The PS2 games hold a status of "bad" but everyone who plays em (moreso Curse than Lament) enjoys them a lot. Curse has some of the most merchandise, has the Netflix show adapting (very poorly) it's characters, and now Dead by Daylight has Curse Trevor with Crispin Freeman reprising his "Dracula" role from Lament. They're a great duo of games, and Curse is one of the largest game in the series of you go for 100% completion.
I loved that you mentioned Dark Souls, a lack of new and fun Castlevania games was the reason I got into Dark souls and Im positive the devs of the souls games took alot of inspiration from Castlevania
Curse of Darkness is so criminally slept on. The aesthetics and the vibes of this game are immaculate. I'm so happy after the success of the Animated series, that the recent Dead By Daylight collaboration chose to use the Curse of Darkness designs and shine a spotlight on the games instead. I love how Trevor's design in this game has been pretty much his main default look in most of everything he has showed up in since. Really great video this is the type of content I enjoy!
This game’s super fun, and I’m happy more people are giving it a chance now. And the music is fantastic (Abandoned Castle is one of my favorite CV OSTs, in a series filled with some of the best video game compositions ever)!!!
Absolutely adore the Bloodborne comparisons here. It feels quite obvious in retrospect but I didn't even think about how much that game like evokes some of the vibes generally of the series but definitely also this game in a number of really rad ways. Also damn I didn't realize anything about how to get to the tower of evermore that's sick as shit. God I love this game and its little fun discoveries and secrets. Excellent video!
Curse of darkness was my first Castlevania and I fell in love with it, Imagine my sadness when I learned that it was the only one in the series like this and probably will forever be
@@Ghooly Also, first vid of yours and I love your thumbnails, for a sec thought it was a corrupted UA-cam vid and it is really cool, gonna watch the innocent one now
I just want to see Konami or whoever has rights to it now, bring back all the castlevania series, especially the 3d ones. Lament of innocence and curse of darkness were two of my favorites in the series and how they did the titles..... I would fall in love all over again. My favorite game series of all time
Both PS2 vanias are way better than what some critics and people say about them. Yeah, the level design could be better, but they are very fun to play to this day. Hope people realize how awesome Game Hector is and how very dumbed down the netflixvania version of him is. then again, i can say the same about most of netflixvania : )
I remember this game fondly, and was always a bit disappointed it didn't make an impact. Thanks for the nostalgia trip. I still have the game, I think I'll bust it out. And I like how you get into really deep details about the game, like the menus and sound design.
This and Lament of Innocents were my favorite games on ps2. Curse of Darkness was the only game I spent money to buy the strategy guide. Partly to learn how to steal rare materials and create the insane weapons. I would grind for hours, gathering every material possible to create every single weapon just to try them out. Loved some of the silly ones like the electric guitar that stunned any enemies within a certain radius of you and dealt damage from the shockwave of the music. Also created every variant of the Innocent Devils, which was hard because you had to change from playing with your favorite weapons to ones you might not like that much. I'm glad to see that there are others out there who remember this game as fondly as I do.
New peak!! This series has really inspired me to finally give these games a play, I have curse of darkness on xbox which is a port I've always wanted to dable with! It was basically rhe closest xbox got to devil may cry aesthetically
I fuck with the song Blue Serenade from this games Soundtrack so heavily. This game will always have a place in my heart. I remember like last year that I accidently crafted a weapon instead of keeping a different weapon, therefore not letting me being able to evolve the Devil innocent devil :(. Good vid
this was my first castlevania game that i played. really enjoyed it and was shocked to see the reviews for the game as its a solid game. i didnt play another castlevania until symphony of the night on my ps vita which got me into metroidvania
Hmm, yes. Acceptable. The contract has been fulfilled, you may keep my sub. This game is what convinced me that SMT and Castlevania would make a phenomenal crossover in either genre.
One thing that I can appreciate from Netflix series is bringing new eyes to this game, to see Hector in a better story and characterization, and a whole different kind of Isaac lmao. Kinda dissapointed you didnt mention him much in this video since he is the best character in this game. He is so extra in everything.
thank you for covering this game!! I feel like I'm crazy when I tell people how good it is and was elated when I saw the characters in the Netflix anime, still don't understand why they so drastically changed the antagonist but that's Netflix for you.... anyways this game is an absolute gem I own on disc and recently emulated it again so I could play it on PC. since SotN is my favorite Castlevania, Curse seems like a love letter to the fans of the PS1 classic yet it gets NO LOVE!!
