrade to get through them faster. Just the warp thrones on every area and the Memorial/Magical Tickets, and i guess maybe the Shoulder Ride with the Iytei ID, but only if you can maneuver it right. I haven't played Lament of Innocence long enough to make more comparisons, but people seem to agree that it is the clear winner out of the two games in that department with it's platforming and obstacles that make it feel more faithful as a 3D conversion of a classicvania, whereas here it feels more like some weird flat 3D JRPG level design where you can just ignore and run past enemies. And it can all be pretty cryptic due to the fact that many important tips are only shown in the form of hieroglyphs in walls that can only be read with a Decipher spell learned by like, one specific Fairy ID branch, so once again, i really recommend just using a guide when playing this game if you're going completionist with the maps.
Though i'll admit none this didn't do much to water down my enjoyment of this game until i sought out 100%ing this game. Any other game with level design this non-existant would take two stars out of my review for me, but i think this game manages to pull that weight really well with it's combat and the encouragement to explore maps completely and find all sorts of secrets.
The starting impressions for this game can be pretty weak. A crafting system in a castlevania game? Beasts that help you fight and can evolve? What is this? Digimon? It all sounds like a bunch of bells & whistles, but give the game some time and you'll see how well everything works out.
Innocent Devils were a pretty cool addition. There's six types of IDs which evolve accordingly to which weapon types you use to defeat enemies. Fairies with healing and supportive spells that can come in very handy, Battle-types that can ragdoll enemies around, Mage-types with a great range of powerful offensive spells as well as the ability, Bird IDs with long-range attacks that are also useful for gliding into previously unreachable areas, and Devil-type IDs which are far more limited evolution-wise than the others but are pretty balanced and not bad for combat. Plenty of badass ones like Rasetz and The End, and plenty of adorable ones like the Fairies or Brow. There's like 51 IDs, all of which have their own unique spells which are just fun to use in combat. And you're not even forced to use IDs at all, you can just send them back and take fights into your own hands if they feel too much like cheating.
The combat is simple, with combos definitely on the simplified "Square Square Square, Circle" side mostly as a way to standardize attacks for all the different weapon types. You don't get anywhere as broken as in SOTN and capable of spam-melting away Lv. 100 bosses in 3 seconds, but you are faster than most of the enemies you'll meet movement-wise and have a lot of freedom to maneuver around and dodge enemy attacks, specially when compared to Lament of Innocence. But what really makes the combat in this title shine, in my opinion, is Perfect Guard, basically this game's DMC3 Royalguard. It just fucking rocks. It is almost as mechanically important as Innocent Devils. Nearly every single attack in the game, including beams and energy blasts, can be immaculately parried away from any direction, even while mid-air, and sometimes even during some attack animations. The game will reward you for doing this with an opening for an attack or steal from an enemy, and a small amount of hearts every time you do it. This can be vital for long endurance test fights where you could burn out your hearts for your spells quickly.
It might be no Ninja Gaiden Black combat, but it's just so satisfying to juggle an enemy with aerial sword attacks while split-second parrying oncoming enemy projectiles in the air, all while your ID fights other enemies in the background. And i hold that any game that lets you do a Daigo and parry 99% of the attacks in the game (including lasers and explosions) has the authenticity seal of excellent vidya combat.
The only boss fights i really hated were the Skeleton Diver which loves to waste your time, and the final Dracula one which is basically the world's most intense game of Punch-Out. The rest are excellent. The Isaac ones basically put you on the shoes of the poor enemies you obliterated with your ID spells minutes ago, the Trevor ones force you to adapt and git gud, Saint Germain is a nice change of pace with an interesting time manipulation gimmick (he poisons you and then accelerates time to make it hurt faster, but you can use this at your advantage with Serum + Time Heal) and Nuculais is a certified "oh shit" moment and so nerve wrecking to fight it's no wonder why it's an optional boss. I even found myself keeping around old saves just to replay the Legion/Nuculais and Trevor boss fights until i beat the game and unlocked Boss Rush.
