Castlevania and Castlevania-like games...

[Howard_Casto]

So it's Halloween time again.  Every year I try to play some spooky games that are actually good (so not NOES or FT13th) and I'm running out of choice picks.  I recently re-played Castlevania 1-3 and Super Castlevania and the new BloodStained, Curse of the Moon and had a blast with all of them.  I haven't played a lot of the other Castlevania games and I'm wondering what's out there that is worth playing.  Everybody says that X/Rondo of Blood is amazing, but after trying to play it several times I get bored after the first level.  Is this one of those deals where the first stage sucks?  Symphony of the Night is another "masterpiece" I just can't get into.  It doesn't even feel like Castlevania to me.  I hear the OG Gameboy games are crap as are the ps2 3d games.  I actually liked the recent Lords of Shadow games, despite the negative reviews.   People seem to have mixed feelings on Castlevania Rebirth... I remember trying it on the wii and not finding it particularly impressive.  I've got Holy Diver on my list but other than that I would appreciate any suggestions. 

[05SRT4]

I recently started playing Dead Cells (Nintendo Switch), basically Castlevania meets Dark Souls. Its got some spooky atmospheres but damn its frustrating to play.

[thomas_surles]

There's a bunch of dark Japanese snes games that got translated.

[Malenko]

Mannnnn you don't like SotN so its hard to suggest the GBA trilogy: Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow.
I wasn't a big fan of the DS games, "Portrait of Ruin" and "Order of Ecclesia" were both pretty weak I beat both even getting the "don't get hit by the boss medals" for every boss in Ecclesia.

I used to play the crap out of Harmony of Despair, but that's way more fun co-op and Im 100% sure the online for that game is DEAD.

If you want a list of good "Metroidvania titles" check out Metroidvania.com ; but I'm afraid those titles are going to be more SotN and less Classic-vania, but Dead Cells is listed there too.

Did you finished Haunted Castle in MAME , maybe some Nightmare in the Dark?

[adder]

i enjoyed the original gameboy castlevania game

cursed castilla is good although more like ghosts n goblins than castlevania

[pbj]

"Cursed Castilla?"  Had to look that one up, and I liked the original name better.  (Maldita Castilla) Good game, though.  God forbid anyone learn 10 words of Spanish.



Break free of the platformer reigns and try the newest Resident Evil game.  Even without VR that thing is intense.

[opt2not]

Castlevania: Spectral Interlude is fantastic. It’s a fan-made homebrew for the ZX Spectrum but don’t let that deter you. It was made with a lot of love and respect for the series and can easily fit in alongside the official releases.
http://spectralinterlude.com/

[Howard_Casto]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.  I'll respond just for point of reference....  I actually liked a couple of the gba titles but it's been a few years ago and I can't remember which ones.   I already have Castle Castilla installed.  Much like a real Ghosts n' Goblins game I get to a certain point, the difficulty ramps waaaaaay up and I go "nope, not fun anymore"  It is pretty impressive though.  As for RE7, imho too much RE2, not nearly enough RE4/5/6.  I don't want to fiddle with keycard puzzles, I want to fight zombies and ridiculous bosses. Does it get to a point in the game where that is a thing?  I only tried a few hours.   I'll check out Spectral Interlude and some snes translations, thanks.   Might also get around to installing Friday the 13th assuming the servers are still alive. 

[Titchgamer]

Friday the 13th is free on PSN this month if you have a PS4

As for recommendations afraid I cant think of any Castlevania-esq titles worth a damn.

[opt2not]

What about Axiom Verge?  It's not really ghouls and ghosts and vampires stuff, but it's got a cool creepy alien vibe to it.  It's also a fantastic metroidvania, which can be beat in about 12 hours if you're not going for 100% secrets.

[Howard_Casto]

I've been saving that one.  Seems like a good winter title to me as I generally like to go for 100% if I can help it. 

[Malenko]

Shadow Warrior 2 is free on gog.com


nothing to do with the thread but its FREE WANG!
couldnt resist.

[nitrogen_widget]

"Cursed Castilla?"  Had to look that one up, and I liked the original name better.  (Maldita Castilla) Good game, though.  God forbid anyone learn 10 words of Spanish.



Break free of the platformer reigns and try the newest Resident Evil game.  Even without VR that thing is intense.

That plays great on the RPI.

[javeryh]

I am in the middle of Hollow Knight and it is one of the best 2D adventure games I've ever played.  Creepy vibe and hard as hell.  Although I'm at the point where I'm not super afraid of dying at any moment but it could still happen.  It is also a long game - I'm about 30 hours in and I'm still finding entire new areas to explore.  The map is gigantic and full of secrets.  The move set is super easy to use but the more you play the better your (real world) skills get so the game becomes easier to navigate.  It's really great.

I also picked up Dead Cells but I can't get into it - I know I stink but I'm only ever able to get to the second area and then I die and have to start over.   

[Malenko]

I also picked up Dead Cells but I can't get into it - I know I stink but I'm only ever able to get to the second area and then I die and have to start over.   

After spending like $40 to have Dark Souls 3 anally rape me I couldn't spend another $25 to have it happen again in 2D

[pbj]

I can't get past the first boss on Dark Souls 3.

[opt2not]

Never understood what all the rage was about with Dark Souls. The controls are absolutely atrocious. That's most of what the difficulty of that game is...
It's like Defender. The controls, make it hard, but only the most masochistic of hardcore players can get used to them and excel at the game. Unfortunately I have no patience for design choices that involve making a game hard from a interfacing stand-point.

[Howard_Casto]

Ditto.  From a game design point it's just a bad game.  Lots of popular games have been poorly designed over the years and I never have understood how they become so popular. 

[Osirus23]

Never understood what all the rage was about with Dark Souls. The controls are absolutely atrocious. That's most of what the difficulty of that game is...

I only have about 15 minutes of experience with the franchise. I bought the first Dark Souls for PC when the port was finally released. However, the port was so awful that I uninstalled almost immediately. It wasn't just the controls. The frame rate was locked at 30 and even the resolution was locked at 720p.

[Howard_Casto]

So I ended up getting sick last week and I'm still recovering so not much in the way of gaming for me.  I fired up resident evil revelations 2 on the switch tonight as I've yet to finish it.  Think I'm gonna play that this month and maybe holy diver.  If I get through those I'm going to give Rhondo of Blood and SOTN another chance.   Then it's back to the mega man x games.... I'll play through them until the quality gets so bad it isn't worth it.

[Grasshopper]

I'm sure most of you will have played this already, but FWIW I'm currently slowly working my way through Castlevania: Bloodlines. If you haven't played it then I suggest you give it a shot. It's at least as good as any other Castlevania game that I've played.

Castlevania: Spectral Interlude is fantastic. It’s a fan-made homebrew for the ZX Spectrum but don’t let that deter you. It was made with a lot of love and respect for the series and can easily fit in alongside the official releases.

Wow. That's damned impressive for a Spectrum game. I'll definitely be checking that out.