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Whipping A Dead Mr. Hed: The Castlevania Thread Of Sacred Remains
- Thread starter R.R. Bigman
- Start date
Well, USB hub is boned, so stream's off. 
Okay, we just ordered another hub from Amazon, and hopefully it'll be here tomorrow in time for us to do it at the usual time.
If not, then the plan is to do it next week and run until we finish the game.
Okay, we just ordered another hub from Amazon, and hopefully it'll be here tomorrow in time for us to do it at the usual time.
If not, then the plan is to do it next week and run until we finish the game.
ICYMI:
R.R. Bigman
Coolest Guy
I’m sad that it’s almost Halloween and not even a peep of a new game or collection.
When you put it that way, I'm hoping they're waiting for the day to announce it.
Or a shadow drop would be good, too, if it's a collection.
It's what I would do.
Maybe.
I'd be torn between that and October 1st, actually, but if I couldn't make the 1st, I'd definitely be eying Halloween itself.
ICYMI
Ludendorkk
(he/him)
A surprise but welcome shadowdrop for Castlevania Legends on NSO for Halloween
I just want to note that I wrote about Devil World for an article I have scheduled for the end of January, and now I have to go back and change all sorts of verbs and references for the fact that you can now play the game legally in the United States for the first time in something like three decades. This is a personal affront to my time and patience.
(I am really glad other people get to play this formative Miyamoto title)
(I am really glad other people get to play this formative Miyamoto title)
It has an underappreciated soundtrack. Very compositionally baroque and elaborate, and novel in its arrangements of existing material, which are sparingly used to its benefit. This VRC6 arrangement is a nice way to reacquaint with it.
It's been like 20 years since I played through this thing, still so astounding how average/bad it is coming so long after Belmont's Revenge. It's also very easy after the first level - the game throws out hearts constantly and practically begs you to use your time stopping and enemy killing soul powers that use up almost no currency. And then the game gives you a burning mode that lasts long enough to kill each boss without being hit if you choose to use it.
The game is almost as slow as Castlevania Adventure but doesn't even have anything in it as cool as that game's spike level. The only new things are some slow, plodding "exploration" for items, trick candles, and a hidden level right at the end. Just as weird game, but I'm very glad to have it accessible again.
The game is almost as slow as Castlevania Adventure but doesn't even have anything in it as cool as that game's spike level. The only new things are some slow, plodding "exploration" for items, trick candles, and a hidden level right at the end. Just as weird game, but I'm very glad to have it accessible again.
Is there an "oral history" of Legends anywhere? To my recall, it was released like six months after Symphony of the Night dropped to great acclaim, so I always wondered if it was quickly (and haphazardly) retooled to match what was interpreted as the appeal of SotN (aside from just tossing Alucard in there).
Its developers have never talked about it or been interviewed as far as I know; the only commentary has been by Igarashi in the 2000s series stewardship period, and that's mostly water under the bridge kinda asides mostly litigating whether it narratively "deserved" to be in the series canon as far as he was shaping it. I've seen people frequently confuse which branch of Konami even made it, so to refresh: KCEN, the Nagoya branch, developed Legends and the Saturn port of Symphony (which in my opinion gives credence to that reading of them trying to exploit Symphony as far as it could go in short order), while KCEK, the Kobe branch, developed the N64 games and Circle of the Moon.
It sucks that IGA basically said it doesn't count because "ew, girls," but also, making the world smaller by having all the subsequent Belmonts all be related to Dracula sucks, too, so I guess I'm fine with it? Also, this series has had like four "first" entries that cannot line up with each other, so whatever, I guess.
"This Castlevania* is a creature of Chaos. With each rebirth, it takes a new form."
*The series
*The series
On some level, I can kind of appreciate not wanting the origins of the series you've taken stewardship of to be established by the B- or C-team on an aged handheld that was only beginning to get its second wind.
On the other hand, though, it might have been a bit more respectable had he used Sonia Belmont himself to carve that out.
So ROMhackers just recently discovered some cheat codes (including a version of the Konami code) in Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness.