The crafting system is also neat. I admit i hadn't really done much with it until like halfway through the game since i had been fighting without lock-on, but finding out about Stealing from enemies and how it allows you to obtain certain unique materials which i thought you'd only get once made me enjoy the crafting a bit more by turning it into a bit of a treasure hunt, figuring out tactics to squeeze out rare materials from enemies. If you're so lacking in time-draining adult responsibilities that you feel you have the time to craft everything in this game, then i recommend you look through this website which contains a handy stealing guide for getting certain rare materials for crafting, and how to get them, although in most cases i recommend just using lock-on on certain enemies and figuring out yourself to make it more fun and so it doesn't feel too much like a grocery checklist.
This is also the most collectathon Castlevania out there. There's a big treasure trove of stuff to get or craft. Many weapons which while mostly just offering stat upgrades, some have their own special combo finishers, secret ID spells, two enemy endurance test towers which reward you with rare items, and of course, no IGA castlevania game is complete without some wacky anachronistic easter egg stuff, including special weapons like Gatling Guns and Bomberman Bombs, chairs and thrones in levels that get added to a collection, a lot of rare healing food items like burgers and tomato juice stolen from bosses, joke Innocent Devil evolutions that can actually be some of the most useful, like Iytei, a battle-type yeti doll thing, and even a whole secret ID type of cute pumpkin characters, which boost up your Luck stat and help you find rare items easily. Oh, after beating the game you also unlock the aforementioned Boss Rush mode, 'Crazy Mode' which is basically the main game but with enemy XP levels amped up, with a more souls-like weight to combat where you can't afford to get hit too much, and being able to play as Trevor Belmont, who has a different, although much simpler playstyle.
Exploration is definitely the weak point of the game, it's very "you hate it or you tolerate it". They were clearly attempting to get some of that "metroidvania" feel from SOTN with the massive halls, seemingly not understanding that it's important for these types of games to have interesting and fun ways to traverse such giant levels. Pretty much every room in the game is a corridor or a huge box/cylinder and you never get any significant speed boosts or any other sort of other movement upgrade to get through them faster. Just the warp thrones on every area and the Memorial/Magical Tickets, and i guess maybe the Shoulder Ride with the Iytei ID, but only if you can maneuver it right. I haven't played Lament of Innocence long enough to make more comparisons, but people seem to agree that it is the clear winner out of the two games in that department with it's platforming and obstacles that make it feel more faithful as a 3D conversion of a classicvania, whereas here it feels more like some weird flat 3D JRPG level design where you can just ignore and run past enemies. And it can all be pretty cryptic due to the fact that many important tips are only shown in the form of hieroglyphs in walls that can only be read with a Decipher spell learned by like, one specific Fairy ID branch, so once again, i really recommend just using a guide when playing this game if you're going completionist with the maps.
Though i'll admit none this didn't do much to water down my enjoyment of this game until i sought out 100%ing this game. Any other game with level design this non-existant would take two stars out of my review for me, but i think this game manages to pull that weight really well with it's combat and the encouragement to explore maps completely and find all sorts of secrets.
definitely an PS2 classic but damn is this game tiring, the gameplay is well realized, the combat is really fun with a lot of variety considering the different weapon classes. the "Innocent Devil" system is incredibly cool, it's engaging to try out each helper and see their evolutions and abilities.
the soundtrack slaps as usual for the series, the story is surprisingly good for an Castlevania game, I liked the characters and even the dialogue, PS2 era games have that cheesy and exaggerated acting that I really enjoy and this game does it perfectly, the cutscene direction and mocap are really good too.