The system with the Innocent Devils, in terms of having a back-up buddy to do damage while you're in particular combo animations, makes me think a bit of how Soulstice goes about its combat. 2022 dark fantasy character action/hack-and-slash game in the same genre as Darksiders, Castlevania: Lords of Shadows, and the other well-known ones in this genre. The way it works is that the main character is technically a single creature: Two sisters, one of which dead, who had their souls bound together to become a creature known as a Chimera. The living sister, the Ashen Knight Briar, does the physical fighting, while the Shade, named Lute, has an invaluable assistive presence. For she can: - Make the Wraiths and Corrupted, two specific enemy varieties, vulnerable to physical damage - Passively cast homing energy projectiles - Perform counterattacks. By pressing the counter button prompt at the right time, a projectile will be returned (Deflection Counter), the attacker will be frozen for a few seconds but still have their attack performed (Freeze Counter), or be outright staggered with no attack performed (Disruption Counter). An oddity with the Freeze Counter though, is that even when it looks like let's say a Knight or a Mauler have already swung their weapon or arm and they get frozen, there will be an *immediate* hitbox once they are unfrozen. I don't feel right in calling it "jank", since to my memory it's fairly consistent in how it operates, but logically what happens doesn't line up with what you see. Either way: Lute technically operates individually from Briar. Which means that you can continue any sort of combo while Lute does her thing. Briar herself doesn't even have any type of block move unless you use the Fist of Retribution's parry (a gauntlet buckler). All the other six weapons have different movesets and animations. The same types of inputs, but still subtle differences. The game doesn't have a "summoning" mechanic as such, but i wanted to mention it due to the overlap with a supernatural partner in high-action melee combat. And because I love Soulstice, warts and all, and want to spread word about it. This game's been intriguing me a bit so here and there I looked up other reviews. Some more significant shortcomings that i saw people mention (if i remember correctly) is the difficulty of the optional dungeon which goes on a long time and has no save options throughout, or something to that effect. And how the material collecting for weapon crafting can be very random and tiresome. Especially when one wants to go all the way to make the electric guitar and gatling gun. Similarly so for making the best Devils. I've heard that there is a specific Steal move that can help, yet has a very tight procedure and timing to be able to pull off. Fascinating system as is, though. And to react to something from you video on the previous game: It was interesting to see someone fall in love with the concept of a whip as a main weapon in a high-action video game. Whip- rope- and chain-weapons are very, VERY beloved in this genre, exactly because of that reach and visual spectacle. Perhaps a bit of novelty comes into play as well. Heck, Kratos alone has wielded at least five different types: - Blades of Chaos - Blades of Athena - Blades of Exile - Claws of Hades - Nemesis Whip - And to an extent, the Nemean Cestus. They're big metal gauntlets shaped like lion fists, but have some moves where the heads extend on chains. Others that come to mind are - Scorn (Darksiders 3) - the whip form of the Fangs of Kukúlkan from Marlow Briggs & the Mask of Death) - Bayonetta's whips (Alraune and Kulshedra) - the Kusarigama (Ninja Gaiden 2) - Death's Scythe from Dante's Inferno... kinda. It has a transformative quality that can make it extend, retract, become straight or more flexible. - The Tearing Penance (Soulstice) - And of course, the whips in the Lords of Shadow trilogy. I don't know know your stance on that series, but I personally enjoyed them quite a bit. The numbered ones, at least. (Scythes are also oddly prevalent in this genre. Maces and axes a lot less.) The metroidvania Cookie Cutter may have a weapon to be used like a whip in a future update, taking the shape of a bondage gimp android. I want to mention this one because like Soulstice, it's a game i like a lot, though it's quite out-there. Cookie Cutter doesn't aim to be super deep, just a solid time and "something different". Not here to constantly turn its own world into a joke either, as off-putting as it may get at times. Either way: Thank you very much for making this video. Was a fun watch and listen. Once more, good luck, take care and have fun on other projects, be they for videos or things outside of it.
Huh the gameplay looks fun. I remember trying it back in the day and not liking it, felt slow compared to Lament of Innocence. Looks like I didn't give it a proper shake.
Funny story when I was a kid and I did listen to X play back in the day they give this game a 3 out of 5 and it took me several years for me to decide to give this game a shot while buying it with lament of innocence when I was at a convention with my friends. And this was After we marathoned the Netflix anime and honestly looking back and going to play through this game again, I think we can all agree that curse of darkness Hector is 110% better than Netflix Hector. They really dogged him and turned him into a weak little s*** on top of him being constantly strung around by a hot red-haired vampire which I don't blame him the vampire in question is hot but man I hate what they did to him until the very end. Here this is a Hector who takes charge and isn't constantly being made into a whipping boy. Fantastic job with this review and now that I have played a good chunk more of this game I do not agree with that review that gave it a 3 out of 5 as I definitely feel this game would have been a 4 out of 5. Still great job!
I spent the whole summer of 2006 playing the two PS2 Castlevanias. The music was epic I had no idea game soundtracks could be so awesome! I couldn't beat either game until I bought those big glossy game guides that gave me maps and hints. But the Battle devil chart in the Brady guide is wrong, you have to look it up online.
I thought I was the only one that loved this game, I loved it just as much as Lament of Innocence, I was really disappointed when popular videogame reviews sites back then gave it bad rep, but I honestly pick it up back in 2006 for ps2 and wasn’t disappointed with it, I liked the ID system which felt like another form of evolution to Symphony of the Nights Familiar system but with more variety types and put in fully 3D rendering format, then there is the weapon variety and crafting them, I’m surprised how many weapons there are in this game, with a lot of interesting ones including a laser blade, from death’s scythe to a gatling gun, lastly they made Trevor Belmont look really awesome in this one especially when he’s playable in Trevor mode with his unique movesets and sub weapons, I thought this game deserved better reputation what it had back then
