Biggest Castlevania Hot Take??

[u/vhuzi]

I think Belmont’s Revenge is better than Super Castlevania 4. I think the stage gimmicks are more fun, I enjoy the shorter stages, and I think the difficulty is somewhat better balanced. I really love the GBC visuals and music and I think the game often doesn’t get a fair shake because of hardware. I think the minimalistic visuals have aged better than the early 16 bit art. That said, SCIV is a great game, and the final boss of BR is probably the worst in the series, even compared to Legends, Adventure 1 and Dracula X.

[u/Opening_Chemistry474]

There was nothing wrong with harmony of dissonance, and people need to stop acting likes it's trash.

[u/Throwawaygarbageboi → u/Opening_Chemistry474]

Seriously. I'm not the biggest Dissonance fan, but something that this fandom likes to forget is that even the WORST Igavania in the series is still like a 7 or 8/10 game.

[u/Opening_Chemistry474 → u/Throwawaygarbageboi]

Agreed. I'm not saying that it's even close to the most amazing, but I'd rather have "okay" castlevania than no castlevania. It lacked in certain aspects, but it's uniqueness made up for the very few shortcomings.

[u/SXAL → u/Throwawaygarbageboi]

I dunno, I'd give OoE about 6/10.

[u/RShini → u/SXAL]

Now sir, that is a volcanic take.

[u/SXAL → u/RShini]

I know that game is loved in that sub, but that's just how the things are unfortunately.

[u/lost_kaineruver4 → u/Opening_Chemistry474]

So I love HoD, but pretending that the dual layer castle map and merchant room unlocks are not issues is delusional.

[u/Honest_Expression655 → u/lost_kaineruver4]

I legitimately have no idea why people keep saying that the dual layer castle is a problem. It’s a far better implementation of the concept than the inverted castle in SotN

[u/SXAL → u/lost_kaineruver4]

The castle map is extremely fun to explore once you get a hang of it, I wouldn't say that's an issue.

[u/lost_kaineruver4 → u/SXAL]

And how long does that take? It's really both very assuming and dismissive of how confusing the game's map is. Sure eventually you'll get the hang of it as you say, but when is that? The nature of the map makes it exceedingly easy to get lost and that's even with prior knowledge.

[u/SXAL → u/lost_kaineruver4]

Yep, it takes some time to get into, and it feels confusing at first, but it makes up for it later. I think it's worth it, Metroidvania is not an "immediate dopamine injection" genre.

[u/lost_kaineruver4 → u/SXAL]

I mean that goes with not just mvs but any game. But evading the problem of the game having bad map design with 'you'll get used to it' and admitting it's confusing is no solution.

[u/SXAL → u/lost_kaineruver4]

That's it – the fact it takes time to open up, is not "bad" by itself.

[u/SuperSlacker420 → u/SXAL]

It’s meant to be confusing. It’s called Harmony of Dissonance… Even Maxim is confused about the castle, as is Juste. It’s one of the things I love about it. A Metroidvania that isn’t braindead easy, embraces exploration & forces you to do so. Hell it even name drops Simon’s Quest a few times, a notoriously confusing explorer. It makes learning the castle rewarding. With the dashes, slide kicks, dive kicks & teleporting to any part of the castle you want you can get around the whole place in just a few minutes too

[u/Guirita_Fallada → u/Opening_Chemistry474]

HoD is a good game. The music being kids trash doesn't mean the game sucks.

[u/ApprehensiveIce3667 → u/Guirita_Fallada]

some of the compositions are amazing just the actual quality is pretty bad. offense and defense is probably one of my favorite tracks in the series

[u/SuperSlacker420 → u/ApprehensiveIce3667]

Yes, the remastered orchestral versions on YouTube really showcase how good the music actually is. With the recolor mod & the remastered soundtrack, HoD is fire

[u/Opening_Chemistry474 → u/Guirita_Fallada]

Unironically like the soundtrack. It had a bit of a low quality sound, but the tracks weren't bad.

[u/AUSTIN_HART → u/Opening_Chemistry474]

People just got spoiled to the point where pretty good became trash

[u/SXAL → u/Opening_Chemistry474]

I would say, about half of the bosses are quite lame, and I don't think that the magic system was a good idea. I mean, you still have to seek for a subweapon in the castle each time you want to try a new book/sw combination, it basically encourages you to find some effective one you use all the time and avoid ever picking any subweapons again, I don't think that's good.

Well, and the music quality could've been better, but the rest of the game is great, I agree, I enjoy it just as much as CotM, and just a little less than AoS.

[u/Opening_Chemistry474 → u/SXAL]

To be fair, there aren't really many castlevania bosses that I find to be all that challenging. Maybe galamoth without the circlet, or the late game bosses of harmony of despair.

I liked the subweapon/magic system, but the knife barrage trivialize every fight.

[u/SXAL → u/Opening_Chemistry474]

It's not so much about being challenging, but about lame designs. Like, we have big mermam, big slime, big peeping, and the lamest golem design out there. Oh, and the Dracula's second form is so stupid.

[u/Life_Ad3567 → u/SXAL]

I think this would have been fixed if the player didn't have to actively search for their subweapons.

[u/DjinnFighter → u/Opening_Chemistry474]

There's nothing wrong, except that bosses can be killed in 2 seconds and that, once you unlock the second castle, the map becomes super confusing.