XBLA - Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

[quote name='KingBroly']Poetic Justice might be the toughest achievement to get in the game (I got it, though). I know people will say beating Hard Mode is, but Dracula is pretty easy (except for the triangle attack, which I can't figure out how to dodge effectively).[/QUOTE]

I kinda feel bad killing one dude at Dracula and he won't have his item. I could just wait until he is normal again.

I think I usually jump, down, jump.
 
Cool, but I wont be home till around midnight. Instead of going to Dracula can't you just get Poetic Justice from the succubus?
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Cool, but I wont be home till around midnight. Instead of going to Dracula can't you just get Poetic Justice from the succubus?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I think I read that you need to be male and the succubus is not transform yet. But nobody get taken by her.

Meh, I shouldn't have bought an Estoc, I want to use it with some friends but it does so weird movement with the attack. Wasted 33k.
 
I'm not sure why everyone seems to hate the single player - I'm enjoying it a ton so far, it feels like a 2D Demons Souls with a Castlevania skin. The whole process of getting as far as I can but keeping all the drops and getting further next time is something I enjoy... also feels kind of like a rougelike. It's definitely fun if you know what to expect going in.

I'm on Castle 3 right now, and so far the difficulty hasn't been that bad. More challenging than any of the DS games, which is nice. If you are clever, you can also reach almost any area designed for two people by yourself - the elevator in stage 1 can be slid into once you hit the switch, and the Ghosts that follow you around in Stages 1 and 2 can be jumped and kicked off of to reach new heights.

I've heard stories about people (and reviewers) who can't even solo the first boss... and I'm honestly stumped at how. Gergoth has very easy, recognizable patterns and I've beaten him at least once with every character.
 
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When I tried the demo, I died against him. It's not a good demo. You can't even play as other characters in it.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']The community is there, I just think the game has connection issues. There are some players who just like to blaze through and kill everything they see. But the game shines when you are in a group who act like a team.

I'd like to get a group together for a few achievements:
Boned (Defeat a boss with 5 players in skeleton form)
Poetic Justice (Defeat an ally who has been seduced by the enemy)
Grim Synergy (Defeat a boss using a Dual Crush)

They'll be pretty easy and quick if everyone works at it. I'll need 5 other players for Boned which can be done in the first level. Everyone just die on some spikes except for one who will rush through the level and finish off the boss. The other two can be done with one other person, however Poetic Justice needs 1 male character since the succubus can't seduce women. Anyone intrested?[/QUOTE]

I will be interested. When do you plan to try this?
 
What witch on level 2 gives lightning for Shanoa? Is it the ones who also do fire and ice?

Because no matter what, they won't do lightning... one does fire, the other three do ice, and that's it.
 
I get off work at 11:45. How does 12:30ish sound? So that's 4 people, still need 2 more. If anyone has a friend invite them too.

[quote name='animalspinners']What witch on level 2 gives lightning for Shanoa? Is it the ones who also do fire and ice?

Because no matter what, they won't do lightning... one does fire, the other three do ice, and that's it.[/QUOTE]

They won't do lighting until chapter 3 or 4 I think.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']
They won't do lighting until chapter 3 or 4 I think.[/QUOTE]

Thanks!

I just got to Castle 4, and you were right, all the witches there cast lightning.
 
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[quote name='Khalid']Anyone is near the 10 000 kills? I want to know if it's alright if the kills are from all the characters.[/QUOTE]

Knowing this game, it will all have to be from one character.

I guess this because the 1 million gold achievement unlocks only when you are holding 1 million gold... it's not cumulative.

In case anyone was wondering, the other gamerpic is Alucard and you get it by beating Dracula on single player.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Cool, just one more person. I'll send friend invites to everyone who wants to join now.[/QUOTE]

I am game for working on achievements, I will be online in a party, just send a FR to Ichthultu or a msg if you have room.
 
Awesome, party is full. I'll be on in an hour. I'm getting off work now. Again the only one we need 6 people for is the Boned achievement.
 
Hum, I am going to try Sage Ring for chapter 6 hard mode. MP regen faster for that item. Any other accessories that do something special and are good that I should be aware of? I am using Shanoa.
 
All of the reviews about this game being too difficult for single player and that it's not a single player game are way off, imo. I've managed to make it as far as Dracula now and I think the game works great as a single player game. I think it depends on what mindset you go into this game with, to be honest. I've seen a lot of cries of "the single player totally sucks" and yea, I guess it would if you were expecting something different like a Metroidvania. In all honesty, it reminds me of a mix between the older platforming games mixed with the equipment and leveling from the new games.

I can only name one instance of a place I couldn't access (the flames in Stage 2 guarding the chest that you need people to step on the switches, and even then it's just one chest so who cares), but other than that I've gotten to every other place doing only 1 player. It seems like the later stages end up being more linear, namely 4 and 6, and you don't really need another player at all to access anything. It's like most of the reviewers stopped playing after Stage 2 and wrote their review.

