Writing Pantheon hmmmm. I think I’ll make some suggestions. Yeah, play symphony of the night or the ds games. And if you want the classic side scroller experience, play Super Castlevania 4 or Castlevania Rondo of Blood, or Bloodlines,
Dude, same here! ! In fact all the fan service-y parts had me lose my sh*t, and I was only either *VAGUELY* familiar or vastly ignorant to what it was referencing, alluding to, or remixing. The show is my FAVORITE vampire based IP now.
maybe you should check out some of warren elliss other work, supergod, transmetropolitan or planetary, also fun fact, RED was written by him too, he has a pretty sharp humor, and in transmetropolitan he foretold a lot of stuff we have now...
I cannot empathize with this stance at all. If I like something, I feel an urge to consume all of it, especially the core/source material. But you do you, bro.
did it right? maybe you SHOULD replay all the old games and see how shitty the netflix series was. Do you not even remember Grant from CV3? Hector from Curse of Darkness was completely changed, basically merging him with Joachim. Who the fuck is Godbrand and why is he a fucking moron? You want vampire lieutenants? Then make Count Olrox from SOTN a general. Expand on his backstory. Stick in Galamoth. We saw Slogra and Gaibon who were mindless mobs, not sub boss caliber characters. Castlevania was popular, but not because it was "Game of Thrones with vampires." It was popular because it was a huge castle of demons and monster's who were subservient to Dracula. The games showcased a great plethora of monsters. Season one was scant on monster type and season two even less. They took the CV3 story and sat 3 out 4 characters in a library doing shit all nothing. When the game had numerous locales, and ample opportunities for the team to learn about Dracula through the journey to Castlevania, the tv series decided *POOF* they're at the castle. Fucking bullshit.
If I have one gripe about this show, it's that Trevor feels pretty inconsequential. Sypha teleports the castle and traps it, Alucard mostly single-handedly killed Dracula and Trevor... helped? I think the climax definitely should've been centered around Alucard and Trevor working together. Their inability to trust each other and constant bickering is basically the main thrust of the hero's story. In my mind, after Alucard fights Drac alone, he gets whooped. Trevor fights him alone. Gets whooped. Then, they finally work together and put him down. And for Christ's sake, the whip should definitely be what kills him. That's such a big part of the mythology, the fucking whip is one of the only means to actually beat Dracula.
If you remove Trevor from the picture Alucard would have died, and Sypha would have failed to take the castle. The Morning Star whip was crucial to winning against Dracula, it was something an already starving Dracula wasn't mentally prepared to deal with. Which spurned his desperate rage, and allowed Alucard to have a fighting chance. If that fireball had been thrown prior to that whip attack they'd all be dead. Trevor was instrumental in protecting Sypha during the summoning. Single handedly taking out several unique enemies in the Belmont hold. Not to mention supplying the catalyst toward finding Dracula in the first place. The three were critical toward the victory achieved. Trevor standing behind Sypha was a beautiful representation of his role. The anchor that keeps the fight against Dracula alive. The blood in his veins. The whip in his hand... and faith in his heart.
@@Krystalmyth Also, when the trio finally enter the castle and see the horde of enemies in the hallway they need to beat to proceed into the castle, who calls the shots and assigns roles for everyone? Trevor. And, out of the trio, I say he has probably the best ending. He gets companionship and redemption for his family name.
1. Symphony of the Night 2. Harmony of Dissonance 3. Aria of Sorrow 4. Portrait of Ruin 5. Castlevania 4 6. Rondo of Blood 7. Order of Ecclesia 8. Bloodlines 9. Curse of Darkness 10. Castlevania 3 Just told you the best ones go play em now
Important question here: in which of those games can I stand in one place and jiggle my whip in a circle like an idiot? Cuz that was the best part of Super Castlevania 4.
Your sugggestions are really good but they don't even include a belmont or the classic style. I would say super castlevania 4 is a good option, but even better playing rondo of blood and then symphony of the night. In that way you get a nice story arc and probably the two best games in each genre
I'd do it in reverse myself just for playability. Rondo of Blood would spit out most new players. I played Symphony first like most in the US and still loved Rondo.
Technically the Morrises from Castlevania Bloodlines and Portrait of Ruin are Belmonts without the name, and Shanoa from Order of Eclessia is a Belmont Descendant. Also, Julius Belmont is playable in Dawn of Sorry in an alternate story mode so Belmonts aren't too far away in the series... They are just set so far in the future that the Belmont name stops being used as much.
afroteddybear There is also Richter mode in Portrait of Ruin, just happends that the DS take place in a part of the history were the belmonts were missing or not allowed to use the whip, but there they are. Btw, i don't remember Shanoa being a belmont descendant, the people of Wygol Village are, but not her, as far as i remember.
The amount of care and heart put into the villains and the heroes make me wonder if Warren Ellis, who famously isn't a big fan of superheroes except the ones he writes, is secretly a dirty, dirty weeb like the rest of us.
I totally get loving all the little fan service bits, one time I went to Halloween horror nights and the resident evil haunted house had a type writer in it I had to stop to take photos of it
yeah it was cool how the navigation room had all these large steam punk gears... like a big clock tower... but the creators just left out the demonized pirate that dwelled in the clock tower. Great fan service, except... it wasn't. It was shit.
Grew up playing Castlevania games on GBA, DS, and PS2. Watched this with my dad who doesn't play video games and we both loved the hell out of this show. Also supprised how much love for the game curse of darkness was put in the show because I loved that game but every 3D Castlevania that isnt Lord of shadows is typically hated
I commend your tastes in good Castlevania games, however you need someone who has not only played ALL the Castlevania games, but really love the story. Story wise: Lament of Innocence, Rondo of Blood, Bloodlines. These three games are very crucial because they reveal Dracula's origins and why the Belmont Clan is intertwined with Dracula in eternal conflict. Leon Belmont wasn't the first Belmont to fight Dracula, but he was the one who started the crusade to hunt him down and was responsible for the creation of the Belmont's signature weapon: Vampire Killer. Richter Belmont was the last Belmont to slay Dracula before Dracula's curse forced the Belmonts into hiding. Supposedly the Vampire Killer whip's power was waning because of Dracula's curse. This crucial plot carries over to Bloodlines and Portrait of Ruin where the Morris clan had to step in and fight Dracula for the Belmonts. Despite Aria of Sorrow's gameplay, it's still important to the story because it mentions the Demon Castle War conflict that lead to Dracula's permanent destruction due to the combined efforts of the two fully grown and powerful Charlotte Aulin and Jonathan Morris, Yoko Belnades, Alucard, Eric Lecarde's daughters Stella and Loretta, Julius Belmont (the VERY LAST BELMONT), and the Priest of the Hakuba shrine who sealed Dracula's castle inside the Solar Eclipse. Gameplay wise: Super Castlevania, Curse of Darkness, Dawn of Sorrow, Circle of the Moon. Lords of Shadow (Yes, despite being a reboot, LoS is still a fun game). Super Castlevania takes the gameplay from the first three Castlevania games, and throws them out the window. Instead you have a very long whip, free roam jumping instead of the static jumping, and whip swinging. Curse of Darkness allows you to play as Hector, a Devil Forgemaster who uses dark magic to summon Innocent Devils as familiars and can use a wide variety of weapons. Dawn of Sorrow takes the soul system from Aria of Sorrow and improves it a lot due to a hidden soul combo mechanic where you can use both bullet and guardian souls in tandem and the doppelganger soul that allows Soma to have two loadouts instead of one. Normally this can also be a good balanced game story wise and gameplay wise, but the gameplay is far stronger than the story; it even goes as far as creating an alternate story where Soma is reborn as Dracula, and you play as Julius, Yoko, and Alucard. Circle of the Moon has the Dual Setup System where Nathan Graves uses two cards along with his Hunter Whip to do powerful attacks or enchantments. Also beating the game and inputting a certain code will change the gameplay, providing creative replay value. Balanced: Symphony of the Night, Order of Ecclesia, and Portrait of Ruin. With all the story wise games that were mentioned, these three are the sequels that continue the main story as well as providing unique gameplay. You get to play as Dracula's son Alucard who can not only use weapons, but also vampire powers and familiars similar to his father. Shanoa who has the power to absorb and use glyphs (including transformation glyphs). Lastly there's the dynamic duo Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin who can use all kinds of weapons and spells respectively. These three games continue the crucial plot summaries of their preceding titles and closes the subplots of their predecessors. Side Note: even though Order of Ecclesia has nothing to do with Bloodlines and Portrait of Ruin, it tells the story of a school of alchemists who were dedicated to researching different methods in destroying Dracula. Also the story is far more rememberable than Portrait of Ruin and the gameplay is way different than all the other castlevania games. One more thing, and this is important. Castlevania Requiem is out, but they are simply PS4 ports of Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night. I really suggest against buying it because you're pretty much buying the same two games, AGAIN. Just get the Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP. Dust off your old PSP and play that. The Dracula X Chronicles provides so much more content AND you can play three games on the go. DXC comes with the remake of Rondo of Blood with better graphics, redubbing, and 2.5 polygon models, which is impressive by PSP standards. In case you feel nostalgic, there's also the classic Rondo of Blood you can play by unlocking it. The same goes for Symphony of the Night, with improves frame rates and also redubbing. Don't give Konami anymore money until they continue the original Castlevania timeline.