Am at the gameplay part of the video, time for more weapon knowledge when i see particular names pop up! I'll mainly address lesser-known ones. At 17:02, we have: -The Bagh Nakh are a type of claw weapon worn on the inside of the wrist, with two rings to put the index finger and pinky finger through if i'm not mistaken. Means something like "The tiger's claws". I believe it was used more for pretty gnarly wrestling battles or other close-up encounters than real battlefield weapons. I once read a story too of a... sultan, i think, that fought with one such things during an attack on their residence, and encountered a friend who had helped fend off the attackers. But he forgot he was wearing the bagh nakh and the hug ended up more bloody than they wanted. Feel the need to emphasize i do not remember this story super well, nor when or where i found it. Take it with a grain of salt. - The Punch Rings make me think of some sort of ring with a spike on it used in ancient Japan, that could be turned to face to the inside of the palm (likely for grappling stuff) or the outside for punching stuff. - The Jur ought to appeal to me yet i find it an enigma. I've seen the name in referral to two different Katar weapons as collectables for an MMORPG, but the shape in the menu is much, much different-- unique even. The shape makes me think more of some sort of African throwing knives like a kpinga or hunga munga. Yet... in some way it makes me think of a weapon of Sikh warriors too, or at least an image i once saw of a Sikh warrior's get-up. It was like two daggers with a wavy blade, but imagine the handles are placed parallel to one another with the blades facing the opposite direction, and then connected with one another through short, thin metal... connective pieces. Only time i've ever seen it in media was in Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, alongside various other weapons of fantasy and real designs alike. Like a Kora/Kharga (top-heavy Nepalese and Indian sword), a more sickle-like Khopesh, a chakram (that one's been gaining popularity in media), an Ikakalaka-like design for the Spider Sword, a Haladie (double-bladed dagger with a handguard which sometimes had a third blade on said handguard), etc. It's quite different compared to the Jur image in the menu at 17:02 , but I wanted to share it regardless. It's really unusual in shape and in name-- but that name *must* have come from somewhere. at 17:06 - Most those sword names are real ones to my knowledge. The sword breaker is an unusual one. Like the image shows, one side of the blade resembles more of a comb. I think historical designs like that tended to be more for some type of dagger or messer. (i am not the most reliable source). Can't share much on the Schiavona but i know it exists. The Ada is new to me-- looks to be from an African culture. Colichemarde and Main Gauche are mysteries to me. at 17:08: - The bullova is one i *think* i heard of. I'd wager it's a Slavic or Baltic word. Not to be confused with "Pull ova" which is what a British police officer says when you're driving on the right side of the road. The weapon design in the blue box (i'm only seeing this now-- i was looking at the bars in the middle of the screen and their weapon icons) make me vaguely think of the blade of certain varieties of bardiche, in the sense that there's two connecting points that you can put one or both hands between. Yet the stylings of it make me think more of India. - The Tabar i know! That's from... i'd say West-Asian and Middle-Eastern reagions. An axe with a fairly big blade head that was used from horseback a lot. Don't remember which peoples or cultures developed and used it but it makes me think of the Sagaris, used by the Scythians, which had a smaller head. (Once more: i am not an exact source, be critical on what i tell here. I'm an enthousiast, not an expert). - The Gano is a mystery to me but likewise looks to be some sort of African axe. Thank you Scholagladiatora and your video on axes which i rewatched yesterday-- the man there explained of such axes, how the blades were more... drilled or knocked into the top of a club-like shaft instead of made to fit around a shaft. May or may not be decorated with iron wire wrapped and braided around the bit where the blade is inserted into the club. The name may not be exact, or be fitting for a specific region or culture, but the design of the weapon seems to be based on a real one. At 17:09 - One of those polearms is named the "dung"... that's the subject of many a scatalogical joke when it may find itself in the company of English speakers. - Le Sasumata! Looks to be the Japanese variant of a mancatcher, though a bit more deadly. Forked bladed top to push a limb, weapon or neck with. I believe there are a few different varieties with different names, which can have a line of nubs to catch into wide, loose clothing with. Leaving this as is for now. If anything new pops up i'll add it in a reply comment. Hope this was interesting. But to not let my own nerdism be the only thing i comment about: Your enthousiasm for this game really shines through in your voice, in a comfortable way. That love shines through in the attention to detail, like bothering to remember the area names or taking the time to inspect the sound design without the music. That's an extra extent that i assume not super many people do.
Thank you so much for doing this. I'm pinning this so everyone can read up on some cool weapon history and walk away from this video actually learning something LMAO
@@Ghooly You're most welcome, i'm just glad you find these interesting. :) I see this just as i finished the video-- got a new comment coming right up! I hope these segmented comments are not a bother. I heard multiple comments can help a bit with algorithm or engagement and stuff. I reckon it's not meant that the engagement comes all from one person, but it's not a loss either.
@@jurtheorc8117 Just having awesome people like yourself watching and enjoying the video is help enough and you've already written out a whole essay so I'd say you've helped an immense amount.
@@Ghooly That's very nice. Thank you very much :) Good luck and have fun in advance with whatever other projects you'll be working on, video or otherwise!
It was an interesting time. I still play the PS2 games using PS3 on livestreams. Also nice to see some mechanics from Lament and Curse of Darkness transferring into Lords of Shadow. Gothic horror was nice after the other Gothic Horror Legacy of Kain game series
It does remind me of Bloodborne but interestingly, I was watching a let's play of DMC 1 the other day and was surprised at how much that reminded me of this game. It has much greater detail and complexity in it's environments but the vibe was quite similar coupled with some of the screen elements that make it feel somewhat in that vein.
Thanks for this review! Curse of Darkness is one of my favorites, and I keep replaying the soundtrack over and over, remembering the good times I had while playing it. Hey, how come you didn't mention Saint Germain at all? He was my favorite side character!
I like to keep some things a surprise in these videos for anyone that might decide to pick the game up themselves and he's cool enough that I wanted his stuff in the game to be unspoiled haha
Weird how EVERYONE who plays this game loves it yet it was the end of the line for the Castlevania series, before the soft reboot and then pure death of the series..this game deserved way better..Konami was in full fumble mode as a company around this time.
I recently came up with an analogy for LoI and its relation to CoD. LoI is the Rondo of Blood to CoD’s Symphony of the Night. Lament and Rondo are both starring Belmonts with more traditional game play of whip and side weapons… and clunky jumping. Curse and Symphony of the Night are spin offs with leveling up and multiple weapons.
Man. I played the game on release and generally liked it but Dracula was an impassable wall for me for the first time ever. Maybe I didn't use the right devils, I dunno.
I'm a big Megaton player and the one other series that I gravitate to - Castlevania. And the game in that series I like best - Curse of Darkness. Yes, I love the ID system and the whole atmosphere, characters, etc. It's a great game, for sure with some janky gameplay typical of its time and nothing egregious. Thanks for the video.
I'm barely two minutes in, and wanted to let my inner weapon nerd out. *inhale* the Pata, those ball-gauntleted arm swords, really existed. Originated in India. Not super-commonly used though, and probably even more rarely used in dual wielding. Perhaps with a shield or an off-hand weapon like a one-handed axe. May be considered a big brother of the katar, a push dagger with a H-shaped handle. Some may or may not have flintlocks or a mechanism to open the blade in two to reveal a third blade within. Or a flintlock. I'm done and about to continue the video.
@@Ghooly Oh woah, thanks for replying! glad you find this interesting. I'll be leaving another comment with some weapon knowledge now that i've gotten to the gameplay part of the video.
For two games that are so completely different, I really think Curse of Darkness and Legend of Mana satisfy similar wants. Sure, the journey of CoD is an excuse to beat things up, while beating things up is a distraction from the journey in LoM. But fun combat with interesting moves and fiddling around with your gear and companions are core to both games.
