First off, let me say I strive for uniqueness in a lot of things that I do. I pride myself on using uncommon characters, teams, and the like when it comes to fighting games. Usually though, I'll sacrifice uniqueness for personal tastes if it comes right down to it.
So, when it comes to making a three person team on Marvel vs. Capcom 3, it can be a little rough given the amount of characters. I did most of the trials for everyone, so I have a general idea how the characters are supposed to be played, according to the game.
Slot 1 will always be Wesker. Wesker is easily top tier: he's got power, speed, a good assist set, devastatingly good looks, a teleport, a counter, a counter HYPER, fluid movement, and shades. Wesker is always my Point Man simply because of how versatile he is, and that his OTG (Off The Ground) attack is cake to use. Because of that overly simple OTG, his capacity for expanding combos is crazy. Not to mention people always seems to fall for the Light, Medium, Heavy -> Jaguar Dash, Jaguar Kick reset, which is oodles of fun to land.
For a while I was running with Wesker, Jill, and Dormammu.
Jill is a complicated character to use. She requires a lot of trickiness, a lot of control, and a lot of dexterity to use well in battle. The upside to all that is that she's ok to start with, and if you can land Flip Kick or Somersault Kick, you can easily wipe away a lot of your opponent's health with her Machine Gun Hyper. Her Flip Kick assist easily sets up your opponent for a beating. Once you land that Air S, a quick OTG with her Flip Kick assist and your opponent is popped neatly into the air for an easy S with another air combo. Jill has deceptively low health though. The main reason I dropped her is because none of her normals are very safe on block....and Joe uses her, haha.
Dormammu is the concept of zoning made real. Dormammu is easily capable of standing in one spot and controlling the entire screen. Dark Hole can control overly aggressive opponents; while Purification easily trumps any kind of jump-ins, rushdown, or runaway tactics. He has some simplistic combos, but they require timing and precision due to his normals. The main reason I dropped Dormammu is because the timing on his combos is tight at times, and I keep dropping them in a pinch. Also he has deceptively low health for a God-King. Dark Hole, if it misses, leaves you WIDE open.
As such, I fumbled with some new Slot 2/3 people:
Dr. Doom is also incredibly good at offense and zoning. He has a ton of projectiles, some good BTFO moves, and is fully capable of being a rushdown juggernaut. But, his combos are really difficult to pull off, especially when they require Air Dashing in mid combo, or OTG-ing with a slow normal. Although he is incredibly fun to use fundamentally, and has a hilariously awesome personality that shows in battle.
Shuma-Gorath is a combo fiend. He's a wiggly squid monster that if allowed a single hit, can lop off half your health. Mystic Smash has 0 knockback, unless Advancing Guarded. Mystic Ray is a good OTG and zoning tactic since the Heavy version spans the whole screen vertically. It won't do a lot of damage, but it swats opponents out of the air. He's the only character I can think of with a charge move. Plus he can do obscene amounts of damage in the corner, particularly with a Hyper Mystic Ray OTG, then an X-Factor cancel into Chaos Dimension. I really have no reason to NOT play Shuma-Gorath, save for the fact he can be hard to get in with, and his advanced combos are way crazy.
Iron Man plays a little wonky in this game, since most of his combos involve Crouching Light, Cr. medium, then Standing Heavy, which always throws me off. I did figure out some easy ways to land Iron Avenger (his Lv3 Hyper), like Cr. Light, Cr. Medium, St. Heavy, Light Repulsor Blast, Repulsor Spread, Iron Avenger. Iron Man is pretty good, he has a Beam special, which is great for pressure. Repulsor Blast is difficult to get around besides blocking, and he has a lot of priority. That old Tony Stark charm shows too, haha. But, like I said, his basic combos tend to throw me for a loop in battle, plus his only OTG is Smart Bomb, which is a shoryuken motion....
For a time, I was running Wesker, Shuma-Gorath and Dormammu. That is, until I got better at doing mid combo assists, and OTG assists. Then I took a liking to a couple new characters.
My current team is:
Wesker: Color 1, Handgun Shot Low assist.
Wesker, as mention above. The perfect blend of speed, power, durability, personality, and mixup, Wesker is probably the most dominant character on my team, since I can usually wipe entire teams out with just Wesker and my assists. His Beta assist is his normal OTG that he can do himself. It's good for extending combos, so I use it as needed.
Taskmaster: Color 3, Parabolic Arrow Shot (Beta) assist.
Taskmaster is awesome, and hilarious. The guy wields a copy of Captain America's shield, and totes a freaking broadsword. He has two command normals, both integral for his combos. Back and Heavy is "Shield Skills" AKA. Cap's charging star. Forward and Heavy is "Spidey Swing", AKA Spider-Man's webswing without the command. Doing some of his trials showed that he's actually pretty cool to use. He's a tad slow movement wise, but has a wicked fast forward dash, and Shield Skills is pretty quick. Also: dat Counter Hyper
Dante: Color 3, Crystal (Beta) Assist.
Dante is the flashy guy with a move list the size of China. It's not easy to put Dante's versatility into words...he can literally do anything. He has easy OTGs, ground bounces, projectiles, air specials, a Form-Changer Hyper, crazy good assists, long (difficult) combos, great range, a teleport, the whole enchilada. The one thing he doesn't have, is Stamina. Dante can get wiped pretty easily, but given his power, it's understandable. I mean LOOK AT THIS, WHAT IS THIS EVEN!?
I know the basics and some advanced with these guys, so hopefully this'll tide me over for November when my team will be Wesker, Nemesis, Vergil.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
World Warrior Gym Leader Profile: Matt Smith
Leader Name: Matthew Jared Smith
Chosen Element: Steel
Team: Empoleon (Dante), Steelix (Hephaestus), Aggron (Felicia), Heatran (Belial), Magnezone (Epsilon), Metagross (Quadraxis).
