Resolution's Mike Rose writes: The Xbox Live Summer of Arcade chugs along this week with the next Castlevania title, Harmony of Despair, or HD as it’s shortened to (see what they did there?). Mixing retro stylings with more up-to-date visuals, the game provides single and multiplayer castle crawling with lots to see and huge boss fights to partake in.
Some unique and quite intriguing ideas are thrown into the mix this time around, providing both veteran Castlevanians and newcomers with challenging gameplay and a lovely online co-op mode. Yet while it all sounds so promising, Harmony of Despair proves to be an exercise in frustration and unfair balancing. It was always going to be a difficult game and not for the faint hearted. Unfortunately with the challenge ramped up, the fun fades away into oblivion.
The October Games with Gold lineup is here!
How about scraping Games with Gold and reducing both XB Live Gold and XB GamePass Ultimate by $5 per month.
I don't mind the games with gold, but in reality it has been a long time since I really cared about what came on games with gold.
@John_McClane
I believe in paying for services you use. You look at the console vendors and they run a network that tracks your gamer profile, does your games saves, and provides an environment for multi-player. The servers and infrastructure to do this is expensive and has to be paid for somehow.
I like a direct payment method rather then hiding the costs behind something else. No matter what they have to find a way to make money off the investments they make. No company does stuff for free. Now with PSNow and XB GamePass I think both should just drop the free games (that aren't really free because they allocate Gold and Plus money to buy those games) I think it is time the the free games are dropped and the subscriptions drop in price as well.
I loved Aaero. I bought it on PS4 a few years ago and got hooked (some great tunes in there). I will happily double dip and try and grab a few achievements blitzing through the earlier difficulties again.
I havent played Code Veronica since the Dreamcast. I assume this is that but in HD?
Damn, I just bought code name Veronica. Lol. I was eyeballing the Castlevania game due to the recent Tokyo Gameshow Sale, but I guess I’ll just get it here instead.
Nope. That would make no sense...but there is going to be a Devil May Cry and Castlevania anime crossover.
https://www.ign.com/article...
So anything is possible.
Alex S. from Link-Cable writes: "It’s been a Castlevania-packed week here at Link-Cable as we’ve spent nearly every day covering the series and reminiscing about our favorite moments from the revered franchise. But now it’s time to turn away from the light and take a deep dive into the darkness that is the worst games from the series. Yes, while the vast majority of games that bear the Castlevania games are genuinely good there’s enough monsters lurking in the shadows to fill us with dread of ever stepping back into Dracula’s castle. So grab your whips and your wall-meat, things are about to get"
It's unfortunate how LOS2 turn out, great gameplay mechanics let down by mostly bad level design and dull story.
LoS1 is among the best games i played, it reminded to rush into judging a game without trying it.
LoS2 had good combat.
It's how the end of the game was lackluster and felt unfinished.
Knew that Number 1 was going to be Castlevania Judgement. So many people judge the game without even playing it. It was a fine game with some flaws like most games, no where near the worst.
Simon's Quest is one of my favorite games of all time and ahead of its time. It felt like an action rpg, the day/night cycle was awesome and different, and when I figured out how to take the tornado to the other side I was excited. I beat the game in the early 90's and still have great memories playing it.
I know this would never happen but I would love to see a From Soft remake of Simon's Quest with Miyazaki developing it. It would hold up well as a souls-like experience.
Simon's Quest is always the bastard child of the good Castlevania. It was frankly ahead of it's time.
It's "cool" to hate on that game. Apart from being obtuse because of the localization, the atmosphere, gameplay and music still makes it one of the most memorable Castlevanias. It laid the groundwork for 2D exploration games down the line.
Few game series are as definitive and beloved as Castlevania. Pitting players against Dracula and his unholy forces time and again, it is a staple of the medium of gaming and continues to live on in some way, shape or form after decades of releases. Some entries have been better than others though, so today we've got all 30 ranked from worst to best.
It is a shame that developers now concentrate on co-op and forget people that don't play online, and pretty much every that buys this game will have Live since it is the only way to buy this game. I think Meh, I'll see more reviews, especially if he is marking this down because of its difficulty..
i'm sure i'm in the minority but i am so tired of online/multiplayer titles. i think they're completely played out. learn to play games by yourself for crying out loud.
The game is hard? Gamers these days, lol. This review shouldn't even count...seriously.
the more difficult and more i am challenged to complete something the better
That's castlevania sum it up perfectly in its title : despair .
Despair at the sigh of a big gaming corporation with so many funds , pumping up yet another snes/ds looks based castlevania . In an era of muramasa on wii , blazblue , sf2 hd , the upcoming contra game , many good looking 2d indie games , kof xii/xiii ..... how you can you still go that far backward in graphics ?
Often capcom , seega and namco are mentioned as company fallen from grace and mecanically throwing titles .... but the worse one seems to me to be Konami .
They dont even use their properties , besides constantly kojima studio stuff and pes , and dont do them justice .
Despair again , at the sight of the gameplay compromised so much for a cheap co-op ..
Yes that game is very harmonious in the despair it provides