Oh boy, it's sitting time! Chairs, everywhere, and plenty of time to plant your butt. Which is an excellent opportunity to figure out what path(s) you're going to take your Innocent Devils down. Also, I apologize profusely for any suffering you endured whilst trying to steal things from bosses or... certain enemies. Just know you did not suffer alone.
the channel o_uwu_o has a good combat breakdown on his channel. His entire channel is about combat overviews in action(slash adventure) games. Though sometimes I feel like he doesn't get the full gist of things like in the Chaos Legion video or the Dishwasher: Vampire Smile video. There are people in the comments that can sometimes add more knowledge. Either way, here's his Nano Breaker combat overview: ua-cam.com/video/ne1dg2n3jXc/v-deo.html And a moveset video by a different channel. This channel is all about showcasing movements, weapons and inputs within these types of games. ua-cam.com/video/EFll2CUuUi4/v-deo.html
Pretty cool series. I recently finished the GBA collection(Circle of the Moon, Dissonance of Harmony and Aria of Sorrow) and I ended up loving it. I want to give these two games a shot as well. It really sucks to know that such a cool franchise is in hands of one of the shitiest companies ever. For real, what in the f*ck is Konami doing with its franchises nowdays.
Emulation! I played it on a PS2 for this video but it apparently emulates very well. So emulating the game on PC is your best bet without a console imo.
@@GhoolyI started a new file after that to see if I was misremembering and after looking up a guide to make sure I get access to the few required devils I need as soon as possible I just played with what I had and swapped weapons whenever necessary to get crystals, most enemies go down in one to three hits with your strongest weapon in the category you're using, you only need to change up your combos for large mooks or if you're forced to use a white weapon for a specific evo
@@CassiusStelar yeah enemies really aren't grindy enough to consider this game as button mashy. Unless you're purposely using weaker weapons but even then I used no weapons at all for a while and enemies still went down pretty quickly
I’m all for more curse of darkness videos but I do think the positive outlook of these games has been trending hard this year. 3D castlevania in general too. Speed running castlevania 64 has seen a recent boom. Appreciate this vid but statement “no one is talking about …” I feel like isn’t true at the moment. Edit: another thing to add the recent improvement mod for the game also has been pushing the positive convo on this game.
Alright look when I started making this video I thought there wasn't *that* much content on this game and found out quickly thay that wasn't the case lmao. so take it as a hyperbolic statement that doesn't mean much
Make 2 hour long videos on obscure video games people can fall asleep to and youll get thousands of subscribers quick Especially untranslated Japanese games
Curse of Darkness though a good game the mobility/movement is just crippling and I'd imagine why most people got turned off from it sadly. I think Lament had the slight edge in this regard due to the wolfs foot and green orb axe that makes you dash forward.
This game is a great example of everything wrong with IGA era castlevania. The story (for once in this era) is alright and actually plays on Castlevania tropes despite also being full of generic final fantasy type rubbish. Problem is the good parts of the story are all limited to a prequel manga and aren't in the actual game. This was passable in the 80s but in 2005? The story in game, as had become typical, sucks and barely feels like castlevania. Speaking of barely feels like castlevania, there is absolutely 0 classic horror film theming in this game. The whole point of castlevania just isnt here! (Again, typical for the IGA games) The maps suck and the gameplay is highly repetitive with the crafting and ID systems being the only real "depth" or thought out design in the whole game. It's the same copy/paste, empty corridor full of stat grinder enemies routine as the gba/ds games. Except its 3d now so although the combat is less awful than those 2d titles the bland flat map design is even worse... On the other hand the music is excellent and the bosses quite good. Ultimately not a bad game but a clear example of how directionless and uncreative the IGA games tended to be, as well as a solid example of how far these games had fallen from even trying to resemble the original games they took their title from. Imagine a version of this game with actual level design that let places feel like places rather than just map themes, that didnt replace the classic horror theme with bland fantasy anime and had actual difficulty balancing rather than empty stat grinding...
Gothic fantasy have similar themes and imagery, thus the similarities between games that are very different. Trivia for Hector's design: In Romania, white and red hair are traits of vampires in their folklore, so the designs of Hector and Isaac were made to compliment each other. Isaac's ruined uniform compared to Hector's intact shows one broken and afflicted by the curse while the other, well, not. They really tied the characters together through their antagonism, Hector's lover and Isaac's sister.
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/ghooly_tv
Patreon: www.patreon.com/Ghooly
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/ghooly.bsky.social
Twitter: x.com/GhoolyTV
The PS2 games hold a status of "bad" but everyone who plays em (moreso Curse than Lament) enjoys them a lot. Curse has some of the most merchandise, has the Netflix show adapting (very poorly) it's characters, and now Dead by Daylight has Curse Trevor with Crispin Freeman reprising his "Dracula" role from Lament. They're a great duo of games, and Curse is one of the largest game in the series of you go for 100% completion.
While he's not an accurate portrayal, Isaac is easily the best character in the show. It being different doesn't make it inherently bad.
I loved that you mentioned Dark Souls, a lack of new and fun Castlevania games was the reason I got into Dark souls and Im positive the devs of the souls games took alot of inspiration from Castlevania
I'll never forgive the disservice the critic did to the PS2 Castlevanias.
Curse of Darkness is so criminally slept on. The aesthetics and the vibes of this game are immaculate. I'm so happy after the success of the Animated series, that the recent Dead By Daylight collaboration chose to use the Curse of Darkness designs and shine a spotlight on the games instead. I love how Trevor's design in this game has been pretty much his main default look in most of everything he has showed up in since. Really great video this is the type of content I enjoy!
Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it!
This game’s super fun, and I’m happy more people are giving it a chance now. And the music is fantastic (Abandoned Castle is one of my favorite CV OSTs, in a series filled with some of the best video game compositions ever)!!!
Absolutely adore the Bloodborne comparisons here. It feels quite obvious in retrospect but I didn't even think about how much that game like evokes some of the vibes generally of the series but definitely also this game in a number of really rad ways.
Also damn I didn't realize anything about how to get to the tower of evermore that's sick as shit. God I love this game and its little fun discoveries and secrets.
Excellent video!