Addition Notes: All Pokemon are powerful, fully trained, Quadraxis and Belial are both shiny.
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\
Gym Name: IronForce Gym
Gym Theme: Cavern of Remembrance
Gym Badge: Forge Badge
Number of Subordinates: 2 maximum subordinates, with 3 Pokemon apiece.
Subordinate Battle theme: Construction Yard
Gym Layout Notes: As the Trainer enters, there will be a small entry plaza in which cool refreshments will be given to those who ask. Tables and chairs are placed so that challengers and spectators alike can relax before and after the battle. Seats 20 maximum. On the left side is a door that leads to a room in which a large window allows spectators to view the fights, however many there will be, in style and comfort. Plush seats and air conditioning will maintain a happy atmosphere, barring the sting of defeat. A door on the right of the front courtyard leads to an area without the confines of walls. No walls and no windows offer the ultimate experience in watching IronForce Gym battles.
Through the first metal gate lies the first of two qualifier rounds. A large metal room will provide protection from most Pokemon attacks, except the more severe ones. A viewing window lies on one side, while the wall has been removed on the opposite side to provide spectator viewing for interested parties.
If the Trainer wins said battle, they will head through another metal gate into a second room. This will be identical to the first, nothing to fancy.
Should the Trainer best my two subordinates, they will be able to face me in the Grand Chamber. Glimmering with the sheen of steel, the room will be large, and adorned with the IronForce emblem. At the far end lies the final challenge: Me.
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\
Intro: "Well done, you must be strong to make it this far. I'm sure you're not here to mince words. Come, prepare to contend with the power of IronForce!"
Battle Theme: Omega Pirate Battle
First Pokemon KO'ed: "Impressive."
One Pokemon Left: "Let's finish this."
Leader Defeated: "Most impressive. You truly are powerful."
Trainer Defeated: "You did well, keep at it and someday victory will be yours!"
Trainer Victory Theme: Victory (A Cry in Summer)
Post Trainer Victory: "Excellent work and congratulations, you have bested the World Warriors. I confer upon you, my Forge Badge, and the Trinity Emblem as a symbol of your victory. You may also choose to have a single Egg from any Pokemon of any World Warrior you have battled. Choose wisely."
Sunday, June 26, 2011
.....Or Not.
Something way down inside me wants to post something today, problem is I have no idea what the fuck to talk about.
I could talk about my love life, but that's such a boring ass topic. It always boils down to, I'm fat, girls don't like fat; and I have an odd personality. Girls don't like odd either.
I could talk about the secret lusts bubbling at the back of my brain, but nobody wants to stomach such nonsense.
I could talk about why my house creeps me the fuck out sometimes, but that's old hat and might aggravate whatever wants to kill me in these walls.
I could bitch about my current line of life, how I don't really want to spend my entire summer taking care of my brothers for 8 hours a day, but everyone has their problems, why read about mine?
I could do something about games, but that just plays to my nerdy side and no one really cares about that junk.
I could go on a rant and tell people to grow a pair; life won't make every endeavor you attempt work out like a dream! But again, who needs that, it's all over TV.
I could discuss how I think the world will end, spinning a wild tale about aliens from Jupiter and a zombie apocalypse consisting only of lunch meat, but that would just be helping Scientologists out.
I could discuss what I would do after I won it big in the lottery, but that'd be boring and just show how greedy and dorky I am.
I could talk about my internal struggle of what my dreams are telling me, but that's depressing.
I could talk about how P!nk's recent songs have really spoken to me, but that might give you all the Gay.
I could tell you a manly tale about how I conquered the Pacifists of the Ghandi Nebula, but of course, you already know that one. Also you're reading this in my sweet seductive voice.
All in all, have no idea what I want to talk about. Maybe next time...
I could talk about my love life, but that's such a boring ass topic. It always boils down to, I'm fat, girls don't like fat; and I have an odd personality. Girls don't like odd either.
I could talk about the secret lusts bubbling at the back of my brain, but nobody wants to stomach such nonsense.
I could talk about why my house creeps me the fuck out sometimes, but that's old hat and might aggravate whatever wants to kill me in these walls.
I could bitch about my current line of life, how I don't really want to spend my entire summer taking care of my brothers for 8 hours a day, but everyone has their problems, why read about mine?
I could do something about games, but that just plays to my nerdy side and no one really cares about that junk.
I could go on a rant and tell people to grow a pair; life won't make every endeavor you attempt work out like a dream! But again, who needs that, it's all over TV.
I could discuss how I think the world will end, spinning a wild tale about aliens from Jupiter and a zombie apocalypse consisting only of lunch meat, but that would just be helping Scientologists out.
I could discuss what I would do after I won it big in the lottery, but that'd be boring and just show how greedy and dorky I am.
I could talk about my internal struggle of what my dreams are telling me, but that's depressing.
I could talk about how P!nk's recent songs have really spoken to me, but that might give you all the Gay.
All in all, have no idea what I want to talk about. Maybe next time...
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Castlevania: The Whys of 3D-vanias. MASSIVE SPOILERS~~
To date, Konami has attempted 4 times to make Castlevania a 3D game.
First came Castlevania 64, a Classicvania in 1999. It followed the story of Reinhardt Schneider and Carrie Fernandez, partners and descendants of Belmont family friends. You can play as either, though the story is mostly the same, save one branching path. It's got a very basic storyline, the same the all Classicvanias share: Dracula is back, kill him. Each character had a main weapon and a side weapon, as well as the ability to grab subweapons and use them via expenditure of Red Gems. Reinhardt has a whip for a main weapon, which gained power by grabbing Power Ups, like older games. He also totes a short sword for a side weapon. Carrie shoots Magic bursts that track opponents, which also gain power via Power Ups. She sports a single Chakram as a side weapon. The subweapons functioned the same for both characters: Knife, Axe, Cross and Holy Water. The game took you through various areas of Dracula's castle, and branched after the Duel Tower. Reinhardt has to climb a certain tower and confront Death over the death of a vampire girl named Rosa, whom he meets earlier. Flashback: Rosa tried to commit suicide, but Reinhardt stops her. She attacks him, only to be killed when he tries to defend himself. He loves her, somehow, so he's kinda ticked when Death comes to take her. Carrie has to climb a different tower and fight one of her vampirized ancestors, and a vampire named Actrise.
