Castlevania Essentials

Play all of them in release order, faggot.

>>383442751
Play the official timeline and Lords of Shadow. Avoid the 64 games. Maybe the first GB game could be avoided.

>>383442751
Most of them are worth playing or at least trying. There are some exceptions, but they're obvious.

Avoid Lord of Shadows like plague

>Castlevania
>Castlevania
>Super Castlevania 4
>Bloodlines
>Rondo of Blood
>Symphony of the Night
>Belmont's
>Aria of Sorrow
>Dawn of Sorrow
>The Adventure:

That about covers it.

i'm buying a ps3 tomorrow for harmony of despair.

>>383443215

>Skipping Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia?

For what reason? All three DS games were fantastic in their own right.

>>383442751
Every 2D castlevania game is great and easily worth your time
Lords of Shadow is acceptable but skippable
Don't play the N64 games unless you want to laugh at the worst controls this side of Sonic 06

>>383443061
I know a few of them via virtual console and SotN 360 port. Have only beaten number 1 and am in the process of playing 3. The older games are much tougher platformers wile the latter games are Metroidvania with RPG elements and a story within the game as opposed to the instruction manual. I think SotN and Aria of Sorrow are everyone's favorite.

Don't play the first CV64 or Mirror of Fate. That's about it, everything else is passable at worst.

>>383442932
>>383443182
>>383443380
Lords of Shadow is straight up not Castlevania. Not part of the official timeline, not made by the same devs or even in the same country, and radically different in style, tone, and gameplay.

That being said, they're fine as somewhat mediocre God of War clones with a Castlevania skin.

If you're into that shit.

>>383443546
Mirror of fate is not even a GoW clone, it is dogshit.

>>383443723
If I'm being completely honest, I completely forgot that game existed because I wasn't even remotely interested in playing it.

I was talking about LoS/LoS2 specifically, the latter I think get's a bad rap. It's pretty much on par with the first entry, if not marginally better.

>>383443546
>Lords of Shadow is straight up not Castlevania
It is, but it's stylistically more interested in SCIV's (or even III's) broader action-adventure theming than the strict spooky castle theming of other games.

Castlevania had flirted with varying styles, tones, and game designs long before Lords of Shadow ever came out.

>>383444010
I see what you're saying, but I think it's easier to appreciate it's strengths when you look at it as it's own separate entity. A different take on a franchise, as opposed to part of the main series. When you compare it all of the other GOAT titles the series has produced, it's flaws really start to stand out.

Which is why a bunch of people sperged out about it at the time of it's release.

>>383442751
>must play classicvania
Castlevania 1
Castlevania 3
Rondo of Blood
>must play metroidvania
Symphony of the Night
Aria of Sorrow
Dawn of Sorrow

The only ones you should avoid are the original gameboy ones and any 3D one.

>>383444204
One thing to mention is that Dracula X and Rondo of Blood are not the same game, even though they look like it.

>>383444204
Truly a plebtastic opinion.

>>383444204
>The only ones you should avoid are the original gameboy ones
Belmont's Revenge is excellent.

>>383444204
I would put Castlevania IV in must play over 1 to be honest, at least when recommending titles to newcomers. It's basically a more accessible version of the Classic formula. Then they can go back and play the original if they dig the series enough.

I would also say that the entire Castlevania DS trilogy is must play, up there with SotN and Aria.

GOAT Essential Tier

SotN
AoS
RoB

Everything else is worth playing, but those three are truly the cream of the crop.

Must play:
>Castlevania 1
>Castlevania 3
>Rondo of Blood
>Symphony of the Night
>Circle of the Moon
>Aria of Sorrow


pretty good:
>Super Castlevania 4
>Order of Ecclesia
>Dawn of Sorrow
>Portrait of Ruin
>Bloodlines

everything else is mediocre pretty much. The PS2 games have godlike OSTs but the gameplay is uninspired to say the least.

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Hijacking this thread. I've only played of Dawn of Sorrow, which I enjoyed (despite the touchscreen stuff. I had to retry every boss multiple times, since I have shaky hands and it's hard for me to draw precisely).

Are the 3D games good, specifically pic related? I want to emulate it and play it at 1080p.

>>383445059

it's a poor man's Devil May Cry with repetitive combat and dull level design. It's not terrible but it's quite forgettable.

It looks pretty for a PS2 game and the soundtrack is amazing tho.

>>383445227
Eh, sounds okay. I'll download it and give it a shot. Thanks, Anon.

>>383443215

>leaving out draculas curse
>the best classic castlevania

stupid FUCK

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Playing Circle of the Moon without a guide

Avoid Adventure the first GB game (too slow and clunky) and Legends (plain bad).

Belmont's Revenge tough is a must play jewel.

dont skip any of them wtf they all offer their own unique experiences how much of a fag do you need to be that you need a list from anons instead of just playing video games

>>383442932
>Avoid the 64 games
What is with this meme? They're fun, running from Frankenstein is great

The storyline was a bit stupid, and all the "ORTEGGAAAAAAAAA!!!!" shit was dumb

>>383444338
How do I get a translated RoM of Rondo of Blood?

