Castlevania Judgment

FightClubHuBBs said:
i still think castlevania 64 is the best of all the 3D games. the only real issue the game has is the really anal controls, but that is easy to adjust too.
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Never played that one. I only played the ps2 3D castlevania games. Why do you think it's better than those for example?
 
Most negative reviews on the game come from bitter Castlevania fans who just want to relive Symphony of the Night and believe whole-heartedly that if a Castlevania game isn't anything LIKE SotN that it isn't remotely enjoyable. Likewise, game reviews enter the game experience with preset expectations of what a 'Castlevania' game should be like. Truth of the matter is, however, that the game is NOT Castlevania, it's Castlevania Judgment, and that you shouldn't judge this game based on the rest of the franchise. That's like forming an opinion of America just based on what you see in Texas, or deciding that all anime is shit just based on Musashi Gundou. I've only seen one solid review of the game that looks at it with an open perspective, and that's the review on IGN that gave it average-high marks.

Now, I haven't picked up the game, but I'm definitely looking forward to dusting off my Wii. I most certainly enjoy Power Stone-esque brawler games, and I am also a Castlevania fan, so hey; it really can't go wrong.
 
A_Bad_Idea said:
Most negative reviews on the game come from bitter Castlevania fans who just want to relive Symphony of the Night and believe whole-heartedly that if a Castlevania game isn't anything LIKE SotN that it isn't remotely enjoyable. Likewise, game reviews enter the game experience with preset expectations of what a 'Castlevania' game should be like. Truth of the matter is, however, that the game is NOT Castlevania, it's Castlevania Judgment, and that you shouldn't judge this game based on the rest of the franchise. That's like forming an opinion of America just based on what you see in Texas, or deciding that all anime is shit just based on Musashi Gundou. I've only seen one solid review of the game that looks at it with an open perspective, and that's the review on IGN that gave it average-high marks.

Now, I haven't picked up the game, but I'm definitely looking forward to dusting off my Wii. I most certainly enjoy Power Stone-esque brawler games, and I am also a Castlevania fan, so hey; it really can't go wrong.
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I completely agree. There are already way too many SotNish games for the DS and GBA. Making another one for the wii or any other system frankly would be.... A_Bad_Idea.... hahaha heh see what i did there.... heh.. um... yeah.
 
I'm glad to hear that the game seems to be better than expected. I have been a long time fan of the Castlavania games and have been looking at this game with cautious optimism. Aside from the fact that several of the character designs were completely destroyed, I was worried about how the game would control.

I hope if this game does well, they will reattempt another 3D Castlevania. Curse of Darkness a good game and a good deal better than Lament of Innocence, IMO, but they still had a way to go before they were as good as SOtN or especially Castlevania 3.

I personally don't mind if they make Metroid Castlevanias forever, but variety is good as long as they do it well. I am actually hoping that Konami pulls a Capcom and release an 8 bit side scrolling Castlevania.
 
After a while of playing the game, I have to say that it's actually not bad. The controls and camera take a bit of getting used to, but once you get a grasp of the controls, combat can have a bit of depth to it. The core of combat flow comes from knowing whether or not to attack, guard, or evade against an enemy. Once you get comfortable with the controls, using cancels to switch up your game with specials, items, or unblockable attacks can put your opponent on edge. Hyper Attacks are notoriously powerful, but the combat is fast and furious, and because the Hyper Attack uses all your mana, matches are hardly ever long enough to ever gain two full mana bars in a fight. More to that, most Hyper Attack startups are slow and unsafe, truly making the move into an all-or-nothing gambit, kind of like Ougis in CC2's Narutimate series (in fact, I'd say this game plays much like a 3D-plane version of that game, without the frantic KnJ madness. Almost similar to Ultimate Ninja Storm...which I haven't played yet).

Characters are varied enough to hold one's interest between playthroughs, and there's enough variety between the way each character plays to suit your playstyle. I've assembled the cast into a small list of vague playstyle archetypes that define their general strengths:

Mid-Range Melee - Good Range, Average Speed and Damage
Belmonts, Eric, Death

Speedy Melee - Minimal Melee range, excellent mobility and combo potential
Grant, Carmilla, Cornell

Melee Casters - Close-range Melee combined with Magic ranged pressure
Alucard (more melee than magic), Shanoa (more magic than melee)

Heavy Casters - Poor melee advantage and less-than average mobility, but possesses powerful, wide-range magic attacks.
Maria, Sypha

Special Exceptions
Golem (Slow mobility, hard-hitting attacks and far-traveling bull rush moves)
Aeon (Average mobility, close-quarters range, and "ticks" that charge his special moves)
Dracula (Teleport, fireball, repeat =P)

While some characters have an easier time beating other characters (Golem vs Dracula anyone?), there's no character who's truly broken. The only character who MAY come close to being broken is Aeon, whose ZA WARUDO combo gives him a free Hyper Attack, but it requires three ticks on his clock, which may be difficult to achieve on a human opponent. Besides which, anyone who manages to pick up the Stopwatch sub-weapon is capable of performing a ZA WARUDO Hyper Attack combo.

