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**Kailea** · 07-29-2010, 10:10 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

I am more willing as of late to give this game a shot....but why does it look so "cheap"

**jenova_9** · 07-30-2010, 07:11 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

it isn't cheap. You must value it as a masterpiece of nostalgic art! And it looks even better in motion!

**Kailea** · 07-30-2010, 08:00 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

Originally posted by jenova_9 View Post

it isn't cheap. You must value it as a masterpiece of nostalgic art! And it looks even better in motion!

no.... SotN and its GBA/DS babies are old school art..... this looks cheap, not saying it will be bad, just wish they put more of an effort into the art for it.

**Omgwtfbbqkitten** · 07-30-2010, 09:04 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

Originally posted by jenova_9 View Post

it isn't cheap. You must value it as a masterpiece of nostalgic art! And it looks even better in motion!

Looks like recycled GBA and DS assets to me. Alucard was playable in Dawn of Sorrow. Face it, for a game being put on an HD console, this looks incredibly halfassed. It wouldn't even be excusable on the Wii.

At least it looked like they were trying when they did Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth

This was a full remake of the old Game Boy game, built from the ground up.

**jenova_9** · 07-30-2010, 10:26 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

oh graphics smaphics.

Rebirth was easy to remake from the ground up because the original game itself was just your basic Castlevania formula.
It doesn't have 6 players online co-op or being able to zoom out to show the entire non-linear map where all the enemies, objects and other animated things are happening all at once in real-time,
or 300 items to collect or 5 playable characters (with a 6th possibly unlockable), or even capable of having DLC to add more stages and characters like Castlevania HD can and will, and many other things!

Castlevania HD is the same visuals people enjoyed games like the ones on DS and stuff.

The platform it's released on, or year they are developed, shouldn't dictate how advanced the graphics should look.

Gameplay over graphics. Besides, online co-op and this design wouldn't work as smoothly if they built it all from scratch.
They would probably be left with half the amount of content it already has if they made everything look "new". And if they added more animations
or higher level sprites, it would risk more cases of possible slowdown and other things.

The visuals already fit perfectly! Just like legos, they always look the same but people still create great things with the same simple blocks!

And Megaman 9 and 10 have reminded players that graphics don't really matter as long as it plays great and the classic appearance is something true gamers will accept for its nostalgia, familiarity and irreplacable art style.

Anyways

Here are recommended tracks people have been listing to listen to while playing Castlevania HD

COTM Rude Awakening (OC remix)
COD Insane Aristocracy
COD A Town named Cordova
POR Victorian Fear
POR Piercing Silence
POR The Gears go Awry
POR The Hidden Curse
DXC Bloody Tears
DXC Teus Deus Meus
CV2 Bloody Tears
CV2 The Silence of the Daylight (good lobby music)
CV3 Beginning (stage 1)
CV4 Theme of Simon (stage 1)
RONDO Opposing Bloodlines (stage 1)
RONDO Vampire Killer (stage 2)
SOTN Dracula's Castle (entrance)
SOTN Festival of Servants
HOD Clock Tower Casualty
DOS Castle Corridor
OOE Destiny's Stage (good lobby music)
OOE Rhapsody of the Forsaken
OOE Unholy Vespers
OOE Chapel Hidden in Smoke
OOE Dissonant Courage (2nd boss track)
OOE Sorrow's Distortion
OOE An Empty Tome
OOE Tower of Dolls
OOE The Colossus
Travel Demon (SSH's fan music)

Not sure what music the game will include (besides the awesome remix of DoS's castle corridor),
but it's best to prepare music to listen to while playing! Just a few more days, mew!!!

**Kailea** · 07-31-2010, 06:14 AM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

Originally posted by jenova_9 View Post

The platform it's released on, or year they are developed, shouldn't dictate how advanced the graphics should look.

Gameplay over graphics. Besides, online co-op and this design wouldn't work as smoothly if they built it all from scratch.
They would probably be left with half the amount of content it already has if they made everything look "new". And if they added more animations
or higher level sprites, it would risk more cases of possible slowdown and other things.

The visuals already fit perfectly! Just like legos, they always look the same but people still create great things with the same simple blocks! And Megaman 9 and 10 have reminded players that graphics don't really matter as long as it plays great and the classic appearance is something true gamers will accept for its nostalgia, familiarity and irreplacable art style.

You are preaching that to the preacher himself, I am not talking about the game not being "OMG 3D HD", even for a 2D game it looks abit cheap, and not given the love that the past games have received.
Capcom put effort into MM( and MM10 to make it look like it did, but for some reason this game looks ..... "off" its the only way I can really describe it.
The type e of game it is, or its features are no excuse for poor animations and/or visuals. The only thing that will save the game for me is gameplay/music

**jenova_9** · 07-31-2010, 08:46 AM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

it's not poor animations and visuals. This is how the gameplay looked for every great Castlevania fans have enjoyed these past years (including Order of Ecclesia) And actually no portable Castlevania has looked this great and the colors so vibrant since SOTN! just check out those new afterimage effects too!

You are just too stuck on expecting better eye candy.

It looks good enough, and will be more fun than any better- looking games out there, mew.