Curse of darkness was my first Castlevania and I fell in love with it, Imagine my sadness when I learned that it was the only one in the series like this and probably will forever be
I'm really hoping that Konami brings this style of Castlevania back soon with how they're treating MGS and Silent Hill now. Fingers crossed!
@@Ghooly Also, first vid of yours and I love your thumbnails, for a sec thought it was a corrupted UA-cam vid and it is really cool, gonna watch the innocent one now
@@ShieldLad01 thank you very much!
I just want to see Konami or whoever has rights to it now, bring back all the castlevania series, especially the 3d ones. Lament of innocence and curse of darkness were two of my favorites in the series and how they did the titles..... I would fall in love all over again. My favorite game series of all time
Both PS2 vanias are way better than what some critics and people say about them. Yeah, the level design could be better, but they are very fun to play to this day.
Hope people realize how awesome Game Hector is and how very dumbed down the netflixvania version of him is. then again, i can say the same about most of netflixvania : )
The thumbnails, the art direction of your intermissions, everything has gotten my attention. This style of yours is amazing.
Haha thank you!
I remember this game fondly, and was always a bit disappointed it didn't make an impact. Thanks for the nostalgia trip. I still have the game, I think I'll bust it out. And I like how you get into really deep details about the game, like the menus and sound design.
This and Lament of Innocents were my favorite games on ps2. Curse of Darkness was the only game I spent money to buy the strategy guide. Partly to learn how to steal rare materials and create the insane weapons. I would grind for hours, gathering every material possible to create every single weapon just to try them out. Loved some of the silly ones like the electric guitar that stunned any enemies within a certain radius of you and dealt damage from the shockwave of the music.
Also created every variant of the Innocent Devils, which was hard because you had to change from playing with your favorite weapons to ones you might not like that much.
I'm glad to see that there are others out there who remember this game as fondly as I do.
New peak!! This series has really inspired me to finally give these games a play, I have curse of darkness on xbox which is a port I've always wanted to dable with! It was basically rhe closest xbox got to devil may cry aesthetically
I fuck with the song Blue Serenade from this games Soundtrack so heavily. This game will always have a place in my heart. I remember like last year that I accidently crafted a weapon instead of keeping a different weapon, therefore not letting me being able to evolve the Devil innocent devil :(. Good vid
this was my first castlevania game that i played. really enjoyed it and was shocked to see the reviews for the game as its a solid game. i didnt play another castlevania until symphony of the night on my ps vita which got me into metroidvania
Hmm, yes. Acceptable. The contract has been fulfilled, you may keep my sub.
This game is what convinced me that SMT and Castlevania would make a phenomenal crossover in either genre.
One thing that I can appreciate from Netflix series is bringing new eyes to this game, to see Hector in a better story and characterization, and a whole different kind of Isaac lmao. Kinda dissapointed you didnt mention him much in this video since he is the best character in this game. He is so extra in everything.
A HELLISH DEVIL!
thank you for covering this game!! I feel like I'm crazy when I tell people how good it is and was elated when I saw the characters in the Netflix anime, still don't understand why they so drastically changed the antagonist but that's Netflix for you.... anyways this game is an absolute gem I own on disc and recently emulated it again so I could play it on PC. since SotN is my favorite Castlevania, Curse seems like a love letter to the fans of the PS1 classic yet it gets NO LOVE!!
@GhoolyTV Did you know, there was a 2-volume manga version of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness? The story takes place before the events of the game.
I did not! Sounds like it could be cool though
There is that and a mini manga that came with the Japanese special edition done by Ayami Kojima.
We do not forgive what they did to Hector in the Netflix show...We do not forgive...
He's not voiced by Crispin Freeman in the show so that interpretation has a gigantic debuff
Amen and amen. Never forgive, never forget. Konami really doesn't care what is done to their IP.
*looks around confused
What did they do to Hector??
@@slipstream7324 He got a massive downgrade. He's just a side character.
@doriansz3130 that's nothing they made Alucard gay.. freaking weirdos
The system with the Innocent Devils, in terms of having a back-up buddy to do damage while you're in particular combo animations, makes me think a bit of how Soulstice goes about its combat. 2022 dark fantasy character action/hack-and-slash game in the same genre as Darksiders, Castlevania: Lords of Shadows, and the other well-known ones in this genre.
The way it works is that the main character is technically a single creature: Two sisters, one of which dead, who had their souls bound together to become a creature known as a Chimera.
The living sister, the Ashen Knight Briar, does the physical fighting, while the Shade, named Lute, has an invaluable assistive presence. For she can:
- Make the Wraiths and Corrupted, two specific enemy varieties, vulnerable to physical damage
- Passively cast homing energy projectiles
- Perform counterattacks.
By pressing the counter button prompt at the right time, a projectile will be returned (Deflection Counter), the attacker will be frozen for a few seconds but still have their attack performed (Freeze Counter), or be outright staggered with no attack performed (Disruption Counter).
An oddity with the Freeze Counter though, is that even when it looks like let's say a Knight or a Mauler have already swung their weapon or arm and they get frozen, there will be an *immediate* hitbox once they are unfrozen.
I don't feel right in calling it "jank", since to my memory it's fairly consistent in how it operates, but logically what happens doesn't line up with what you see.
Either way: Lute technically operates individually from Briar. Which means that you can continue any sort of combo while Lute does her thing.
Briar herself doesn't even have any type of block move unless you use the Fist of Retribution's parry (a gauntlet buckler). All the other six weapons have different movesets and animations. The same types of inputs, but still subtle differences.
The game doesn't have a "summoning" mechanic as such, but i wanted to mention it due to the overlap with a supernatural partner in high-action melee combat. And because I love Soulstice, warts and all, and want to spread word about it.
This game's been intriguing me a bit so here and there I looked up other reviews. Some more significant shortcomings that i saw people mention (if i remember correctly) is the difficulty of the optional dungeon which goes on a long time and has no save options throughout, or something to that effect.
And how the material collecting for weapon crafting can be very random and tiresome. Especially when one wants to go all the way to make the electric guitar and gatling gun. Similarly so for making the best Devils. I've heard that there is a specific Steal move that can help, yet has a very tight procedure and timing to be able to pull off.
