Castlevania: SOTN... shortest/easiest game ever?
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Daddy_Mulk
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LOL, this thread is the best! SOTN is a bit on the easy side when looking at the series as a whole, but that doesn't mean it's not fun. I played through Katamari Damacy in a matter of hours without ever looking at a FAQ, and yet somehow I still managed to play it every night for a month afterwards. Fun is a relative term, but I've never met a CV player who didn't have a blast with SOTN.
[quote name='ViolentLee']Remember Super Mario Bros.? You can use warp pipes and beat that in about 15 minutes. That doesn't mean you've "conquered" the game, or even come close to seeing everything it has to offer. It's like reading a book and reading every third chapter.[/QUOTE]
You realize we could start an entire sub-thread based on this? Off the top of my head, I'm thinking that it could be entirely possible that the OP...
*watches 60 Minutes every Sunday until about 7:20.
*enjoys a good 3-inning baseball game (particularly the 2nd-inning stretch).
*thinks that "24" always hits its climax during Hour 8
*plays poker with a deck of 17 1/3.
*brushes his 10 2/3 teeth to perfection every night.
*rotates his food in the microwave 1/6 of the way through cooking.
(Keep it going!)
----DM
[quote name='ViolentLee']Remember Super Mario Bros.? You can use warp pipes and beat that in about 15 minutes. That doesn't mean you've "conquered" the game, or even come close to seeing everything it has to offer. It's like reading a book and reading every third chapter.[/QUOTE]
You realize we could start an entire sub-thread based on this? Off the top of my head, I'm thinking that it could be entirely possible that the OP...
*watches 60 Minutes every Sunday until about 7:20.
*enjoys a good 3-inning baseball game (particularly the 2nd-inning stretch).
*thinks that "24" always hits its climax during Hour 8
*plays poker with a deck of 17 1/3.
*brushes his 10 2/3 teeth to perfection every night.
*rotates his food in the microwave 1/6 of the way through cooking.
(Keep it going!)
----DM
lurknomore
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[quote name='Daddy_Mulk']
*watches 60 Minutes every Sunday until about 7:20.
*enjoys a good 3-inning baseball game (particularly the 2nd-inning stretch).
*thinks that "24" always hits its climax during Hour 8
*plays poker with a deck of 17 1/3.
*brushes his 10 2/3 teeth to perfection every night.
*rotates his food in the microwave 1/6 of the way through cooking.
(Keep it going!)
----DM[/QUOTE]Now that's comedy. ROTFLMAO
*watches 60 Minutes every Sunday until about 7:20.
*enjoys a good 3-inning baseball game (particularly the 2nd-inning stretch).
*thinks that "24" always hits its climax during Hour 8
*plays poker with a deck of 17 1/3.
*brushes his 10 2/3 teeth to perfection every night.
*rotates his food in the microwave 1/6 of the way through cooking.
(Keep it going!)
----DM[/QUOTE]Now that's comedy. ROTFLMAO
So I have explored almost all of the "first castle". I don't actually know what the hell the second castle is all about as I didn't scramble for the cheat guides like I'm sure most people did (you are almost forced to). Frankly, I don't care to continue. I have spent my last two gaming sessions searching out every nook and cranny, fighting endless waves of enemies that die in a single hit, bosses that do 1 damage to me and don't take many more hits than the yard trash, getting a ridiculous amount of life and heart boosts, finding a ton of useless weapons and armor, and trying to get familiars to actually do something productive. By the time I got done exploring all I could, I just wanted to save the game and be done with it.
The game was hella fun my first time through (Read: when I completed the game "too fast"). I almost have 100% in 6 hours of play time and my relic screen is only missing a few items. I am married, a baby coming in 3 weeks, currently attending college, maintaining a new house and have far too many other games to attend to. It's time to move on.
I know people love to slap a score of 100/10/omgz/jizz/etc on this game, but I feel this is just the usual Castlevania game. The music is awesome, as to be expected with a Konami game. The graphics are normal for a 32bit game, with extra added flaming exploding bloody corpses for good measure, along with some slowdown. The RPG elements, in my gaming experience, added nothing to the game. Overall, it really is just what I would expect from a Castlevania game: Short and sweet.
The game was hella fun my first time through (Read: when I completed the game "too fast"). I almost have 100% in 6 hours of play time and my relic screen is only missing a few items. I am married, a baby coming in 3 weeks, currently attending college, maintaining a new house and have far too many other games to attend to. It's time to move on.
I know people love to slap a score of 100/10/omgz/jizz/etc on this game, but I feel this is just the usual Castlevania game. The music is awesome, as to be expected with a Konami game. The graphics are normal for a 32bit game, with extra added flaming exploding bloody corpses for good measure, along with some slowdown. The RPG elements, in my gaming experience, added nothing to the game. Overall, it really is just what I would expect from a Castlevania game: Short and sweet.