If you get the good ending, you find out that the dude you thought was Dracula is actually just his servant, and some kid you rescued earlier is really Dracula. You have to fight Dracula and some weirdo Dragon-Centipede final form.
Second came Lament of Innocence, which hit the PS2 in 2003. This game finally unveiled the origins of Dracula and the Belmont Clan, in the Castlevania universe at least. It centered around Leon Belmont, a lord knight during the crusades, and his journey in 1094. Leon and his friend Mathias Cronqvist were leaders during the crusades, and best friends. Mathias fell extremely ill when he was told that his wife had died. Leon kept going, until his fiance Sara disappears. Monsters start showing up around populated areas, so Leon comes back to find her and kick some monster ass. The Church denies his plan to counter attack, so he ditches the Church. Mathias get his sick ass up, and tells Leon that this is all because of a vampire, and that the vampire took Sara to his castle in the middle of a cursed forest. Leon goes to save her, and he's given a whip made with alchemy by a man named Rinaldo. The game essentially follows him going throughout the castle, kicking ass and trying to find Sara. Eventually you come to find that Walter, the vampire that took Sara, has infected her with vampirism, though she's not quite a vampire yet. Leon takes Sara to Rinaldo, and of course there's no way to save her. Though Rinaldo reveals that the whip can be "completed" by pouring Sara's tainted soul into the whip via a blood pact. Sara sacrifices herself to give Leon the ability to kill Walter, Leon promises to school him. This is the birth of the famous Castlevania weapon: the Vampire Killer. Eventually you kill Walter, only to have it revealed that this was all a ruse set up by your friend Mathias. Mathias used the power of a special stone to harness the power of Walter's soul, all in an attempt to get revenge against God for stealing his wife away. Mathias offers to make Leon an immortal vampire like himself. Leon refuses because of the promise he made to Sara. You have to defeat Death, and the epilogue reveals that Mathias is Dracula.
After that, in 2005, Konami releases Castlevania Curse of Darkness on the PS2 and ye olde Xbox. The story was also adapted into a Manga, which tells a bit more of Hector's past. Curse of Darkness took the Alucard / Soma Cruz route and had their protagonist wield a fuckton of weapons rather than be limited to just a whip. Hector's adventure takes place 1479, 3 years after Castlevania III (on the NES). Hector used to be a high ranking general, known as a Devil Forgemaster, under Dracula's regime during one of his resurrections. His rival and fellow general, Isaac, is the only other Devil Forgemaster out there. Both served under Dracula, though Hector leaves once Dracula started killing humans without rhyme or reason. Isaac served until Dracula was killed by Trevor Belmont at the end of Castlevania III, and even after for some time. Isaac wanted revenge on Hector, so he kills Hector's lover: Rosaly. Hector, gets a little pissed and goes to fuck up Isaac's shit. So, the object of the game is to track Isaac down and beat the living hell out of him. This game kinda broke the mold a bit, you plow your way through more of Wallachia's terrain, but the game ends within Dracula's Castle, as always. As Hector makes his way towards Isaac, he meets a plethora of characters, all trying to stop Dracula's Curse from ravaging Wallachia. Dracula's Curse refers to the final acts of Dracula before his death in CVIII, in which he curses humanity to fester in their uncertainty until the obliterate themselves. Hector comes across: Zead, a monk who seemingly wants to be rid of Dracula's Curse. Julia, a witch that acts as your shop for the game. Trevor Belmont, nuff said. And St. Germain, a time traveling man sporting a top hat, a british accent, and a poisoned blade. He attempts to discourage Hector from his quest, later we find out it's so Hector doesn't bring about Dracula's resurrection. You come to find that Zead is actually Death (gasp), and plotted to use you and Isaac's impending duel to release a ton of dark power, and upon Isaac killing you, use your body as Dracula's vessel for his resurrection. It still happens, but the fact is that Hector kills Isaac, so Isaac becomes the new vessel. The end of the game culminates with Hector's fight against Dracula, and Hector using his powers to turn back Dracula's Curse.
Ugh. Then came Lords of Shadow in 2010. As you can tell, I hate this game. I refuse to dignify it with the surtitle of Castlevania. Not to say the game is bad in and of itself, it's alright; but no way in Hell is it a Castlevania game. Lords of Shadow is not part of the series canon, it's supposed to be a reboot, but it's not. It takes place in 1047; Gabriel Belmont is a member of the Brotherhood of Light, which has received wind that the Lords of Shadow will rise and bring about the World's End. They send Gabriel for some reason, I assume because he's a good warrior. It plays like God of War, to the T, I'm not even kidding. You want a good reveiw: watch Zero Punctuation's review of it, it's spot on. Gabriel is one of those newfangled and incredibly chic "Dark Protagonists", you know: the ones that are inherently good, but go about being good in the most violent and almost comically mean ways conceivable. I think the slogan for the game even says: "Dark times call for a Dark Hero!". My biggest gripe is that this game didn't feel like a Castlevania game, it just lacked the gothic flare and...just everything. Anyways, you spend most of the game running around fighting werewolves and trolls with a weak ass whip for a weapon. You're also being creeper stalked by Patrick Stewart, your ally and the game's narrator. It has the cheesiest after-credits ending I've ever seen. Not even kidding. There's also a Portal reference. Whoo.
