I cannot stop playing SOTN. I'm pretty much convinced at this point that it's one of the best games ever ever. It'd make my all-time top 10 easily.
I took a break from this after I did original castle. I thought I was going to breeze through the inverted castle. How wrong I was - the difficulty has, thankfully, ramped up, the enemies are tougher, more varied and larger, the bosses are harder and more interesting (the rotting one strung up to the ceiling a particular highlight so far) and it has given me a rougher ride since I turned up laden with a load of weapons and items I never used. That's soon changed though and I'm finally using whatever I've got handy so I don't have a long trek back to the save point.
Seems the game has only just begun for real now!
Seems the game has only just begun for real now!
Bloody hell, that big yellow boss with the thunder stick has kicked my ass one too many times. Despite using all my pentagrams and other smart bombs he won't go down. Any ideas peeps?
WTB wrote:
I cannot stop playing SOTN. I'm pretty much convinced at this point that it's one of the best games ever ever. It'd make my all-time top 10 easily.
I started last night, and got as far as the meeting the woman (Maria?). It took me a while to discover up+y and although I could do the Hellfire trick at the beginning, I can't do it since I met Death. Is that normal?
Been playing a spot of Circle of the Moon last night, and it's... Very tough. 
Ian Fairies wrote:
Bloody hell, that big yellow boss with the thunder stick has kicked my ass one too many times. Despite using all my pentagrams and other smart bombs he won't go down. Any ideas peeps?
First time I did it by
ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!
Second time I employed a rather game breaking method
ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!
Grim... wrote:
WTB wrote:
I cannot stop playing SOTN. I'm pretty much convinced at this point that it's one of the best games ever ever. It'd make my all-time top 10 easily.
I started last night, and got as far as the meeting the woman (Maria?). It took me a while to discover up+y and although I could do the Hellfire trick at the beginning, I can't do it since I met Death. Is that normal?
From memory, Death steals almost all of your equipment and abilities, which probably includes the aforementioned trick.
This thread almost makes me want to dig out my PSP and play the slightly different version of SotN on there (and Rondo of Blood).
Grim... wrote:
WTB wrote:
I cannot stop playing SOTN. I'm pretty much convinced at this point that it's one of the best games ever ever. It'd make my all-time top 10 easily.
I started last night, and got as far as the meeting the woman (Maria?). It took me a while to discover up+y and although I could do the Hellfire trick at the beginning, I can't do it since I met Death. Is that normal?
Uh, hopefully what Alarm said is correct, because I haven't a clue!
I started a new game on the PSP version. I can cast spells before and after meeting Death, so I was incorrect. You can cast them whenever, as long as you have enough MP.
Yeah I thought that... Although you only know one or two spells at the beginning of the game. Grim..., you're not referring to the very start of the game are you? The boss battle against Dracula from the game before?
One of the spells requires you to have the sword familiar card turned on, and IIRC a couple require bat/wolf-form abilities, but yeah, Hellfire, Tetra Spirit and Dark Metamorphosis should all be available from the outset.
Dark Metamorphosis definitely ain't - I bought that off the guy in the library!
WTB wrote:
Dark Metamorphosis definitely ain't - I bought that off the guy in the library!
But you can do it before that if you know the inputs, I believe.
Mr Dave wrote:
WTB wrote:
Dark Metamorphosis definitely ain't - I bought that off the guy in the library!
But you can do it before that if you know the inputs, I believe.
Oh really? Ah well, I dunno then!
If I wanted to play this (bloody ShillBot getting to me), would PSP be a good choice? Should I get the retro PSN port or the Dracula X Chronicles version?
Yeah, he just sells you the info. Wizened old extorting bastard.
Ed: get the PSN version, if you can! DXC is still well worth buying if you like the linear Castlevanias, of course...
Ed: get the PSN version, if you can! DXC is still well worth buying if you like the linear Castlevanias, of course...
YOG wrote:
Ed: get the PSN version, if you can!
