superfro

You haven't played it and are going off of two dude's takes. If you're not going to play multiplayer then I would strongly suggest against it, but that doesn't mean the game is lazy.

In fact the Eurogamer review fails to point out the biggest thing about having to redo levels. The fact that you're constantly bettering your character with items and learning the most efficient ways to get around and deal with the enemies. Some people won't be into the repetition, but before I knew it I found it completely addicting.

Edit - Just checked the IGN review and it at least seems to note the idea of the progression I outlined above. They gave it a 7.5. Since when is 7.5 "unfavorable"? Seriously.

UncleGramps

I'll try the Castlevania demo, but an XBLA game has to really impress me for me to drop $15. Money is a bit tight these days.

foxdvd

superfro, are you saying that each time you fail, the level gets easier because of your character leveling up?...or does it have more to do with you actually getting better at the game, or a little of both?

superfro

I feel that hardcore Castlevania folks will be down for it, but it's going to be a really tough sale in demo form to everyone else. (They NEED to allow the demo to take advantage of a timed multiplayer section IMO.) I'm enjoying it, but it took a bit of playing to grow on me. Something that a demo won't allow for.

Both. But to be clearer you don't actually "level up". You do however pick up items and money that you can use to purchase new items and you retain all of those everytime you die. So basically on your next go through you may be able to purchase some new equipment that boosts your various stats. So as you play your character does get stronger, but there is no "experience" system per say. Also, you are learning the level each time you go through it. When you see this initally.....



....it's going to be a bit intimidating. Learning where to go and how to deal with the enemies is key, and the more times you go through the quicker it goes. It was taking me almost 20 minutes to get to the boss on this level when I first started. By the end I could get to him in 8 or less.

Also, I'm not sure if the other reviews mentioned it or not, but it should also be known that there is no way to pause the game. Each level is on a 30 minute clock and there is no way to stop the action once you begin. Even hitting the Xbox button won't pause the action on screen.

slop101

I'm sure that's so there won't be any problems when there's multiple people playing - but if that's also the case when you're playing solo, like I said, lazy programming.

superfro

So outside of the lack of pause, what else is lazy about the game? Are you basing it on the reused assets in the game?

PixyJunket

Here's a good overview of XBLIG games released over the last month:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=402727

Decker

Seriously, I don't know how anybody could give an accurate review of this Castlevania game before it's readily available to all Live members on the Marketplace. It's going to suffer if it's reviewed based on a single-player experience. They should have taken a page out of the StarCraft II playbook and held off giving advance copies for early reviews to anyone.

superfro

Well you can expect the bigger places got multiple codes. I know some of the Game Informer guys were doing 5 player over the weekend for instance.

Decker

I'm still trying to get my head around this release. It's such a strange concept to build a Castlevania game on -- it sounds like it's all of the grind of a MMORPG with none of the rewards. I guess it might be fun in MP with a good tight group of online friends, but let's be honest : nobody plays any XBLA game in MP for more than a few weeks.
Such a beloved franchise and I don't know why they went the direction they did.

superfro

I don't necessarily agree with the all inclusive statement of everybody and all games, but even so, I guess I'm not clear on the negative of that anyway? I guess that all comes down to the same ol' argument of value of the game and if you feel like you get your money's worth out of the purchase. Which is all completely subjective.

UncleGramps

Yeah, 360 games in general, and XBLA games in particular seem to have a pretty short online life-span, for the most part. Of course there are notable exceptions, but I understand what Decker is saying.

I'll probably pass on Castlevania, in part because I don't expect it to have a large long-term community.

superfro

So is the concern that you would own a game that you'd never really get to go back and play because it would rely too heavily on a MP component? (Talking purely generic here and not specific to Castlevania:HD.)

Mok

Destructoid

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair Review - 6 out of 10

http://www.destructoid.com/review-ca...r-180442.phtml

xmiyux

Absolutely.

See Shadowrun. This is a FPS that I completely think was overlooked... and due to the online focus it is pretty much dead in the water now unless you organize retro nights with friends. Which is what we have to do at 8-Bit Brigade so I can get my fix.

superfro

I guess for me if I spend $10-$15 on a game and even get a few weeks play out of it I'm good. Maybe I'm in the minority with that mentality though, as I often don't go back to play my older games.

Decker

I guess I feel that XBLA games primarily or exclusively designed for the MP experience half a very short lifespan. I love 1943, but I can't play it anymore because nobody's online to play against me. Same goes for Snoopy. Who knows, maybe this game will have a thriving online community, but somehow I sort of doubt it (that's just a hunch on my part).
My advice for those who are interested is to buy it right away and play the hell out of it those first two weekends.

superfro

So do you feel like you didn't get your value out of BF1943 or that you made a bad investment in it? I understand being bummed that you can't revisit a title because of the lack of online, but does that make it a bad initial purchase?

UncleGramps

That's part of it. I guess maybe the bigger issue is that I like playing co-op games with friends, and I don't think that many people on my friends list will be getting this one.

I don't need to revisit a game months later, but I do need enough people around to get a week or two of fun out of the game.

UncleGramps

Yup. I feel like the 360 community has had a "game of the week" mentality since launch. If it's not Call of Duty, Halo, or one of the other "chosen few", it tends to get played for a week or two and then forgotten completely.

Liver&Onions

qfmft.

Sometimes I won't be able to get to the hot new game at launch, yet still want to play online.

pinata242

This is exactly why I justified Borderlands and RDR to myself at launch because I knew "by the time I get around to it" would not be good for it. Everyone will have moved on.

MrX

Yeah, I made the mistake of waiting to play Splinter Cell: Conviction and trying to find someone to run through the co-op story now is impossible.

Decker

No, that one was great. It also had a pretty good shelf-life. Ticket To Ride and Snoopy lasted like a week online (though both those games are playable in single-player versions). I wonder how people who spent 1200 points on Death Tank felt about the return on their investment.

I think with Castlevania HD though, we're talking about a very different sort of multiplayer experience than 1943 though since the former requires cooperative play and team strategy and the later is just good old fashioned adversarial deathmatches. I'm curious to see how the general public takes to this game.

Anyone here planning on getting the game this week (and by that I mean like paying for it with real virtual currency)?

pinata242

Granted I haven't played in a few weeks, but it was still going strong a little while ago AND even with full lobbies we were getting into games with the DLC maps. I play with some guys from the PseudoRadio boards and you're always welcome. We pretty much dominate when we play.