Dude wtf? No Dracula's Curse? The pinnacle of NES gameplay with multiple characters and tight controls. Though, you're right to omit this. Anyone who actually played Dracula's Curse would be so disgusted with the TV series. It's best for people to watch the tv series first in order to enjoy it rather than be sicked if they had played the game first.
The only downside to Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow is the art, which is fine, but, following up on the unique and AMAZING art of Ayami Kojima with the generic looking anime designs feels like a huge downgrade, for Portrait is fine since it's unique to it, but Dawn of Sorrows is jarring since Aria has that amazing art on it.
I was really happy when they brought her back for Harmony of Despair and eventually to Requiem (I don't believe the Rondo of Blood artwork already existed before it)
Yeah, which is why I said it's sorta fine in that one, cause it's it's own thing, and doesn't have a previous game that had art by her, unlike Aria and Dawn, like, you said it, I don't like to call things garbage, but it's reeeeeeeeeally not great. And it honestly made me drop the game, cause Aria is like my Third Fav Castlevania (Of the metroidvanias styles) i just couldn't look past it. PoR is pretty good tho', the art is still kinda standard anime, but it's fine, Order of Ecclesia is my fav of the DS games tho, and, I don't think it's hard at all? Dunno what that was about.
I know, the time i played it was great, just hated the touch thingie but there's a romhack to remove it. I really have to get around to play it, it's just, waiting for me to forget Aria. Which is hard considering i pop that big boy in every 5 months.
My personal faves are: Aria of Sorrow Symphony of the Night Harmony of Dissonance Circle of the Moon The three you mentioned are super solid picks too, and probably better for people wanting to get into the series
I remember when the trailer for this show came out. The like/dislike ratio and comment section was insane, worse than Titans even and that gave me a lot of anticipation. So when I saw the trailer and started watching the show, I was disappointed. It was ok. I was ready to rip the show apart and it turned out to be a mildly entertaining show for kids. It didn't even feel insulting like the comments have been ranting about. Which really confused me on why it was hated upon release.
I still wish they didn’t decide to cut out Grant, but this is more of an overall problem with Castlevania leaving Grant in the dust. His awful design in Judgement, removing a Grant Character from Dawn of Sorrow’s Trevor mode, the fucking Pachislot game, and now the Netflix show. Is it really that hard to make a pirate that hunts vampires cool? Still I totally agree with you, this season was way cooler.
I missed Grant too, though imo Death was the biggest character they excluded. I admit he wouldn't fit well into the narrative of the season, but still... Hope he shows up later on
Just kind of a huge detail to miss when one of the main characters of the game this anime is adapting, who is honored *every time* they make reappearances in the series, is still somehow absent in the show. At some point it just breaks ones heart. Especially since we only get this opportunity to see him realized once.
If he's not in S3, I think it would have to be willfully spiteful to not even give the brigand a cameo for the fans. Especially considering where Isaac is in the story.
For your Judgement point. everyone had an awful design in that game. Simon, Trevor and Carmilla all look like strippers, Death forgot his robes at home, Eric looks like a 12 year old girl, Maria is a 12 year old girl who decided to cosplay Dark Magician Girl, Sypha, Shanoa, Alucard and Dracula look okay but their designs from the main games are much better. Cornell is the only character who's design is decent in Judgement imo.
I've only ever played the original Castlevania, and I haven't even finished it (I will someday). So literally the only disappointment I have is that they didn't play Vampire Killer (at least I never noticed it). I guess it's a little too funky for the dark tone of the show, so I understand why they didn't use it. For real though, I can't believe this show even exists. 2 years ago, if you were to tell me that Castlevania would one of if not the best video game based tv shows, I wouldn't believe you. There is so much they got right here. They got more right than they even needed to. It's refreshing to see creators willing to put in hard work for a fairly niche property like Castlevania. 0/10 no wall chicken.
Please check out Order of Ecclesia if you could. I would love if Konami made an HD remaster of that game. The art and story is pretty much the best of the series. It's such a beautiful game.
just wanted to tell you how much i love your videos. i hadnt seen any of your stuff until about a week or two ago and sense then it has become some of my favorite content on the platform. keep up the good work:)
How could you not even mention Curse Of Darkness for the PS2??? It's an almost direct sequel to Castlevania 3, it's story based and they are most certainly going to adapt it in either the next season or season 4. For those who don't know, it's basically Symphony of the Night in 3D but with demon summoning and levelling (so it's also Shin Megami Tensei/Pokemon) and you play as Hector, from the show, who wants to take revenge on Isaac. Along the way you meet Trevor, go back to Castlevania and you fight Dracula in the end who resurrects for the first time here.
Yeah, show brings very nostalgic and good memories about Curse of Darkness. I mean Hector looks exactly the same! I think a lot of people don't mention it cause it aged not as good as classic 2D games, and it's in general not as significant as e.g. Symphony of the Night. I absolutely love the story and gameplay in it, don't get me wrong. I mean i rewatched all cinematics from the game instantly as i saw Hector in the show. And, ok, Curse of Darkness has a VERY solid soundtrack. One of the best IMO
@@1cehunter621 I think that the game has aged quite well, especially the gameplay, it really feels like a 3d metroidvania game (unlike the ones on xbox360 that are basically God of War). The only rough edge is the graphics but is not a big deal.
As someone who's only ever played Lords of Shadow 2, those game references you mentioned at the start such as Trevor finding the Morning Star in a chest in a wall never even struck me as game references. They're woven into the story so naturally that you don't feel like you're missing out as someone who hasn't played the games, but you can clearly appreciate them as a fan of the games. Actual well done fan service is amazingly rare, so I have to applaud the show for managing to actually pull it off.