Castlevania newbs will say the Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness suck because they're boring and there's no "epicness" to them. Conversely they'll also say Lords of Shadow was amazing because there were all these actions scenes and epic bloody kills.
Veterans of the series will say all three suck, and that's what mystifies me, with the exception of Lords of Shadow. I personally love Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness, and I'm here to say why.
Castlevania 64
The Pros:
It was the first of it's kind. It was pretty revolutionary considering that it was on the Nintendo 64. The story was pretty decent, given how basic the skeleton is. It pioneered the item system, as well as the money system.
The Cons:
The platforming was pretty choppy at times, and frustrating when you were far away from a save. Some of the enemies are hard to hit due to the limited range of Reinhardt's whip or the awkward tracking effect of Carrie's magic. This game can be pretty rough the first time around, as far as difficulty goes.
Castlevania Lament of Innocence
The Pros:
The game has that gothic feel to it, complete with sexually ambiguous artstyle and completely orchestrated music, mostly. Leon wields nothing but a whip, and the classic subweapons from older Castlevanias. They added the Crystal as a new subweapon because they couldn't find a way to implement the Stopwatch without being cheap. They also have a new mechanic, in which you gain and Orb after killing a boss. Adding an Orb to your subweapons changes the effect, but also increases the cost of the Hearts you use. Example: Holy Water. Normally you generate a small half circle of blue flame in front of you on the ground. Simple, costs 4 <3's. However, adding the effect of the blue orb gives you Energy Gazer, which fires repeated pillars of energy in front of you, a la Magneto's Magnetic Shockwave in Marvel vs Capcom 2.
The whip in this game functioned a lot better. There's combos to unlock, and the range is greatly improved. The addition of a Guard command, as well as a dodge, really helps you get a leg up on some enemies. The layout, while confusing at times, is expansive and very pretty actually. I find myself using the Map a lot, to see where I'm going, but I find that good because I never seem to use it in any other games. Memorial and Magical Tickets come about in this game, which teleport you back to your previously used Save room and Rinaldo's cabin, respectively.
The Cons:
Some of the dialogue is incredibly cheesy, but that's a Castlevania staple really. The camera has a fixed position, which can get annoying at times, but it's easy to get used to. The layout can be a real pain, sometimes there's a chunky of backtracking, but that can be circumvented (sort of) by Memorial Tickets. The storyline is a little cliche, but it's still implemented well, despite it all.
Castlevania Curse of Darkness
The Pros:
The ability to use multiple weapons gives a sense of freedom that the other Castlevanias don't. The weapon fusion systems adds a sense of grinding for people who like it. The storyline is pretty interesting actually, despite it's aged roots. The new system of familiars, known as Innocent Devils in this game, is really cool! I dub this game Poke'vania because of the way it works. When one finds the basic form of an ID, you can view a tree spread of its different evolutions. ID's evolve by Hector using certain weapons and gathering Evo Crystals from slain enemies. Depending on the ones absorbed, the ID's evolve differently. After a while, your ID will also drop an Egg, which can be used to hatch a new ID, and evolve it differently. Depending on the current ID, they can learn different attacks and be used for certain purposes. This provides a new level of customization, and it can be kinda addicting. Any unused ID's are kept in Julia's care. There's a fair chunk of secrets to find too, and challenges.
The Cons:
The plotline can be a little confusing at times, what with masquerading characters. The layout for this game makes Lament of Innocence's look like a punk. This game is huge, and takes time to fully explore. As such, it can be really confusing, and sometimes a little boring. I found some backtracking to be really tiresome at times, and some of the bosses are tough the first time off.
Lords of Shadow
The Pros:
It's very pretty, the devs really took their time. The whip combos are also very flashy. Some of the stages were pretty cool, and the creature control was nifty. PATRICK STEWART! Also, there's some pretty nifty puzzle solving.
The Cons:
Oh God this game is bland as Hell. VERY cookie cutter, and the similarities to God of War are almost offensive. Buggy camera angles really piss you off during combat. No matter how much want, your whip doesn't get ANY stronger. Enemies that take a while to kill in the beginning still take a while later on, and you don't feel like you're really progressing. Half the time you just want to scream at Gabriel "THAT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!" but he won't listen. The Shadow of the Colossus fights are incredibly boring and take too long. You can skip puzzles.....no, just no. Logic puzzles....also no. WTF, WHY IS SATAN THE FINAL BOSS??!?! The After-Credits scene took the whole game and made it the creation of a seven year old child. This game doesn't feel like a Castlevania. The soundtrack is also very bland, and very generic "Epic" kind of stuff. It sounds like Batman Dark Knight, Spider-Man and Lord of the Rings had a baby.
All in all, this is just my personal opinion of these games. My verdict: just try them, especially if you actually like Castlevania. They're not hard to find, and can usually be found for pretty cheap.
First came Castlevania 64, a Classicvania in 1999. It followed the story of Reinhardt Schneider and Carrie Fernandez, partners and descendants of Belmont family friends. You can play as either, though the story is mostly the same, save one branching path. It's got a very basic storyline, the same the all Classicvanias share: Dracula is back, kill him. Each character had a main weapon and a side weapon, as well as the ability to grab subweapons and use them via expenditure of Red Gems. Reinhardt has a whip for a main weapon, which gained power by grabbing Power Ups, like older games. He also totes a short sword for a side weapon. Carrie shoots Magic bursts that track opponents, which also gain power via Power Ups. She sports a single Chakram as a side weapon. The subweapons functioned the same for both characters: Knife, Axe, Cross and Holy Water. The game took you through various areas of Dracula's castle, and branched after the Duel Tower. Reinhardt has to climb a certain tower and confront Death over the death of a vampire girl named Rosa, whom he meets earlier. Flashback: Rosa tried to commit suicide, but Reinhardt stops her. She attacks him, only to be killed when he tries to defend himself. He loves her, somehow, so he's kinda ticked when Death comes to take her. Carrie has to climb a different tower and fight one of her vampirized ancestors, and a vampire named Actrise.
