Review: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Z(ombie)fan

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ONE: HAving to know about castlevania isn't remotely a flaw. I mean seriously. "You have to know about castlevania wHeh". ... and?

TWO: the time limit isnt that bad every, go play the pre-SOTN CV games. see? time limit ain't that bad.

EDIT: yeah sorry, but still I think the review sounded whiny. basically It sounds like a mix of classic and new-classic CV games, Only with Co-Op.

Also: Harmony of Despair...

Oh what the fuck? you mean they are STILL using the lame titles?
 

RvLeshrac

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Oct 2, 2008
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HarmanSmith said:
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.
"Old Fashioned"?

So I take it you've never played Castlevania, and had to restart from the beginning of the game when you were Bat-ed off a ledge, climbing to Drac, eh?

"Old Fashioned" indeed. :/
 

Dr. Wily III

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Jul 27, 2009
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Z(ombie)fan said:
Also: Harmony of Despair...

Oh what the fuck? you mean they are STILL using the lame titles?
Yeah, why don't they just say "Castlevania 29", seriously, what the hell?

...not to be taken seriously, thanks.
 

Kivan12

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Jul 31, 2009
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WHAT were they thinking with a time limit?! god the stupidity of game designers. What baffles me is that all the designers woudl have had to approve this at some point, and it gone through levels of decisions where everyone agreed it would be an excellent idea
 

Ghostkai

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Jun 14, 2008
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Speaking as someone who has completed it on hard (you have to complete it on normal first before you unlock the difficulty), the time limit isn't an issue, you can happily clear the entire level, and get all the loot in about 15 mins.

Also, I have over 10 friends to play this with online. 6 player co-op is a blast.
 

HarmanSmith

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Aug 12, 2009
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RvLeshrac said:
HarmanSmith said:
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.
"Old Fashioned"?

So I take it you've never played Castlevania, and had to restart from the beginning of the game when you were Bat-ed off a ledge, climbing to Drac, eh?

"Old Fashioned" indeed. :/
Ok, you caught me, I only started playing Castlevania when they came out for the GBA and only had started playing SotN when I cracked the disk (it was not good). To make amends, I will go buy SotN on XBLA. Regardless, that's how I remember Castlevania from my childhood. Leave my nostalgia alone!
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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Time...limit? HUH!? Seems like a really..>REALLY stupid idea to me...

oranger said:
No offline co-op/singleplayer? cash grab. no thanks, konami.
Agreed!
 

Deacon Cole

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Jan 10, 2009
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Blue-State said:
Time Limit
II
Deal Breaker
This.

Yeah, I know Super Mario Bros also had a time limit and so did a lot of games. but games have outgrown arbitrary time limits like that since we stopped playing games in video arcade and failure meant inserting another quarter.
 

Susan Arendt

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Jan 9, 2007
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Z(ombie)fan said:
ONE: HAving to know about castlevania isn't remotely a flaw. I mean seriously. "You have to know about castlevania wHeh". ... and?

TWO: the time limit isnt that bad every, go play the pre-SOTN CV games. see? time limit ain't that bad.

EDIT: yeah sorry, but still I think the review sounded whiny. basically It sounds like a mix of classic and new-classic CV games, Only with Co-Op.

Also: Harmony of Despair...

Oh what the fuck? you mean they are STILL using the lame titles?
Actually, having to know Castlevania is a flaw when it degrades the experience for anyone unfamiliar with the franchise lore. If the game did a better job of telling you what's what, then fine, but it doesn't. It doesn't make the game unplayable by any stretch, but it does make it a far more shallow and confusing experience.
 

pneuma08

Gaming Connoisseur
Sep 10, 2008
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I was definitively on board of this until I heard about the time limit, which seems just like extra baggage. That said, I was still considering it until I heard it doesn't have any offline co-op and it's not very good single-player.

Ugh.
 

samsonguy920

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Mar 24, 2009
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YukoValis said:
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.
Just what I was thinking. They could at least have made it an option for the speedfreaks out there.
And then there is the entire lack of help for new players. Quite the way to limit sales, dontcha think?
 

Kinguendo

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I have never found that 30 minute timer to be a problem and I have already racked up about 40 hours on it already. Also, I am awesome at it. :D

If you are going to play as a group the best size is 3 people. Dont choose the same characters otherwise you arent bringing anything new to the table.

Charlotte may seem weak to start with but she becomes very important when she learns the healing magic (from witches... she can learn both the magic attack and heal from them).

Get someone as Soma (even though I HATE him I still played as him because Konami decided not to put Juste Belmont in) because he is the best all-round character but can be a power house if you equip the right stuff and then your third can be anyone really...

However Shanoa is INSANELY good at long range. Seriously, lightning attack = awesome.

Also, Jonathon has powerful martial arts attacks and his B moves gained strength the more they are used... if you master them you also get stronger with the whip, oh and the whip is a good defensive weapon too as it can be swung around and has the longest range of any melee weapon on the game.

Who did I miss...? Oh Alucard, yeah hes alright... we sometimes had three different guys playing as him when we used a 6 person team, they werent exactly steam rolling the enemy but if you stick with any character they all get good.
 

Mass B

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RvLeshrac said:
HarmanSmith said:
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.
"Old Fashioned"?

So I take it you've never played Castlevania, and had to restart from the beginning of the game when you were Bat-ed off a ledge, climbing to Drac, eh?

"Old Fashioned" indeed. :/
My brother raged when he saw what you wrote lol he played Simon's Quest on an emulator. those damn bats and medusa heads got us every time
 

tehroc

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Jul 6, 2009
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I'm so glad it's not been dumbed down for non gamers. Quite honestly I couldnt give a damn about the business side of gaming. I would rather play quality games that arent nerfed down to the lowest common denominator.
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
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meganmeave said:
Onyx Oblivion said:
meganmeave said:
Onyx Oblivion said:
meganmeave said:
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.
I get a cut...I get a friend to play with!

I'm teach you everything. From how each character works, to the routes, to the backstory. And I'll do it all with glee!
 

BlindMessiah94

The 94th Blind Messiah
Nov 12, 2009
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I'll admit, I thought the review was all "Boohoo the game is hard make it easier" until the dreaded time limit was revealed. I agree with the above. Dealbreaker.

I'll just play SoTN if I want my Alucard fix.
 

Deofuta

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Nov 10, 2009
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How can people have a problem with the time limit? This is my first castlevania game, ever. And I have yet to run out of time (Cept for facing Dracula, 3 skele's kept dieing.)

It is NOT a deal breaker.
 

Atmos Duality

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Mar 3, 2010
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Psychosocial said:
Harmony of Despair lets you and up to five friends play as one of six iconic Castlevania characters, like Alucard, Soma Cruz, or Jonathan Morris
After this, I couldn't take a single word you said seriously.
Jonathan Morris might not be a Belmont, but he isn't that bad of a character.
My major complaint is that there isn't a real Belmont among the lot (unless you pay for Julius...yeah, thanks a pantload Konami).