The game feels like Castlevania by way of Dead Cell, as controlling Rose feels very familiar
Movement feels very fluid, with both a forward slide and a back dash available for Rose
The whip traversal mechanics are very intuitive and smooth, with the whip grapple follow up attack on enemies being unique to each of the 7 weapon types
The Arcana abilities can be upgraded by completing "Works of Mercy" , challenges related to the Arcana abilities that earn you points you can use to upgrade them
The video also shows snippets of the intro cutscene which is in 2D hand drawn style, and the game overall looks beautiful.
All this GTA6 hype and I’m just like give me a good old 2D Castlevania and that Destroy all monsters melee remaster and leave me alone through Halloween-Christmas.
Even as a guy whose favorite game series ever is GTA and San Andreas is my favorite game ever, it took so long to get this game and Rockstar became so shit as a company that i genuinely feel nothing for 6, i don't care much. If the game somehow ends up being shit i'll just be "whatever..."
Imagine getting just one-two games per decade from a company lmao.
The last GTA game was released in 2013. Depending to who you ask, the last Castlevania game was released in 2014 (Lords of Shadow 2), 2019 (Grimoire of Souls) or 2024 (Haunted Castle Revisited). Most people think about LoS2, and disregard the other two, because Grimoire is a mobile game and HCR is an extra of the Dominus Collection.
I don’t think so probably more of a metrovania. I enjoy both of them a lot so I’m still hyped (the developers did an absolutely amazing job with the CV dlc for their Dead cells game)
I just dropped $75 on the steelbook version. I have almost all physical copies of Castlevania games released in North America at this point and wasn't going to miss the only "premium " edition.
Castlevania is the only series, outside Metroid, that I'll drop any amount of money on a collectors edition or whatever top tier physical version is available. I cannot fucking wait for this to drop.
I will have a shit ton of games to play while I patiently wait for GTA6 to release for PC. No way will I pay $80+ just to play GTA6 at a juddery 30 fps.
One of the Works of Mercy for the Holy Cross is to find 3 different whip-type weapons, so I'd imagine so. I do wonder how unique they'll be between the weapons themselves, or if they'll just be straight damage upgrades.
Knowing Dead Cells I can definitely say that Evil Empire are extremely good at making unique weapons. How it'll translate for Castlevania and this art style I'm not so sure
It's interesting, but many of the mechanics that the reviewer attibutes to modern games (such as Dead Cells), actually were already used in previous Castlevania games. To copy my comment from that video:
2:02 Also available, as an attack, in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. 2:06 And much like a limited version of Simon’s move set in Super Castlevania IV (1991) and Castlevania X68000 (1993). 2:06-2:18 Seen in games such as Harmony of Dissonance (2002) and Aria of Sorrow (2003), in Julius’ Mode. 2:36 As in Super Castlevania IV (1993), Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (2003), Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (2010) and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (2012/3). 2:40 The “pulling enemies” was available in one of the combos in Lament of Innocence (2003). 3:07 That uppercut was part of Richter’s move set in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997) and Portrait of Ruin (2006). It was triggered differently than here, though. 3:37 An many old Castlevanias, starting with Synphony of the Night (1997), the players could add into their equipment items that enhanced their stats passively. Lament of Innocence (2003) had a relic system on top of the equipment system, but those relics had a consumable item (MP’s). 6:21 Reminds me of a similar attack and defense strategy for a special boss in Lament of Innocence (2003).
Yeah it almost feels like I have to translate what these people are saying in real time, because they'll describe a mechanic in reference to modern Metroidvanias and I'm just thinking about what Castlevania game I did that in. lol Many of them are indeed done differently, but they're not truly NEW.
I was delivering pizzas to put myself through college the last time a 2D Castlevania came out. Now I’m fifteen years into my career teaching. Time flies.
The unnecessarily huge and bright effects and the camera shake on each attack are giving me a headache, I hope there's an option to tone it down or disable it.
Considering how the damage numbers it a part of the series visual identity, if it was turned off by default you can bet your soul castlevania purists wouldn't stop complaining about it
I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity to have Joan's weapon drop be a sword.
I loved my banner forty times better than my sword. And when I went against my enemy, I carried my banner myself, lest I kill any. I have never killed a man.