This game's difficulty feels just right, and the bosses are actually challenging. I had a ton of fun in this in single player, can't wait for hard mode to up the difficulty even more.

One other thing about this I really dug was that the bosses did some pretty unique stuff, like Gergoth shooting the laser through the level, the Puppet Master crawling from room to room, and Death throwing scythes everywhere. Creative stuff.
 
[quote name='Sigma']Konami really dropped the ball with this game. The online is fun, but finding a match is nearly impossible most of the time and when I do no one is using a mic or working together. I am now pretty upset that I wasted $15 on a game that I can barely play due to the lack of players.[/QUOTE]

Come on now, dude. Do you not see a thread full of people who you could add to your friends list and play with? And is it not reasonable to assume the people in this thread will be knowledgeable about the game, friendly, and communicative? Don't blame everybody else if you're not even trying to find people to play with.

Also note that it sometimes takes a while to find players - you need to sit in the lobby that has the option to Invite Friends on the right side of the screen. That is the only time that anyone can join a game, not afterward. Also you don't need a full game of 6 people to have fun. Two or more players can succeed as long as they know what they're doing and aren't underequipped for the level. If you're woefully underequipped, it's probably better to try for five or six players.

[quote name='KingBroly']Poetic Justice might be the toughest achievement to get in the game (I got it, though). I know people will say beating Hard Mode is, but Dracula is pretty easy (except for the triangle attack, which I can't figure out how to dodge effectively).[/QUOTE]

You can only get Poetic Justice from Dracula as far as I know. If you play Chapter 6 enough, eventually someone will be seduced by Dracula's 3rd form heart attack. Then just kill 'em.

[quote name='Khalid']I kinda feel bad killing one dude at Dracula and he won't have his item. I could just wait until he is normal again.

I think I usually jump, down, jump.[/QUOTE]

If one member of your team kind of sucks, you can have that person wait outside of Dracula's room while the rest of the team fights the first form. He can't damage people outside of the room until his second and third forms.

Also, if someone dies at a boss, you may still be able to revive them if there are any Water of Life items (blue chests) left in the level. If they're all out, it can't be helped. And of course it's very important that everyone understands not to open a blue chest if they already have a Water of Life since you can only carry one at a time.

Phew! Can you tell I'm writing an FAQ for this game? :D
 
Anybody know what the thrown weapon for Alucard is? I've got some pretty decent items so far but I'm playing with 2 Charlottes and a Shanoa and on hard mode I'm almost no help because I have no ranged weapon and my ranged spells are pretty weak. I watched a couple of videos of the highest scoring Alucards on the leaderboards and almost all of them use this weak but very quick ranged throwing blade.
 
Does magic/skill work on somebody that is charmed, seems like we are doing a lot less damages? I remember a guy was doing like 1 damage and later maybe 30 damages.

Edit: Man! I got to chapter 6 last form on HM, I just need to be a little bit better. I hate his freaking curse attack.
 
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Those big giant statue things take 30 or 40 hits regardless so maybe that's why. I know when you're cursed your magic won't work.
 
Woohoo! I beat chapter 6 on hard finally!, I even had guests coming to my house during my last attempt. I lost about 5 min but still had plenty of time.
 
[quote name='animalspinners']All of the reviews about this game being too difficult for single player and that it's not a single player game are way off, imo. I've managed to make it as far as Dracula now and I think the game works great as a single player game. I think it depends on what mindset you go into this game with, to be honest. I've seen a lot of cries of "the single player totally sucks" and yea, I guess it would if you were expecting something different like a Metroidvania. In all honesty, it reminds me of a mix between the older platforming games mixed with the equipment and leveling from the new games.

I can only name one instance of a place I couldn't access (the flames in Stage 2 guarding the chest that you need people to step on the switches, and even then it's just one chest so who cares), but other than that I've gotten to every other place doing only 1 player. It seems like the later stages end up being more linear, namely 4 and 6, and you don't really need another player at all to access anything. It's like most of the reviewers stopped playing after Stage 2 and wrote their review.

This game's difficulty feels just right, and the bosses are actually challenging. I had a ton of fun in this in single player, can't wait for hard mode to up the difficulty even more.

One other thing about this I really dug was that the bosses did some pretty unique stuff, like Gergoth shooting the laser through the level, the Puppet Master crawling from room to room, and Death throwing scythes everywhere. Creative stuff.[/QUOTE]

I agree with everything here. Well said. :applause:
 
If someone wanted to make the argument that it's not a single player game, the best example they could give is the Chapter 2 boss on Hard.

I've beaten Chapter 6 on Hard, so now I'm going to try and get the second Weapon Glyph I need (Shanoa's last one) and then try playing with Charlotte and Jonathan. I'm at roughly 4,000 kills in about 16 hours.
 
Wow, now I like Alucard too. :) Attack rate of that weapon is so crazy. Just beaten the game on hard with him and 2 others. I read that Soma can use it too.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']If someone wanted to make the argument that it's not a single player game, the best example they could give is the Chapter 2 boss on Hard.[/QUOTE]

Do the puppets still take 3 hits to destroy on Hard or is it more?