I’m playing them for the first time and loving them thanks for getting me into the series. I never really liked games like Metroid but this series I have enjoyed a lot
Love the show, and wanted to play the games since it first came out. But holy crap, THERE WERE SO MANY GAMES. I asked some of my friends who were castlevania fans, but they couldn't agree on which games I should play first. And since I've been watching you for a while now, and you haven't led me astray so far, I'm gonna go with your recommendations. So thank you, you've made a fan of the games out of me
I have never played any Castlevania game, and I'm fucking obsessed with the series. While those who know the games no doubt notice all the easter eggs, to me, all the video game-y aspects, the character composition and the quests reminded me of a very good game of DnD. And I absolutely love it. Buuuut I might have to check out one or the other game once in a while. EDIT: Let's not forget that Dracula teleports his castle with a fucking d20
@@goldengoldy0197 I really didn't grind at all and I got through the game with 100% map completion just fine, though the grinding to get the high potions for the shop is kind of annoying, since you have to kill a lot of mandragoras
@@MentallyIdiotic I meant it in how low the chances of getting a grimoire are, not grinding for levels, more about wanting to be up to date with the enemy skills.
I got to tour Powerhouse Animation, the animation company that did this show. It was a really cool experience and I could certainly see that the animators put a lot of love into it. Regarding the fight scenes, they apparently took some inspiration from martial artists that they interviewed
Doesn't matter if everyone else has already done a review, yours is the only one I'm watching. I made time to finish season two just to see this faster. Love your thoughts, man
I like your review, but imma have to disagree with your suggestions. Most people should either play the original or the remakes (super Castlevania/ chronicles) to get a feel for how it all started. Then move into rondo of blood or Dracula X, and then into Symphony of the Night. From there you can basically play any of the games from then onwards, as they all interweave into another. The only reason I say not to start with The DS games is because they don’t paint a good clean picture of the series as a whole. Even with the Wiki, shit gets extremely confusing with Soma and especially the Morris family. You can still play those games, you’d be just missing out on the classics and probably most satisfying games. However, don’t play some of them. Don’t play judgement, Castlevania 2 unless you wanna hurt, or Bloodlines unless you wanna cry from how unfair it is.
Just play Symphony of the Night. It stars Alucard 300 years after the show. Honestly you guys, your recommendations are out of touch with someone coming off this series. The only game with any relevance to anything here is Castlevania 3 and SOTN. With SOTN being one of the best in the series, its easily the only Castlevania anyone _needs_ to play.
Don't know why you say bloodlines is unfair, the only think unfair is the lack of infinite continues, but you can bypass that with reusing passwords. For unfair control-breaking game play castlevania 3 or Haunted Castle (the arcade remake of castlevania 1)
Curse of Darkness has Hector as the protagonist too. So that game along with Sympphony and Castlevania 3 (althought the last one is not tha accesible given its difficulty).
Imagine how great it would have been if they used MULTIPLE songs from the series in locale appropriate settings? Imagine if the characters and monsters ALL came from the games? Imagine if mysterious characters were expanded upon in this series, like the succubus, venus weed, werewolf and minotaur, bone dragons, Various armors. Imagine if they stopped talking about fucking farm animals in season one and spent more time with Dracula summoning and scrying Hell. Imagine if the 3 out of 4 playable characters were traveling to Dracula's castle instead of doing shit all of nothing in a library.
Spungee season 4 has been out for a year now and they've announced a spin-off called "Castlevania:Nocturne" which will be an adaptation of Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night (their stories go hand-in-hand).
I have to disagree in Dawn of Sorrow being a good introductory game. Aria is better since it doesn't have the touch screen BS, and it's the third easiest of the Metroidvania (Harmony of Dissonance and Symphony of the Night are 2nd and 1st respectively). Now either Symphony of The Night, Aria of Sorrow or one of the Classic CVs like Super CV 4 and Rondo of Blood are much better candidates as a first game. That's just my 2 cents.
For anyone curious for what games to play, Konami has recently released the “Anniversary” & “Advance” collections. The former tackles the beginning of the series why the latter is about the series on the GBA (duh). I’d say they’re both pretty good places to start since they’re on pretty much everything. And if you have a PS4, I’d also recommend the “Requiem” collection, which has both Rondo of Blood & Symphony of the Night, which are some of my personal favorites. I’d also recommend the Bloodstained games. Circle of the Moon is like the original trilogy on NES but not nearly as hard and much more newcomer friendly. Ritual of the Night is also a pretty good Metriodvania. Thank you for coming to my TeD Talk.
If you consider yourself a non casual, aka not afraid of a challenge then you should play Rondo of Blood. Recently got rereleased and bundled with the Sequel to that game Symphony of the Night. That’s my pick if you don’t wanna fish out a DS
I loved Rondo of Blood. It made me appreciate Symphony of the Night more, as I saw all the references and was even sort of "nostalgic" when I entered the Clock Tower and recognized the whole layout of it (along with all the hidden items in the same places). I did have to replay the damn Clock Tower stage about 20-30 times but in the end it was worth it. Also, for people who might be a bit afraid of the challenge, if you rescue Maria, you can play as her and she makes the game way easier... Well, that's what I heard - I beat the game as Richter since I liked his gameplay style more.
In case you're wondering what ingame song the Netflix series plays . . . It's the one that plays at the end of this video, its called Bloody Tears, look it up. And you're welcome.
I feel like Rondo of Blood would be the best choice for those who want to play the classic Castlevania's, it's a lot easier than the NES Triliogy, it's got plenty of side content, and it's fun as hell. Super Castlevania 4 and Bloodlines are also dope as hell.
Be real. Nobody coming off the Netflix series who has never played Rondo is going to do well or enjoy that as their first. Not to mention since none of the characters even relate to the show directly. Why people don't recommend Symphony of the Night when it stars Alucard, an actual main character in the show, is beyond me.
Hell yeah, you definitely got me into the series man, and I need to say thanks for it, cuz I’ve had some of the most fun playing castlevania games, so thanks dud
Glad you like it, because is consiered one of the weaker ones in the metroidvania style games. Not saying that is bad, but if you like that you'll love symphony of the night, aria of sorrow and dawn of sorrow. I also highly recomen giving rondo of blood a try, its the best game in the classic style imo. And also fairly accesible
I fucking loved Lords Of Shadow 1. Robert Carlyle and Patrick Stewart as Gabriel Belmont and Zobek respectively were a treat, boss levels were difficult and satisfying, music really sets the mood, and the story was really great too. The DLC was a great addition. The only gripe I have is that the gameplay was a little too linear and I wish it was more "CASTLE"vania, but all in all a solid game. 8/10
Season 3 and 4 please the show is so good I was hooked on this film the start season 2 made it 10x better for the excitement for future seasons and i don't even okay the games and I was loving it
I think its also worth noting that dead cells is a fantastic castlevania esque game and even has castlevania dlc. The dlc has plenty of outfits and weapons from both the games and show and even has a little dialogue. Its so much fun
Completely agree on all of your points. I grew up with the Castlevania titles as well, so seeing a proper representation definitely left me satisfied. Seeing the Belmont mansion and getting more of the family lore was a great addition, but I do wish we got a bit more Trevor.
My only gripe with him is his lack of ability in integrating Grant in a way that honors him while fitting his world. The guy is a brigand. I honestly would be kind of disgusted if even in S3 Grant gets snubbed. Especially with Isaac's arc in the eastern desert coming up.
Just kind of a huge detail to miss when one of the main characters of the game this anime is adapting, who is honored *every time* they make reappearances in the series, is still somehow absent in the show. At some point it just breaks ones heart. Especially since we only get this opportunity to see him realized once.