If you get the good ending, you find out that the dude you thought was Dracula is actually just his servant, and some kid you rescued earlier is really Dracula. You have to fight Dracula and some weirdo Dragon-Centipede final form.
Second came Lament of Innocence, which hit the PS2 in 2003. This game finally unveiled the origins of Dracula and the Belmont Clan, in the Castlevania universe at least. It centered around Leon Belmont, a lord knight during the crusades, and his journey in 1094. Leon and his friend Mathias Cronqvist were leaders during the crusades, and best friends. Mathias fell extremely ill when he was told that his wife had died. Leon kept going, until his fiance Sara disappears. Monsters start showing up around populated areas, so Leon comes back to find her and kick some monster ass. The Church denies his plan to counter attack, so he ditches the Church. Mathias get his sick ass up, and tells Leon that this is all because of a vampire, and that the vampire took Sara to his castle in the middle of a cursed forest. Leon goes to save her, and he's given a whip made with alchemy by a man named Rinaldo. The game essentially follows him going throughout the castle, kicking ass and trying to find Sara. Eventually you come to find that Walter, the vampire that took Sara, has infected her with vampirism, though she's not quite a vampire yet. Leon takes Sara to Rinaldo, and of course there's no way to save her. Though Rinaldo reveals that the whip can be "completed" by pouring Sara's tainted soul into the whip via a blood pact. Sara sacrifices herself to give Leon the ability to kill Walter, Leon promises to school him. This is the birth of the famous Castlevania weapon: the Vampire Killer. Eventually you kill Walter, only to have it revealed that this was all a ruse set up by your friend Mathias. Mathias used the power of a special stone to harness the power of Walter's soul, all in an attempt to get revenge against God for stealing his wife away. Mathias offers to make Leon an immortal vampire like himself. Leon refuses because of the promise he made to Sara. You have to defeat Death, and the epilogue reveals that Mathias is Dracula.
After that, in 2005, Konami releases Castlevania Curse of Darkness on the PS2 and ye olde Xbox. The story was also adapted into a Manga, which tells a bit more of Hector's past. Curse of Darkness took the Alucard / Soma Cruz route and had their protagonist wield a fuckton of weapons rather than be limited to just a whip. Hector's adventure takes place 1479, 3 years after Castlevania III (on the NES). Hector used to be a high ranking general, known as a Devil Forgemaster, under Dracula's regime during one of his resurrections. His rival and fellow general, Isaac, is the only other Devil Forgemaster out there. Both served under Dracula, though Hector leaves once Dracula started killing humans without rhyme or reason. Isaac served until Dracula was killed by Trevor Belmont at the end of Castlevania III, and even after for some time. Isaac wanted revenge on Hector, so he kills Hector's lover: Rosaly. Hector, gets a little pissed and goes to fuck up Isaac's shit. So, the object of the game is to track Isaac down and beat the living hell out of him. This game kinda broke the mold a bit, you plow your way through more of Wallachia's terrain, but the game ends within Dracula's Castle, as always. As Hector makes his way towards Isaac, he meets a plethora of characters, all trying to stop Dracula's Curse from ravaging Wallachia. Dracula's Curse refers to the final acts of Dracula before his death in CVIII, in which he curses humanity to fester in their uncertainty until the obliterate themselves. Hector comes across: Zead, a monk who seemingly wants to be rid of Dracula's Curse. Julia, a witch that acts as your shop for the game. Trevor Belmont, nuff said. And St. Germain, a time traveling man sporting a top hat, a british accent, and a poisoned blade. He attempts to discourage Hector from his quest, later we find out it's so Hector doesn't bring about Dracula's resurrection. You come to find that Zead is actually Death (gasp), and plotted to use you and Isaac's impending duel to release a ton of dark power, and upon Isaac killing you, use your body as Dracula's vessel for his resurrection. It still happens, but the fact is that Hector kills Isaac, so Isaac becomes the new vessel. The end of the game culminates with Hector's fight against Dracula, and Hector using his powers to turn back Dracula's Curse.
Ugh. Then came Lords of Shadow in 2010. As you can tell, I hate this game. I refuse to dignify it with the surtitle of Castlevania. Not to say the game is bad in and of itself, it's alright; but no way in Hell is it a Castlevania game. Lords of Shadow is not part of the series canon, it's supposed to be a reboot, but it's not. It takes place in 1047; Gabriel Belmont is a member of the Brotherhood of Light, which has received wind that the Lords of Shadow will rise and bring about the World's End. They send Gabriel for some reason, I assume because he's a good warrior. It plays like God of War, to the T, I'm not even kidding. You want a good reveiw: watch Zero Punctuation's review of it, it's spot on. Gabriel is one of those newfangled and incredibly chic "Dark Protagonists", you know: the ones that are inherently good, but go about being good in the most violent and almost comically mean ways conceivable. I think the slogan for the game even says: "Dark times call for a Dark Hero!". My biggest gripe is that this game didn't feel like a Castlevania game, it just lacked the gothic flare and...just everything. Anyways, you spend most of the game running around fighting werewolves and trolls with a weak ass whip for a weapon. You're also being creeper stalked by Patrick Stewart, your ally and the game's narrator. It has the cheesiest after-credits ending I've ever seen. Not even kidding. There's also a Portal reference. Whoo.
Castlevania newbs will say the Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness suck because they're boring and there's no "epicness" to them. Conversely they'll also say Lords of Shadow was amazing because there were all these actions scenes and epic bloody kills.
Veterans of the series will say all three suck, and that's what mystifies me, with the exception of Lords of Shadow. I personally love Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness, and I'm here to say why.
