Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

[Murphie]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

I think you mean every post.

No, some of them are hyperbole free!

[jenova_9]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

new video! yay! IGA plays! This is soooo kewl! 2-6 players will be tons of fun! ^-^ Single player will be challenging too! Ya this really is amazing!
Finally a really super super great co-op experience!

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At76PaGehD4"]YouTube- InDis@E3 - Castlevania: Harmony of Despair[/nomedia]

Time to celebrate!

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUCW-7h27u0"]YouTube- S.S.H - Castlevania - Travel Demon[/nomedia]

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

Initial impressions on anything are generally positive. Most Sonic games and 3D Castlevanias start out well enough. Yet they end up sucking and are reviled by all.

Most people seem disappointed there's not a PSN or Wii version.

Really, though, if Konami was so hard-up to make money on Castlevania the least they could do is invest in the marketing of the 2D installments instead of just expecting the world to come to them because they're the awesome company that makes Metal Gear and DDR. It takes a bit more than investing in a single page ad in gaming magazines these days.

And if the objective is to get Castlevania to be more successful in its home territory, the last thing do is put it on the 360 exclusively. Yeah, good job there, Konami. Gonna be a real homerun now in Japan. And in the west, they snub the audience that has probably invested more time with Castlevania than any other - you know, those people that have been playing GBA and DS and probably have a Wii? Yeah that.

[jenova_9]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

ya true. But at least they are still giving IGA and the 2-D team at least enough funds to keep going and produce this upcoming co-op masterpiece on a console (instead of DS, which doesn't do Castlevania games justice IMO. too small screen and other things. The real veterens GREW UP playing Castlevania on consoles since NES! Including SOTN, which was born on PS1. )

Konami is still just paranoid about 2-D games selling big on console and don't want to invest financially backing the franchise as big as MGS.
Also you must consider that Sony doesn't like 2-D games on their console. PSN it's passable, but I heard they are more expensive to put up games, also PS3 is harder to develop games for (the #1 reason Valve didn't bring games like Left 4 Dead to PS3.)

I think classic TMNT sold really well on Xbox Live and was on the top 10 for a long time. This Castlevania could too in
this summer of XBLA games that are mediocre except for this one.

Microsoft Game Studios is publishing this so that's the key hint MS was aiming to keep this exclusive all along, I don't think
it has anything to do with Konami just deciding not to make it for PS3 too. They signed a deal with Microsoft and that's
how it seems to be, even if it's a timed exclusive.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

ya true. But at least they are still giving IGA and the 2-D team at least enough funds to keep going and produce this upcoming co-op masterpiece on a console (instead of DS, which doesn't do Castlevania games justice IMO. too small screen and other things. The real veterens GREW UP playing Castlevania on consoles since NES! Including SOTN, which was born on PS1. )

Actually, SOTN's first appearance was on the Sega Saturn.

Konami is still just paranoid about 2-D games selling big on console and don't want to invest financially backing the franchise as big as MGS.
Also you must consider that Sony doesn't like 2-D games on their console. PSN it's passable, but I heard they are more expensive to put up games, also PS3 is harder to develop games for (the #1 reason Valve didn't bring games like Left 4 Dead to PS3.)

Yes, I know Sony is stubborn about 2D gaming, but they need to get the fuck over it. Wii and 360 have more than proven its here to stay. Doesn't even matter if 3D comes in an rocks our world on 3DS, they'll just use it to create a better parallax effect and maybe let you move from foreground to background. Some games already do that.

There is a solution to dealing with Sony in regards to their attitude problem with 2D - give the 2D games to MS AND Nintendo and do not pander to Sony at all. Giving them a 3D game is giving them what they want and possibly not what gamers want for the series.

We're talking about a company that makes some of their own internal teams publish through NIppon Ichi, Konami or Atlus, for crying out loud. They didn't publish Demon's Souls, which was Sony's collaboration with From Software. Nippon Ichi published "What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord" twice, even bundled it with the sequel and published for retail

Those were awesome games. Sony just doesn't get super-hardcore or 2D games at all.

And let me just just add that Sony is not in a position to be making demands right now. Third place in handhelds and consoles. Not a good place to be.

I think classic TMNT sold really well on Xbox Live and was on the top 10 for a long time. This Castlevania could too in

That was a reissue of Turtles in Time though, which was an arcade classic, the console games have been terrible.

Microsoft Game Studios is publishing this so that's the key hint MS was aiming to keep this exclusive all along, I don't think it has anything to do with Konami just deciding not to make it for PS3 too. They signed a deal with Microsoft and that's how it seems to be, even if it's a timed exclusive.

Wasn't a wise decision on Konami's part, given they seem to be concerned about making money on 2D Castlevania. And yet, all the 2D ones are the ones they haven't taken a loss on because they're cheaper to produce. They've just not profited as much as they'd like these games to.

In other words, they're wasting money and opportunities to make it in hopes of making more. They're just thrashing about wildly and hoping something works. Not very smart if you ask me.

[Durahansolo]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

That was a reissue of Turtles in Time though, which was an arcade classic, the console games have been terrible.

I thought J9 was talking about the Arcade TMNT game that was released on XBL. I would've bought a HD remake of Turtles in Time, but that Remix version they came out with was garbage... I bought the Final Fight game though and so glad I did lol.

[jenova_9]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

ya Turtles in Time remix is more proof they shouldn't mess with the original art.

