I reviewed this not too long ago but tbh, I was not happy with it (then again when am I not nowadays) mostly because I felt like idk I was trying too hard? I think one thing I regretted the most was not looking at other reviews after beating it. I think what I want to do with this review (that I'll be surprised if anyone reads) is just wonder, wonder what I don't like about it.
I like to think I can enjoy hard games. I am kind of picky about some of them, I'm sure some shrug off me not praising games like Ninja Gaiden or Metal Storm but that's just how I am. But one game that is hard that I really like is Akumajo Dracula or Castlevania as it's called here. I like it because while it may have stiff controls and a hard difficulty, it always felt like I could do what the game asked and it all felt deliberate. Really the only issue I had with it was the 5th stage dragging on too long. Otherwise it's a pretty fun game even to this day.
Holy Diver is clearly trying to be like that game and it wasn't the only one. I for one kind of feel bad for at least not giving it that respect. You ever played a game called 8 eyes? That is a game that I'd argue doesn't do a good job of being a good game. Idk I just find it frustrating and I hated the main weapon from the 30 minutes I played of it. If there is a thing I'll give Holy Diver is that it's not a bad clone of a good game. But I do think it misses what makes Castlevania good.
There was one thing I always found in these reviews was that it's hard like brutally hard. There are people who even argue it's even harder than Battletoads. Obviously I agree but what confuses me is why is it never put into the spotlight as a negative. Hear me out, I think this game fails at understanding it's difficulty. If you need to spend hours maybe even days just to figure out levels. It's not a fun level. I'd argue even something like Ghosts n Goblins doesn't get this bad about difficulty. I think there is sometimes a line you can cross that just goes too far.
I think playing it you can get a good visualizer for what the team wanted you to do. It wants you to use your Mana carefully at the right times and not just use your standard attack. It reminds me a lot of sub weapons in Castlevania. Where I think the game falls flat though is enemy placement. Enemies can just be a pain and they love to put respawning enemies in areas. I think what hurts them the most is they got annoying patterns and really just not much time to react and dodge. Some enemies are also just too spongey in health and you have no holy water to help crunch their numbers down. It all just confuses me, I can't really think to myself "yeah I can see why people love this so much."
The bosses are what befuddle me the most. How can you have some of the most frustrating platforming I've seen in the genre on Famicom but have bosses that feel so not challenging. Like was it intentional? I almost feel like it wasn't but I feel like it's not surprising either. A lot of hard games don't have the hardest bosses to exist. But for some reason it just bothers me here. Maybe I'm just forcing my mind to nitpick stuff and I'm not realizing it.
I think it is a good looking game at least and it seems to be inspired by some things I have zero knowledge on. I really do like the environments and sprite art here. It's a shame that the good qualities come at a cost of some awful sprite flicker. Now that's something I never saw reviews complain about. It's really bad here and it made me not wanna try on the last two bosses only because why should I when I can't even see their projectiles. Regardless of my hate, the game looks nice, the music got some nice tunes and I liked the part where my emulator didn't like the Rom so it glitches out at times.
I think writing this hasn't really answer my question of just why do I think the things I do. Why do I have to be negative? It all just feels forced at times. Of course a person like me using save states over and over to finish a game isn't going to fully interpret the level design to a tee. It's a game I should probably give more of a chance but it gets so brutal that I really just...can't. I can't do it. Why even praise better controls when the level design is so much worse? Its got good ideas and it's not as bad as some other games with Irem's name on it but I don't like it. I never want to return to it because I feel like it doesn't respect my time. Why should I respect it?
I like to think I can enjoy hard games. I am kind of picky about some of them, I'm sure some shrug off me not praising games like Ninja Gaiden or Metal Storm but that's just how I am. But one game that is hard that I really like is Akumajo Dracula or Castlevania as it's called here. I like it because while it may have stiff controls and a hard difficulty, it always felt like I could do what the game asked and it all felt deliberate. Really the only issue I had with it was the 5th stage dragging on too long. Otherwise it's a pretty fun game even to this day.