I'd buy it if I could, but my custom firmware PSP can't access the store. I'll have to warez Chronicles. Yeah if you want it for nowt, just get Chronicles - it's more or less the same isn't it? I think they've moved the weapons around and stuff a bit, but seeing as you've never played it before, it won't matter anyway! Well, assuming you can get a quality map online for that version. The map I posted earlier in this thread has been invaluable as a complete beginner.
edit: Apparently X Chronicles features SOTN as an unlockable for completing Rondo of Blood, so that's not exactly instant gratification. Does your PSP play PSX roms? Mine does - so I'd just download the original PSX version rom and run that.
edit: Apparently X Chronicles features SOTN as an unlockable for completing Rondo of Blood, so that's not exactly instant gratification. Does your PSP play PSX roms? Mine does - so I'd just download the original PSX version rom and run that.
WTB wrote:
Yeah if you want it for nowt, just get Chronicles - it's more or less the same isn't it?
Less Engrish, apparently.Quote:
I think they've moved the weapons around and stuff a bit, but seeing as you've never played it before, it won't matter anyway! Well, assuming you can get a quality map online for that version. The map I posted earlier in this thread has been invaluable as a complete beginner.
Hmm. Good point.Quote:
edit: Apparently X Chronicles features SOTN as an unlockable for completing Rondo of Blood, so that's not exactly instant gratification.
Apparently you don't have to complete it, although it might be non-trivial.Quote:
Does your PSP play PSX roms? Mine does - so I'd just download the original PSX version rom and run that.
Presumably. I've never had cause to try it. What's the process? Just put the ISO in the usual place? Aye, you definitely want to be playing the original PSX version, somehow. The unlockable one in DXC lets you play as Maria, like in the Saturn version, but the dialogue has been changed and the classic hammy voice acting has been thrown out in favour of brand-new po-faced performances. 
I don't own a PSP myself; do the PSOne downloads keep their native aspect ratio? SOTN's graphics will require it. I shudder to think what it'd look like all squished down.
I don't own a PSP myself; do the PSOne downloads keep their native aspect ratio? SOTN's graphics will require it. I shudder to think what it'd look like all squished down.
Doctor Glyndwr wrote:
Quote:
Does your PSP play PSX roms? Mine does - so I'd just download the original PSX version rom and run that.
Presumably. I've never had cause to try it. What's the process? Just put the ISO in the usual place?I think so, yeah. It was a good couple of years ago that I installed the usual custom firmware on my PSP and I can't remember which version, but basically I used to shot the files straight in there and they'd just work. Unfortunately I can't turn my PSP on any more to check my firmware version because I left the battery in and it seems to have died.
YOG wrote:
Aye, you definitely want to be playing the original PSX version, somehow. The unlockable one in DXC lets you play as Maria, like in the Saturn version, but the dialogue has been changed and the classic hammy voice acting has been thrown out in favour of brand-new po-faced performances.
I don't own a PSP myself; do the PSOne downloads keep their native aspect ratio? SOTN's graphics will require it. I shudder to think what it'd look like all squished down.
I don't own a PSP myself; do the PSOne downloads keep their native aspect ratio? SOTN's graphics will require it. I shudder to think what it'd look like all squished down.
You can flip between stretched, original aspect ratio, letter-boxed, etc. Just like on TV! It's a really cool little machine, and I'm extremely annoyed that I'm going to have to get a new battery for it at some point.
Dual nubs and it would be a perfect portable system - but mainly because it's so easy to run PSX roms on it, rather than its capabilities as a PSP-game-playing-device. I doubt the upcoming Vita will be quite so easy to hack - assuming it'll offer PSX game support in the first place. Or PS2 for that matter.
And this ain't about getting bags of games for free. A custom firmware PSP = access to all of those obscure Japanese PSX titles you never got to play, in your pocket! Plus free games, natch.
SOTN without the voice "acting" would be a terrible shame. I laughed every time I hear it.
Yeah, I really need to see about getting a PSP at some point, if only for DXC, Darius Burst, Ultimate Ghosts 'n' Goblins and MAME-on-the-bus! Being skint is boring.
I might suck at this. I either don't know how to save or I died before the first save point!
If you made it past weapons stealy death and a single skeleton, you made it to the first save point. (Spinning thing, go to it and press up, I think)
Hmmm. Guess I didn't press Up then.
Just finished the inverted castle. That was great from start to finish all 190 percent of it.
I don't seem to have unlocked Belmont anywhere along the way though? Seems there are loads of secrets I've missed despite visiting just about everywhere I could find!