>>383442751
>Castlevania
>Castlevania 3 (jp version)
>Super Castlevania IV
>Rondo of Blood
>Bloodlines
>X68000/Chronicles
>Symphony of the Night
>Circle of the Moon
>Harmony of Dissonance
>Aria of Sorrow
>Dawn of Sorrow
>Portrait of Ruin
>Order of Ecclesia

All of these games are excellent and I strongly recommend them. Castlevania is a consistently excellent series.

>>383446549
I forgot to put Dracula X on this list. It's a reimagining of the general events of Rondo of Blood but with entirely new levels and some redone ones in a different art style. It's usually regarded as inferior to RoB but I think it's a damn fine game in its own right and worth checking out at least once.

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>>383442751
just play all of then in release order that's what i did pretty fun stuff

Definitely check out Castlevana 1, Castlevania 3, Super Castlevania 4, Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, and Dawn of Sorrow.

My own personal opinion, Castlevania 2 is good if you play with a guide, and Order of Ecclesia is not very good. Also I personally have avoided all 3D castlevania.

>>383447290
OoE is the best castlevania DS game bro.

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>tv show makes me want to play more castlevania (only tried out a few on emulators)
>mfw there are barely any games on PC or current consoles

Would it kill Konami to slap together a Castlevania legacy collection and dump in PS4/Xbone/PC?

>>383447290
I just got Dracula X not knowing it was the Super Mario Bros 2 of Rondo of Blood.

Tips on how I can get access to Rondo of Blood. Currently looking for a translation port for PC... but it looks like I'll have to track down the PSP version when I get the chance.

Why are there so many Castlvania threads now

>>383447756

Anime adaptation

>>383447630
You can play the wad on the Wii aince the Wii is easy as fuck to hack...

>>383447627
Honestly with how with how much memory modern gaming is, you could put all the 2D and portable games and sell it for $40 or $60 bucks.

A freaking Kingdom Hearts Collection/Rare Replay type of package. Maybe include at least 1 PS2 game?

>>383446549
Why the jp version of castlevania 3?

>>383447630
I wouldn't worry about the translation, there is barely any dialog in Rondo of Blood.

This youtube link has a download link. It took 2 seconds to google this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXg9AhsLXAg

>>383447919
Higher quality music and the US version makes the game bullshit hard in a few ways by removing some checkpoints and increasing the damage enemies in the last levels deal. Dying to Dracula sends you to the start of the final level instead of at the stairway leading up to his room for example. Grant is also nerfed in the US version and can't throw his daggers, instead he just stabs. The US version is still worth playing if you want even more challenge though.

>>383443215
>no Circle of the Moon
Why would you leave out the best game in the series?

>>383446549
The Adventure Rebirth is very good too

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>>383448170
Or you could just emulate the original version of the game.

>>383448480
I've been meaning to play it but never got around to doing so. It looked great and the music was excellent too.

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>>383448170
Thanks anon!

>>383448595
Do yourself a favor and play it, it's a worthy entry into the series with the best Dracula fight out of the classic games

>>383447892
A Castlevania collection would fix the issue people have with most of the series being confined to handhelds and only playable on emulators.

Maybe if the Netflix series becomes popular enough, Konami will capitalize on it and release a collection on modern systems.

>>383442751
Never played the Castlevania series, but do I need to in order to understand what's happening in the show? Really loved the first episode

Only play 64

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>>383448965
>maybe Konami will do something right
ahahahahahahaha
I wish

>>383444937
Curse of Darkness wasnt that bad. While the familiar mechanic was different it wasnt god awful and weapon crafting was pretty neat overall

>>383450193
Other then getting references no. The current season is based off Castelvania III: Dracula Curse for the NES. Characters from that game show up in this.

>>383443215
Switch out Super Castlevania Bros with X68k.

>>383451401
No point switching it out just add it along with Adventure Rebirth. 4 is a bit on the generic side but it's a good game either way.

I'm sure we'll be getting that 1999 game showing us how julius fucked dracula so hard he stayed fucked any year now. Aaannny year now.

>>383442882
FPBP

>>383445784
>>383448260
Going to have to double-down on this -- circle of the moon was the first RPG style Castlevania I played, and I remember loving it a lot. The card system is a lot of fun, and some of the "end game" cards are (and I hesitate to use this word) honestly epic, especially those summoning cards (even if they're not all that useful in game).

Apart from that, though, I don't really remember a lot about the game. I just remember the card system and the combat being fun (and even though you had to grind incessantly for souls, I remember that being sort of fun, too).

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>>383442932
>Maybe the first GB game could be avoided
fuck you COTM is a great game, i hate it when /v/ says it sucks. if anything the PS2 castlevanias suck. 2D to 3D was the worst for castlevania. at least the first LOS is amazing but the second game is trash

>>383455086
pretty sure anon ment the adventure

>>383454974
I enjoyed abusing the card glitches to immediately have any card combination I wanted, and also the one where you switch out the summon card to black dog to make whatever you have summoned stronger.

Discard all the 2D shit and play only the 3D entries.

>>383458062
Here is your reply because you took the time to post this