Fascinating system as is, though.
And to react to something from you video on the previous game: It was interesting to see someone fall in love with the concept of a whip as a main weapon in a high-action video game. Whip- rope- and chain-weapons are very, VERY beloved in this genre, exactly because of that reach and visual spectacle. Perhaps a bit of novelty comes into play as well.
Heck, Kratos alone has wielded at least five different types:
- Blades of Chaos
- Blades of Athena
- Blades of Exile
- Claws of Hades
- Nemesis Whip
- And to an extent, the Nemean Cestus. They're big metal gauntlets shaped like lion fists, but have some moves where the heads extend on chains.
Others that come to mind are
- Scorn (Darksiders 3)
- the whip form of the Fangs of Kukúlkan from Marlow Briggs & the Mask of Death)
- Bayonetta's whips (Alraune and Kulshedra)
- the Kusarigama (Ninja Gaiden 2)
- Death's Scythe from Dante's Inferno... kinda. It has a transformative quality that can make it extend, retract, become straight or more flexible.
- The Tearing Penance (Soulstice)
- And of course, the whips in the Lords of Shadow trilogy. I don't know know your stance on that series, but I personally enjoyed them quite a bit. The numbered ones, at least.
(Scythes are also oddly prevalent in this genre. Maces and axes a lot less.)
The metroidvania Cookie Cutter may have a weapon to be used like a whip in a future update, taking the shape of a bondage gimp android. I want to mention this one because like Soulstice, it's a game i like a lot, though it's quite out-there.
Cookie Cutter doesn't aim to be super deep, just a solid time and "something different". Not here to constantly turn its own world into a joke either, as off-putting as it may get at times.
Either way: Thank you very much for making this video. Was a fun watch and listen.
Once more, good luck, take care and have fun on other projects, be they for videos or things outside of it.
hope they re-release these next collection so more people can try it.
Huh the gameplay looks fun. I remember trying it back in the day and not liking it, felt slow compared to Lament of Innocence. Looks like I didn't give it a proper shake.
Got this vid recommended when i listened to some Curse Of Darkness OST. And man it's a good review
Your Castlevania videos are great. Hope to see more in the future
Funny story when I was a kid and I did listen to X play back in the day they give this game a 3 out of 5 and it took me several years for me to decide to give this game a shot while buying it with lament of innocence when I was at a convention with my friends. And this was After we marathoned the Netflix anime and honestly looking back and going to play through this game again, I think we can all agree that curse of darkness Hector is 110% better than Netflix Hector. They really dogged him and turned him into a weak little s*** on top of him being constantly strung around by a hot red-haired vampire which I don't blame him the vampire in question is hot but man I hate what they did to him until the very end. Here this is a Hector who takes charge and isn't constantly being made into a whipping boy. Fantastic job with this review and now that I have played a good chunk more of this game I do not agree with that review that gave it a 3 out of 5 as I definitely feel this game would have been a 4 out of 5. Still great job!
I spent the whole summer of 2006 playing the two PS2 Castlevanias. The music was epic I had no idea game soundtracks could be so awesome! I couldn't beat either game until I bought those big glossy game guides that gave me maps and hints. But the Battle devil chart in the Brady guide is wrong, you have to look it up online.
I thought I was the only one that loved this game, I loved it just as much as Lament of Innocence, I was really disappointed when popular videogame reviews sites back then gave it bad rep, but I honestly pick it up back in 2006 for ps2 and wasn’t disappointed with it, I liked the ID system which felt like another form of evolution to Symphony of the Nights Familiar system but with more variety types and put in fully 3D rendering format, then there is the weapon variety and crafting them, I’m surprised how many weapons there are in this game, with a lot of interesting ones including a laser blade, from death’s scythe to a gatling gun, lastly they made Trevor Belmont look really awesome in this one especially when he’s playable in Trevor mode with his unique movesets and sub weapons, I thought this game deserved better reputation what it had back then
Am at the gameplay part of the video, time for more weapon knowledge when i see particular names pop up! I'll mainly address lesser-known ones. At 17:02, we have:
-The Bagh Nakh are a type of claw weapon worn on the inside of the wrist, with two rings to put the index finger and pinky finger through if i'm not mistaken. Means something like "The tiger's claws". I believe it was used more for pretty gnarly wrestling battles or other close-up encounters than real battlefield weapons.
I once read a story too of a... sultan, i think, that fought with one such things during an attack on their residence, and encountered a friend who had helped fend off the attackers. But he forgot he was wearing the bagh nakh and the hug ended up more bloody than they wanted.
Feel the need to emphasize i do not remember this story super well, nor when or where i found it. Take it with a grain of salt.
- The Punch Rings make me think of some sort of ring with a spike on it used in ancient Japan, that could be turned to face to the inside of the palm (likely for grappling stuff) or the outside for punching stuff.
- The Jur ought to appeal to me yet i find it an enigma. I've seen the name in referral to two different Katar weapons as collectables for an MMORPG, but the shape in the menu is much, much different-- unique even. The shape makes me think more of some sort of African throwing knives like a kpinga or hunga munga. Yet... in some way it makes me think of a weapon of Sikh warriors too, or at least an image i once saw of a Sikh warrior's get-up.
It was like two daggers with a wavy blade, but imagine the handles are placed parallel to one another with the blades facing the opposite direction, and then connected with one another through short, thin metal... connective pieces.
Only time i've ever seen it in media was in Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, alongside various other weapons of fantasy and real designs alike. Like a Kora/Kharga (top-heavy Nepalese and Indian sword), a more sickle-like Khopesh, a chakram (that one's been gaining popularity in media), an Ikakalaka-like design for the Spider Sword, a Haladie (double-bladed dagger with a handguard which sometimes had a third blade on said handguard), etc.
It's quite different compared to the Jur image in the menu at 17:02 , but I wanted to share it regardless. It's really unusual in shape and in name-- but that name *must* have come from somewhere.
at 17:06
- Most those sword names are real ones to my knowledge. The sword breaker is an unusual one. Like the image shows, one side of the blade resembles more of a comb. I think historical designs like that tended to be more for some type of dagger or messer. (i am not the most reliable source).