I don't seem to have unlocked Belmont anywhere along the way though? Seems there are loads of secrets I've missed despite visiting just about everywhere I could find!
Don't you just start a new game under the name 'Belmont'? It only works after a certain percentage is completed in your other save file though I think!
WTB wrote:
Don't you just start a new game under the name 'Belmont'? It only works after a certain percentage is completed in your other save file though I think!
Complete >= 180% and use the name richter
ont Mr Dave wrote:
WTB wrote:
Don't you just start a new game under the name 'Belmont'? It only works after a certain percentage is completed in your other save file though I think!
Complete >= 180% and use the name richter
Close enough!
"MARIA" on the PSP version makes her playable on SotN. 
Two more entries are on the way. There isn't much info around, but there's a new Lords of Shadow title coming to the 3DS, called Mirror of Fate. It appears to be in much the same vein as the eggbox game visually, but apparently the gameplay switches to 2D a fair bit. In addition to this, Lords of Shadow 2 has just been announced. There are some more Mirror details here, and pics here. I wasn't terribly keen on LOS, and am saddened by the main series' general decline into commercial inviability, so I'll leave the commenting/speculation/cautious optimism/savaging to you fine folks.
(There's a fucking colon and a hyphen in the 3DS game's title, though! That's the worst naming convention!)
(There's a fucking colon and a hyphen in the 3DS game's title, though! That's the worst naming convention!
) So is the 3DS one a 3D affair? As in, 3D gameplay, not 3D visuals like everything on the 3DS. I was hoping for another 2D game like the DS had.
In fact, I want a HD 2D Castlevania game on Xbox. And that one where you can zoom out and see the whole map doesn't count!
In fact, I want a HD 2D Castlevania game on Xbox. And that one where you can zoom out and see the whole map doesn't count!
I've only just started playing Lords of Shadow so can't offer an in-depth opinion, although the combat certainly isn't as intuitive initially as other brawler games (I got killed three fucking times in the first section and the horseback fight seemed to be utterly button mashy and random). Hopefully that'll get better as I get better because it's definitely one of the prettiest games I've ever played and the Shadow of the Colossus-esque boss fight was certainly interesing; if slightly confusing at first.
WTB wrote:
So is the 3DS one a 3D affair? As in, 3D gameplay, not 3D visuals like everything on the 3DS. I was hoping for another 2D game like the DS had.
Sounds like a bit of both:
Quote:
Mirror of Fate features polygon-based graphics, but it plays primarily in 2D and 2.5D, with the occasional shift into a fully 3D environment. Whereas Lords of Shadow had an emphasis on combat and action, Mirror of Fate encourages nonlinear exploration and discovery.
Yay! I've finally unlocked the inverted castle! Now I just have to complete the whole game again!
You don't actually have to explore the whole thing again, if you don't want to. Once you have all five of "Dracula's relics" (body parts that you get from certain bosses), you can go straight to the clock room in the Marble Gallery (I forget what the inverted version is called) and finish the game off.
You can completely avoid Galamoth, for example - the hardest boss in the game.
You can completely avoid Galamoth, for example - the hardest boss in the game.
Hmm. Time to consult a FAQ! I've left it so long since the last time I played that it's a miracle I managed to remember where Belmont was to kill him!
Oh! I just accidentally got the Ring of Vlad, which is apparently the first bit. Killed a giant bat boss!
Yeah, you're going the right way. The bat should be always be your first stop in the inverted castle.
ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!
Just found Medusa! Man, this game is so good.
And she's tough! Might come back tomorrow!
We're talking about Symphony of the Night by the way if anyone doesn't know where this thread just popped up from.
We're talking about Symphony of the Night by the way if anyone doesn't know where this thread just popped up from.
Should be a piece of piss, mate. I think I usually just get close to her, duck and slash away. If she turns you to stone, wriggle a bit and then use a potion or some food.
How do I use potions again? Do I need to equip them in a hand?
Yeah, and you need to re-equip your sword/shield afterward. It's a bit of a pain! Especially if you're eating food, since he'll just chuck it on the floor and you have to go and pick it up.
Got the Alucard shield, killed a few bosses. 140% so far!