Ya I was talking about the first TMNT 4 player arcade game, not Time.


update

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kT7bfuxdTw"]YouTube- Castlevania Harmony of Despair Debut E3 2010[/nomedia]

1:55, killed teammates can continue playing...as a skeleton enemy??? So COOOOL!

[jenova_9]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

update! mew! They will support the game with more stages and heroes DLC!

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. : Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

yay!

[DieselBoy09]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

I was excited because I enjoy Castlevaia games, but I just don't fell like this one. It feels like a pointless level crawl, not to say all of Castlevania is not, but at least in those it feels like there is some purpose to it. This appears to be a purposeless level. I like to roam around and unlock parts of a castle. I personally want to start with my friends at one point and we all diverge to explore parts of the castle, sharing experience, items and skills learned from enemies, and I want there to be some stories... and maybe new sprites or art design for all the characters.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

A big problem I have with this game is they've taken level design that was intended to be interconnected and based in exploration, but instead sectioned off the areas into levels and give them a direct "time attack" style objective. You have a set amount of time to get to and defeat the bosses.

In Metroid and the SOTN-styled Castlevania, there's an illusion of non-linearity. You have your primary objectives, which tend to not be spelled out to you at all and then you have all the little optional distractions like extra energy tanks and missile expansions, half of whicht are entirely optional.

And with no one to tell you want to do, you feel truly alone and are expected to be self sufficient. You have all the tools you need to explore that world and conquer each boss. In Metroid Fusion, they kind of wrecked that illusion with Adam, a HAL-like computer that doles out mission objectives and tells you exactly where you need to be going. There was also the rigged suspense element, which shattered the illusion further. Metroid isn't a stranger to scripted events, but still, the SA-X was too over-the-top.

Harmony of Despair pretty much destroys the single player style with its design being so obviously geared for multiplayer. At the same time, it lacks any co-operative exploration elements that could have been done to help maintain that aspect of the series. Remember how Phantasy Star Online had pressure switches to unlock doors? That's an exploration factor. Sega was unfortunately not more creative than that, but I think I guy like IGA could have come up with concepts spun off that sort of thing if Multiplayer was really his bag.

[Kailea]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

and for DLC they blatantly said they where converting old areas from the other games....... why would I say for that?

[jenova_9]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

mew mew MEW!!!! *whaps keyboard with mittens*

So ungrateful! So short sighted! Mew! You don't understand how fun this will be!!! =>.<=

Plus the objective isn't just simply going to beat the boss. A big replay factor is hunting for items to give your characters better equipment and skills (they mention skillsets in the interview besides equipment). Also, the 10 minutes thing is just
the demo version. in the IGN interview, they were playing with a 30 minutes timer, that's more then enough time to explore most, if not all of the castle, and still time to defeat the boss.

And with items and rares being random, it will be fun for treasure hunters to keep coming back for more surprises and better gear to enhance their character! That is more balanced and rewarding than simply leveling. That's why the classic Castlevanias are harder because there's no leveling. Leveling cheapens the difficulty too easily.

Remember this is not just a metroidvania style, it's also the classic Castlevania style too, which were stage based and very straightforward, but the difference is these castles have more non-linear paths and tricks to them than the classic Castlevania stages! It will be lots of fun, especially with fwends! FWENDS!

Plus this is the first time ever these 5 popular Castlevania characters are playable in the same game! And with 6 player co-op online! This is the first true multiplayer Castlevania (not like the cheap 2 player co-op little boss rushes.)
It will have lots and lots of replay value and DLC will make things better too!

Also even though they take rooms from existing Castlevania games, they are combined and set up in a NEW WAY, each
as a new castle. Of course each castle is not as massive as, like, SOTN's first castle, but it's still much much much much
MUCH more massive than those boss rushes that are only like 6 rooms long.

Also there is more teamwork in this game! And much more skill, because you can't simply retreat from a room and return to refresh the enemies! Everything is real-time with no pausing, so people can't use some menu screen to protect them and hold them by the hand while they gear swap anytime. and there are special spots to swap gear. So there is more strategy to this!

Yes it's not the exploration type of Castlevania like the metroidvanias people love, but one thing is seeing the map,
and it's another thing surviving through those areas yourself. Plus you can simply not use the fullscreen map while playing,
to have a greater sense of exploration in some ways. There is going to be secrets here and there, including in some walls,
so ya there is much to learn from these castles.

There are at least 7 purposes/goals you can have in these castles:

1. Searching for rares/items
2. trying to get 100% items/equips/skills for all characters.
3. getting 100% for going through all the rooms.
4. teaming up against the baddies with fwends for a higher score or just for fun.
5. fighting the boss
6. getting all achievements (if you are into that)
7. versus mode/Survival


mew mew mew! And if people support this game, there will be more DLC, more castles and stuff and more fun and
more castles to master and stuff! So ya! Be excited!

[Kailea]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

its a 2D side scrolling dungeon crawler....... ok and?

[Neverslip]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

Day one download demo and probable purchase for me. I loved SotN and consider it to be one of the greatest gaming experiences I've had. If this extends that experience for me and adds MP, I'm totally down for it. When I saw the gameplay tease trailer, it really made me wanna play it. And that is all I have to say about that.

[Kailea]

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair. only reason needed to buy Xbox360!!!

I loved SotN too, but all the games after that tried to copy it, and did not have the same magic as SotN did. saying that I do like most of the Castlevania games that have come out, and I will at least give this one the demo try, but I am still a little leery of the multiplayer, if they don't do it perfectly, it will suck.