VideoGameTim
BACKER
1991
1990
1989
1988
1988
1987
When I first played it, I felt like CV2 deserved a little more credit than it got. Known as the DMC2 of the franchise, but it gave us the first glimpse at ROUGH Metroidvania sensibilities. Semi-open world, lots of backtracking. It was obtuse as hell with tons of localization typos, but it wasn't all bad.
1986
1984
1985
Finished at 200%.
Harmony of Dissonance is a lot closer to SotN than it's predecessor in many ways, not to mention a lot more anime. Juste has an after image effect at all times, and many of the magic spells that augment your tools are downright over the top which is really cool. There are tons of great monster designs too, and the animations are pretty impressive for being a GBA game.
Unfortunately, the game is also exceedingly easy. Besides Kid Dracula, I would call it the easiest CV title to date. The soundtrack is a bit mediocre with only a couple of standout tracks as well. What's more, the backtracking is exceedingly rough. I know that's kind of the name of the game when it comes to the genre, but it really feels repetitive and teleporters could've been placed a lot more liberally.
All in all, it was still pretty enjoyable. Juste's cool moveset really went a long way for me.
Harmony of Dissonance is a lot closer to SotN than it's predecessor in many ways, not to mention a lot more anime. Juste has an after image effect at all times, and many of the magic spells that augment your tools are downright over the top which is really cool. There are tons of great monster designs too, and the animations are pretty impressive for being a GBA game.
Unfortunately, the game is also exceedingly easy. Besides Kid Dracula, I would call it the easiest CV title to date. The soundtrack is a bit mediocre with only a couple of standout tracks as well. What's more, the backtracking is exceedingly rough. I know that's kind of the name of the game when it comes to the genre, but it really feels repetitive and teleporters could've been placed a lot more liberally.
All in all, it was still pretty enjoyable. Juste's cool moveset really went a long way for me.
Finished with 90%.
Circle of the Moon was interesting. Tonally, SotN feels very different from the original linear games in the series. The colour palette is a lot more washed out, the narrative is heavier, and quite frankly for the most part it's a pretty easy game.
Circle of the Moon on the other hand, feels a bit closer to what I would have expected of a Castlevania game that bears the Metroidvania genre. It's vibrant and colourful, much of the music is upbeat, some bosses and regular enemies are hard as hell (with some unforgiving checkpoints), and while the story is there, it takes a lot more of a backseat like the original games.
The movement and combat feel really good for the most part, the DSS system provides for some cool combinations (even if it is a bit over reliant on RNG to even obtain) and aside from a couple of terrible bosses it's a really solid entry. It really feels in line with what I think of when I hear the name Castlevania.
Circle of the Moon was interesting. Tonally, SotN feels very different from the original linear games in the series. The colour palette is a lot more washed out, the narrative is heavier, and quite frankly for the most part it's a pretty easy game.
Circle of the Moon on the other hand, feels a bit closer to what I would have expected of a Castlevania game that bears the Metroidvania genre. It's vibrant and colourful, much of the music is upbeat, some bosses and regular enemies are hard as hell (with some unforgiving checkpoints), and while the story is there, it takes a lot more of a backseat like the original games.
The movement and combat feel really good for the most part, the DSS system provides for some cool combinations (even if it is a bit over reliant on RNG to even obtain) and aside from a couple of terrible bosses it's a really solid entry. It really feels in line with what I think of when I hear the name Castlevania.