This nice thing about Castlevania, starting off, is that if you leave the title screen alone long enough, you eventually get a preview of what the game is about. Isn't that nice?? It's nicer than what Metroid and Legend of Zelda gave me...or maybe it's because I didn't quite give them enough time? Maybe I'm supposed to wait a minute or longer instead of just 30-something seconds. Oh wells.
And, JOY OF JOYS! We get a story!! That's excellent...
Well, kind of. We just see our character coming up to a gate in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. That's about it...and then we're thrown right into the dungeon. Yay. But it's still better than nothing.
From what I gathered in the preview, there's going to be lots of monsters running about and we're gonna have to whip them into shape and hope everything goes well.
Okay, first rule of playing this game; HIT EVERYTHING. Some of the "decorations" can drop items and power-ups! Which is awesome. I'm hoping this'll make the game easier so that I don't DIE within 30 seconds.
MORE HEALTH! MORE POWERRR!!! AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!
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| I'm dying!!! |
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| I die... |
I didn't even get very far but that was only my first run of it and, compared to Metroid and Legend of Zelda, I might as well as halfway done!!! XD (Har-har, I so funny...)
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MANY MORE DEATHS LATER...
Stage 5 SUCKS. So friggin' hard. Raging so much. I don't wike it.
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Quick Q & A for Castlevania. (Here, have some more serious business.)
1. How would you describe the genre of the game? How is this evident in level design, storytelling and gameplay?
It's an adventure/action game that's not too dissimilar to the likes of Metroid and Legend of Zelda. (Maybe that's the theme. Ah-hah! I get it...) The progress into the game is very linear; just keep moving forward. You're still able to go back to collect items or power-ups if need be after you die but the monsters also respawn very frequently so it might just be up to you to decide if going back for extra items is worth the potential loss of HP or to just go with the bare minimum of what you've got to get to the next stage. Stages 01 to 04 is easy enough but 05 is horrible...(I won't describe to you how much I raged but Tea knows all the details.)
Story-telling wise, it's not very clear either. We did have a beginning sequence of our character coming up to a closed gate with a castle looming in the distance. But that's it. There is no more to this beginning sequence than that. We're then thrown right into the world of Castlevania, although we do have a pretty chill map where we're able to knock off decorations in order to pick up items and power-ups for use. It's also time-based, which forces you to not only be quick about getting to the next main stage, but also to be smart about NOT CONSTANTLY DYING.
Gameplay is simple enough to grasp; you're mostly jumping and hitting and moving forward. Your only obstacles are the monsters within the games and a boss at the end of a certain stage. I met the first one in stage 04. That pretty much concluded that particular section of the map.
2. How does your chosen game(s) tell its story? Is it successful?
Did Castlevania tell me a story? Yes, albeit a short exposition that involves my character staring at the castle in the distance, under the bright yellow crescent moon and partial clouds. It would've been helpful to know more because, as it is, I think I'm a treasure/vampire hunter killing monsters and collecting money and hearts and weapon upgrades from breaking walls, whipping at candle sticks and jumping over wolves. It reminds me a little bit of Indiana Jones? But Indiana would leave after he picked up the jewel from the boss in stage 04 instead of CONTINUING ON. But that might be just me.
3. Does your game encourage exploration? How does this affect the pace/meaning/structure of the narrative?
Lots of exploration to be had. Although, not quite? There are moments where you must backtrack to make sure your whip is in good enough shape that you can kill the boss easily but at the same time, you can CHOOSE to go without the upgrades if you are so bold. The pace has to be quick due to the time-based nature of the game but there's more than enough time on the timer to allow you to explore the stages fully but also complete it within 300 seconds, which is nice. As for structure? It mostly feels like I'm immersing myself in a Van Helsing movie, although a much older version than the one starring Hugh Jackson and Kate Beckinsale. Although there are a lot more ghosts/zombies and "creatures of the deep" within the game than the movie has.
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That's all for this week's gameplays! Tune in next time when I try to have a go with Facade, Her Story and/or Never alone...
(Always alone...)
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