[quote name='JSweeney']That said, I'm surprised you didn't check a faq after you thought you beat the game, OP. With such a lackluster ending (the fake one), it would seem that the hype around the game was much ado about nothing... but if I play a game that I'm actually enjoying, I go a look at a faq after I've beaten the game just to see if I missed out on anything interesting.[/QUOTE]
I knew I was going to give it another try, so I didn't want to spoil anything. I gathered from random sources that this game had a lot of secrets, so I was trying to go in with a clean mind, free from spoilers, and play it like a true newbie would.
Tonight, after shelving the game for good, I did skim over a couple FAQs. I didn't want to read too many details in case I did decide to play again.
My final play through seems to have found pretty much everything in the first castle and I read a bit about the second castle. There did seem to be quite a bit of content after getting the "bad ending". Maybe this game was an experiment in seeing how many strategy guides they could sell.
I knew I was going to give it another try, so I didn't want to spoil anything. I gathered from random sources that this game had a lot of secrets, so I was trying to go in with a clean mind, free from spoilers, and play it like a true newbie would.
Tonight, after shelving the game for good, I did skim over a couple FAQs. I didn't want to read too many details in case I did decide to play again.
My final play through seems to have found pretty much everything in the first castle and I read a bit about the second castle. There did seem to be quite a bit of content after getting the "bad ending". Maybe this game was an experiment in seeing how many strategy guides they could sell. 
[quote name='c']You're just asking for tons of people like me who got to the second castle without prior knowledge of its existence to brag about said accomplishment. [/QUOTE]
I just had to know what that hallway full of spikes lead to. That was how I eventually figured out about the second castle. I admit it was a convoluted series of steps just to unlock the second part of the game.
I have to agree with what you said earlier too. Its a short game to play through but I've replayed it more times then any other game I have (including Katamari, FF7, etc). I think its the excellent, responsive controls and insane amount of (useless) stuff to collect. One time I ran around just trying to get as much cheesecake as possible for no reason at all. I think I ended up with 60 pieces without using the duplicater. If I had time now I would play through it again just because of this thread.
[/QUOTE]I just had to know what that hallway full of spikes lead to. That was how I eventually figured out about the second castle. I admit it was a convoluted series of steps just to unlock the second part of the game.
I have to agree with what you said earlier too. Its a short game to play through but I've replayed it more times then any other game I have (including Katamari, FF7, etc). I think its the excellent, responsive controls and insane amount of (useless) stuff to collect. One time I ran around just trying to get as much cheesecake as possible for no reason at all. I think I ended up with 60 pieces without using the duplicater. If I had time now I would play through it again just because of this thread.
[quote name='c']You're just asking for tons of people like me who got to the second castle without prior knowledge of its existence to brag about said accomplishment. [/QUOTE]
I just honestly never thought it was that hard to figure out, especially if you did go through every nook and crany of the self-titled "First Castle".
[/QUOTE]I just honestly never thought it was that hard to figure out, especially if you did go through every nook and crany of the self-titled "First Castle".
Machikunas
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[quote name='Amano']
There's so many different ways to play this game and quirks to enjoy, it's baffling people don't appreciate this game more.[/QUOTE]
What??? This game gets about as much credit as any PS1 game in existence, if not the most. It's listed in all sorts of "greatest games of all time" lists from gaming publications and random gamers. It gets absolutely CRAZY amounts of appreciation.
There's so many different ways to play this game and quirks to enjoy, it's baffling people don't appreciate this game more.[/QUOTE]
What??? This game gets about as much credit as any PS1 game in existence, if not the most. It's listed in all sorts of "greatest games of all time" lists from gaming publications and random gamers. It gets absolutely CRAZY amounts of appreciation.
already been stated
[quote name='ItoBandito']Yeah man go find the glasses then put them on when you fight Belmont, there something above him you have to kill so you can then do the whole castle backwards and fight dracula at the end. Sorry so vague haven't played it in years.[/QUOTE]
[quote name='ItoBandito']Yeah man go find the glasses then put them on when you fight Belmont, there something above him you have to kill so you can then do the whole castle backwards and fight dracula at the end. Sorry so vague haven't played it in years.[/QUOTE]
Machikunas
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[quote name='Amano']I'm talking "general gaming public" type of recognition.[/QUOTE]
Still gets a ton of recognition. Not from the Madden crowd, but pretty much everyone else seems to recognize its greatness.
Still gets a ton of recognition. Not from the Madden crowd, but pretty much everyone else seems to recognize its greatness.
[quote name='Amano']I just honestly never thought it was that hard to figure out, especially if you did go through every nook and crany of the self-titled "First Castle".[/QUOTE]
I concur. You don't have to be a genius to "find" the second castle. And why you would put the time into getting all 100% of the first castle before sucking it up and going to the second castle once people have told you about it is beyond me.