Can't share much on the Schiavona but i know it exists. The Ada is new to me-- looks to be from an African culture. Colichemarde and Main Gauche are mysteries to me.
at 17:08:
- The bullova is one i *think* i heard of. I'd wager it's a Slavic or Baltic word. Not to be confused with "Pull ova" which is what a British police officer says when you're driving on the right side of the road.
The weapon design in the blue box (i'm only seeing this now-- i was looking at the bars in the middle of the screen and their weapon icons) make me vaguely think of the blade of certain varieties of bardiche, in the sense that there's two connecting points that you can put one or both hands between. Yet the stylings of it make me think more of India.
- The Tabar i know! That's from... i'd say West-Asian and Middle-Eastern reagions. An axe with a fairly big blade head that was used from horseback a lot.
Don't remember which peoples or cultures developed and used it but it makes me think of the Sagaris, used by the Scythians, which had a smaller head.
(Once more: i am not an exact source, be critical on what i tell here. I'm an enthousiast, not an expert).
- The Gano is a mystery to me but likewise looks to be some sort of African axe. Thank you Scholagladiatora and your video on axes which i rewatched yesterday-- the man there explained of such axes, how the blades were more... drilled or knocked into the top of a club-like shaft instead of made to fit around a shaft. May or may not be decorated with iron wire wrapped and braided around the bit where the blade is inserted into the club.
The name may not be exact, or be fitting for a specific region or culture, but the design of the weapon seems to be based on a real one.
At 17:09
- One of those polearms is named the "dung"... that's the subject of many a scatalogical joke when it may find itself in the company of English speakers.
- Le Sasumata! Looks to be the Japanese variant of a mancatcher, though a bit more deadly. Forked bladed top to push a limb, weapon or neck with. I believe there are a few different varieties with different names, which can have a line of nubs to catch into wide, loose clothing with.
Leaving this as is for now. If anything new pops up i'll add it in a reply comment.
Hope this was interesting.
But to not let my own nerdism be the only thing i comment about:
Your enthousiasm for this game really shines through in your voice, in a comfortable way. That love shines through in the attention to detail, like bothering to remember the area names or taking the time to inspect the sound design without the music. That's an extra extent that i assume not super many people do.
Thank you so much for doing this. I'm pinning this so everyone can read up on some cool weapon history and walk away from this video actually learning something LMAO
@@Ghooly You're most welcome, i'm just glad you find these interesting. :) I see this just as i finished the video-- got a new comment coming right up!
I hope these segmented comments are not a bother. I heard multiple comments can help a bit with algorithm or engagement and stuff. I reckon it's not meant that the engagement comes all from one person, but it's not a loss either.
@@jurtheorc8117 Just having awesome people like yourself watching and enjoying the video is help enough and you've already written out a whole essay so I'd say you've helped an immense amount.
@@Ghooly That's very nice. Thank you very much :)
Good luck and have fun in advance with whatever other projects you'll be working on, video or otherwise!
What a chad
I'll just point out that CoD has a song called "A Toccata into Blood Soaked Darkness" which is possibly the coolest name for a song ever.
It was an interesting time. I still play the PS2 games using PS3 on livestreams. Also nice to see some mechanics from Lament and Curse of Darkness transferring into Lords of Shadow. Gothic horror was nice after the other Gothic Horror Legacy of Kain game series
It does remind me of Bloodborne but interestingly, I was watching a let's play of DMC 1 the other day and was surprised at how much that reminded me of this game. It has much greater detail and complexity in it's environments but the vibe was quite similar coupled with some of the screen elements that make it feel somewhat in that vein.
Thanks for this review! Curse of Darkness is one of my favorites, and I keep replaying the soundtrack over and over, remembering the good times I had while playing it. Hey, how come you didn't mention Saint Germain at all? He was my favorite side character!
I like to keep some things a surprise in these videos for anyone that might decide to pick the game up themselves and he's cool enough that I wanted his stuff in the game to be unspoiled haha
Weird how EVERYONE who plays this game loves it yet it was the end of the line for the Castlevania series, before the soft reboot and then pure death of the series..this game deserved way better..Konami was in full fumble mode as a company around this time.
I recently came up with an analogy for LoI and its relation to CoD.
LoI is the Rondo of Blood to CoD’s Symphony of the Night.
Lament and Rondo are both starring Belmonts with more traditional game play of whip and side weapons… and clunky jumping.
Curse and Symphony of the Night are spin offs with leveling up and multiple weapons.
I hope they bring these PS2 Castlevanias to Steam like they have with the others. This was one of my favorite games.
Love this game so much, really hope we get a HD collection of the PS2 games.
There might not be a whip but there is a laser sword that acts like one
Man. I played the game on release and generally liked it but Dracula was an impassable wall for me for the first time ever. Maybe I didn't use the right devils, I dunno.
Yup he was tough for me too. Took some experimenting with weapon/devil combos
I'm a big Megaton player and the one other series that I gravitate to - Castlevania. And the game in that series I like best - Curse of Darkness. Yes, I love the ID system and the whole atmosphere, characters, etc. It's a great game, for sure with some janky gameplay typical of its time and nothing egregious. Thanks for the video.
I'm barely two minutes in, and wanted to let my inner weapon nerd out.
*inhale* the Pata, those ball-gauntleted arm swords, really existed. Originated in India. Not super-commonly used though, and probably even more rarely used in dual wielding. Perhaps with a shield or an off-hand weapon like a one-handed axe.
May be considered a big brother of the katar, a push dagger with a H-shaped handle. Some may or may not have flintlocks or a mechanism to open the blade in two to reveal a third blade within. Or a flintlock.
I'm done and about to continue the video.
This is now required reading before starting the video thank you.
@@Ghooly Oh woah, thanks for replying! glad you find this interesting.
I'll be leaving another comment with some weapon knowledge now that i've gotten to the gameplay part of the video.