**Kailea** · 07-31-2010, 03:45 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

Originally posted by jenova_9 View Post

it's not poor animations and visuals. This is how the gameplay looked for every great Castlevania fans have enjoyed these past years (including Order of Ecclesia) And actually no portable Castlevania has looked this great and the colors so vibrant since SOTN! just check out those new afterimage effects too!

You are just too stuck on expecting better eye candy.

It looks good enough, and will be more fun than any better- looking games out there, mew.

No I am not.... I don't care about "eye candy" all that much, I care about story, and fun. What I am talking about, is the fact that they ripped the sprites right from their respective games, with out even bothering to touch them up and make them a little bit more uniform to the game.

**jenova_9** · 07-31-2010, 06:18 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

Why touch them up when they already look as they should? Plus all of the characters look like they fit in the castle and the art and everything there's nothing wrong with it.

anyways here is new info!

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair Tips (Xbox Live) - RunDLC

Treasure Chests: Myriad treasure chests can be found throughout Castlevania. The type of chest determines what sort of helpful item youâ€™ll find inside, from health-replenishing food to rare weapons. In Co-op Mode, you receive items from the chests your allies open, too.

Skeleton Form: If you perish in Online Co-op Mode, a grave will appear where you died, but you continue to fight in skeleton form. Skeletons have limited abilities and cannot use items. If your whole team is reduced to bones, itâ€™s Game Over.

Reviving: Use Water of Life to revive an ally who has been reduced to skeleton form. In online Co-op Mode, Water of Life can be found in blue treasure chests, but only the player who opens the chest receives it. Any unused Water of Life will be returned at the end of the chapter.

Mastery: Use the same subweapon continually and your mastery of that subweapon will increase, powering it up over time. As characters gain mastery of subweapons, their base weapon stats will grow in kind.

Soul: Any of a number of enemy abilities which are sometimes released in spirit form at the moment of a foeâ€™s demise. Souls can be loosely grouped into three categories:

-Bullets: You cans et up to four Bullet Souls, which are activated by holding the Hunter Skills button and pressing up, down, left or right on the directional pad.

-Guardians: Once you have a Guardian Soul equipped, you may use it with a press of the Personal Skill button.

-Enchantments: The power of an Enchantment Soul is harnessed simply by equipping it.

Dark Magic: Spells which are mastered by collecting magic scrolls. You can set up to four types of Dark Magic, which are activated by holding the Hunter Skills button and pressing up, down, left or right on the directional pad.

Martial Arts: Physically demanding skills which are mastered by collecting martial art scrolls, and performed using a combination of the directional pad and other buttons.

Bound Spells: Magic acquired by locking projectiles and other enemy spells within the pages of the Book of Binding. If you succeed, the magic becomes your own. You can set up to four types of Spells, which are activated by holding the Hunter Skills button and pressing up, down, left or right on the directional pad.

Glyph: Magical sigils which appear when adversaries cast magic; by absorbing these symbols (holding down the up button), you can sometimes learn their magic. You can set up to four Gylphs, which are activated by holding the Hunter Skills button and pressing up, down, left or right on the directional pad.

Magnes: A Glyph which grants Shanoa extra mobility using the Personal Skill button. Press the button while near a magnet to attach to it. Next, press the directional pad opposite your destination to build up tension. Lastly, release the button and you will spring back the other way at rocket speed.

Dual Crush: In Online Co-op Mode, if you and another player are near each other and certain conditions are met, you can press the Confirm action button to signal the other player that you want to execute a Dual Crush. If the other player pressed the Confirm action button within the time limit, you will join forces to perform this powerful move.

whee.

**jenova_9** · 08-02-2010, 11:37 AM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

two more days, mew!

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Bkh2Woei4"]YouTube- Castlevania Harmony of Despair Chapter 1 Walkthrough Part 1[/nomedia]

**jenova_9** · 08-02-2010, 09:17 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

good footage, mew!

VGR - Castlevania: Harmony of Despair | ScrewAttack - We Have Lots of Stuff

**Kailea** · 08-04-2010, 12:04 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

ok so a bit, downloaded the demo and tried it some, its ok, but I am still trying to decide if I want to buy it, the demo really gave me the vib that I should not play this game alone, even though it has that option.

It is as I thought, the gameplay/sound is what is saving it for me, I like the music, and the game play is pretty much the same good old SotN play style. Now that I am playing it, the mishmash of sprites from all the games, does not look as bad as I first thought, but its still a bit "meh"

**Omgwtfbbqkitten** · 08-04-2010, 03:58 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

Reviews pretty much tell the story I assumed was going to happen.

Difficulty ramps up the more people you have, but solo play is also too hard. So you don't want six people, but you don't want to go it alone. So 2-3 players is optimal. This mainly means you're forced to play with others, though you can play grind monkey for gear if you want to.

There are only six levels, none of them connected, so not a true Metroidvania in any respect. Each has a 30 min time limit to defeat the boss.

You can't let people join in games on-the-fly, they have to be there from the start of the level.

Also, no story at all. Castlevania isn't known for story, but at least it hammed it up a little and that was entertaining in some respects.

So, its a dud.

**Kailea** · 08-04-2010, 07:47 PM

Re: Castlevania Harmony of Despair! August 4! best co-op!

yeah not sure if I am going to buy it... now I have 1600 points and nothing to buy right now ;p

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