unfortunely the rest is marred down by a lot of slogness and repetition, there are some Castlevania games that are known for their piss poor map designs, the GBA titles such as Circle of the Moon or Harmony of Dissonance are the top contenders but Curse of Darkness might be the worst when it comes to this, each area is designed the same way, roads leading to doors with more roads that are filled with the same copy pasted enemies, different pathways that are there just to slow down the player, lots of time there is nothing in the end to properly reward the player for exploring these massive and repetitive areas, the incredibly slow movement speed that Hector has doesn't help either.
play Curse of Darkness in short bursts otherwise most players will probably bounce off on this in an hour or two, Igarashi and his team probably felt that the variety of helpers and weapons would compensate for the overall simplistic and boring exploration elements but this is not how I felt during my nearly 10 hour playtime, going for an more linear approach would have been better choice in terms of structure.
the soundtrack slaps as usual for the series, the story is surprisingly good for an Castlevania game, I liked the characters and even the dialogue, PS2 era games have that cheesy and exaggerated acting that I really enjoy and this game does it perfectly, the cutscene direction and mocap are really good too.
unfortunely the rest is marred down by a lot of slogness and repetition, there are some Castlevania games that are known for their piss poor map designs, the GBA titles such as Circle of the Moon or Harmony of Dissonance are the top contenders but Curse of Darkness might be the worst when it comes to this, each area is designed the same way, roads leading to doors with more roads that are filled with the same copy pasted enemies, different pathways that are there just to slow down the player, lots of time there is nothing in the end to properly reward the player for exploring these massive and repetitive areas, the incredibly slow movement speed that Hector has doesn't help either.
play Curse of Darkness in short bursts otherwise most players will probably bounce off on this in an hour or two, Igarashi and his team probably felt that the variety of helpers and weapons would compensate for the overall simplistic and boring exploration elements but this is not how I felt during my nearly 10 hour playtime, going for an more linear approach would have been better choice in terms of structure.
Curse foi uma surpresa e tanto. Um dos jogos na qual eu menos sabia sobre e que mais apreciei também.
Música absolutamente sensacional, combate engajante, sistema de familiares ABSURDO e uma ótima história também.
Apesar disso, o jogo tem sim seus tropeços, o level design infelizmente é extremamente repetitivo e os CORREDORES, os MALDITOS CORREDORES infestam esse jogo inteiro, além do Hector não se mover lá muito rápido pra começo de conversa. Jogue em pequenas doses porque andar e matar inimigos pode ficar bem cansativo.
De resto, realmente um ótimo jogo. E vtnc Netflix
Música absolutamente sensacional, combate engajante, sistema de familiares ABSURDO e uma ótima história também.
Apesar disso, o jogo tem sim seus tropeços, o level design infelizmente é extremamente repetitivo e os CORREDORES, os MALDITOS CORREDORES infestam esse jogo inteiro, além do Hector não se mover lá muito rápido pra começo de conversa. Jogue em pequenas doses porque andar e matar inimigos pode ficar bem cansativo.
De resto, realmente um ótimo jogo. E vtnc Netflix
This game was actually great, a nice translation of the igavania games to 3D, and the story was even captivating as well. However there’s a VERY sharp difficulty spike and ok level design. Overall, great game though!
Mi Castlevania favorito en general, me encanta el combate, el tema de los IDs y la exploracion y el crafteo de armas, tengo unas quejitas, pero bien dice que no todo es perfecto, y yo adoro a este juego tal como es.
PD: IGA por fa saca un Bloodstained en 3D que tome como base a este juego porfa te lo suplico IGA.
PD: IGA por fa saca un Bloodstained en 3D que tome como base a este juego porfa te lo suplico IGA.
Underrated PS2 gem. Wish they could remaster the PS2 games.
monster raising mechanics were novel. easily the best 3d castlevania. amazing soundtrack
tenho que voltar a jogar pra zerar. É um otimo jogo, mas fica meio repetitivo em alguns cenários quando se joga nas dificuldades mais dificeis
The story, the characters, the combat, the cutscenes, the animations -- AAAAAAA. The perfect Castlevania in my most humble and naive opinion.