I'm beginning to think the OP is putting us all on here. Either that, or he's intentionally avoiding a good gaming experience because he got it in his head that the game was over-rated and then got his feelings hurt when he was mocked for patting himself on the back for finishing the game when he was really only 15% in. This whole thing almost defies logic.
By the way, I also "found" the second castle without an FAQ, as did probably more than 70% of the people here. When SOTN was still new (and had not yet had time to be so loudly applauded) just playing it with no knowledge of other's experiences, the game STILL screams that there must be more after the "first" ending.
I concur. You don't have to be a genius to "find" the second castle. And why you would put the time into getting all 100% of the first castle before sucking it up and going to the second castle once people have told you about it is beyond me.
I'm beginning to think the OP is putting us all on here. Either that, or he's intentionally avoiding a good gaming experience because he got it in his head that the game was over-rated and then got his feelings hurt when he was mocked for patting himself on the back for finishing the game when he was really only 15% in. This whole thing almost defies logic.
By the way, I also "found" the second castle without an FAQ, as did probably more than 70% of the people here. When SOTN was still new (and had not yet had time to be so loudly applauded) just playing it with no knowledge of other's experiences, the game STILL screams that there must be more after the "first" ending.
[quote name='Machikunas']Still gets a ton of recognition. Not from the Madden crowd, but pretty much everyone else seems to recognize its greatness.[/QUOTE]
Point made.
When I have SotN popped in at work, I should not have to explain to even the higher-level gamers that come into the store what I'm playing. I even had a little fun with this: I put the game in and played as much as I could at work. Over the course of five 8-hour days, I had one person know what I was playing, and that was my coworker (and my store is quite high-traffic, being one of two stores in the area between the Sacramento and Reno stretch of the CA/NV border). Even past Castlevania enthusiasts (NES era) that come into my store give me the "hit in the head by a brick" look when I tell them it's a Castlevania game.
Point made.
When I have SotN popped in at work, I should not have to explain to even the higher-level gamers that come into the store what I'm playing. I even had a little fun with this: I put the game in and played as much as I could at work. Over the course of five 8-hour days, I had one person know what I was playing, and that was my coworker (and my store is quite high-traffic, being one of two stores in the area between the Sacramento and Reno stretch of the CA/NV border). Even past Castlevania enthusiasts (NES era) that come into my store give me the "hit in the head by a brick" look when I tell them it's a Castlevania game.
SOTN is soo good that I originally played it on a cd-rom and beat it several times, I later bought the GH version for $12. After beating that I bought the non GH version and played thru that twice. I am now currently shopping around for the Sega Saturn Import version so I can beat that. Thats how good this game is.
ViolentLee
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[quote name='Amano']Point made.
When I have SotN popped in at work, I should not have to explain to even the higher-level gamers that come into the store what I'm playing. I even had a little fun with this: I put the game in and played as much as I could at work. Over the course of five 8-hour days, I had one person know what I was playing, and that was my coworker (and my store is quite high-traffic, being one of two stores in the area between the Sacramento and Reno stretch of the CA/NV border). Even past Castlevania enthusiasts (NES era) that come into my store give me the "hit in the head by a brick" look when I tell them it's a Castlevania game.[/QUOTE]
You sure you're not getting the "get off the machine and do your
ing job" look instead, and you're just misunderstanding it?
When I have SotN popped in at work, I should not have to explain to even the higher-level gamers that come into the store what I'm playing. I even had a little fun with this: I put the game in and played as much as I could at work. Over the course of five 8-hour days, I had one person know what I was playing, and that was my coworker (and my store is quite high-traffic, being one of two stores in the area between the Sacramento and Reno stretch of the CA/NV border). Even past Castlevania enthusiasts (NES era) that come into my store give me the "hit in the head by a brick" look when I tell them it's a Castlevania game.[/QUOTE]
You sure you're not getting the "get off the machine and do your
ing job" look instead, and you're just misunderstanding it?
asianxcore
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I've noticed this game has gotten into the 30+ dollar range even for the Greatest Hits version. Is there any reason for that? I thought the rarity of this game went down recently.
Also I hope once I finish Dawn of Sorrow for the DS, I can hope back into this game. Unfortunely I never got to finish this game, and definitely look forward to playing it.
Also I hope once I finish Dawn of Sorrow for the DS, I can hope back into this game. Unfortunely I never got to finish this game, and definitely look forward to playing it.
[quote name='asianxcore']I've noticed this game has gotten into the 30+ dollar range even for the Greatest Hits version. Is there any reason for that? I thought the rarity of this game went down recently.[/QUOTE]Yes, the reason is that people don't know they can check their local Blockbuster for $5 copies of the game.