_So look out for the..._ *GrRRRRrr* _Beware of the...._ *Hyeehahhaha!* _And pray you never meet wiiiiiith....!_ *Duck~ula.* 🦆 *_Count_** Duckula.* 🍅 ~~~ ⚡
I actually ended up getting Castlevania Requiem (Rondo/Symphony, and boy do I suck at it!) as a birthday gift but decided to watch the entirety of season 1 before playing because I’d been putting it off for so long. I’m gonna go watch season 2 now after letting it sit for about a week, thanks for the review!
I think i loved this season so much because i love Alucard, and he's practically the protagonist of this one. Alucard is like the Giorno of Castlevania. Now that i think about it, Castlevania is like medieval Jojo.
My top 3 Castlevania games: -Symphony of the night -Dawn of sorrow -aria of sorrow (SO far, I haven't played order of eclessia and portrait of ruin... have 'em on my phone tho, I'll play them soon...)❤️
Glad i stumbled on this video. Loved the show and wanted to pick up castlevania for a long time now but bever really got to it. But that will soon change with the help of this video, thanks a bunch :))
If my guess is right, season 3 will be about Curse of Darkness, which should feature more Trevor stuff and no Alucard, which could be why they focused more on Alucard here.
I've only ever played one Castlevania game, and that was Curse of Darkness, the game that, in terms of in-game chronology, comes right after the game that the animated series is based off of (even though it came out years afterwards). I'd particularly recommend it to any Hector fans (since you play as him the entire game).
ive just started getting into castlevania and the metroidvania series as a whole and ur reviews were some of the first content that made me consider trying it out more. im not certain how you feel about it, but bloodstained curse of the moon is a great way for people looking to try old school castlevania. its accessible being a lot easier than older castlevania games and looks good as hell.
Portrait of Ruin is my favorite game in the series so it was cool to see it get a little recognition here. On the other hand, Dawn of Sorrow is actually my least favorite game in the series so it balances a bit haha.
I absolutely loved Alucard's and Dracula's story in this one, but I do agree on your point about Trevor Belmont despite me never touch a Castlevania game before
You didn't get me into the series BUT the anime did. As soon as I got done watching the second season I decided to see what I could find, and lo and behold the Bundle for both Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night just released on PS4, so I got it and tried SOTN. And I've never played any castlevania games ever really. So I can say with 100% certainty and absolutely NO NOSTALGIA that it's a fantastic game and easily in my top 5 games of all time. So glad I watched this anime.
Bro after watching this I saw ur season one review and I thought it was just a corny vamp anime cuz I don’t like anime much but after watching this episode I was in the hospital and so I checked it out,the show is sooo goood the intro got me hooked immediately,the finale for season two got me so sad I burst into tears and I never cry,but broooo thank u for recommending this show.best show I’ve seen since I binged rec n parks 2 years ago.
I actually started Castlevania with Aria of Sorrow on the GBA when I was like 6, maybe it's nostalgia talking but I really don't think it's aged that badly compared to like, Simon's Quest or even Rondo of Blood. That said, I think I am gonna pick the series back up. I never actually played SotN and I'm pretty sure it's on the ps4 store.
I have only played Castlevania Symphony of the Night, but it was one of the best gaming experiences I ever had. I also tried my buddy's ADHD medication at the same time so I was obsessed with it and beat it in two days.
Damn dude, real nice vid I totally agree with everything you said in the vid. I played a lot a Castlevania on the ds when I was kid and I did the three of them last winter, they are amazing. Keep it up! :^)
As someone who never played the games, the monsters and checkpoints didn't felt like a blantet reference and more like if it was part of this world and thta's really great.
I’ve NEVER played any of the games but I fucking LOVE THIS SEASON
Writing Pantheon hmmmm. I think I’ll make some suggestions. Yeah, play symphony of the night or the ds games. And if you want the classic side scroller experience, play Super Castlevania 4 or Castlevania Rondo of Blood, or Bloodlines,
Dude, same here! ! In fact all the fan service-y parts had me lose my sh*t, and I was only either *VAGUELY* familiar or vastly ignorant to what it was referencing, alluding to, or remixing. The show is my FAVORITE vampire based IP now.
Me also, i liked it so much!!
I hope that i See dracula in the next season. He is so well done!!
maybe you should check out some of warren elliss other work, supergod, transmetropolitan or planetary, also fun fact, RED was written by him too, he has a pretty sharp humor, and in transmetropolitan he foretold a lot of stuff we have now...
There was one scene that was so beautiful...how do I put this...It was so beautiful, I cried. It had me in Bloody Tears.
Just Some Guy with a Mustache 👍
"Bloody tears" mmh?
I see what you did there
My boy
You're on every video.
Archie Kenny our boy
Tbh, I’m fine just being a fan of the show.
I cannot empathize with this stance at all. If I like something, I feel an urge to consume all of it, especially the core/source material.
But you do you, bro.
@@DoctorLazers I once played Majoras mask for 7 hours straight. I then binge watched the entire Zelda tv show. I regret it
@@sr.365 *WELL EXCUSE ME PRINCESS*
Thats like eating a burger with half the ingredients man, you are losing a big part of the experience
@@estebandsandovall but its still a pretty good Burger regardless
I fawking love Catlevania
Netflix did it right my son.
Makes me want to replay all the old games
did it right?
maybe you SHOULD replay all the old games and see how shitty the netflix series was.
Do you not even remember Grant from CV3?
Hector from Curse of Darkness was completely changed, basically merging him with Joachim.
Who the fuck is Godbrand and why is he a fucking moron? You want vampire lieutenants? Then make Count Olrox from SOTN a general. Expand on his backstory. Stick in Galamoth. We saw Slogra and Gaibon who were mindless mobs, not sub boss caliber characters.
Castlevania was popular, but not because it was "Game of Thrones with vampires." It was popular because it was a huge castle of demons and monster's who were subservient to Dracula. The games showcased a great plethora of monsters. Season one was scant on monster type and season two even less.
They took the CV3 story and sat 3 out 4 characters in a library doing shit all nothing. When the game had numerous locales, and ample opportunities for the team to learn about Dracula through the journey to Castlevania, the tv series decided *POOF* they're at the castle. Fucking bullshit.
@@crank7283 My dude it ain't that deep
@@crank7283 i mean agree I was pretty down when they didn't include Grant, he wasn't the most popular but still.
If I have one gripe about this show, it's that Trevor feels pretty inconsequential. Sypha teleports the castle and traps it, Alucard mostly single-handedly killed Dracula and Trevor... helped?
I think the climax definitely should've been centered around Alucard and Trevor working together. Their inability to trust each other and constant bickering is basically the main thrust of the hero's story.
In my mind, after Alucard fights Drac alone, he gets whooped. Trevor fights him alone. Gets whooped. Then, they finally work together and put him down. And for Christ's sake, the whip should definitely be what kills him. That's such a big part of the mythology, the fucking whip is one of the only means to actually beat Dracula.
If you remove Trevor from the picture Alucard would have died, and Sypha would have failed to take the castle. The Morning Star whip was crucial to winning against Dracula, it was something an already starving Dracula wasn't mentally prepared to deal with. Which spurned his desperate rage, and allowed Alucard to have a fighting chance. If that fireball had been thrown prior to that whip attack they'd all be dead. Trevor was instrumental in protecting Sypha during the summoning. Single handedly taking out several unique enemies in the Belmont hold. Not to mention supplying the catalyst toward finding Dracula in the first place. The three were critical toward the victory achieved. Trevor standing behind Sypha was a beautiful representation of his role. The anchor that keeps the fight against Dracula alive. The blood in his veins. The whip in his hand... and faith in his heart.
