Fifth time's the stumble.
For the first time since Symphony of the Night's release, the newest Castlevania entry could not just approximate, but surpass the technical standards set by the PlayStation game back in 1997. Even from the opening set of rooms, low-poly 3D elements and vivid parallax backgrounds establish the setting and sense of adventure with a degree of fidelity that the GBA titles just were not able to display. The areas that compose Dracula's titular castle are both striking and visually distinct, and it cannot be overemphasized how the ever-present map helps making sense making sense of the castle as a building. The sense of exploring a logically planned space is at the strongest it has ever been, and even somewhat sloppy background work in a specific mid-to-late level is not enough to break this illusion.
Beyond presentation, however, the main issues arise from a nasty bug present in the shipped version of the game, and how it affects the Tactical Soul System. Increasing Soma's luck stat does not make a meaningful difference in whether enemies drop their powers for him to use. Couple that with souls having drop rates as low as 2%, and chances are most players will never see the vast majority of abilities in the game unless they dedicate half their playtime to grinding. Among these optional abilities, attacks and mobility upgrades far more interesting and versatile than those obtainable through normal progression can be found. Annoyingly, there is a roadblock in one area that can only be removed by gathering three specific souls with drop rates of 24%, 16%, and 8%, so grinding is somewhat mandatory if luck is not on one's side.
While the impact of this programming error might seem fairly minimal for non-completionists, it also limits a player's kit on a regular playthrough severely. Having access to fewer souls means having access to fewer builds and strategies, and the game becomes more monotonous than its immediate predecessor as a result. Fewer souls also means fewer and weaker weapons, since specific souls need to be infused into specific weapons to transmute them into more powerful ones. In cases in which a weapon can be infused with more than one soul, upgrade paths turn into upgrade trees, which only adds to the tedium for those who like to explore different combat options. Rewarding players with souls more liberally would not only diversify builds, but would also allow players to engage with the elemental weakness system by crafting specific weapons to use against specific foes.
The tension in the game's systems caused by this bug builds up steadily until the final third of the game, in which the snowball effect can be felt in the final boss encounters. Due to the limited combat options, lateral thinking is disincentivized in favor of attack pattern recognition, oddly more in line with traditional Classicvania fights of old. Chances are this is near the top of the Igavanias in terms of difficulty, which is not necessarily something to lament, but it is a shame that it happened unintentionally and at the cost of other systems.
A prettier, more rigid version of what came before, in dire need of some oil for it to run smoothly.
For the first time since Symphony of the Night's release, the newest Castlevania entry could not just approximate, but surpass the technical standards set by the PlayStation game back in 1997. Even from the opening set of rooms, low-poly 3D elements and vivid parallax backgrounds establish the setting and sense of adventure with a degree of fidelity that the GBA titles just were not able to display. The areas that compose Dracula's titular castle are both striking and visually distinct, and it cannot be overemphasized how the ever-present map helps making sense making sense of the castle as a building. The sense of exploring a logically planned space is at the strongest it has ever been, and even somewhat sloppy background work in a specific mid-to-late level is not enough to break this illusion.
Beyond presentation, however, the main issues arise from a nasty bug present in the shipped version of the game, and how it affects the Tactical Soul System. Increasing Soma's luck stat does not make a meaningful difference in whether enemies drop their powers for him to use. Couple that with souls having drop rates as low as 2%, and chances are most players will never see the vast majority of abilities in the game unless they dedicate half their playtime to grinding. Among these optional abilities, attacks and mobility upgrades far more interesting and versatile than those obtainable through normal progression can be found. Annoyingly, there is a roadblock in one area that can only be removed by gathering three specific souls with drop rates of 24%, 16%, and 8%, so grinding is somewhat mandatory if luck is not on one's side.
While the impact of this programming error might seem fairly minimal for non-completionists, it also limits a player's kit on a regular playthrough severely. Having access to fewer souls means having access to fewer builds and strategies, and the game becomes more monotonous than its immediate predecessor as a result. Fewer souls also means fewer and weaker weapons, since specific souls need to be infused into specific weapons to transmute them into more powerful ones. In cases in which a weapon can be infused with more than one soul, upgrade paths turn into upgrade trees, which only adds to the tedium for those who like to explore different combat options. Rewarding players with souls more liberally would not only diversify builds, but would also allow players to engage with the elemental weakness system by crafting specific weapons to use against specific foes.
The tension in the game's systems caused by this bug builds up steadily until the final third of the game, in which the snowball effect can be felt in the final boss encounters. Due to the limited combat options, lateral thinking is disincentivized in favor of attack pattern recognition, oddly more in line with traditional Classicvania fights of old. Chances are this is near the top of the Igavanias in terms of difficulty, which is not necessarily something to lament, but it is a shame that it happened unintentionally and at the cost of other systems.
A prettier, more rigid version of what came before, in dire need of some oil for it to run smoothly.