Maybe I'll try and pick this up sometime. Though I've never been a fan of the Castlevania games...I just haven't been able to get into one. *shrugs*
I suppose if this is the greatest in the series and I can't enjoy it, then I'll swear off Castlevania forever...
I suppose if this is the greatest in the series and I can't enjoy it, then I'll swear off Castlevania forever...
secretvampire
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I just assumed it was because of the release of Dawn of Sorrow. Sequels often temporarily bump the prices of earlier games in the series.
[quote name='CheapyD']Yes, the reason is that people don't know they can check their local Blockbuster for $5 copies of the game.[/QUOTE]
My Blockbuster doesn't even have PS1 games anymore, and SOTN is nowhere to be found in my city. -_-;
I'd gladly pay $30 if I could find a nice, GH or non GH, complete copy in my city.
My Blockbuster doesn't even have PS1 games anymore, and SOTN is nowhere to be found in my city. -_-;
I'd gladly pay $30 if I could find a nice, GH or non GH, complete copy in my city.
ChrisGwinn
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It's not that hard to find the second castle. When we first played it, we didn't have an FAQ or guide, but it was really obvious that something was missing at the ending. It didn't make a lot of sense plot-wise, there were lots of relics missing, etc. It took a day or two for us to figure out what we were doing wrong and make it past the "end".
That being said, it's not like someone watching 20 minutes of a TV show. The game does end if you don't figure out what's really going on, and it would certainly be possible to never realize that you had lost instead of won.
That being said, it's not like someone watching 20 minutes of a TV show. The game does end if you don't figure out what's really going on, and it would certainly be possible to never realize that you had lost instead of won.
[quote name='ViolentLee']You sure you're not getting the "get off the machine and do your ing job" look instead, and you're just misunderstanding it?[/QUOTE]
Funny how I've yet to get even the slightest complaint on how I do my job. Come in sometime. I'll be more than happy to help you.
Regardless, I think the main tip-off in the grand scheme of whether this game was complete or not at the "end" was the fact that you were missing a fair amount of Relics, just like ChrisGwinn mentioned.
ing job" look instead, and you're just misunderstanding it?[/QUOTE]Funny how I've yet to get even the slightest complaint on how I do my job. Come in sometime. I'll be more than happy to help you.
Regardless, I think the main tip-off in the grand scheme of whether this game was complete or not at the "end" was the fact that you were missing a fair amount of Relics, just like ChrisGwinn mentioned.
ViolentLee
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[quote name='Rig']Maybe I'll try and pick this up sometime. Though I've never been a fan of the Castlevania games...I just haven't been able to get into one. *shrugs*
I suppose if this is the greatest in the series and I can't enjoy it, then I'll swear off Castlevania forever...[/QUOTE]
I honestly never played a Castlevania game before SotN for more than a minute or two; they did nothing for me, either. But the RPG elements and Super Metroid-style level design of Symphony made it one of my favorite games of all time, and I've loved every subsequent 'vania game.
[quote name='Amano']Funny how I've yet to get even the slightest complaint on how I do my job. Come in sometime. I'll be more than happy to help you.[/QUOTE]
Next time I'm in Northern Nevada, I'll look you up. Where is it exactly that you work? I worked at a Funcoland (absorbed by GameStop) out of high school, and completed the awesome puzzle game Mario Picross for Game Boy a couple of times while on the clock.
I suppose if this is the greatest in the series and I can't enjoy it, then I'll swear off Castlevania forever...[/QUOTE]
I honestly never played a Castlevania game before SotN for more than a minute or two; they did nothing for me, either. But the RPG elements and Super Metroid-style level design of Symphony made it one of my favorite games of all time, and I've loved every subsequent 'vania game.
[quote name='Amano']Funny how I've yet to get even the slightest complaint on how I do my job. Come in sometime. I'll be more than happy to help you.[/QUOTE]
Next time I'm in Northern Nevada, I'll look you up. Where is it exactly that you work? I worked at a Funcoland (absorbed by GameStop) out of high school, and completed the awesome puzzle game Mario Picross for Game Boy a couple of times while on the clock.
[quote name='ViolentLee']Next time I'm in Northern Nevada, I'll look you up. Where is it exactly that you work? I worked at a Funcoland (absorbed by GameStop) out of high school, and completed the awesome puzzle game Mario Picross for Game Boy a couple of times while on the clock.[/QUOTE]
RIP Funcoland. Location PMed.
I'll also admit that SotN hooked me on the formula. I've been wanting to go back and play through the earlier installments, though. Dracula X for the SNES is okay. If they're anything similar to that, I'm sure I'll enjoy them.
RIP Funcoland. Location PMed.
I'll also admit that SotN hooked me on the formula. I've been wanting to go back and play through the earlier installments, though. Dracula X for the SNES is okay. If they're anything similar to that, I'm sure I'll enjoy them.
bread's done