VideoGameTim
BACKER
1990
This is where the series starts to blend together in my mind, but Gemini Man, Magnet Man, and Top Man are all pretty cool dudes.
This game follows the DMC analogy of the original series of CV games. It is a return to form after CV2, featuring multiple playable characters, branching paths, sick music, and continues to be excruciatingly difficult.
Those OG GameBoy CV games are really rough.
1989
I played most of the Mega Man catalogue back to back so a lot of it blends together to me, but MM2 is highly regarded above the others and its easy to see why.
1988
This is MY certified hood classic. Maybe the game that made me fall in love with video games all those years ago. One of the best examples of a perfect video game.
1988
I love SMB2 because of how weird and different it is. Sure it was another IP reskinned to be Mario, but it gave us lots of great memorable enemies and items as well as some ideas (like birdo) that stuck around.
1987
How bout that Elec Man theme?
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
Hard as sin, but will forever be THE iconic CV game in my mind. All the classic songs, enemies, and weapons started here. I really played through it in the Anniversary Collection, and good thing too because there's no way I would've made it through on NES. All in all, still an awesome game.
1984
Gunna be honest, as novel as the Zapper was, even as a kid I thought it was an unresponsive piece of shit; at least it came with SMB. Made for a damn fun Smash character almost 30 years later though.
1985
It's THE certified hood classic. Not much I can really say about it that hasn't already been said.
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.
2021
Deathloop is a very cool experiment from Arkane. By far the most polished and satisfying gameplay they've made to date with a lot of the familiar powers from Dishonored and the gameplay twist of having your rival invade your world as another online player is a fun idea. Colt and Julianna's dialogue steals the show whenever you get to hear it and I found myself laughing out loud on more than a couple of occasions.
I think where it falls apart a little bit is with the overall story and sadly it doesn't quite come together in the satisfying ways that I hoped. Which to be sure, I don't really blame them (I only really know one non-visual novel game that has successfully pulled off the time loop concept). What's more, by the time you are ready to finally finish it, you've been through the four areas in the game so many times you already know the optimal routes so it feels a little stale.
That all being said, there's still a lot to love. I think the loot system actually quite worked heavily in the game's favour to keep things fresh on each loop. Many of the guns, trinkets, and slab upgrades are a blast to use and collect. I also really can't overstate how fun the gameplay is and how much of a blast it is to jump into other people's games as Julianna.
Definitely recommend giving it a go if the concept seems interesting to you, but wait for a sale.
I think where it falls apart a little bit is with the overall story and sadly it doesn't quite come together in the satisfying ways that I hoped. Which to be sure, I don't really blame them (I only really know one non-visual novel game that has successfully pulled off the time loop concept). What's more, by the time you are ready to finally finish it, you've been through the four areas in the game so many times you already know the optimal routes so it feels a little stale.
That all being said, there's still a lot to love. I think the loot system actually quite worked heavily in the game's favour to keep things fresh on each loop. Many of the guns, trinkets, and slab upgrades are a blast to use and collect. I also really can't overstate how fun the gameplay is and how much of a blast it is to jump into other people's games as Julianna.
Definitely recommend giving it a go if the concept seems interesting to you, but wait for a sale.