Pros
- Specialized combos and moves for each weapon makes
things seem pretty fresh.
- Goth/classic vibe
Cons
- Level design is quite poor and very repetitive.
- Camera can be frustrating especially when you fight the
final boss.
- Story : Meh
- Specialized combos and moves for each weapon makes
things seem pretty fresh.
- Goth/classic vibe
Cons
- Level design is quite poor and very repetitive.
- Camera can be frustrating especially when you fight the
final boss.
- Story : Meh
Bueno, jugue esto otra vez ya siendo grandecito y no puedo creer que lo haya terminado.
Los mapas son larguisimos, hay muchas habitaciones al pedo que son solo pasillos con un par de enemigos, lo hicieron tan asi nomás al punto que el area final del juego es un pasillo atras del otro interrumpido por arenas que son oleadas del mismo enemigo hasta llegar a dracula. Claramente algo que carreo el juego para mí es la música, al menos tuvieron la consideración de darnos algo lindo para escuchar mientras recorriamos los enormes espacios liminales del castillo de dracula y sus alrededores.
Otro gran carry son las sillas
Si, las sillas.
A lo largo del juego te vas encontrando asientos de diferentes tipos a modo de coleccionable en los que te podés sentar y ver alguna animación, algunos son comedia pura como la silla que te sentás y hace ruido de pedo o la silla electrica que "es una silla terapeutica que te da un masaje", estas sillas vuelven a aparecer en una habitación oculta y sentarte en todas no te da un carajo (más que tener la sala con la colección completa) pero es un detalle muy lindo y un guiño al housing de Harmony of Dissonance.
La mayoria de los enemigos apenas se mueven por lo que el combate queda casi trivializado y la verdad que es una lástima, porque tiene bastantes cosas interesantes, podes craftear armas/armaduras con los drops que te van tirando los enemigos y hay como 200 recetas, que no son recolors con más daño sino diseños nuevos con movesets que varian segun el tipo de arma, hasta los items de la comida los modelaron. Es realmente un juego con muchisima variedad en cuanto a assets, lo cual no tiene tanto sentido, porque las armas tienen poquisima diferencia en el daño que hacen y aun asi terminas usando la que mas daño hace y no la que tiene el moveset que más te gusta, porque igual los enemigos estan quietisimos y lo unico que vas a querer es matarlos mas rapido para progresar.
Y bueno la frutilla del postre es justo lo que hace unico tambien a este juego, los Innocent Devils, que son como "Stands" que vas consiguiendo a lo largo de la historia y que tienen skills que te ayudan en la exploración y el combate. Dependiendo de que arma uses estos bichos van a evolucionar en otros bichos distintos, con habilidades y modelos diferentes, hay algunos que son una locura como el robot gigante que tira puños cuete o un mago negro como los de Final Fantasy que literalmente puede castear "Meteo". hay incluso 2 de estos Innocent Devils que son secretos y estan ligados a quests secundarias, que lamentablemente requieren grindear y usar la peor mecánicas de todas en este juego: robar.
Para robar primero hay que lockear la camara en un enemigo, y apretar circulo cuando la reticula se ponga violeta, para que pase esto último se tiene que cumplir una condición que es diferente dependiendo del enemigo al que quieras robar, hay algunos que son vulnerables a esta técnica cuando están cargando un ataque, luego de hacerles parry, cuando estan en el aire... cuestion, que hay DEMASIADAS maneras de robar, pero son exclusivas de cada enemigo, entonces tenes que estar una banda de tiempo viendo de que manera podes hacer que baje la guardia para robarle y encima muchas veces termina pasando que lo que le robas son 50 DE ORO a un bicho NIVEL 100 que tiene la ventana más de mierda para robarle, entonces terminas frustrandote una bannnda y no usando la mecánica nunca más, pero lo malo es que hay items que solo se consiguen robándolos, y el bestiario no te dice cuales son porque hasta que no le robes no vas a saber que se le puede sacar a un enemigo. en fin, horrible.
