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Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (XBLA)‎

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    Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (XBLA)‎

    Been playing this a little bit with a friend and some randoms, I'm not really sure what is going on. It is like a boss rush mode in a single castle, each chapter has you running around a different castle.

    First impressions are that it plays a bit like a party based MMO, you actually have to grind to level up, the characters all start off as **** as each other, taking 3 or 4 hits to kill even the most basic of skeletons. But by all accounts as you level up the characters become more diverse and their strenghs and weakness become more obvious.

    Unfortunately the documentation for the game is a little sparse and it doesn't give you much indication of what you need to do and how you progress your character, leaving you to figure it out yourself.
    The Menus and GUI reflect this lack of presentation too, typical text heavy page switching Japanese Menus. I imagine many will find them comforting and Nostalgic, but I just find them poorly designed and awkward to use. The lobbies are also a bit confusing too.

    Co-OP seems to be the meat of the game, I don't think I would even consider buying this if I didn't know someone else that had the game too and unfortunately the trial doesn't have the multiplayer option available at all *facepalm*

    That does all sound rather negative, but I'm actually having fun, I'm hoping that things become a little clearer once I unlock some more abilities. There is a large amount re playability and a little of the familiar exploration as it appears there are inaccessible areas on in the chapters that you must be able to get to once you've levelled up and you've come back with the ability to turn into a bat, or you jump higher etc.

    I'm looking forward to playing a little bit more and seeing how the experience progresses. I quite like the 30 minute time limit on each chapter, means you can have a quick blast with randoms or by yourself if you just want to grind a bit higher.
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    #2
    Couple of questions...

    Is the level of you character retained? So if you jump into another game you still have a level 4 Alucard for example.

    Can you select your chapter to fight? So say you have a level 8 character can you jump straight to a chapter that will reflect this or do you have to play though the weaker levels again?

    I take it chapters do get harder for higher levelled characters...?

    In MP, if you die, is that you until the end of the map or everyone dies?

    I'm really interested in this, I'm bored of the Metroidvania thing now and this could be a welcome breath of fresh air if it's been done right.

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      #3
      I can answer that from reading some reviews...

      You don't level up but you can get better equipment.

      Which puts me off to be fair.

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        #4
        Played the demo and don't get it. Edge gave it 8, Eurogamer gave it 4.

        I am big Castlevania fan but so far me no likey

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          #5
          Originally posted by Goemon View Post
          Couple of questions...

          Is the level of you character retained? So if you jump into another game you still have a level 4 Alucard for example.

          Can you select your chapter to fight? So say you have a level 8 character can you jump straight to a chapter that will reflect this or do you have to play though the weaker levels again?

          I take it chapters do get harder for higher levelled characters...?

          In MP, if you die, is that you until the end of the map or everyone dies?

          I'm really interested in this, I'm bored of the Metroidvania thing now and this could be a welcome breath of fresh air if it's been done right.
          Yeah your character is persistent across singleplayer/multiplayer

          Once you have beaten a chapter it opens up the next one but you are free to choose any chapter you've unlocked play it with a better said of items. There is a time trial aspect to the game, you get a final score based upon how much damage taken and dealt and how long it took you to finish the level.

          I've played for about 3 hours today and can't do the 2nd chapter so I'm guessing yes, it must get harder.

          In Mulitplayer if you die a little grave appears and you spawn here as a skeleton with a halo, you can run and double jump and throw bones to attack enemies, but you don't collect any items or receive any items if any co-op partners open a chest (in multiplayer ALL characters get something if someone picks something up)

          You can keep playing as the skeleton and respawning at the same grave until someone revives you with a specific item, the Water of Life.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by jim g View Post
            Played the demo and don't get it. Edge gave it 8, Eurogamer gave it 4.

            I am big Castlevania fan but so far me no likey
            The demo is pointless, I really don't know why they gave no access to multiplayer as it might as well of been a multiplayer only game, there are numerous bits in each castle that require more than 1 person to get through and there is literally no chance in hell you'd even be able to kill that first boss by yourself the first time you play.

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              #7
              I had 10 health by the time I got to that first boss. I lasted 10 seconds. I'm not exactly a veteren 'Vania player but this has a terrible trial, I can't believe multiplayer is turned off...

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                #8
                Can see the potential but the trial dosent help. got to the boss (half energy) got killed, had I known its attack patterns or if I was in a team I might of faired better. very undecided on this as it seems very punishing and old school castlevania was never this unfair.

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                  #9
                  I think it's just confusing as to what kind of game it is, I imagine many hardcore castlevania fans being dissapointed by it not being the traditional game. It needs to be viewed more as if it were the multiplayer component in a retail castlevania title, which I imagine in future it will be.

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                    #10
                    I'm enjoying this a lot, it must be said.

                    I played it through with 1 other person using Charlotte, and once you got used to it it's really good fun! The first level boss fell down big time once I used my Splash Needle against it's face repeatedly.

                    I'll happily play alongside anyone.

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                      #11
                      I was about to go all EvilBoris and vent my anger on the internet then until I realised you can actually zoom in on the gameplay. I was all like WTF n stuff.

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                        #12
                        You can even change how much zoom you have access to

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Lebowski View Post
                          Can see the potential but the trial dosent help. got to the boss (half energy) got killed, had I known its attack patterns or if I was in a team I might of faired better. very undecided on this as it seems very punishing and old school castlevania was never this unfair.
                          Have you never played "Castlevania: Rondo of Blood"?

                          That is punishingly tough very similar to Ghouls and Ghosts in difficulty.

                          I actually thought this was a port of Harmony of Dissonance when i read about it but thats obviously not the case.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by EvilBoris View Post
                            You can even change how much zoom you have access to
                            Does that mean there are more than the 3 preset zoom levels in the full game or you can limit them?Thanks.

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                              #15
                              There is an extra one under camera settings.
                              You can choose which order you can cycle through and remove stupid ones.
                              2x
                              3x
                              Actual Size
                              Full Screen

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