Castlevania 64
The Pros:
It was the first of it's kind. It was pretty revolutionary considering that it was on the Nintendo 64. The story was pretty decent, given how basic the skeleton is. It pioneered the item system, as well as the money system.
The Cons:
The platforming was pretty choppy at times, and frustrating when you were far away from a save. Some of the enemies are hard to hit due to the limited range of Reinhardt's whip or the awkward tracking effect of Carrie's magic. This game can be pretty rough the first time around, as far as difficulty goes.
Castlevania Lament of Innocence
The Pros:
The game has that gothic feel to it, complete with sexually ambiguous artstyle and completely orchestrated music, mostly. Leon wields nothing but a whip, and the classic subweapons from older Castlevanias. They added the Crystal as a new subweapon because they couldn't find a way to implement the Stopwatch without being cheap. They also have a new mechanic, in which you gain and Orb after killing a boss. Adding an Orb to your subweapons changes the effect, but also increases the cost of the Hearts you use. Example: Holy Water. Normally you generate a small half circle of blue flame in front of you on the ground. Simple, costs 4 <3's. However, adding the effect of the blue orb gives you Energy Gazer, which fires repeated pillars of energy in front of you, a la Magneto's Magnetic Shockwave in Marvel vs Capcom 2.
The whip in this game functioned a lot better. There's combos to unlock, and the range is greatly improved. The addition of a Guard command, as well as a dodge, really helps you get a leg up on some enemies. The layout, while confusing at times, is expansive and very pretty actually. I find myself using the Map a lot, to see where I'm going, but I find that good because I never seem to use it in any other games. Memorial and Magical Tickets come about in this game, which teleport you back to your previously used Save room and Rinaldo's cabin, respectively.
The Cons:
Some of the dialogue is incredibly cheesy, but that's a Castlevania staple really. The camera has a fixed position, which can get annoying at times, but it's easy to get used to. The layout can be a real pain, sometimes there's a chunky of backtracking, but that can be circumvented (sort of) by Memorial Tickets. The storyline is a little cliche, but it's still implemented well, despite it all.
Castlevania Curse of Darkness
The Pros:
The ability to use multiple weapons gives a sense of freedom that the other Castlevanias don't. The weapon fusion systems adds a sense of grinding for people who like it. The storyline is pretty interesting actually, despite it's aged roots. The new system of familiars, known as Innocent Devils in this game, is really cool! I dub this game Poke'vania because of the way it works. When one finds the basic form of an ID, you can view a tree spread of its different evolutions. ID's evolve by Hector using certain weapons and gathering Evo Crystals from slain enemies. Depending on the ones absorbed, the ID's evolve differently. After a while, your ID will also drop an Egg, which can be used to hatch a new ID, and evolve it differently. Depending on the current ID, they can learn different attacks and be used for certain purposes. This provides a new level of customization, and it can be kinda addicting. Any unused ID's are kept in Julia's care. There's a fair chunk of secrets to find too, and challenges.
The Cons:
The plotline can be a little confusing at times, what with masquerading characters. The layout for this game makes Lament of Innocence's look like a punk. This game is huge, and takes time to fully explore. As such, it can be really confusing, and sometimes a little boring. I found some backtracking to be really tiresome at times, and some of the bosses are tough the first time off.
Lords of Shadow
The Pros:
It's very pretty, the devs really took their time. The whip combos are also very flashy. Some of the stages were pretty cool, and the creature control was nifty. PATRICK STEWART! Also, there's some pretty nifty puzzle solving.
The Cons:
Oh God this game is bland as Hell. VERY cookie cutter, and the similarities to God of War are almost offensive. Buggy camera angles really piss you off during combat. No matter how much want, your whip doesn't get ANY stronger. Enemies that take a while to kill in the beginning still take a while later on, and you don't feel like you're really progressing. Half the time you just want to scream at Gabriel "THAT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!" but he won't listen. The Shadow of the Colossus fights are incredibly boring and take too long. You can skip puzzles.....no, just no. Logic puzzles....also no. WTF, WHY IS SATAN THE FINAL BOSS??!?! The After-Credits scene took the whole game and made it the creation of a seven year old child. This game doesn't feel like a Castlevania. The soundtrack is also very bland, and very generic "Epic" kind of stuff. It sounds like Batman Dark Knight, Spider-Man and Lord of the Rings had a baby.
All in all, this is just my personal opinion of these games. My verdict: just try them, especially if you actually like Castlevania. They're not hard to find, and can usually be found for pretty cheap.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
GOOD LORD MAN!! (Post VGL)
Ok, first off, Video Games Live was so FUCKING AMAZINGLY COOL! They played a hell of a lot of our home grown music: World of Warcraft, Lair, Heroes of Might and Magic, lots of stuff. There was a lot of guest composers; a lot of which I'm ashamed to say I didn't know...but still! I was close to going comatose plenty of times during the show!
I gained a newfound respect for World of Warcraft music, I suppose what I've heard until last night was from earlier times? My favorite entries? #1 Wind of Madness, Wesker's theme from Resident Evil 5. #2 The Castlevania medley, not my favorite songs, but they were good. Dreams of Triumph, the Castlevania 64 theme and Vampire Killer, I believe. #3 The Chrono medley: Earlier Times, Frog's Theme, and Time's Scar.
I've come to realize there's a stark difference in hearing a song via one's Apple product and hearing it live. It's amazing to hear it live, the phrase "Feeling the music" applies tenfold.
Besides the show, the trip was fun too. The roadcrew was as follows: Ryan Uyematsu, Mike Groom, Chris Nichols (AKA Tall Justin.), David Casas and myself. We stopped as Roscoe's for food at first! They have some damn good Chicken and Waffles. Akin to how good food USED to be. ^_^
Afterwards we stopped at In-N-Out and reminisced about life and the concert. Good times, haha. I finally got my ass home at 1 AM and decided to jump on the Xbox, I was too pumped for bed, haha.