Se podria haber mejorado muchisimo eso, haciendo que se pueda robar cuando haces un parry perfecto o algo específico más que el sistema de prueba y error que metieron, que aparte la mecanica es mas janky que la mierda asi que aunque tengas el setup perfecto para meterte y robar no signifca que lo vayas a lograr, porque la hitbox esta totalmente garchada.
En fin, Curse of Darkness es un juego lleno de sistemas re divertidos atrapados en pasillos largos con enemigos bobos y fáciles, intenté modearlo con el "Enhanced Curse" que cambia el gameplay y la dificultad pero la verdad no lo pude hacer funcionar bien, andaba lentisima la interfaz y medio que los controles no respondían, no se que onda, no le encontré arreglo, si alguno le pasó y sabe solucionarlo diganme porfa, que siento que no se exploró nada Castlevania 3D como RPG y este juego es un template hermoso para lo que podría ser.
Los mapas son larguisimos, hay muchas habitaciones al pedo que son solo pasillos con un par de enemigos, lo hicieron tan asi nomás al punto que el area final del juego es un pasillo atras del otro interrumpido por arenas que son oleadas del mismo enemigo hasta llegar a dracula. Claramente algo que carreo el juego para mí es la música, al menos tuvieron la consideración de darnos algo lindo para escuchar mientras recorriamos los enormes espacios liminales del castillo de dracula y sus alrededores.
Otro gran carry son las sillas
Si, las sillas.
A lo largo del juego te vas encontrando asientos de diferentes tipos a modo de coleccionable en los que te podés sentar y ver alguna animación, algunos son comedia pura como la silla que te sentás y hace ruido de pedo o la silla electrica que "es una silla terapeutica que te da un masaje", estas sillas vuelven a aparecer en una habitación oculta y sentarte en todas no te da un carajo (más que tener la sala con la colección completa) pero es un detalle muy lindo y un guiño al housing de Harmony of Dissonance.
La mayoria de los enemigos apenas se mueven por lo que el combate queda casi trivializado y la verdad que es una lástima, porque tiene bastantes cosas interesantes, podes craftear armas/armaduras con los drops que te van tirando los enemigos y hay como 200 recetas, que no son recolors con más daño sino diseños nuevos con movesets que varian segun el tipo de arma, hasta los items de la comida los modelaron. Es realmente un juego con muchisima variedad en cuanto a assets, lo cual no tiene tanto sentido, porque las armas tienen poquisima diferencia en el daño que hacen y aun asi terminas usando la que mas daño hace y no la que tiene el moveset que más te gusta, porque igual los enemigos estan quietisimos y lo unico que vas a querer es matarlos mas rapido para progresar.
Y bueno la frutilla del postre es justo lo que hace unico tambien a este juego, los Innocent Devils, que son como "Stands" que vas consiguiendo a lo largo de la historia y que tienen skills que te ayudan en la exploración y el combate. Dependiendo de que arma uses estos bichos van a evolucionar en otros bichos distintos, con habilidades y modelos diferentes, hay algunos que son una locura como el robot gigante que tira puños cuete o un mago negro como los de Final Fantasy que literalmente puede castear "Meteo". hay incluso 2 de estos Innocent Devils que son secretos y estan ligados a quests secundarias, que lamentablemente requieren grindear y usar la peor mecánicas de todas en este juego: robar.
