Castlevania Curse of Darkness for August
After some deliberation, we decided on Castlevania – Curse of Darkness as the Game of the Month for August. This game is a bit of a departure compared to the last few. While it is an adventure game much like Psychonauts or Spiderman could be classified, it has an old school feel, bearing the Konami tag and being a game not so much dependent on flashy graphics but more on storyline and gameplay. Here is the schedule with all of the maps for this game below and also, you can find a walkthrough here. Good Luck!
July 30th, 2006 at 5:40 pm
OK OK, so I got off to bit of an early start – what can I say, I’m not the hardcore gamer I used to be so I could use an extra day or so. I finished the first stage which was really fun to play. Yes, I said it – “FUN”! I’m not saying the other games didn’t have their moments, but this one is more my kind of game. It brings back all of the things I enjoyed about this genre of games made in years past. It is a third person adventure game where you are constantly encountering foes and as you destroy them, you gain experience and your rank goes up thereby increasing your strength. Also, there is a congruence to the levels in the sense that there are different floors to each level and invariably only one way up the stairs and down. There are areas where you can warp to where you last saved which makes a bit more convenient. The creatures you battle are cleverly designed as well. In the first level you encounter skeletons that are easily dismantled with a few swings of your sword (and even less as your rank goes up). You also have to face up against some enemies that can only be detroyed with blindsides from behind as attacks to their front does nothing due to the armor and shields they carry. The bosses on the first level are not that difficult to defeat but hopefully hint at the larger than life qualities to come in future opponents. One on the first level is a massive skeleton that reconstructs itself after collapsing the first time and then the cutscene makes you think he will do it again (which would have felt disturbing at the time but had been a nice addition).
Overall, the game seems solid, the graphics are not state of the art in part likely due the engine used to construct it, but it brings you back to the point of playing these games in the first place – solid gameplay, challenges that are not completely insurmountable (so far at least) and also a nice feature is having maps that make sense (areas change color once you have entered them so you can see what is left to explore) and doors that have arrows pointing to them so even the most geographically challenged can find the way around. It’s still early to give an early judgment but at the very least I can say that stage one is solid and has been quite fun to play, let’s hope it only gets better.
July 31st, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Well, level 2 is now complete and I’m still not disappointed with anything. I ended up defeating “Wyvern” which is the boss at the end of the level which took me a few tries but then I decided on a specifica method which made it a lot easier (I’m not telling yet because I’ll let all those hardcore people figure it out for themselves). I find I am able to move through the levels quite quickly so far and then the boss fights take a few attempts (other than the first level which I defeated on the first try). I typically almost never die in the game which means I can play for a long session without realizing it. Also, After the second level was done, all I wanted to do was save the game but I had completed around 30% of the third level before I even reached a save point. It perhaps might be nice to have a save option in the game itself, but I do understand the method used which is more dependent on its own save points and the player using transporting options and such. So far, still excellent! Stay tuned.
August 1st, 2006 at 3:30 am
And now I have completed the third level or at least a vast majority of it and defeated Trevor Belmont who was rather bothersome. I think it’s time I did some reading up on the features of this game, however; as I feel I am missing out on a lot of things. There are a lot of FAQ’s on different websites on how to use many different items and such. This would be a good idea at this point I think before I get myself stuck in something without any proper preparation.
August 3rd, 2006 at 1:43 am
I am now at the boss of the fourth Stage and facing the boss there called Skeleton Diver. I have got him fully down and then another half way down before dying, but I think this is due to my all out brawl style. I need to block more. I will post back when I defeat this one, definitely the hardess boss yet in my opinion.
August 3rd, 2006 at 11:02 pm
I guess because I put it in writing, it must have worked because I beat the boss. I really wasn’t that hard, but like I said, you really need to use the guard a lot and keep to your strategy and resist temptation to bash in the opponent when you are in a vulnerable position. Great boss though, fun to play against and nice cut scenes. On to Stage 5!
August 6th, 2006 at 5:43 pm
OK, I’m at the boss of level 6 now. For those that want to move to this part, go ahead. The game is a bit easier in some places than expected. Level 6 was an absolute joke to get through. The boss seems somewhat challenging though.
August 13th, 2006 at 12:51 am
I’ve finally stagnated in this game that has been so much fun so far. I’m at the boss at the end of level 6. This is rather boring because it is Isaac who I’ve already defeated once. What makes the battle more interesting is that he has an ID of his own. The big tip on being able to defeat him more easily is to make sure your bird ID has “big bang” which no one seems to be able to get. I will try some more to see if I can get it because I don’t have any more potions and I know the fight with Isaac is yet another patterned attack which for me (a person with very little patience unless I really need it), becomes banal very quickly. Must…. pick up…. controller. The good news is that all I have to do is defeat one character to open up a new level, but that is also the bad news. I really prefer the bosses that are larger than life and create a spectacle of themselves, these human ones are quite plain. Ah well, I’m sure I’ll have to fight him again, so I better get used to it.
August 13th, 2006 at 3:03 am
At level 7 now, the boss on level 6 was boring, but it was a half decent cutscene and now I’m on a new level with a new I.D. which makes things a bit more interesting. Bring back the larger than life bosses!!!!!
August 16th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
OK, I beat the boss on level 7. The best strategy I found was to block like crazy which is a no brainer really, but more importantly, don’t get too brave – it is incredibly difficult to beat him by using your own hits alone. Learn to alternate quickly between your IDs. I found the bird ID worked really well at taking off a lot of his energy. Don’t let any of your IDs die, change them up every now and again so they still have some strength. Use your fairy ID on command mode to recover health when needed. Use the mage-type ID to do the time stop each time Germain tries to speed it up. You can use the beast type ID if you want, but I found that he blocked my view too much because he was too large. I would recommend using whichever ID offers the best attacks to help you take down Germain. For me, it was the bird type. It’s level was fairly high (45 I believe) and I found that he would hit Germain and set him up for me as well so it was just a constant bashing for him a lot of the time. This boss is very dependent on you using the right strategy, if you don’t use the right one, you will find him ultra annoying. Good luck!
August 20th, 2006 at 3:32 am
For those who are playing along, I’m now on the 9th level boss which is actually a creature which is nice to see. I won’t go too far past this once he is defeated for now.
August 21st, 2006 at 3:26 am
Alright, so I’m a little bit ahead, but from what I’ve heard about the last few bosses, I think I may need the extra time. I’m now on level 10 (Dracula’s Castle) on the 7th floor about to fight the first boss.