Can't wait til next year!!
I gained a newfound respect for World of Warcraft music, I suppose what I've heard until last night was from earlier times? My favorite entries? #1 Wind of Madness, Wesker's theme from Resident Evil 5. #2 The Castlevania medley, not my favorite songs, but they were good. Dreams of Triumph, the Castlevania 64 theme and Vampire Killer, I believe. #3 The Chrono medley: Earlier Times, Frog's Theme, and Time's Scar.
I've come to realize there's a stark difference in hearing a song via one's Apple product and hearing it live. It's amazing to hear it live, the phrase "Feeling the music" applies tenfold.
Besides the show, the trip was fun too. The roadcrew was as follows: Ryan Uyematsu, Mike Groom, Chris Nichols (AKA Tall Justin.), David Casas and myself. We stopped as Roscoe's for food at first! They have some damn good Chicken and Waffles. Akin to how good food USED to be. ^_^
Afterwards we stopped at In-N-Out and reminisced about life and the concert. Good times, haha. I finally got my ass home at 1 AM and decided to jump on the Xbox, I was too pumped for bed, haha.
Can't wait til next year!!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Don't You Worry About Video Games Live; Let Me Worry About Blank.
Well, we're here, VGL. I went a few shows ago, it was really fun actually. My only gripe with the show is their music choice. Personally, I don't think War games or World of Warcraft have very inspiring sound tracks, mainly just generic "Epic" themes. But, unfortunately, they cater to the masses, and nothing is more mainstream than Call of Duty and Wow...
Yes, you read the bitterness there. Despite my friends efforts, I think the only thing close to an MMO I'd play is Castlevania HD; and that only has some loose ties at best. Anyways, VGL, right! We're here to talk about that, not my ABSOLUTE DISDAIN FOR ALL THINGS MAINSTREAM, BRRRARRRRRRGH!!!
It should be quite the experience, but my hopes are at a low. Probably because I know better, hahaha. I'd have to say my series favorites as far as music goes are: Castlevania, Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Final Fantasy and SMT: Persona Series. Yes, I know they're all RPGs, big whoop, wanna fight about it? Castlevania isn't!
If I had to pick 5 songs from each group here (omitting Persona because it'll never happen, and Final Fantasy because it's ALWAYS THE SAME SONGS!!), it'd be:
Castlevania:
Vampire Killer
Dance of Illusions
Festival of Servants
Aquarius
Clockwork Mansion
Kingdom Hearts:
Lord of the Castle
Unbreakable Chains
Vim and Vigor
The Encounter
The Other Promise ~Drammatica Arrange~
Chrono Trigger / Cross:
Time's Scar
Victory ~A Cry in Summer~
Battle With Magus
World Revolution
Boss Battle 2
I doubt I'll here any of this, but a guy can dream, right??
Keep watch for my Post VGL blog!
Yes, you read the bitterness there. Despite my friends efforts, I think the only thing close to an MMO I'd play is Castlevania HD; and that only has some loose ties at best. Anyways, VGL, right! We're here to talk about that, not my ABSOLUTE DISDAIN FOR ALL THINGS MAINSTREAM, BRRRARRRRRRGH!!!
It should be quite the experience, but my hopes are at a low. Probably because I know better, hahaha. I'd have to say my series favorites as far as music goes are: Castlevania, Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Final Fantasy and SMT: Persona Series. Yes, I know they're all RPGs, big whoop, wanna fight about it? Castlevania isn't!
If I had to pick 5 songs from each group here (omitting Persona because it'll never happen, and Final Fantasy because it's ALWAYS THE SAME SONGS!!), it'd be:
Castlevania:
Vampire Killer
Dance of Illusions
Festival of Servants
Aquarius
Clockwork Mansion
Kingdom Hearts:
Lord of the Castle
Unbreakable Chains
Vim and Vigor
The Encounter
The Other Promise ~Drammatica Arrange~
Chrono Trigger / Cross:
Time's Scar
Victory ~A Cry in Summer~
Battle With Magus
World Revolution
Boss Battle 2
I doubt I'll here any of this, but a guy can dream, right??
Keep watch for my Post VGL blog!
Friday, June 3, 2011
All I'm askin', ooh, is for a little respect!
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
I noticed this little fact due to my own experiences, and stories from friends. When a young adult hits somewhere between 18 and 20, things take a sudden turn. Those of you with younger siblings know exactly what I'm talking about.
In most aspects, you become something a little more equal with your parents. You have car, so now you can do what you like. With freedom of movement comes a bevvy of other things you can do, it's pretty badass I'll say. But, with this freedom comes an attitude change with your parents. Now that you're not a child anymore, the respect you get from your parents takes a major nosedive. I'll say this now before we get in too far, this is mainly just me blathering on here, I'm sure this doesn't go for everyone.
Parents get this notion that, while you're now an adult and can do whatever you please, you're still subject to anything and everything in their lives. Hey, you're not doing anything important right? Head to the store while I sit my ass down on the couch. Parents get lazy, and while I do understand that parents have a busy life, I don't think it's fair. I believe relationships are all about give and take. Take too much without giving anything back, and things get unpleasant. I know I'm not the best at fulfilling that doctrine, I do my best with what I can. I just think that if we're going to be at your beck and call since we're in your house, you can at least allow us something, right?
Wrong. Parents will constantly play the Bread Winner card. Again, I get it parents, you're providing for us. But come on, you can't keep a promise, or a date? You can't remember when we've got plans, and we've told you, and you make plans for us anyways? Why is it that no matter where we are, it always funnels down to what you need, and your instant gratification. Why is it that when you're with your friends, you are not to be bothered; but when we're out with our friends, we're fair game to be bothered with stuff? If you say you're going to do something with or for us, DON'T blow it off because "We can handle it like adults."
