Castlevania: Curse of Darkness...best 3D Castlevania, but worth finishing?

[Wolfpup]

I was interested in this when I found out they tried to replicate the Castlevania/Metroid style gameplay in 3D. (EDIT: I should say I wasn't interested in it because it was 3D, but rather just because it seemed like it was trying to be more than just an action game, more like the quality of the other Castlevanias.)

Waited for it to hit $20, but it hit $10 first, so hey!

I've been playing this this week, probably 7 hours in or so. My quick reactions:

Bad:
-graphics. They look pretty much first-gen PS2. They're just functional, nothing more.
-Camera and combat. The combat is pretty boring, the lock on doesn't do much (and really just locks on the camera, not your character). A lot of times I can't even tell if I'm getting hit or hitting the enemy.

Good:
-uneven music, but some is really great
-they at least made the attempt at making a 3D Castlevania in the mold of the 2D games.
-Trevor Belmont is in it! I love the different characters so far and the dialog. Some people seem to hate the larger than life stuff from Symphony of the Night, but I love it, and this is very much in the same tradition. I love that it's tied in to Castlevania 3 (but strangely I don't remember Trevor being that cool or powerful in 3 ;) ).

I've been kind of enjoying it, I like the traditional automap, etc. But I died last night after probably more than an hour since my last save, and I just don't think I can force myself to replay it, since I'm not having THAT much fun to begin with. (I keep getting tired playing it-though probably just 'cause it's after work.)

I don't know...is it worth finishing? I'm probably not very far, just a bit after the second time you see that guy with the top hat.

[Backlash]

I think so. The whole game isn't super-long, and the more types of IDs you get, the more fun it is evoloving them into their different forms (if you like that type of thing, which I do). I had more fun with this game than I probably should have, actually :)

[Chacrana]

Curse of Darkness definitely isn't the best 3D Castlevania... and I didn't think it was worth finishing. I really, really liked Lament of Innocence though...

[Rei no Otaku]

Curse of Darkness definitely isn't the best 3D Castlevania... and I didn't think it was worth finishing. I really, really liked Lament of Innocence though...
Glad someone else liked LoI. I thought I was the only one.

[Chacrana]

Glad someone else liked LoI. I thought I was the only one.

Really, the only misstep that LoI had was that the rooms in certain parts of the castle looked the same... but the combat was great, the exploration was still there (really well done with the hidden whips and all that), and it had the gothic style that a good Castlevania game needs.

[yukine]

I'm also a fan of Lament... it's just one of those good games that no one seems to like

[Wolfpup]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

:) My "best 3D Castlevania just meant IMO of course. I should have stuck "in my opinion" in there somewhere I suppose.

So far I've liked Curse of Darkness the best of the 3D games (which puts it ahead of...I guess just the original Castlevania for me). Then I liked the N64 one (which despite being a complete insult after Symphony of the Night actually had some solid gameplay I thought). And I didn't like Lamont of Innocence at all for whatever reason.

It did seem like the graphics were better than Curse of Darkness though, but that might just be because I'm playing it on an HDTV now. I thought the identical corridors they used to separate every room were hysterical. Like we couldn't tell that was to disguise loading time :)

For whatever reason I really didn't like that one much. It was too hard for me, for one thing.

Still haven't decided if I'm going to continue playing, so for now I'm going to start up Destroy All Humans! (also $10, yay!)

Random thought-is Konami that good in terms of graphics anymore? Seems like I haven't seen anything impressive from them this generation. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I can't remember anything since the Playstation looking great.

[RelentlessRolento]

:lol: I'm the only one who enjoyed the horrible N64 one >_<

[Chacrana]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

:) My "best 3D Castlevania just meant IMO of course. I should have stuck "in my opinion" in there somewhere I suppose.

So far I've liked Curse of Darkness the best of the 3D games (which puts it ahead of...I guess just the original Castlevania for me). Then I liked the N64 one (which despite being a complete insult after Symphony of the Night actually had some solid gameplay I thought). And I didn't like Lamont of Innocence at all for whatever reason.

It did seem like the graphics were better than Curse of Darkness though, but that might just be because I'm playing it on an HDTV now. I thought the identical corridors they used to separate every room were hysterical. Like we couldn't tell that was to disguise loading time :)

For whatever reason I really didn't like that one much. It was too hard for me, for one thing.

Still haven't decided if I'm going to continue playing, so for now I'm going to start up Destroy All Humans! (also $10, yay!)

Random thought-is Konami that good in terms of graphics anymore? Seems like I haven't seen anything impressive from them this generation. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I can't remember anything since the Playstation looking great.

Curse of Darkness looked significantly worse than LoI... both in terms of design and in terms of model animation. Konami definitely puts out pretty games though... the Metal Gear Solid games looked fantastic and Zone of the Enders 2 looked unbelievable.

[Wolfpup]

:lol: I'm the only one who enjoyed the horrible N64 one >_<

Nah uh! I posted a split second before you did, and actually did get enjoyment out of it (though it felt like a slap in the face considering Symphony of the Night came out first).

Curse of Darkness looked significantly worse than LoI... both in terms of design and in terms of model animation. Konami definitely puts out pretty games though... the Metal Gear Solid games looked fantastic and Zone of the Enders 2 looked unbelievable.

Yeah, I guess. I thought MGS2 was amazing for the time, but wasn't very impressed with MGS3. Of course I've been playing PC and 360 titles, but still I was pretty impressed by Final Fantasy 12.

[Backlash]

I enjoyed LoI, but I liked CoD much more. I rented one of the N64 ones once and I hated it.