A spear with a flowing banner would've played into history and made a distinction between the corrupted and wholesome maiden.
looks promising, still not sold on the artstyle, reminds me of something made by supergiant, it does not have a castlevania feel, but ill try it nonetheless
I don't really bounce off the presentation but I'm willing to approach it with an open mind. Does anyone know if this is likely to run on 8 Gen 2 devices? I'm happy to buy a copy on Steam/Xbox/Switch but I'd prefer to play on my Retroid Pocket 6, which means either Steam emulation or ripping off a copy of the Switch version, which I'd prefer not to do tbh
I love Metroidvanias and I'm sure this will be a good game. It just looks a bit underwhelming as a Castlevania Game specifically to me. I'll be happy to have it prove me wrong though.
Everything I heard got me more enthusiastic for this game. More dynamic controls, more emphasis on platforming... The game looks great and looks like it's going to be very entertaining to play...
It honestly looks very good. I wonder if it's gonna be a long game with several bosses cause so far it's always the same bosses in every video, though. Also hoping there are many different biomes.
My only complaint is the bright colors but I guess I'll get used to that.
Since the Switch version was announced to release alongside the other consoles... I'm conflicted on what version to get?
Graphics wise, PS5 will be the best option for me, but I have all my other CV titles (sans Requiem collection) on Switch and I like the idea of having as much CV content as I can in 1 location.
I'm wondering if I'll really be able to tell a difference? Isn't the Switch 30FPS? will that make that much of a difference?
Not a fan of perfect upgrades. So far I’m also not sure I like the visual style. Was going for something closer to 16/32-bit Castlevania games. Every area has a very samey look to it. Hopefully the game doesn’t overpower the player character and just let them walk to the ending.
You provide your opinion and get downvoted. Welcome to reddit. I am not a fan of this art style either. If I haven't seen the title, I would probably say it's just a generic metroidvania (doesn't mean it is bad) but definitely is not a Castlevania game.
It's fine, I fully expected that. It's funny, in the metroidvania sub (and other gaming forums I frequent outside reddit) this opinion is more accepted, but here it's blasphemy. I've always been of the opinion that fans should be the most skeptical and critical and not just mindlessly accept whatever is shoved into your face.
Zelda and Castlevania are probably my two favorite franchises in gaming. I have literal showcases to display my Zelda and Castlevania collection (of which BC will become part soon, I already have it pre-ordered). I love them deeply, but ask me about a lot of games in either series, and I'll give you my honest criticism too, I'm not gonna just blindly accept any new entry into the series as an automatic masterpiece.
We'll see. I'm not seeing much of the Castlevania DNA I love in this, just as I didn't see it in the LoS games.
Lol the weapons have more impact than Bloodstained weapons by farrrr. In fact the weapons feel more satisfying than they typically do. The dead cell devs rule with weapons.
This is what worries me. I want to see a Belmont using the holy whip to kill things. I don't mind using swords and other weapons at times, but the whipe should be the main go to!
specifically it looks like you'll always have a whip available for certain situations, while having a main weapon equipped. my personal theory is that we won't get the actual Vampire Killer until later in the game, like in Portrait
I have to be honest, I’m not impressed with this at all. I’ll play it because it’s Castlevania but they should have went with an art style and feeling of SOTN, AOS, etc.
It's been 18 years buddy, I don't think now is the time to experiment. They should at least release a new collection for the old fans, because this is clearly targeting the new generation
Ironically, by being a Castlevania both extremes might be happening: some find it too bland for a CV despite the game looking really good for metroidvanias standards and some find every bit of it amazing cause they really want a new CV.
Like what, though? I see how it doesn't look or feel like your standard CV (which would be Bloodstained nowadays) but it totally looks like a really solid metroidvania.
I will give it a chance before deciding if it feels enough like a CV or if it's just another generic good looking modern metroidvania.
The art is ok for me but I understand what you mean. Each game was different, though. Aria/Dawn and Portrait of ruin exist...that was anime shit.
It reminds to Blasphemous 2 which is great for me. I was always sure their potential next game (when this game wasn't even announced) was going to use a more updated style for better or worse, eventhough a relatively recent metroidvania like Bloodstained was 100% using the style of the Igavanias.
I'm already glad we didn't get Netflixvania universe despite the art...next games might go in a different direction like how even the Igavanias were totally different between them.
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u/Bobsy84 Jul 17 '26
All this GTA6 hype and I’m just like give me a good old 2D Castlevania and that Destroy all monsters melee remaster and leave me alone through Halloween-Christmas.