Konami Code:
* C-Up x4
* C-Down x4
* C-Left x2, C-Right x2
* C-Left x2, C-Right x2
* L, R, Z
USA:
* Get 10 Roast Chicken, Roast Beef, Puryfing, Cure Ampoule, Sun Card and Moon Card *
Hold L + R + All C-Buttons + Z
EUR and JPN:
* Get 10 Roast Chicken, Roast Beef, Puryfing, Cure Ampoule, Sun Card and Moon Card *
Hold L + R + DPad-Up + C-Up + DPad-Right + C-Right + Z
* Get max-level PowerUp and subweapon *
Hold L + R + DPad-Down + C-Down + DPad-Left + C-Left + Z
* Get 99 Jewels *
Hold L + R + All C-Buttons + Z
* C-Up x4
* C-Down x4
* C-Left x2, C-Right x2
* C-Left x2, C-Right x2
* L, R, Z
USA:
* Get 10 Roast Chicken, Roast Beef, Puryfing, Cure Ampoule, Sun Card and Moon Card *
Hold L + R + All C-Buttons + Z
EUR and JPN:
* Get 10 Roast Chicken, Roast Beef, Puryfing, Cure Ampoule, Sun Card and Moon Card *
Hold L + R + DPad-Up + C-Up + DPad-Right + C-Right + Z
* Get max-level PowerUp and subweapon *
Hold L + R + DPad-Down + C-Down + DPad-Left + C-Left + Z
* Get 99 Jewels *
Hold L + R + All C-Buttons + Z
Last edited:
Wait, so what does the Konami Code do?
this game owns. blown away by how good it is, really
mechanics in context of irina, the belmont analogue (she swings a censer instead of a whip, and does pyromancy)--the dude is the lecarde and didn't try him yet
you have eight-way whipping, a slide on left shoulder (it has a cooldown of a few seconds), and in a rare pull, the cv4 crouch walk, probably used best here out of any game that has had it
each stage has four Lore Scrolls which are just the game's textual writing component, but also four crystals, which you spend whenever to purchase new sub-weapons essentially, or extend your hp/mp meters; you can choose the order you unlock things in
the sub-weapons are permanently available, and get mapped to up, diagonally up, forward, diagonally down, and down + right shoulder inputs
each use costs three mp, which is the value of a single orb you see on the u.i. you start with six total mp and increase from there
candelabras only have hearts (restore health by 5--default value is 100 up to a maximum of 200; hits from enemies generally take 15+ i think) or mp restoratives worth 1 mp
the other way to restore mp is simply hitting things with your regular attacks, which restores it by one, so in the event you run out, getting in close means you'll soon have resources to use sub-weapons with, even in the middle of a boss fight
it makes it so there's never an event where a candle gives you something you don't want, so you don't need to like, avoid hitting them during tricky sections because you're safeguarding your preferred sub-weapon, like usually happens in cv
one touch i really liked is that irina's censer proportionally is pretty short in length; it feels closer to an unupgraded whip in old cv. it makes it so eight-way whipping doesn't allow you to trivialize the level design but you really do need to utilize the expanding arsenal for their specific purposes
the hidden stuff is all really nice: game does breakable walls, invisible platforms, slipping behind the foreground, fake walls, all that stuff. it's a good incentive to engage with the level design to its fullest
i think the general play physics remind me most of akdrx68k, very precise but modestly kinetic
the level design sort of read to me as evocative of some alternate reality where the gbvanias had follow-up and this turned up for it, and that's including legends. like there's a sense of real commitment to a set of fundamentals that get remixed thoroughly instead of focusing on setpieces or gimmicks. it's not afraid to do "be on the edge of this one-character-width platform to leap to the next" platforming bits when it feels like it, but it's also not going overboard in a "masocore" sensibility. it all escalates very gradually and naturally
same with the bosses. one of the few cv clones that gets the sensibility of the old games in that they're not some mega-man-come-lately pattern reading test; they're quick slugfests where the patterns aren't complex
aesthetically it's excellent. the sprite art is sometimes inconsistent (i think the early goings in outdoor areas are kinda rough) but it's doing a very good pastiche of the faceless cv characters and not like, enormously huge opposition for them. really good use of colour, and the detail grows increasingly more elaborate and impressive as the stages go on
music is kinda tremendous. there's a lot of arpeggio work in it as might be expected but not nearly all of it goes for a high-tempo pump-up approach; there's a lot of slow dirge-like themes or repetitive noise or sometimes just droning environmental groans or the like. and it's pretty consistently really dramatic and fairly melancholy which is catnip for me
tonally it's just what i want too. there's no winking self-awareness about any of it, it's presented as a serious supernatural adventure without drowning it in violence gore--you know, the balance that cv managed for so long, but then a lot of things don't. all the written stuff is just descriptions of mostly the bosses you'll fight, and it's the most Dracula's Satanic Castle anything's been since it directly connects his power and abilities as stemming from the devil's teachings. you get portentous bible verses to set the mood
it's like really long, at 12 stages--probably nearing four hours for a "loop." but i guess you can't always really map modern throwbacks directly like that; how long is either smallstained when you count all the infinite permutations they want you to play through the game with? in that sense, this is pretty straightforward in that sense too: pick your preferred character and go off. there's a rondo-esque stage select and a percentage completion rate tracking progress; the goals per stage are finding both of the four doodads, and clearing without a miss
i can't imagine not recommending the game to anyone hungry for a cv game. it's one of the best imitations and evocations i've ever seen