@@Krystalmyth fantastic summing up of Trevor's contribution.
I think the whip isnt in his final form. ...yet
@@Krystalmyth Also, when the trio finally enter the castle and see the horde of enemies in the hallway they need to beat to proceed into the castle, who calls the shots and assigns roles for everyone? Trevor. And, out of the trio, I say he has probably the best ending. He gets companionship and redemption for his family name.
@@Krystalmyth 2 years later, the did Trevor justice. =) (not that I disagree with Krystal Myth up here)
"Aria of Sorrow hasn't aged nearly as well"
Now hold on just a damn minute there
1. Symphony of the Night
2. Harmony of Dissonance
3. Aria of Sorrow
4. Portrait of Ruin
5. Castlevania 4
6. Rondo of Blood
7. Order of Ecclesia
8. Bloodlines
9. Curse of Darkness
10. Castlevania 3
Just told you the best ones go play em now
Important question here: in which of those games can I stand in one place and jiggle my whip in a circle like an idiot? Cuz that was the best part of Super Castlevania 4.
@@illegallyrested8868 2, 4, 5, 6, and maybe 8 i dont remember
@@BinaryDood Wonderful, thank you.
@@illegallyrested8868 SOTN you can do that with Richter
what about dracula x?
Your sugggestions are really good but they don't even include a belmont or the classic style. I would say super castlevania 4 is a good option, but even better playing rondo of blood and then symphony of the night. In that way you get a nice story arc and probably the two best games in each genre
I'd do it in reverse myself just for playability. Rondo of Blood would spit out most new players. I played Symphony first like most in the US and still loved Rondo.
Technically the Morrises from Castlevania Bloodlines and Portrait of Ruin are Belmonts without the name, and Shanoa from Order of Eclessia is a Belmont Descendant. Also, Julius Belmont is playable in Dawn of Sorry in an alternate story mode so Belmonts aren't too far away in the series... They are just set so far in the future that the Belmont name stops being used as much.
afroteddybear
There is also Richter mode in Portrait of Ruin, just happends that the DS take place in a part of the history were the belmonts were missing or not allowed to use the whip, but there they are.
Btw, i don't remember Shanoa being a belmont descendant, the people of Wygol Village are, but not her, as far as i remember.
They just got packaged together and rereleased as well.
@@estebandsandovall There is also a Julius Belmont mode in Dawn of Sorrow.
Order of Ecclesia is my favorite of the DS Castlevania game, perfect balance of challenge, diverse areas and great music. Also Shanoa is a badass
Yes she is!
The amount of care and heart put into the villains and the heroes make me wonder if Warren Ellis, who famously isn't a big fan of superheroes except the ones he writes, is secretly a dirty, dirty weeb like the rest of us.
Eh, not really.
He's more of a reddit atheist edgelord but not necessarily in a bad way.
I totally get loving all the little fan service bits, one time I went to Halloween horror nights and the resident evil haunted house had a type writer in it
I had to stop to take photos of it
yeah it was cool how the navigation room had all these large steam punk gears... like a big clock tower... but the creators just left out the demonized pirate that dwelled in the clock tower.
Great fan service, except... it wasn't. It was shit.
Grew up playing Castlevania games on GBA, DS, and PS2. Watched this with my dad who doesn't play video games and we both loved the hell out of this show. Also supprised how much love for the game curse of darkness was put in the show because I loved that game but every 3D Castlevania that isnt Lord of shadows is typically hated
If Konami wasn’t run by scumbags I’d be clamoring for a new Castlevania after seeing the show and this video.
But it is 😭
They'd be like "What? You want a new Castlevania Pachinko Machine?"
Maxisamo1 hahaha they really would that’s the sad part.
we need a remake of Castlevania 3
I want a Castlevania game made by From Software.
Konami used to have the best games...sotn ..suikoden...where are they now
I never played a castelvania game but I enjoyed this season anyway and I can't wait till season 3
I commend your tastes in good Castlevania games, however you need someone who has not only played ALL the Castlevania games, but really love the story.
Story wise: Lament of Innocence, Rondo of Blood, Bloodlines. These three games are very crucial because they reveal Dracula's origins and why the Belmont Clan is intertwined with Dracula in eternal conflict. Leon Belmont wasn't the first Belmont to fight Dracula, but he was the one who started the crusade to hunt him down and was responsible for the creation of the Belmont's signature weapon: Vampire Killer. Richter Belmont was the last Belmont to slay Dracula before Dracula's curse forced the Belmonts into hiding. Supposedly the Vampire Killer whip's power was waning because of Dracula's curse. This crucial plot carries over to Bloodlines and Portrait of Ruin where the Morris clan had to step in and fight Dracula for the Belmonts. Despite Aria of Sorrow's gameplay, it's still important to the story because it mentions the Demon Castle War conflict that lead to Dracula's permanent destruction due to the combined efforts of the two fully grown and powerful Charlotte Aulin and Jonathan Morris, Yoko Belnades, Alucard, Eric Lecarde's daughters Stella and Loretta, Julius Belmont (the VERY LAST BELMONT), and the Priest of the Hakuba shrine who sealed Dracula's castle inside the Solar Eclipse.
Gameplay wise: Super Castlevania, Curse of Darkness, Dawn of Sorrow, Circle of the Moon. Lords of Shadow (Yes, despite being a reboot, LoS is still a fun game). Super Castlevania takes the gameplay from the first three Castlevania games, and throws them out the window. Instead you have a very long whip, free roam jumping instead of the static jumping, and whip swinging. Curse of Darkness allows you to play as Hector, a Devil Forgemaster who uses dark magic to summon Innocent Devils as familiars and can use a wide variety of weapons. Dawn of Sorrow takes the soul system from Aria of Sorrow and improves it a lot due to a hidden soul combo mechanic where you can use both bullet and guardian souls in tandem and the doppelganger soul that allows Soma to have two loadouts instead of one. Normally this can also be a good balanced game story wise and gameplay wise, but the gameplay is far stronger than the story; it even goes as far as creating an alternate story where Soma is reborn as Dracula, and you play as Julius, Yoko, and Alucard. Circle of the Moon has the Dual Setup System where Nathan Graves uses two cards along with his Hunter Whip to do powerful attacks or enchantments. Also beating the game and inputting a certain code will change the gameplay, providing creative replay value.
Balanced: Symphony of the Night, Order of Ecclesia, and Portrait of Ruin. With all the story wise games that were mentioned, these three are the sequels that continue the main story as well as providing unique gameplay. You get to play as Dracula's son Alucard who can not only use weapons, but also vampire powers and familiars similar to his father. Shanoa who has the power to absorb and use glyphs (including transformation glyphs). Lastly there's the dynamic duo Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin who can use all kinds of weapons and spells respectively. These three games continue the crucial plot summaries of their preceding titles and closes the subplots of their predecessors.
Side Note: even though Order of Ecclesia has nothing to do with Bloodlines and Portrait of Ruin, it tells the story of a school of alchemists who were dedicated to researching different methods in destroying Dracula. Also the story is far more rememberable than Portrait of Ruin and the gameplay is way different than all the other castlevania games.
One more thing, and this is important. Castlevania Requiem is out, but they are simply PS4 ports of Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night. I really suggest against buying it because you're pretty much buying the same two games, AGAIN. Just get the Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP. Dust off your old PSP and play that. The Dracula X Chronicles provides so much more content AND you can play three games on the go. DXC comes with the remake of Rondo of Blood with better graphics, redubbing, and 2.5 polygon models, which is impressive by PSP standards. In case you feel nostalgic, there's also the classic Rondo of Blood you can play by unlocking it. The same goes for Symphony of the Night, with improves frame rates and also redubbing. Don't give Konami anymore money until they continue the original Castlevania timeline.
