This game's neat. I like it's vibes, Carrie is a fun character to play as, after multiple replays the controls feel pretty natural especially in comparison to LoD's changes.
To some extent the game is unfairly maligned in that a lot of critiques of it are pretty bad faith, but of course the game does have some real problems that become grating on replays. Castle Center's requirements of backtracking to pick up multiple Mandragoras sticks out a lot as needless padding, particularly when the Nitro run to the boss arena is already tense enough. I also think the Day/Night cycles while interesting in its effects on damage and getting a potential bad ending route is fairly poorly implemented, the most egregious example being how the Rosa cutscene can't be watched after using a Day card thanks to a hard cutoff at 6AM.
Like yeah the game's got problems, but I don't feel like dwelling on those or continually coming up with justifications when it's not going to change the game to be better in the future or something. The game is what it is, and accepting these faults rather then letting them sand you down will lead to a probably more enjoyable experience if you attempt replays on Hard and the like.
I like the game's expansion of the vampires (that the rest of the series never followed), since it gives an actual context to what exactly Dracula does to people by making it relate to the personal, be it with Carrie's cousin or the Rosa plotline. It adds that little bit of complexity that would later be expanded in Aria of Sorrow to actually DO something with the series's main villain, and that's pretty cool imo.
A lot of levels from a pure vibes based are excellent, the game is extremely effective at capturing specific moods that, while not 'arcade-y' like past titles, do evoke a specific horror vibe that is fitting of the series. My favorite in probably the whole series is Tower of Sorcery, simply because I think it's beautiful to look at while also being hard as shit like the classics.
Castlevania N64 is a huge 'what if' that never really came to pass, and in some respects that's a shame since I think the core that's here really could be solid if it continued to be iterated upon and not rushed out the door or partially butchered for the same year expansion pak/remake/prequel game. Art deserves better then to be seen as just corporate products, and C64 culturally has been wrapped up too much in its value as a 'meddled product' and not enough on what it is artistically.
To some extent the game is unfairly maligned in that a lot of critiques of it are pretty bad faith, but of course the game does have some real problems that become grating on replays. Castle Center's requirements of backtracking to pick up multiple Mandragoras sticks out a lot as needless padding, particularly when the Nitro run to the boss arena is already tense enough. I also think the Day/Night cycles while interesting in its effects on damage and getting a potential bad ending route is fairly poorly implemented, the most egregious example being how the Rosa cutscene can't be watched after using a Day card thanks to a hard cutoff at 6AM.
Like yeah the game's got problems, but I don't feel like dwelling on those or continually coming up with justifications when it's not going to change the game to be better in the future or something. The game is what it is, and accepting these faults rather then letting them sand you down will lead to a probably more enjoyable experience if you attempt replays on Hard and the like.
I like the game's expansion of the vampires (that the rest of the series never followed), since it gives an actual context to what exactly Dracula does to people by making it relate to the personal, be it with Carrie's cousin or the Rosa plotline. It adds that little bit of complexity that would later be expanded in Aria of Sorrow to actually DO something with the series's main villain, and that's pretty cool imo.
A lot of levels from a pure vibes based are excellent, the game is extremely effective at capturing specific moods that, while not 'arcade-y' like past titles, do evoke a specific horror vibe that is fitting of the series. My favorite in probably the whole series is Tower of Sorcery, simply because I think it's beautiful to look at while also being hard as shit like the classics.
Castlevania N64 is a huge 'what if' that never really came to pass, and in some respects that's a shame since I think the core that's here really could be solid if it continued to be iterated upon and not rushed out the door or partially butchered for the same year expansion pak/remake/prequel game. Art deserves better then to be seen as just corporate products, and C64 culturally has been wrapped up too much in its value as a 'meddled product' and not enough on what it is artistically.