Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
As good as 3D Castlevania games get, but that's not saying much.
Published: November 17, 2005
Dammit, Konami, just let Koji Igarashi make his precious 2D Castlevania games. He's already said he wants to do it more than he wants to keep trying to update what is so obviously still a series in need of a 2 or 2.5D presentation in its current form. As a result, we keep getting games like Curse of Darkness, which are slowly making inroads towards being something akin to Symphony of the Night, but they're still a long, long way out.
And hey, it's not like I'm knocking Curse for not being a SotN sequel (one could argue that the Game Boy versions of Castlevania have come pretty close to that), but it's clear the man responsible for arguably the best game on the original PlayStation would like to give it a proper stab on a console that has the hardware to pull off a true sequel.
In point of fact, Curse is a modestly entertaining game that actually tries to introduce more concepts into the familiar vampires vs. slayers motif that the games have rested on in the past, and in some ways it accomplishes this quite nicely. But there's a tangible sense that the game is straining to satisfy fans that really just want some hot hot 2D action, and since Sony won't have any of it any more than finicky mainstream gamers that poo-poo sprites or "flat" visuals, we probably won't get one any time soon.
So we're stuck with Curse of Darkeness which swaps out the Dracula vs. Belmont history for something a bit more human. Two men, both entirely mortal but given the ability to create creatures that follow their command, are turned against each other when one of them, Hector, betrays Dracula and goes and gets ol' vampy killed. Feeling betrayed, Hector's former partner, Isaac, offs his one-time friend's wife.
This was a deliberate move, of course, since Isaac wants revenge, but Hector renounced his Devil Forging powers that allowed him to create the aforementioned creatures (Innocent Devils, if you will). Isaac will not go up against a mere mortal, and baits Hector into reclaiming his powers for an epic showdown. It's a tale rife with the kind of revenge and bloodlust the series is known for, and it makes for a nice bit of narrative to go along with the backdrop of Europe under the spell of Dracula's pre-death curse that's slowly transforming the hearts of men and their countryside into darkness. Yes, it's a Curse of Darkeness, you get a cookie.
Hector's ability to use these Innocent Devils to accomplish everything from opening chests (no, he can't do it himself) to crossing large chasms is the extra bit of oomph bolted onto what is otherwise your run-of-the-mill hack and slash with RPG elements. As you fight, both Hector and the ID he's summoned at the time will gain experience and level up, though the Innocent Devils morph as they gain levels into different variants depending on what kind of weapon you're using (unless you elect to turn this off).
The weapons, then, are a focal point of the advancement of both characters, and thankfully the system for acquiring new ones is as fluid as the combat. As you fell enemies, they may drop bits of... let's just call it "stuff." This stuff can be combined together in pre-set configurations to make swords, spears, knuckles, axes and so on almost as soon as soon as you've built up the required ingredients. It's instantaneous and it's intuitive, allowing for bits of armor too if you so choose.
Usually, this means about five or ten minutes into an area and after a couple dozen enemies, you can hit the Start button, pull up the Combine menu and start mixing and matching as you see fit. The game never really leaves you in the lurch, since you can buy most items if you're hard up for them, but it's still a nice system and continually unlocks new stuff to use.
And hey, it's not like I'm knocking Curse for not being a SotN sequel (one could argue that the Game Boy versions of Castlevania have come pretty close to that), but it's clear the man responsible for arguably the best game on the original PlayStation would like to give it a proper stab on a console that has the hardware to pull off a true sequel.
In point of fact, Curse is a modestly entertaining game that actually tries to introduce more concepts into the familiar vampires vs. slayers motif that the games have rested on in the past, and in some ways it accomplishes this quite nicely. But there's a tangible sense that the game is straining to satisfy fans that really just want some hot hot 2D action, and since Sony won't have any of it any more than finicky mainstream gamers that poo-poo sprites or "flat" visuals, we probably won't get one any time soon.
So we're stuck with Curse of Darkeness which swaps out the Dracula vs. Belmont history for something a bit more human. Two men, both entirely mortal but given the ability to create creatures that follow their command, are turned against each other when one of them, Hector, betrays Dracula and goes and gets ol' vampy killed. Feeling betrayed, Hector's former partner, Isaac, offs his one-time friend's wife.
This was a deliberate move, of course, since Isaac wants revenge, but Hector renounced his Devil Forging powers that allowed him to create the aforementioned creatures (Innocent Devils, if you will). Isaac will not go up against a mere mortal, and baits Hector into reclaiming his powers for an epic showdown. It's a tale rife with the kind of revenge and bloodlust the series is known for, and it makes for a nice bit of narrative to go along with the backdrop of Europe under the spell of Dracula's pre-death curse that's slowly transforming the hearts of men and their countryside into darkness. Yes, it's a Curse of Darkeness, you get a cookie.
Hector's ability to use these Innocent Devils to accomplish everything from opening chests (no, he can't do it himself) to crossing large chasms is the extra bit of oomph bolted onto what is otherwise your run-of-the-mill hack and slash with RPG elements. As you fight, both Hector and the ID he's summoned at the time will gain experience and level up, though the Innocent Devils morph as they gain levels into different variants depending on what kind of weapon you're using (unless you elect to turn this off).
The weapons, then, are a focal point of the advancement of both characters, and thankfully the system for acquiring new ones is as fluid as the combat. As you fell enemies, they may drop bits of... let's just call it "stuff." This stuff can be combined together in pre-set configurations to make swords, spears, knuckles, axes and so on almost as soon as soon as you've built up the required ingredients. It's instantaneous and it's intuitive, allowing for bits of armor too if you so choose.
Usually, this means about five or ten minutes into an area and after a couple dozen enemies, you can hit the Start button, pull up the Combine menu and start mixing and matching as you see fit. The game never really leaves you in the lurch, since you can buy most items if you're hard up for them, but it's still a nice system and continually unlocks new stuff to use.