Dude wtf? No Dracula's Curse? The pinnacle of NES gameplay with multiple characters and tight controls.
Though, you're right to omit this. Anyone who actually played Dracula's Curse would be so disgusted with the TV series. It's best for people to watch the tv series first in order to enjoy it rather than be sicked if they had played the game first.
YES! I've been waiting for your review! Personally I loved it! My first Castlevania game was Circle of the Moon... and I really liked it
The only downside to Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow is the art, which is fine, but, following up on the unique and AMAZING art of Ayami Kojima with the generic looking anime designs feels like a huge downgrade, for Portrait is fine since it's unique to it, but Dawn of Sorrows is jarring since Aria has that amazing art on it.
I really don't mind the art style in PoR, since that game had a more silly and wacky tone.
DoS has not a single excuse for that garbage.
I was really happy when they brought her back for Harmony of Despair and eventually to Requiem (I don't believe the Rondo of Blood artwork already existed before it)
Yeah, which is why I said it's sorta fine in that one, cause it's it's own thing, and doesn't have a previous game that had art by her, unlike Aria and Dawn, like, you said it, I don't like to call things garbage, but it's reeeeeeeeeally not great.
And it honestly made me drop the game, cause Aria is like my Third Fav Castlevania (Of the metroidvanias styles) i just couldn't look past it. PoR is pretty good tho', the art is still kinda standard anime, but it's fine, Order of Ecclesia is my fav of the DS games tho, and, I don't think it's hard at all? Dunno what that was about.
@@QMMarc Dawn is better than Aria if you look over the artstyle. As Cosmonaut said, it's really damn solid.
I know, the time i played it was great, just hated the touch thingie but there's a romhack to remove it. I really have to get around to play it, it's just, waiting for me to forget Aria. Which is hard considering i pop that big boy in every 5 months.
My personal faves are:
Aria of Sorrow
Symphony of the Night
Harmony of Dissonance
Circle of the Moon
The three you mentioned are super solid picks too, and probably better for people wanting to get into the series
Please review Star Wars Resistance, I’m curious how you’ll treat it
Let's be honest, he's gonna hate it. Or he'll respect that it's not trying to be marketed to all ages and knows what it is. *Cough, Rebels*
@@TommFoolery I believe he has already said the latter in a stream or something.
@@MrMister681 Oh, does he stream on twitch?
I remember when the trailer for this show came out. The like/dislike ratio and comment section was insane, worse than Titans even and that gave me a lot of anticipation. So when I saw the trailer and started watching the show, I was disappointed. It was ok. I was ready to rip the show apart and it turned out to be a mildly entertaining show for kids. It didn't even feel insulting like the comments have been ranting about. Which really confused me on why it was hated upon release.
@@TommFoolery No, he usually streams here actually. You don't get notifications of them?
I still wish they didn’t decide to cut out Grant, but this is more of an overall problem with Castlevania leaving Grant in the dust. His awful design in Judgement, removing a Grant Character from Dawn of Sorrow’s Trevor mode, the fucking Pachislot game, and now the Netflix show. Is it really that hard to make a pirate that hunts vampires cool?
Still I totally agree with you, this season was way cooler.
I missed Grant too, though imo Death was the biggest character they excluded. I admit he wouldn't fit well into the narrative of the season, but still... Hope he shows up later on
tyrus1235 Now that’s just a bit insulting, not gonna lie. Death is always Drac’s right hand man.0
Just kind of a huge detail to miss when one of the main characters of the game this anime is adapting, who is honored *every time* they make reappearances in the series, is still somehow absent in the show. At some point it just breaks ones heart. Especially since we only get this opportunity to see him realized once.
If he's not in S3, I think it would have to be willfully spiteful to not even give the brigand a cameo for the fans. Especially considering where Isaac is in the story.
For your Judgement point. everyone had an awful design in that game. Simon, Trevor and Carmilla all look like strippers, Death forgot his robes at home, Eric looks like a 12 year old girl, Maria is a 12 year old girl who decided to cosplay Dark Magician Girl, Sypha, Shanoa, Alucard and Dracula look okay but their designs from the main games are much better. Cornell is the only character who's design is decent in Judgement imo.
What are your thoughts on the NOT new Castlevania game Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night?
can you plz tell me the source of your pfp? i love it!
Huss if its still the same as a year ago, its from Hiimdaisy’s Metal Gear Solid webcomic, a really funny one as well
I've only ever played the original Castlevania, and I haven't even finished it (I will someday). So literally the only disappointment I have is that they didn't play Vampire Killer (at least I never noticed it). I guess it's a little too funky for the dark tone of the show, so I understand why they didn't use it.
For real though, I can't believe this show even exists. 2 years ago, if you were to tell me that Castlevania would one of if not the best video game based tv shows, I wouldn't believe you. There is so much they got right here. They got more right than they even needed to. It's refreshing to see creators willing to put in hard work for a fairly niche property like Castlevania.
0/10 no wall chicken.
Please check out Order of Ecclesia if you could. I would love if Konami made an HD remaster of that game. The art and story is pretty much the best of the series. It's such a beautiful game.
@@Manganization I'm not sure if I can get to play it. My backlog is pretty large as it is.
They did play vampire killer. in season two when Trevor and his friends enter the castle and have a epic battle.
That's bloody tears
Oh yea that is bloody tears. My bad Xp
just wanted to tell you how much i love your videos. i hadnt seen any of your stuff until about a week or two ago and sense then it has become some of my favorite content on the platform. keep up the good work:)
Castlevania III is class Marcus, you're not just a grumpy old man
How could you not even mention Curse Of Darkness for the PS2??? It's an almost direct sequel to Castlevania 3, it's story based and they are most certainly going to adapt it in either the next season or season 4.
For those who don't know, it's basically Symphony of the Night in 3D but with demon summoning and levelling (so it's also Shin Megami Tensei/Pokemon) and you play as Hector, from the show, who wants to take revenge on Isaac. Along the way you meet Trevor, go back to Castlevania and you fight Dracula in the end who resurrects for the first time here.
Yeah, show brings very nostalgic and good memories about Curse of Darkness. I mean Hector looks exactly the same!
I think a lot of people don't mention it cause it aged not as good as classic 2D games, and it's in general not as significant as e.g. Symphony of the Night.
I absolutely love the story and gameplay in it, don't get me wrong. I mean i rewatched all cinematics from the game instantly as i saw Hector in the show.
And, ok, Curse of Darkness has a VERY solid soundtrack. One of the best IMO
@@1cehunter621 I feel you, I've been listening to Abandoned Castle on repeat the whole week!
It is a direct sequel, actually. It's 3 years after cv3. And yea, great soundtrack. Very underrated, in my opinion, one of my faves though
@@1cehunter621 I think that the game has aged quite well, especially the gameplay, it really feels like a 3d metroidvania game (unlike the ones on xbox360 that are basically God of War). The only rough edge is the graphics but is not a big deal.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who realized Trevor and Alucard kept going back and forth on "being friends" and "borderline hating each other"
As someone who's only ever played Lords of Shadow 2, those game references you mentioned at the start such as Trevor finding the Morning Star in a chest in a wall never even struck me as game references. They're woven into the story so naturally that you don't feel like you're missing out as someone who hasn't played the games, but you can clearly appreciate them as a fan of the games. Actual well done fan service is amazingly rare, so I have to applaud the show for managing to actually pull it off.
Now you should do Season 3, which, in my opinión, is even better. Man I love this show.
