pixel art commission by venu.pxels (me!)

I've been sleeping on the daggers/twin blades and honestly I think theyre the most ridiculous weapon in the game. The damage output is absolutely ridiculous, I realize you get locked into place a bit while using them but the benefits outweigh the drawback. I was loving the spear too but I think ive become a dagger main.

I have been going spoiler free as much as possible but I kept seeing people say “Oh man I accidentally got the bad ending” so I told myself to be extra careful and be on the lookout for anything suspicious so I don’t follow the same fate.

Oof

I understand I'll be downvoted, as the game is still new and shiny, and we're all starved for Castlevania content - but it still just feels too much like a Dead Cells expansion, rather than a Castlevania game. I dunno, it just doesn't feel right somehow? I can't tell if it's the art style, music, fighting mechanics, or a bunch of things combined. But it just doesn't feel like Castlevania.

I love Dead Cells, and have been a fan of Castlevania since Super Castlevania IV. I'm hoping this game grows on me, but even if it does, I still don't think I'd consider it a Castlevania game.

I did this 5 days ago got sick but I will continue the run on twitch if interested in watching I can send yall my info

If you use a Hall of Mirrors teleport while they’re both equipped the game will black screen (but not crash, technically?). Anyone else have this happen? I’m playing on Xbox

Those sales are above the ~8K lifetime copies sold by Lament of Innocence in Spain (one of them, mine), the ~11K sold by Portrait of Ruin, and the ~15K sold by Lords of Shadow 2, and only below Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (with an estimate of ~25K copies). And the Lords of Shadow games had the advantage of being "local" products.

I’ve been working on the speedrun trophy for the past few days (“dialog skipper” - finish the game under 4 hours). It was the last thing I needed, so the platinum popped as well.

While I DID save scum, I obtained the speedrun trophy honestly in the sense that I didn’t use any accessibility options. You would’ve seen a cog icon in the UI if any accessibility options were toggled on. 😊

Anyway, just a couple of things to note in case anyone else is trying to go for this trophy without any accessibility options toggled.

- I just made a beeline towards the next boss/area that would advance the story. No optional areas. I didn’t stop to explore many areas behind breakable walls. Oh, memorize the 3 organ melodies (or take a screenshot) to instantly disable most of the lasers in Notre Dame and to access the Death boss fight immediately.

- The only items/weapons I strayed from the path for to obtain were the level 4 sword/shield weapon, the relic that increased damage from air attacks by 25%, and the relic that reduced incoming damage by 60%. I got them right before fighting Dracula by using the ferryman to fast travel to the Holy Innocents’ Cemetery.

- To get the level 4 weapon quickly, get it AFTER the 2nd Isaac fight, as you can use his spell to bypass the path that you would normally take through the main hall to get to Alucard’s room (the first part of Isaac’s arcane launches you straight into the air until you run into an obstacle, so dash out of it once you reach the top of that area).

- My time when I reached that final save point before Dracula was around 3:30. I was severely underpowered at character level 48. Swipe to see image 3 for reference. I didn’t go out of my way for many upgrades, so for better or for worse, I just had to face Dracula already with these stats.

- For Dracula, the first phase is pretty easy. I used vampire killer for this. For his second phase, I switched to Alucard’s sword and shield. Now, I don’t really feel bad about this because it still took some effort to get this far and under 4 hours, but you can repeatedly spam air whip grapple > attack for this phase. Actually, you can probably get away with it in the first phase too. I was just so stubborn and wanted to use Vampire Killer for at least one of Dracula’s phases.

The speedrun trophy was a fun challenge but I dislike speedruns in general, especially in a Metroidvania (a game in which you’re normally expected to take your time and thoroughly explore). Oh, obviously this was the normal ending. The bad ending doesn’t trigger the speed running trophy, and I don’t think it’s possible to get the true ending within 4 hours, but I could be wrong.

Good luck to anyone else trying to go for the speedrun trophy honestly.

Anyway, it feels like now I can finally just… play the game. 😅👍

If spoilers can be avoided for the game, Please. I only played the demo

Do you all think Rose might be the one who continues the Belmont line after Trevor and I don't know how to spell her name so Im not gonna try.

Personally, I don't think so. Its entirely possible that Rose doesn't even have kids, and it was hinted at in Bloodlines that Trevor and Sylpha have other kids. Also things have been reconned before

Hi guys. We are Living La Vita Loca podcast. We are an amateur video gaming podcast where we record our thoughts on video games as mates in 'Couch Coop'. No sponsors, advertising, or financial gains. This is just for good times and anyone interested in this week's discussion.

https://linktr.ee/livinglavitalocapodcast

In our latest episode released today, we discuss Castlevania: The Adventure (1989, Game Boy) & Resident Evil 4 Remake (2023, PS5)

Castlevania: The Adventure discussion

Timestamp: 05:25-23:05

Resident Evil 4 Remake discussion

Timestamp: 23:05 - End

Enjoy your day ✌️

If that's the case then I think that's pretty cool that rose started to refine the spell that sypha's card gave her and passed it down till it became what would eventually be the belmont's ace in the hole, grand cross

Honestly if most of Simon's Quests enemies were far more interesting, it'd be higher up.