mechanics in context of irina, the belmont analogue (she swings a censer instead of a whip, and does pyromancy)--the dude is the lecarde and didn't try him yet
you have eight-way whipping, a slide on left shoulder (it has a cooldown of a few seconds), and in a rare pull, the cv4 crouch walk, probably used best here out of any game that has had it
each stage has four Lore Scrolls which are just the game's textual writing component, but also four crystals, which you spend whenever to purchase new sub-weapons essentially, or extend your hp/mp meters; you can choose the order you unlock things in
the sub-weapons are permanently available, and get mapped to up, diagonally up, forward, diagonally down, and down + right shoulder inputs
each use costs three mp, which is the value of a single orb you see on the u.i. you start with six total mp and increase from there
candelabras only have hearts (restore health by 5--default value is 100 up to a maximum of 200; hits from enemies generally take 15+ i think) or mp restoratives worth 1 mp
the other way to restore mp is simply hitting things with your regular attacks, which restores it by one, so in the event you run out, getting in close means you'll soon have resources to use sub-weapons with, even in the middle of a boss fight
it makes it so there's never an event where a candle gives you something you don't want, so you don't need to like, avoid hitting them during tricky sections because you're safeguarding your preferred sub-weapon, like usually happens in cv
one touch i really liked is that irina's censer proportionally is pretty short in length; it feels closer to an unupgraded whip in old cv. it makes it so eight-way whipping doesn't allow you to trivialize the level design but you really do need to utilize the expanding arsenal for their specific purposes
the hidden stuff is all really nice: game does breakable walls, invisible platforms, slipping behind the foreground, fake walls, all that stuff. it's a good incentive to engage with the level design to its fullest
i think the general play physics remind me most of akdrx68k, very precise but modestly kinetic
the level design sort of read to me as evocative of some alternate reality where the gbvanias had follow-up and this turned up for it, and that's including legends. like there's a sense of real commitment to a set of fundamentals that get remixed thoroughly instead of focusing on setpieces or gimmicks. it's not afraid to do "be on the edge of this one-character-width platform to leap to the next" platforming bits when it feels like it, but it's also not going overboard in a "masocore" sensibility. it all escalates very gradually and naturally
same with the bosses. one of the few cv clones that gets the sensibility of the old games in that they're not some mega-man-come-lately pattern reading test; they're quick slugfests where the patterns aren't complex
aesthetically it's excellent. the sprite art is sometimes inconsistent (i think the early goings in outdoor areas are kinda rough) but it's doing a very good pastiche of the faceless cv characters and not like, enormously huge opposition for them. really good use of colour, and the detail grows increasingly more elaborate and impressive as the stages go on
music is kinda tremendous. there's a lot of arpeggio work in it as might be expected but not nearly all of it goes for a high-tempo pump-up approach; there's a lot of slow dirge-like themes or repetitive noise or sometimes just droning environmental groans or the like. and it's pretty consistently really dramatic and fairly melancholy which is catnip for me
tonally it's just what i want too. there's no winking self-awareness about any of it, it's presented as a serious supernatural adventure without drowning it in violence gore--you know, the balance that cv managed for so long, but then a lot of things don't. all the written stuff is just descriptions of mostly the bosses you'll fight, and it's the most Dracula's Satanic Castle anything's been since it directly connects his power and abilities as stemming from the devil's teachings. you get portentous bible verses to set the mood
it's like really long, at 12 stages--probably nearing four hours for a "loop." but i guess you can't always really map modern throwbacks directly like that; how long is either smallstained when you count all the infinite permutations they want you to play through the game with? in that sense, this is pretty straightforward in that sense too: pick your preferred character and go off. there's a rondo-esque stage select and a percentage completion rate tracking progress; the goals per stage are finding both of the four doodads, and clearing without a miss
i can't imagine not recommending the game to anyone hungry for a cv game. it's one of the best imitations and evocations i've ever seen
A handful of screens:
R.R. Bigman
Coolest Guy
I saw the news about the Legacy of Darkness Konami Code a day or so ago.
I wonder other Konami games have strange variations of the Konami Code that have yet to be found?
It’s nice to see people care about the N64 Castlevanias again after they got gaslit into being terrible by some corners of the internet. Honestly, a C64 style successor is the kind of game I want to see, official or by someone else.
I wonder other Konami games have strange variations of the Konami Code that have yet to be found?
It’s nice to see people care about the N64 Castlevanias again after they got gaslit into being terrible by some corners of the internet. Honestly, a C64 style successor is the kind of game I want to see, official or by someone else.
Oooo thanks for the impressions. Was intrigued about this.
Ah, cool! Thanks!
The years I spent in Boston give me certain expectations for "wicked" mode that I know will be disappointed. Still, it sounds like a really cool game. Thanks, Peklo, for writing about it!