Season 3 was weak to me. Terrible writing. Least in the first half. I couldn't stand how bad the writing was.
6:06 just noticed the monster from S4
I’m playing them for the first time and loving them thanks for getting me into the series. I never really liked games like Metroid but this series I have enjoyed a lot
I started castlevania 3 and i love it. Thanks marcus
Wild
Aria of Sorrow is my big favorite.
Love the show, and wanted to play the games since it first came out. But holy crap, THERE WERE SO MANY GAMES. I asked some of my friends who were castlevania fans, but they couldn't agree on which games I should play first. And since I've been watching you for a while now, and you haven't led me astray so far, I'm gonna go with your recommendations. So thank you, you've made a fan of the games out of me
I have never played any Castlevania game, and I'm fucking obsessed with the series. While those who know the games no doubt notice all the easter eggs, to me, all the video game-y aspects, the character composition and the quests reminded me of a very good game of DnD. And I absolutely love it.
Buuuut I might have to check out one or the other game once in a while.
EDIT: Let's not forget that Dracula teleports his castle with a fucking d20
FINALLY IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SINCE SEASON TWO CAME IUT AND IVE BEEN SPAMMING ALL YOUR VIDS FOR YOU TO MAKE THIS
Order of Eclesia has the best girl and is the best game ngl
The grind in that game is real tho, the drop rates are really low. Also the Sidequests are BS
@@goldengoldy0197 I really didn't grind at all and I got through the game with 100% map completion just fine, though the grinding to get the high potions for the shop is kind of annoying, since you have to kill a lot of mandragoras
@@MentallyIdiotic I meant it in how low the chances of getting a grimoire are, not grinding for levels, more about wanting to be up to date with the enemy skills.
I got to tour Powerhouse Animation, the animation company that did this show. It was a really cool experience and I could certainly see that the animators put a lot of love into it. Regarding the fight scenes, they apparently took some inspiration from martial artists that they interviewed
Doesn't matter if everyone else has already done a review, yours is the only one I'm watching. I made time to finish season two just to see this faster. Love your thoughts, man
I like your review, but imma have to disagree with your suggestions. Most people should either play the original or the remakes (super Castlevania/ chronicles) to get a feel for how it all started. Then move into rondo of blood or Dracula X, and then into Symphony of the Night. From there you can basically play any of the games from then onwards, as they all interweave into another. The only reason I say not to start with The DS games is because they don’t paint a good clean picture of the series as a whole. Even with the Wiki, shit gets extremely confusing with Soma and especially the Morris family. You can still play those games, you’d be just missing out on the classics and probably most satisfying games.
However, don’t play some of them. Don’t play judgement, Castlevania 2 unless you wanna hurt, or Bloodlines unless you wanna cry from how unfair it is.
Just play Symphony of the Night. It stars Alucard 300 years after the show. Honestly you guys, your recommendations are out of touch with someone coming off this series. The only game with any relevance to anything here is Castlevania 3 and SOTN. With SOTN being one of the best in the series, its easily the only Castlevania anyone _needs_ to play.
Don't know why you say bloodlines is unfair, the only think unfair is the lack of infinite continues, but you can bypass that with reusing passwords. For unfair control-breaking game play castlevania 3 or Haunted Castle (the arcade remake of castlevania 1)
You're so wrong about Bloodlines. It's actually easier than Rondo and one of the most fun Classicvania games. It's great.
@@Krystalmyth curse of darkness too, don't forget
Curse of Darkness has Hector as the protagonist too. So that game along with Sympphony and Castlevania 3 (althought the last one is not tha accesible given its difficulty).
Rondo of Blood is my personal favorite
I broke NO NUT NOVEMBER when I heard BLOODY TEARS
because HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AMAZING
Imagine how great it would have been if they used MULTIPLE songs from the series in locale appropriate settings? Imagine if the characters and monsters ALL came from the games?
Imagine if mysterious characters were expanded upon in this series, like the succubus, venus weed, werewolf and minotaur, bone dragons, Various armors.
Imagine if they stopped talking about fucking farm animals in season one and spent more time with Dracula summoning and scrying Hell.
Imagine if the 3 out of 4 playable characters were traveling to Dracula's castle instead of doing shit all of nothing in a library.
Portrait of ruin is my favorite Castlevania
I absolutely loved the second season. I’m just sad we aren’t getting a third season to my knowledge
Spunge season 3 is out
Spungee season 4 has been out for a year now and they've announced a spin-off called "Castlevania:Nocturne" which will be an adaptation of Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night (their stories go hand-in-hand).
@@trumpflavourednugget9325 big news from the future, Castlevania nocturne is gonna be out in 28 September.
I have to disagree in Dawn of Sorrow being a good introductory game. Aria is better since it doesn't have the touch screen BS, and it's the third easiest of the Metroidvania (Harmony of Dissonance and Symphony of the Night are 2nd and 1st respectively). Now either Symphony of The Night, Aria of Sorrow or one of the Classic CVs like Super CV 4 and Rondo of Blood are much better candidates as a first game. That's just my 2 cents.
Dawn of Sorrow is literally the FINALE of the original CV timeline.
Well Cosmo? Where is season 3 my friend?
For anyone curious for what games to play, Konami has recently released the “Anniversary” & “Advance” collections. The former tackles the beginning of the series why the latter is about the series on the GBA (duh).
I’d say they’re both pretty good places to start since they’re on pretty much everything. And if you have a PS4, I’d also recommend the “Requiem” collection, which has both Rondo of Blood & Symphony of the Night, which are some of my personal favorites.
I’d also recommend the Bloodstained games. Circle of the Moon is like the original trilogy on NES but not nearly as hard and much more newcomer friendly. Ritual of the Night is also a pretty good Metriodvania.
Thank you for coming to my TeD Talk.
If you consider yourself a non casual, aka not afraid of a challenge then you should play Rondo of Blood. Recently got rereleased and bundled with the Sequel to that game Symphony of the Night. That’s my pick if you don’t wanna fish out a DS
I loved Rondo of Blood. It made me appreciate Symphony of the Night more, as I saw all the references and was even sort of "nostalgic" when I entered the Clock Tower and recognized the whole layout of it (along with all the hidden items in the same places).
I did have to replay the damn Clock Tower stage about 20-30 times but in the end it was worth it.
Also, for people who might be a bit afraid of the challenge, if you rescue Maria, you can play as her and she makes the game way easier... Well, that's what I heard - I beat the game as Richter since I liked his gameplay style more.
In case you're wondering what ingame song the Netflix series plays . . .
It's the one that plays at the end of this video, its called Bloody Tears, look it up. And you're welcome.
Shoutout for 500,000 Subs! Go Marcus!
No season3?
I feel like Rondo of Blood would be the best choice for those who want to play the classic Castlevania's, it's a lot easier than the NES Triliogy, it's got plenty of side content, and it's fun as hell. Super Castlevania 4 and Bloodlines are also dope as hell.
Rondo of Blood also has more emphasis on the story. The fully-animated and voice-acted cutscenes were a nice touch!
Be real. Nobody coming off the Netflix series who has never played Rondo is going to do well or enjoy that as their first. Not to mention since none of the characters even relate to the show directly. Why people don't recommend Symphony of the Night when it stars Alucard, an actual main character in the show, is beyond me.
Hell yeah, you definitely got me into the series man, and I need to say thanks for it, cuz I’ve had some of the most fun playing castlevania games, so thanks dud
So glad to see a show with such great respect for the source material that also succeeds in its own right.
This show and SSBU made me want to get into the games, and I just picked up Harmony of Dissonance last night and I love it a lot.