I wish I had more time to play this. I've logged about 10 - 12 hours with Shanoa but I feel as though she's leveled up pretty well.

Good job to everyone last night with the Boned achievement. I wanted to hang around and try and get the Poetic Justice achievement but I had to bail.
 
Got my poetic achievement by helping some random people. I just wait until one was charm and I killed her. Then I charged at the boss with Alucard and he was kill. lol, I was the only one alive... They still seems to be happy.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Do the puppets still take 3 hits to destroy on Hard or is it more?

I wish I had more time to play this. I've logged about 10 - 12 hours with Shanoa but I feel as though she's leveled up pretty well.

Good job to everyone last night with the Boned achievement. I wanted to hang around and try and get the Poetic Justice achievement but I had to bail.[/QUOTE]

Let me put it this way. I've hit the thing 7 times and it didn't die. Plus, they're a one hit no matter what kill on Hard Mode.

I've got about 250 or so items in my Compendium and 250,000 Gold (It'd be about 450k but I bought the Mastery Ring). I've gotten about 100,000 in the last hour or so of playing though. I can't figure out how to get the Special Item on Stage 3. I'll need a video or pics to see how to get it done. I've also got around 4500 kills in 21 hours or so (my previous estimates were off) but I'd say the majority of that was in co-op so maybe another 10 hours and I'll have 10,000 kills.

I need to figure out how to power up Alucard's souls though.
 
You can solo it with Alucard Yasutsuna weapon, I can destroy the doll easily. You will still have to anticipate where he will go put his marionette. But you kinda have to do Chapter 5 hard mode to have it ( maybe you can have it in some other lower chapter). So I don't know how somebody solo only could do it.

Are you counting each items in the items compendium or it is written somewhere?
 
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Just FYI for the weapon achievement, according to a friend of mine, it's for having 300 items in your inventory at once, not 300 unique items.
 
[quote name='graf1k']Just FYI for the weapon achievement, according to a friend of mine, it's for having 300 items in your inventory at once, not 300 unique items.[/QUOTE]

I haven't heard this before, but I hope that's wrong.

And yes, Puppet Master's puppets take a stupid amount of damage to kill in Hard mode. When playing with a team, it's often better to just smash and kill the boss before your team dies from the iron maidens.
 
I added the character descriptions and secret item locations to the OP so that they'll be easier to find. I updated the secret item locations, correcting Chapter 3's, and adding Chapter 5's.

Also, it's possible that more DLC will come after the first batch.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/997663-castlevania-harmony-of-despair/55904310

A person claims that sound files already exist for Simon, Richter, and Yoko. Will be very cool if it's true!

What's more, there may actually be an unlockable character in the game...

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/997663-castlevania-harmony-of-despair/55910518

The Axe Armor! If that screenshot is legitimate, the files for that character are in the game.
 
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If I had to guess, saving it for the inevitable PS3 port OR useless files that didn't make it into the final product.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Let me put it this way. I've hit the thing 7 times and it didn't die.[/QUOTE]

Really?

I'm using Shanoa, and it takes me about 8 hits with the base Rapier glyph she starts with to kill those puppets on hard mode just alternating between X and Y. This is just using drops and shop buys from the stages before it too.

You can also shove crates in front of a few iron maidens (the ones that are the hardest to get to) to stop him from going to them... it makes the fight much easier since the iron maiden's he can get to aren't that far away.

I think I beat him on my third or so try on hard... the worst part for me was the puppets he spits out of his mouth and their erratic flying, since they curse you. He only has two attacks (1 without his puppet) and limiting his coffins, he gets easy.

There is also the Alucard mist trick (turning to mist when he closes the door on the puppet) to use if the puppets keep getting you too. I know Alucard (and Soma too, I suppose) can equip the knuckle item that let you hit extremely fast (I used Knuckle Duster on medium, probably a better version to get on hard) to stop the puppets that way too.
 
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[quote name='KingBroly']I think it's how many items you have in the Compendium.[/QUOTE]

Hate to double post, but this deserves its own post (you were right, btw) -

It's been confirmed that it's 300 unique items in your Compendium... you don't need 300 on you at one time.

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=249594

Confirmed multiple times, one guy had 10 items in his inventory when it popped... it seems the magic / glyphs don't count though.

There is one guy on x360a who has 180 / 200 and is grinding out the 10,000 kills one, so we'll know if it's one character or between all the characters. Which is awesome, I've held onto everything I've ever found in case it was 300 in your inventory... can finally sell all this stuff!
 
That's weird. My friend told me he had like 275 unique items found but 300 in his inventory when he got it. Maybe his Compendium didn't update correctly.
 
In comparison to other levels, I found the puppet master not to be all that hard. Granted, I use Alucard and the mist spell really helps to avoid the whole doll thing.
 
Yeah 300 items in your compendium makes things a lot easier.

Now to figure out the kills and gold ones, those will be the biggest pain outside of beating this game on hard (stuck on chapter 4 hard still).
 
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