Para robar primero hay que lockear la camara en un enemigo, y apretar circulo cuando la reticula se ponga violeta, para que pase esto último se tiene que cumplir una condición que es diferente dependiendo del enemigo al que quieras robar, hay algunos que son vulnerables a esta técnica cuando están cargando un ataque, luego de hacerles parry, cuando estan en el aire... cuestion, que hay DEMASIADAS maneras de robar, pero son exclusivas de cada enemigo, entonces tenes que estar una banda de tiempo viendo de que manera podes hacer que baje la guardia para robarle y encima muchas veces termina pasando que lo que le robas son 50 DE ORO a un bicho NIVEL 100 que tiene la ventana más de mierda para robarle, entonces terminas frustrandote una bannnda y no usando la mecánica nunca más, pero lo malo es que hay items que solo se consiguen robándolos, y el bestiario no te dice cuales son porque hasta que no le robes no vas a saber que se le puede sacar a un enemigo. en fin, horrible.
Se podria haber mejorado muchisimo eso, haciendo que se pueda robar cuando haces un parry perfecto o algo específico más que el sistema de prueba y error que metieron, que aparte la mecanica es mas janky que la mierda asi que aunque tengas el setup perfecto para meterte y robar no signifca que lo vayas a lograr, porque la hitbox esta totalmente garchada.
En fin, Curse of Darkness es un juego lleno de sistemas re divertidos atrapados en pasillos largos con enemigos bobos y fáciles, intenté modearlo con el "Enhanced Curse" que cambia el gameplay y la dificultad pero la verdad no lo pude hacer funcionar bien, andaba lentisima la interfaz y medio que los controles no respondían, no se que onda, no le encontré arreglo, si alguno le pasó y sabe solucionarlo diganme porfa, que siento que no se exploró nada Castlevania 3D como RPG y este juego es un template hermoso para lo que podría ser.
o jogo é divertido porem peca em alguns aspectos, os cenários se repetem demais, sendo apenas corredores horizontais quase que infinitos e poucas sessões verticais, para se usar a mecânica de pulo duplo do jogo e de se agarrar. Do combate não tenho do que reclamar sendo um ponto positivo no jogo junto da mecânica exclusiva desse jogo, Domar demônios, basicamente a uma variedade de "pets" com cada um tendo uma função, um exemplo é o pet inicial que tem como função curar o player, uma adição que me agradou muito, há um sistema de crafting nesse jogo, onde você coleta materiais dropados por inimigos e os utiliza para fazer armas, armaduras e itens novos, que é outro acerto do jogo e também me agrada. No fim Curse of Darkness poderia ter acertado muito, mas acabou apenas como um vislumbre do que castlevania poderia se tornar no futuro, mesmo sendo um bom jogo não passa de mais uma daquelas tentativas de trazer uma franquia consagrada do 2d para o 3d
i fw this game heavy
The gameplay made this game better than Lament of Innocence
Desde el comienzo se nota que pusieron empeño en mejorar ciertos aspectos, convirtiéndolo en juego muy disfrutable las primeras horas, pero decae mucho conforme pasa el tiempo. Las últimas horas estaba hasta la polla, y fui rusheando las zonas porque sigue la fórmula de hacer pasillos con mil enemigos hasta llegar a un boss.
Es un juego okay si eres fan de la saga, pero dura demasiado para lo que ofrece. Igualmente, se nota la mejora respecto a Lament of Innocence.
Es un juego okay si eres fan de la saga, pero dura demasiado para lo que ofrece. Igualmente, se nota la mejora respecto a Lament of Innocence.
The last boss felt like a kick in the nads after what was a relatively painless overall experience.
Jogo ele uma vez por ano. É um Metroidvania 3D Hack`n Slash maravilhoso, combate legal, cenários lindos, trilha sonora marcante... mas aquele maldito level design... Corredorvania Curse of Darkness
Tem a melhor OST da série.
LOCURON CINE CINE CINE CINE
O melhor castlevania 3D disparado, um sistema incrível de innocent devil, e bom chefes, só tem corredor pra um caralho
não sabia jogar
Loved this game too much... The castle, fighting with enemies, the battling system. It might not deserve such a high rating but it mostly has to do with my personal taste.
Peak action-adventure on ps2, the combat is amazing, the devil and equipment system make a great combination to the overall gameplay.
I LOVE CHAIRS