Nov 9th, 2005, 11:22 AM
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
I'd have made this thread days ago, but I was too busy playing the game.
It is frigging great. Nearly everything that was wrong about Lament of Innocence has been fixed or at least retooled.
Combat is way better than in LoI. Probably because you have more than just the whip at your disposal. There are five main categories of weapons (swords, axes, spears, unarmed, and special) and there are several different types of weapons in each category. Each type, like rapiers, broadswords, two-handed axes, etc. has different attack patterns, although they all sort of mimic the Dynasty Warriors system, meaning you can button mash one button, or use the second one to end the combo with a fancy maneuver.
The game has a weapon-crafting system like in Dawn of Sorrow, only with actual materials instead of souls. Although you do get the materials from monsters, so I guess it really is the same when you think about it. Once you get a new material, the list is updated, and you can bang out a new mystery item, whether it be a powerful new spear or an attractive cowboy hat.
You can also steal in this game. You lock onto the enemy, and at a certain point (which varies from one enemy to the next) you can grab whatever item they have, from gold to some of the rarer materials.
The Innocent Devils are pretty nifty, too. They level up and gain new abilities, and you can make them evolve into better creatures by gathering up a number of crystals, the type of which is determined by what weapon you use to kill the enemy.
As far as negatives go, though, I suppose the lock-on camera can be frustrating. As opposed to the fixed camera in LoI, the camera in CoD follows Hector, and you can lock onto single enemies for easier combat, or because you want to steal from them. The problem is that if you're in a narrow room, the camera can get hung up on the walls. Plus, if you're close, the camera may not shift to show the locked-on enemy until they completely leave your field of vision, and so you may wind up trying to beat up some monster who's half-on and half-off the screen, only to move a couple steps back and have the camera swing around to an even more awkward position.
Also, there's the voice acting. It's pretty uneven, with some good and some horrendous, but the good news of that it that the game is dual audio, so you can switch to the Japanese overacting once you get tired of the English overacting.
I frigging love this game. Back when Lament of Innocence came out, I was still skeptical as to whether or not the series could really make a good transition to 3D, but now, I'm positive that it can.
Finally, here's a few brief reasons to check this game out in case you didn't want to read the long-ass text above, in no particular order:
1. Trevor Belmont
2. Mysterious, Chojin-like villain
3. Break-dancing
4. Unarmed combat
5. Electric guitar
6. Secret chairs
7. Legion :o
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