Review: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

[Susan Arendt]

Review: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Harmony of Despair is an interesting twist on the Castlevania formula, but is also an acquired taste.

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[Meggiepants]

Ah, well, I thought the game looked a little wacky when I saw the videos of it on XBL. This clears up a lot of things for me.

I probably won't be getting it, even though one of my XBL friends has been playing it non-stop for the last week. I'll be waiting for the new Tomb Raider co-op... which a truly hope is good.

 

[YukoValis]

Everything looked decent up until the fricken time limit. A Time limit? geez that just ruins it all. I would love to explore a HUGE castle with friends because the hit detection can make the game a blast. Avoiding deadly blades and traps that come within inches of you is what made SOTN a lot of fun, so while this shares the same notion, the time limit really screws you over and makes you rush.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Ah, well, I thought the game looked a little wacky when I saw the videos of it on XBL. This clears up a lot of things for me.

I probably won't be getting it, even though one of my XBL friends has been playing it non-stop for the last week. I'll be waiting for the new Tomb Raider co-op... which a truly hope is good.

That's me, isn't it?

OT:

I'm loving it. Playing as Shanoa is a blast, but this game DEFINITELY requires you to have played Castlevania before, for newcomers, just get Symphony of the Night on the arcade, or the DS games.

But really, just get the DS games.

Especially Order of Ecclesia. I've seen far too many online players who've played Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, SOTN...but have NOT played OoE.

That said, the time limit is barely an issue. I've never run out of time, as I'm usually long dead by then.

One quick note, whenever a "dead" skeleton player dies, the time goes down 3-5 minutes, to prevent people from exploiting it as a form of infinite life, since when the skeleton dies, you just respawn.

 

[Moriarty70]

So what I'm hearing is, if you're not going to play multiplayer, stick with Shadow Complex. Got it, time for another run.

 

[Mutie]

IRON MAIDEN!!

 

[Meggiepants]

Ah, well, I thought the game looked a little wacky when I saw the videos of it on XBL. This clears up a lot of things for me.

I probably won't be getting it, even though one of my XBL friends has been playing it non-stop for the last week. I'll be waiting for the new Tomb Raider co-op... which a truly hope is good.

That's me, isn't it?

Perhaps... <.<

You do seem to be enjoying it. I was tempted to buy it only because I knew any time I got on I could try the multiplayer madness because you would be playing it.

 

[Testsubject909]

Maybe it's just me and my backseat gaming nature...

But looking at a video of someone playing on Youtube... I swear, just about five seconds in the full zoom-out, I could make a clear cut path to the boss and pretty much made right-on guesses as to what switch would open what doors for the stages I saw (the first three)

Most everything else felt relatively instinctive by the visuals alone.... Now to wait until it gets ported to PSN..... Maybe..

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Ah, well, I thought the game looked a little wacky when I saw the videos of it on XBL. This clears up a lot of things for me.

I probably won't be getting it, even though one of my XBL friends has been playing it non-stop for the last week. I'll be waiting for the new Tomb Raider co-op... which a truly hope is good.

That's me, isn't it?

Perhaps... <.<

You do seem to be enjoying it. I was tempted to buy it only because I knew any time I got on I could try the multiplayer madness because you would be playing it.

I can promise you this...I'll teach you the levels, and then the time limit will NEVER trouble you. Not even the first time. If you want me to slay everything for you so you can get PHAT LOOT, I'll do it. If you want me to back off, so that you can do stuff on your own, I'll do it. I've got 40 hours with this game...That's just with one characters. I plan to master all 5 in the end...So, I pretty much enjoy this game no matter what I'm doing.

 

[Mass B]

obviously i'm into the castelvania series. SOTN is my favorite, so i was glad to hear that alucard was in the game. I had my doubts about the game from the trailers, and the time limit is seriously bugging me, but i still plan on buying it. Someone tell me if this is a huge mistake.

 

[HarmanSmith]

I think the developers forgot one important thing when making this game: bosses in Castlevania are going to kill you... a lot... before you can memorize their attack patterns and kill them. Making players restart the level every time a boss kills them is a completely unnecessary annoyance. Call me old-fashioned, but I like playing fighting from save point to save point, just like I always have.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

obviously i'm into the castelvania series. SOTN is my favorite, so i was glad to hear that alucard was in the game. I had my doubts about the game from the trailers, and the time limit is seriously bugging me, but i still plan on buying it. Someone tell me if this is a huge mistake.

It won't. It really won't. Just use your map, and remember, SWITCHES ALWAYS NEED TO FACE RIGHT.

If the switch is facing left, it...NEEDS TO FACE RIGHT.

 

[Meggiepants]

Ah, well, I thought the game looked a little wacky when I saw the videos of it on XBL. This clears up a lot of things for me.

I probably won't be getting it, even though one of my XBL friends has been playing it non-stop for the last week. I'll be waiting for the new Tomb Raider co-op... which a truly hope is good.

That's me, isn't it?

Perhaps... <.<

You do seem to be enjoying it. I was tempted to buy it only because I knew any time I got on I could try the multiplayer madness because you would be playing it.

I can promise you this...I'll teach you the levels, and then the time limit will NEVER trouble you. Not even the first time. If you want me to slay everything for you so you can get PHAT LOOT, I'll do it. If you want me to back off, so that you can do stuff on your own, I'll do it. I've got 40 hours with this game...That's just with one characters. I plan to master all 5 in the end...So, I pretty much enjoy this game no matter what I'm doing.

What is it with you and game pushing? First Limbo now this... I think maybe you are getting a cut.

You better play with me if I buy this, because I don't know anyone else who has it, and I don't want to be like Susan, standing in front of a wall that doesn't move because I don't have a partner.

 

[sageoftruth]

Well, I'm sold. Nothing tempts me like saying that a game is very hard. Maybe I'll put it on my list after Demon's Souls.

 

[Anti-Robot Man]

Time limit + NO OFFLINE CO-OP = No Sale. And I love the Castlevania series, I hope Konami pull their act together and release a real 2D Castlevania game (hopefully with some redrawn sprites).

 

[Kuchinawa212]

Ooooh owwww man I thought it was going to be better. The demo I played looked like "man we should get some guys together and play this" but if it's still lack luster? daaaamn

 

[ohgodalex]

If local co-op=0,
purchase HoD=0.
Simple as that.