Holy Diver is clearly trying to be like that game and it wasn't the only one. I for one kind of feel bad for at least not giving it that respect. You ever played a game called 8 eyes? That is a game that I'd argue doesn't do a good job of being a good game. Idk I just find it frustrating and I hated the main weapon from the 30 minutes I played of it. If there is a thing I'll give Holy Diver is that it's not a bad clone of a good game. But I do think it misses what makes Castlevania good.
There was one thing I always found in these reviews was that it's hard like brutally hard. There are people who even argue it's even harder than Battletoads. Obviously I agree but what confuses me is why is it never put into the spotlight as a negative. Hear me out, I think this game fails at understanding it's difficulty. If you need to spend hours maybe even days just to figure out levels. It's not a fun level. I'd argue even something like Ghosts n Goblins doesn't get this bad about difficulty. I think there is sometimes a line you can cross that just goes too far.
I think playing it you can get a good visualizer for what the team wanted you to do. It wants you to use your Mana carefully at the right times and not just use your standard attack. It reminds me a lot of sub weapons in Castlevania. Where I think the game falls flat though is enemy placement. Enemies can just be a pain and they love to put respawning enemies in areas. I think what hurts them the most is they got annoying patterns and really just not much time to react and dodge. Some enemies are also just too spongey in health and you have no holy water to help crunch their numbers down. It all just confuses me, I can't really think to myself "yeah I can see why people love this so much."
The bosses are what befuddle me the most. How can you have some of the most frustrating platforming I've seen in the genre on Famicom but have bosses that feel so not challenging. Like was it intentional? I almost feel like it wasn't but I feel like it's not surprising either. A lot of hard games don't have the hardest bosses to exist. But for some reason it just bothers me here. Maybe I'm just forcing my mind to nitpick stuff and I'm not realizing it.
I think it is a good looking game at least and it seems to be inspired by some things I have zero knowledge on. I really do like the environments and sprite art here. It's a shame that the good qualities come at a cost of some awful sprite flicker. Now that's something I never saw reviews complain about. It's really bad here and it made me not wanna try on the last two bosses only because why should I when I can't even see their projectiles. Regardless of my hate, the game looks nice, the music got some nice tunes and I liked the part where my emulator didn't like the Rom so it glitches out at times.
I think writing this hasn't really answer my question of just why do I think the things I do. Why do I have to be negative? It all just feels forced at times. Of course a person like me using save states over and over to finish a game isn't going to fully interpret the level design to a tee. It's a game I should probably give more of a chance but it gets so brutal that I really just...can't. I can't do it. Why even praise better controls when the level design is so much worse? Its got good ideas and it's not as bad as some other games with Irem's name on it but I don't like it. I never want to return to it because I feel like it doesn't respect my time. Why should I respect it?
3 Comments
I was wondering where your review was! Nobody is seeking absolute objectivity when reviewing a video game. There is no way we can create a perfect method to score game design ideas and elements. Everything crystallises in the experience we all have when playing it. If it wasn't to your liking, why would it be an issue?
Never feel forced to like or praise games because they are classics!
Never feel forced to like or praise games because they are classics!
This comment was deleted
I used to like this game more until I played it again after mastering CV to the point of recalling the stages like the back of my hand, it really shows how unbalanced and annoying this is in comparison to something more open to on-the-fly strategizing.
Don't feel bad about not respecting it, I swear if it wasn't named after a Heavy Metal classic from the 80s it would've been forgotten like a lot of other Famicom only releases and written off as easily as the other CV clones.
<3
Don't feel bad about not respecting it, I swear if it wasn't named after a Heavy Metal classic from the 80s it would've been forgotten like a lot of other Famicom only releases and written off as easily as the other CV clones.
<3
Angel_Arle
1 year ago