When you have younger siblings, this really begins to press your buttons, in both effects no less. You see your younger siblings get ignored too, and you get pissed because you know how that feels. On the same token, you get ignored because your younger siblings have precedence over you, and that pisses you off too. I understand that the younger kids need to be babied a bit more, but honestly, it's just incredibly uncool to drop one sibling for another.
On to borrowing stuff from us. As with anyone else, and more especially because you're an adult, I expect anything you borrow from me to be returned in the same or better condition than when it was given. I would also expect that if you're going to borrow money from us, and you say you're going to pay us back, that it get paid back as soon as you can do so. It ticks us off a bit when you walk in with a shiny new toy that costs more than what you owe us. Now, I dunno if anyone else's parents borrow their car, but we only have two cars to split between three people. What ticks me off here, is when I fill my tank, then my parents use it, and suddenly I'm down by 1/4 tank. Or worse, when the use it, I have something to do, and they leave me with no gas. Or when they leave their stuff in my car, or their garbage. It's my car, it's in my name, so why the hell do you treat it like it's yours? Would you borrow a friends car and drain the gas / leave your garbage in it? Then why the fuck would you in your own son's car?
This last one is purely of my own volition here. See, my parents when their in the mood, have special days for each of the kids. Each of us gets to spend a day, just us, Mom and Dad. Or rather I should say, each of them gets a day. Now, I may be different than a lot of 20-something's these days, because I love my parents and am not ashamed of them. Matter of fact, anytime someone gets uppity with their parents, it makes me want to smack them and tell them to show a little respect. I was actually kind of depressed that I was left out of this deal. The baby went with Mom and Dad to run some errands and play at the park, simple, but he is 2. Garren went with Mom and Dad to Golf N' Stuff. They played some mini-golf and what not. Collin went with Dad to shooting range, my grandpa took over Mom's place because she wasn't feeling well. But me? Nothin'. I dunno, maybe they didn't expect me to want something like that, but they could've asked.
If you're TL;DR'ing this: Parents, get your shit together with your oldest. Oldest: make sure you're not being a dick to your parents.
Also:
Onyxia Wipe
My favorite Castlevania Scene
and Look at you Go!
I noticed this little fact due to my own experiences, and stories from friends. When a young adult hits somewhere between 18 and 20, things take a sudden turn. Those of you with younger siblings know exactly what I'm talking about.
In most aspects, you become something a little more equal with your parents. You have car, so now you can do what you like. With freedom of movement comes a bevvy of other things you can do, it's pretty badass I'll say. But, with this freedom comes an attitude change with your parents. Now that you're not a child anymore, the respect you get from your parents takes a major nosedive. I'll say this now before we get in too far, this is mainly just me blathering on here, I'm sure this doesn't go for everyone.
Parents get this notion that, while you're now an adult and can do whatever you please, you're still subject to anything and everything in their lives. Hey, you're not doing anything important right? Head to the store while I sit my ass down on the couch. Parents get lazy, and while I do understand that parents have a busy life, I don't think it's fair. I believe relationships are all about give and take. Take too much without giving anything back, and things get unpleasant. I know I'm not the best at fulfilling that doctrine, I do my best with what I can. I just think that if we're going to be at your beck and call since we're in your house, you can at least allow us something, right?
Wrong. Parents will constantly play the Bread Winner card. Again, I get it parents, you're providing for us. But come on, you can't keep a promise, or a date? You can't remember when we've got plans, and we've told you, and you make plans for us anyways? Why is it that no matter where we are, it always funnels down to what you need, and your instant gratification. Why is it that when you're with your friends, you are not to be bothered; but when we're out with our friends, we're fair game to be bothered with stuff? If you say you're going to do something with or for us, DON'T blow it off because "We can handle it like adults."
When you have younger siblings, this really begins to press your buttons, in both effects no less. You see your younger siblings get ignored too, and you get pissed because you know how that feels. On the same token, you get ignored because your younger siblings have precedence over you, and that pisses you off too. I understand that the younger kids need to be babied a bit more, but honestly, it's just incredibly uncool to drop one sibling for another.
On to borrowing stuff from us. As with anyone else, and more especially because you're an adult, I expect anything you borrow from me to be returned in the same or better condition than when it was given. I would also expect that if you're going to borrow money from us, and you say you're going to pay us back, that it get paid back as soon as you can do so. It ticks us off a bit when you walk in with a shiny new toy that costs more than what you owe us. Now, I dunno if anyone else's parents borrow their car, but we only have two cars to split between three people. What ticks me off here, is when I fill my tank, then my parents use it, and suddenly I'm down by 1/4 tank. Or worse, when the use it, I have something to do, and they leave me with no gas. Or when they leave their stuff in my car, or their garbage. It's my car, it's in my name, so why the hell do you treat it like it's yours? Would you borrow a friends car and drain the gas / leave your garbage in it? Then why the fuck would you in your own son's car?
This last one is purely of my own volition here. See, my parents when their in the mood, have special days for each of the kids. Each of us gets to spend a day, just us, Mom and Dad. Or rather I should say, each of them gets a day. Now, I may be different than a lot of 20-something's these days, because I love my parents and am not ashamed of them. Matter of fact, anytime someone gets uppity with their parents, it makes me want to smack them and tell them to show a little respect. I was actually kind of depressed that I was left out of this deal. The baby went with Mom and Dad to run some errands and play at the park, simple, but he is 2. Garren went with Mom and Dad to Golf N' Stuff. They played some mini-golf and what not. Collin went with Dad to shooting range, my grandpa took over Mom's place because she wasn't feeling well. But me? Nothin'. I dunno, maybe they didn't expect me to want something like that, but they could've asked.
If you're TL;DR'ing this: Parents, get your shit together with your oldest. Oldest: make sure you're not being a dick to your parents.
Also:
Onyxia Wipe
My favorite Castlevania Scene
and Look at you Go!
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