What were your favorite and least favorite tracks?

The soundtrack isn't terrible and it did start to grow on me after a while. Favorite was the Hall of Mirrors. Loved the eeriness in the track and seemed very fitting to explore given the entire area is one giant puzzle. Special mention to the Catacombs for being such a chill vibe and Cemetery for being the most gothic-sounding imo.

Least favorite was probably Main Hall (not my fave Bloody Tears rendition) andNotre Dame.I tend to love the chapel stages in the series but maybe I'm biased toward the lasers. I guess I preferred a more solemn kind of tune.

For boss themes, I'm really digging Carmilla's

This is my Castlevania Tier List after finishing Belmont's Curse. I plan on going back and doing full runs of all of the DS games because its been a while. This is where I would place them though just from recent memory. Lets touch base on a few games and how they placed quick just to give everyone insight on how I ranked everything.

1. Castlevania 3 does everything the original does, but does it better. Branching paths, multiple characters, and challenge. Playing this game as a kid, blew me away.
2. Castlevania 4 love it, presentation and music are off the charts. The challenge however gets lost because you can just whip your way through the entire game.
3. Curse Of Darkness gives you so much to do between weapon crafting, stealing, and devil forging. Its a 3d metroidvania, the one downside is running through the castle can be sluggish at times.
4. Simons Quest is not a bad game, it has its problems, but it layed the groundwork for SOTN. Without Simons Quest we may have never got SOTN.
5. SOTN believe it or not I have a very small love hate relationship with. It gets S Tier for how it pushed the franchise to new heights, but my god is it EASY, even on a first playthough. The challenge lies in getting the 200.6% and the discovery of the castle and its Items. Outside of a small few every boss can be melted in what feels like 60 secounds.
6. Lastly Belmonts Curse, Loved every second of it. It doesnt quite hit the S Tier height. The Music is good, but not quite on the level of other Castlevania's. I love how Belmonts Curse fits into the series from a Lore perspective. It has some great build variety with platforming sections that are fun and traversal that feels smooth. The Mirror Zone is really cool, but came to late in the game. Lastly It would have been nice to have enemy item drops, a bestiary, and maybe a vendor. On my second playthough I felt like I was done a little to soon and a New Game+ would'nt offer a whole lot.

If I overlooked any Castlevania you feel deserves another look let me know, like I said its been a bit and I am always open to a fresh perspective.

1 - If you hit the lever on the right, the big platform drops down all the way. You can get up to the left side from the bottom, but to get to the right again, you need to do a shield dash + swap to dual blade + up attack to get to the right again.

2 - the path bellow #2 require some ability I haven't gotten yet. But you can't even go back, since the path just up above #2 doesn't provide a way to get across the spikes. Only way out is to kys

No damage against Rondo bosses time!​ This game is so far prett​y good and holds up far better than most​ older titles.

I know some of you will probably hate my opinion, but I really love Castlevania’s lore, so I can’t just ignore these changes.

I never expected a 1:1 adaptation, and I have no problem with corrupt priests or religious institutions being portrayed negatively. My issue is how much the show changes the lore and how these changes affect the story.

In the games, Lisa’s execution is associated with human cruelty and a witch hunt, which drives Dracula’s hatred toward humanity. Netflix instead makes a corrupt bishop directly responsible for her death. Why make that change? The original premise already worked without making the Church such a central part of the conflict.

Another thing that bothers me is how the show portrays the Church as corrupt while still using Christian imagery and religious objects like holy water to fight evil. I’ve even read spoilers about a zombie bishop being able to produce holy water. I’m not saying holy water should stop working just because a priest is evil, but I wish the show would explore these ideas more consistently instead of making the Church a major source of evil while retaining its religious elements whenever they’re useful to the protagonists.

My other issue is Dracula’s role. I know he’s evil, and his desire for revenge makes sense within the story. But after four episodes, the bishop felt more like the main villain, and resolving that conflict made the story feel as though it had already dealt with its immediate antagonist. I expected Dracula to feel like the central threat looming over the entire story, but I wasn’t getting that feeling.

The first four episodes completely destroyed my expectations. I don’t need a 1:1 adaptation; I just want changes that respect the source material’s core identity and make sense within its world.