Glad you like it, because is consiered one of the weaker ones in the metroidvania style games. Not saying that is bad, but if you like that you'll love symphony of the night, aria of sorrow and dawn of sorrow. I also highly recomen giving rondo of blood a try, its the best game in the classic style imo. And also fairly accesible
Diego G aight, that sounds good. Thanks man
I fucking loved Lords Of Shadow 1. Robert Carlyle and Patrick Stewart as Gabriel Belmont and Zobek respectively were a treat, boss levels were difficult and satisfying, music really sets the mood, and the story was really great too. The DLC was a great addition. The only gripe I have is that the gameplay was a little too linear and I wish it was more "CASTLE"vania, but all in all a solid game. 8/10
THANK YOU for pointing out how small Trevor felt. I absolutely hated how they did my favorite Belmont next to Richter so dirty.
Portrait of Ruin is definitely my favorite in the series.
Eyyy,
_Nice_
-And yea, I'm a big Aria of Sorrow + Dawn of Sorrow fan-
Season 3 and 4 please the show is so good I was hooked on this film the start season 2 made it 10x better for the excitement for future seasons and i don't even okay the games and I was loving it
I think its also worth noting that dead cells is a fantastic castlevania esque game and even has castlevania dlc. The dlc has plenty of outfits and weapons from both the games and show and even has a little dialogue. Its so much fun
Completely agree on all of your points. I grew up with the Castlevania titles as well, so seeing a proper representation definitely left me satisfied.
Seeing the Belmont mansion and getting more of the family lore was a great addition, but I do wish we got a bit more Trevor.
Warren Ellis is such a good writer in terms of paying homage and details of his universe.
My only gripe with him is his lack of ability in integrating Grant in a way that honors him while fitting his world. The guy is a brigand. I honestly would be kind of disgusted if even in S3 Grant gets snubbed. Especially with Isaac's arc in the eastern desert coming up.
Just kind of a huge detail to miss when one of the main characters of the game this anime is adapting, who is honored *every time* they make reappearances in the series, is still somehow absent in the show. At some point it just breaks ones heart. Especially since we only get this opportunity to see him realized once.
The idea of Dracula's castle teleporting around the world tbh just makes me think of Count Duckula. What, I'm old...
_So look out for the..._ *GrRRRRrr*
_Beware of the...._ *Hyeehahhaha!*
_And pray you never meet wiiiiiith....!_
*Duck~ula.* 🦆
*_Count_** Duckula.* 🍅 ~~~ ⚡
Thank you for the recommendations. I’ve been wanting to try the game since watching the show but didn’t know where to start
Glad I stopped by to watch this. Look forward to you video on the latest season.
I actually ended up getting Castlevania Requiem (Rondo/Symphony, and boy do I suck at it!) as a birthday gift but decided to watch the entirety of season 1 before playing because I’d been putting it off for so long. I’m gonna go watch season 2 now after letting it sit for about a week, thanks for the review!
MARCUS THANK YOU FOR LOVING DAWN OF SORROW AS MUCH AS I DO!
I think i loved this season so much because i love Alucard, and he's practically the protagonist of this one.
Alucard is like the Giorno of Castlevania.
Now that i think about it, Castlevania is like medieval Jojo.
My top 3 Castlevania games:
-Symphony of the night
-Dawn of sorrow
-aria of sorrow
(SO far, I haven't played order of eclessia and portrait of ruin... have 'em on my phone tho, I'll play them soon...)❤️
Glad i stumbled on this video. Loved the show and wanted to pick up castlevania for a long time now but bever really got to it. But that will soon change with the help of this video, thanks a bunch :))
I'm really glad they're bringing the music back to the show. That was my one gripe with season one.
If my guess is right, season 3 will be about Curse of Darkness, which should feature more Trevor stuff and no Alucard, which could be why they focused more on Alucard here.
IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SINCE THE TRAILER FOR SEASON TW0!!! Thank you sbak
I've only ever played one Castlevania game, and that was Curse of Darkness, the game that, in terms of in-game chronology, comes right after the game that the animated series is based off of (even though it came out years afterwards). I'd particularly recommend it to any Hector fans (since you play as him the entire game).
IVE BEEN WAITING SO LONG FOR THIS REVIEW :D
I love what you do on this channel bro 👌🏾
ive just started getting into castlevania and the metroidvania series as a whole and ur reviews were some of the first content that made me consider trying it out more.
im not certain how you feel about it, but bloodstained curse of the moon is a great way for people looking to try old school castlevania. its accessible being a lot easier than older castlevania games and looks good as hell.
Portrait of Ruin is my favorite game in the series so it was cool to see it get a little recognition here. On the other hand, Dawn of Sorrow is actually my least favorite game in the series so it balances a bit haha.
I absolutely loved Alucard's and Dracula's story in this one, but I do agree on your point about Trevor Belmont despite me never touch a Castlevania game before
You didn't get me into the series BUT the anime did.
As soon as I got done watching the second season I decided to see what I could find, and lo and behold the Bundle for both Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night just released on PS4, so I got it and tried SOTN. And I've never played any castlevania games ever really. So I can say with 100% certainty and absolutely NO NOSTALGIA that it's a fantastic game and easily in my top 5 games of all time.
So glad I watched this anime.
The second to last episode was such a thrill ride I was cheering, loved this season!
I didn't even know this existed. Then I learned the writer of "Planetary", Warren Ellis was involved. I'm now sold on watching it.
Thanks for reccomedning the proper way to start the series
Bro after watching this I saw ur season one review and I thought it was just a corny vamp anime cuz I don’t like anime much but after watching this episode I was in the hospital and so I checked it out,the show is sooo goood the intro got me hooked immediately,the finale for season two got me so sad I burst into tears and I never cry,but broooo thank u for recommending this show.best show I’ve seen since I binged rec n parks 2 years ago.
I absolutely adored this show, thank you for bringing attention to it Marcus.
Oh man I remember Portrait of Ruin thats a nostalgia trip
My favorite Castlevania game is Circle of the Moon.
I actually started Castlevania with Aria of Sorrow on the GBA when I was like 6, maybe it's nostalgia talking but I really don't think it's aged that badly compared to like, Simon's Quest or even Rondo of Blood. That said, I think I am gonna pick the series back up. I never actually played SotN and I'm pretty sure it's on the ps4 store.
It didn’t (and neither did Rondo imo), this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
I have only played Castlevania Symphony of the Night, but it was one of the best gaming experiences I ever had. I also tried my buddy's ADHD medication at the same time so I was obsessed with it and beat it in two days.
Aria of sorrow is my personal faveorite but the ds trilogy is pretty dope
i watch half of the video and then watch the hole series just cuz it looks amzing thank you
Don't skip Aria of Sorrow. I think the GBA Castlevania's are the best, though. DS ones felt clunky to me.
I prefer the DS ones tbh, but to each their own, I think CoTM and HoD weren't that good
KEEP PUMPING THE VIDS BRO
Aria of Sorrow with Soma Cruz is by far the best. Remember getting behind that waterfall?
Damn dude, real nice vid I totally agree with everything you said in the vid.
I played a lot a Castlevania on the ds when I was kid and I did the three of them last winter, they are amazing. Keep it up! :^)
As someone who never played the games, the monsters and checkpoints didn't felt like a blantet reference and more like if it was part of this world and thta's really great.
*my boy* ,what a timely video.
dead on the money about Dawn of Sorrow! although I think Aria of Sorrow is still pretty damn good, too.
Oh shit, Marcus hit us with that bloody tears at the end
Wish you gave more love to the linear sidescrollers. Those still hold up extremely well in my eyes