I had skipped this one when I did a mini-marathon of the GBA/DS Castlevanias some time ago, because of its poor fame.
And well, yeah, this one really is kinda weird. Iga is back to the producer's chair after they got another team to do Circle of the Moon, and it's pretty obvious that he was trying to replicate/emulate Symphony of the Night here.
For crying out loud, look at the main character's design. That's a Belmont, but he looks almost identical to Alucard. Much like SotN, there's two castles here, but this time they have mostly identical maps and layouts, and you just warp between them in specific warp rooms.
Now, they really should have used a Link to the Past-style item to warp between the castles - backtracking is effectively doubled because of the way it's designed. Not only that, but the way it guides you through the castle(s) also made me miss some items required for the true ending - I had properly explored, but didn't have the proper upgrades, and completely forgot about it later because my map showed it was already "explored".
But honestly, it's not as mediocre as its fame suggests. I don't know if it's the game, or the fact that I'm a total metroidvania whore though. But it is better than Circle of the Moon, absolutely - that one still sits at the bottom.
The final boss room is a complete piece of shit that actually hurt my eyes, what the fuck were they thinking. Dracula is even more of a joke than he has in Symphony, I'm glad his fight got some upgrades for subsequent Igavanias.
One thing that adds to the entertainment is that the script makes everyone sound like an idiot. Don't know if it's a case of poor localization or if the original Japanese was already likes this, but wow.
Extremely weak soundtrack though, in a console notorious for poor sound quality on top of that. Great combo there.
And well, yeah, this one really is kinda weird. Iga is back to the producer's chair after they got another team to do Circle of the Moon, and it's pretty obvious that he was trying to replicate/emulate Symphony of the Night here.
For crying out loud, look at the main character's design. That's a Belmont, but he looks almost identical to Alucard. Much like SotN, there's two castles here, but this time they have mostly identical maps and layouts, and you just warp between them in specific warp rooms.
Now, they really should have used a Link to the Past-style item to warp between the castles - backtracking is effectively doubled because of the way it's designed. Not only that, but the way it guides you through the castle(s) also made me miss some items required for the true ending - I had properly explored, but didn't have the proper upgrades, and completely forgot about it later because my map showed it was already "explored".
But honestly, it's not as mediocre as its fame suggests. I don't know if it's the game, or the fact that I'm a total metroidvania whore though. But it is better than Circle of the Moon, absolutely - that one still sits at the bottom.
The final boss room is a complete piece of shit that actually hurt my eyes, what the fuck were they thinking. Dracula is even more of a joke than he has in Symphony, I'm glad his fight got some upgrades for subsequent Igavanias.
One thing that adds to the entertainment is that the script makes everyone sound like an idiot. Don't know if it's a case of poor localization or if the original Japanese was already likes this, but wow.
Extremely weak soundtrack though, in a console notorious for poor sound quality on top of that. Great combo there.