There's a lot to think about when playing Judgment with regards to fighting. Sometimes it's not just about "pulling off that bitchin' combo you saw on Youtube", sometimes it's about using distance and space to gauge your opponent's attacks, thwart them, and swiftly counterattack. Sometimes it's about luring the enemy into the stage hazards, and sometimes it's about knowing when it's okay to start whipping torches to find the right subweapon for the job. I'm only slightly annoyed that there's no Random Stage select, nor is there enough stages in the game, but that's a very minor gripe.

Oh, and the soundtrack is ten flavors of awesome, especially if you're a fan of classic Castlevania music.

Rei_Shao_Khan said:
I personally don't mind if they make Metroid Castlevanias forever, but variety is good as long as they do it well. I am actually hoping that Konami pulls a Capcom and release an 8 bit side scrolling Castlevania.
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Did you play the Dracula X Chronicles for PSP? It's a 2.5D remake of Rondo of Blood (which was never released in the US), Richter Belmont's first game. It plays like a traditional arcade-style Castlevania game, no leveling up or collecting gear or exploration... just a straightforward romp through the castle with your whip and whatever you find inside the nearest candle. It's actually amusingly faithful to the original game, and if that still doesn't tickle your fancy, the game includes the original PC Engine CD version of the game in case you need your 32-bit pixel fix.
 
I have played Dracula X Chronicles, and it is awesome. Rondo of Blood is great, but I was talking more about a Megaman 9 for Castlevania. It doesn't have to be 8-bit, but I was talking more about a new game in the older style. I personally liked the changes to Rondo Blood, especially Super Dracula.
 
See, now i'm a little upset because i really want to pick this game up now but i cant until payday. Grrrgh.
 
I did play Dracula X..... but it wasn't satisfying for me. This game here i might get it and a avatar of one of the characters.
 
I'll be getting this probably either today or tomorrow so if anybody wants to play, just let me know.
 
I haven't tried playing online (or rather, last time I tried, I couldn't even find a match =\), but I hear the only thing scrubs do online is pick Dracula, sit his fat ass in front of the screen and spam fire pillars. Thankfully I already know the best way to beat Drac, but if you thought playing SCIV online was scrubby, you haven't heard stories about online spam-faggotry on Judgment.
 
You're right, i havent heard of it but, thank you so much for ruining my wonderful, blissful ignorance of the situation. I was even excited about using Dracula too but you have effectively destroyed that desire.
 
dont let it get ya down. ill hit ya up and get some games with ya some time. draculas not that bad either. his attacks are RATHER easy to dodge and hes SLOW so he cant really chase anyone down. a little patience and a few hearts and decent sub weapon makes for a sad sad dracula.
 
Hey, if you guys are willing to throw down I might as well join ya. Don't worrry Million, Drac is still a tough contender. You just gotta be smart with him, that's all. He's got this one move where he sets like a floor trap that's great for anti-pressure, and it always gives me problems when he gets a chance to use it =P.
 
Just an update, i finally picked this game up and as i thought, i am in fact enjoying it. Sure it has it's minor issues but let me just say that they are in fact minor. Bottom line is, it's really not that bad at all. I'd dare say that most people who dislike this game either A: Despise the character designs, which is fine but no reason to completely write off a game entirely. Or B: Just hate the idea of a Castelvania VS. game anyway. Which pretty much means most of those individuals have never even played it. I'll discuss more detail on it Monday when i've got more time in front of a computer.

If anybody here would like to play. Just send me a private message with your friend code or post it on the thread, whichever one works for you. Thanks.
 
The game is pretty alright but the community is pretty dry ATM.

So far the only thorn in the rear is Shanoa I hate that stupid girl.

There are a few D/C ers but nothing too bad excluding the shanoas. Not too many people know what their doing and the top player hates to be stage counter pick and will quit if you do so. He is insanely fickle and is fearful of loosing his spot to Mario or Miss S or anyone at this point.

Edit: As of yesterday EMIL the number one player lost his rank to another Shanoa user Silver. Thats pretty funny.
 
Still waitin' on those friend codes from people who play this game.... Come on! If it's so dead, then u need to expand your contacts a bit. Send me your codes and i'll give u mine.
 
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