Play the Enhanced Curse mod, its awesome and makes the game even better
Yeah I've been told how cool it is so I need to check it out
I remember loving this game, if they give it more like a proper third person camera like bayoneta, could be a great re release
Your backgrounds remind me of ThorHighHeels' :D
For two games that are so completely different, I really think Curse of Darkness and Legend of Mana satisfy similar wants. Sure, the journey of CoD is an excuse to beat things up, while beating things up is a distraction from the journey in LoM. But fun combat with interesting moves and fiddling around with your gear and companions are core to both games.
Play the Enhanced version!
I will!
I kinda wish they remake this
Oh boy, it's sitting time! Chairs, everywhere, and plenty of time to plant your butt. Which is an excellent opportunity to figure out what path(s) you're going to take your Innocent Devils down.
Also, I apologize profusely for any suffering you endured whilst trying to steal things from bosses or... certain enemies. Just know you did not suffer alone.
Yeah...stealing materials took a good few hours off my lifespan I can't lie
You should try Nanobreaker, same devs, same engine
Oh hell yeah this game looks sick it is now on the list!
the channel o_uwu_o has a good combat breakdown on his channel. His entire channel is about combat overviews in action(slash adventure) games. Though sometimes I feel like he doesn't get the full gist of things like in the Chaos Legion video or the Dishwasher: Vampire Smile video. There are people in the comments that can sometimes add more knowledge.
Either way, here's his Nano Breaker combat overview: ua-cam.com/video/ne1dg2n3jXc/v-deo.html
And a moveset video by a different channel. This channel is all about showcasing movements, weapons and inputs within these types of games.
ua-cam.com/video/EFll2CUuUi4/v-deo.html
This game got me into souls games, since it's the most similar vibe besides devil my cry
Pretty cool series. I recently finished the GBA collection(Circle of the Moon, Dissonance of Harmony and Aria of Sorrow) and I ended up loving it. I want to give these two games a shot as well. It really sucks to know that such a cool franchise is in hands of one of the shitiest companies ever. For real, what in the f*ck is Konami doing with its franchises nowdays.
Unfortunately I was not able to play this one when I owned a ps2. Any idea of how to play it today without that console?
Emulation! I played it on a PS2 for this video but it apparently emulates very well. So emulating the game on PC is your best bet without a console imo.
@@Ghooly Thanks!
One guy tried to tell me this game had too much mashing? Like what? Just craft new weapons and kill enemies as they spawn to level up?
Tell that guy I'm laughing at him
@@GhoolyI started a new file after that to see if I was misremembering and after looking up a guide to make sure I get access to the few required devils I need as soon as possible I just played with what I had and swapped weapons whenever necessary to get crystals, most enemies go down in one to three hits with your strongest weapon in the category you're using, you only need to change up your combos for large mooks or if you're forced to use a white weapon for a specific evo
@@CassiusStelar yeah enemies really aren't grindy enough to consider this game as button mashy. Unless you're purposely using weaker weapons but even then I used no weapons at all for a while and enemies still went down pretty quickly
@@Ghooly Hector fucking throws hands bro he could go toe to toe with Ryu from Street with that spinny kick he does bro
I’m all for more curse of darkness videos but I do think the positive outlook of these games has been trending hard this year. 3D castlevania in general too. Speed running castlevania 64 has seen a recent boom.
Appreciate this vid but statement “no one is talking about …” I feel like isn’t true at the moment.
Edit: another thing to add the recent improvement mod for the game also has been pushing the positive convo on this game.
Alright look when I started making this video I thought there wasn't *that* much content on this game and found out quickly thay that wasn't the case lmao. so take it as a hyperbolic statement that doesn't mean much
I loved Lament of Innocence, but just couldn't get into Curse of Darkness
but there is a jump kick in the game
Real
i cant get pass with the second trevor boss fight 😢
Get back in there and kick his ass I believe in you
His character was a freaking joke in the anime.
No ports of this game yet?
Nope. Only ways to play are via a PS2, original Xbox, or emulation.
@@Ghooly that is sad, my ps2 is caput.
Make 2 hour long videos on obscure video games people can fall asleep to and youll get thousands of subscribers quick
Especially untranslated Japanese games
('-')7 I'm on it
Curse of Darkness though a good game the mobility/movement is just crippling and I'd imagine why most people got turned off from it sadly. I think Lament had the slight edge in this regard due to the wolfs foot and green orb axe that makes you dash forward.
Aka corridorvania
This game is a great example of everything wrong with IGA era castlevania. The story (for once in this era) is alright and actually plays on Castlevania tropes despite also being full of generic final fantasy type rubbish. Problem is the good parts of the story are all limited to a prequel manga and aren't in the actual game. This was passable in the 80s but in 2005?
The story in game, as had become typical, sucks and barely feels like castlevania.
Speaking of barely feels like castlevania, there is absolutely 0 classic horror film theming in this game. The whole point of castlevania just isnt here! (Again, typical for the IGA games)
The maps suck and the gameplay is highly repetitive with the crafting and ID systems being the only real "depth" or thought out design in the whole game. It's the same copy/paste, empty corridor full of stat grinder enemies routine as the gba/ds games. Except its 3d now so although the combat is less awful than those 2d titles the bland flat map design is even worse...
On the other hand the music is excellent and the bosses quite good.
Ultimately not a bad game but a clear example of how directionless and uncreative the IGA games tended to be, as well as a solid example of how far these games had fallen from even trying to resemble the original games they took their title from.
Imagine a version of this game with actual level design that let places feel like places rather than just map themes, that didnt replace the classic horror theme with bland fantasy anime and had actual difficulty balancing rather than empty stat grinding...
Gothic fantasy have similar themes and imagery, thus the similarities between games that are very different.
Trivia for Hector's design: In Romania, white and red hair are traits of vampires in their folklore, so the designs of Hector and Isaac were made to compliment each other. Isaac's ruined uniform compared to Hector's intact shows one broken and afflicted by the curse while the other, well, not. They really tied the characters together through their antagonism, Hector's lover and Isaac's sister.
Y'all would love Curse of Darkness Enhanced Edition. Some person named Gian made this game even better