Castlevania

[HUNK]

Hey guys, I'm looking for a new game series to get into and after hearing some of the soundtrack and playing bits and pieces of the games, I've decided to start playing Castlevania.

The problem is, there are like a billion different castlevania games out there. Which one should I start with?

I've only played Rondo of Blood, Dracual X chronicles and Symphony of the Night. I've not beaten any of them but I'd like to know, from a storyline prospective, where to start.

[Rhaps]

For storyline, if you want it to be Belmont linear, go Castlevania 3, then 1, then 2.
But if you want to play the best ones, play 1 and 3. I love 1 to death and have yet to beat it, in all of my 9001 attempts lol (They made it when Nintendo was known for challenging games) and I haven't played 3 yet, although it looks amazing, what with the multiple characters to play as. Everyone hates on 2 for being too slow and "Castlevania shouldn't have RPG elements" and other stuff, but I like it. However, it is confusing as hell due to poor translation. Still fun to play though.
(Note: All of the 3 mentioned are on NES)

[HUNK]

Sweet, In a way that actually takes alot of complication out of it.

I'll be honest, when they are listed as 1 2 3, I have no idea which ones they are.
If I'm not correct, 3 is Symphony of the Night, 1 is Rhondo of Blood, and 2 is Draculas Curse?

Thanks much for the order though.
Needless to say, I was alittle confused when I was playing as Richter and then all of the sudden I'm Alucard. (Personally I like Richter Belmont better, they're a family of vampire hunters. Epic much?)

[Xanatos]

Can't say I have fond memories of early ones as they were rather tough to beat. Out the ones I played though, I recommend Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow, both for GBA. Story wise, I honestly don't know if they have any connection to older titles, though excellent gameplay, and good story is what I can vouch for. What makes both games different from other titles in franchise are the RPG elements, your character develops through the game, meaning, games difficulty depends solely up to you.

[HUNK]

(OOC: Don't fuss at me, I do know what I said earlier was wrong.)

Anyway, yeah I noticed on the first Castlevania it was hard as Hades to beat. However, on symphony of the night, I also noticed you could pick up equipment and stuff from your enemies. You could also gain experience. So that must be another one of the "RPG-like castlevania" games.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

[Angel of Iniquity]

The newest one for the Ps3 was a great attempt, but in my part failed.
I have played aria of sorrow and enjoyed it, as well as symphony of the night.
But in the new one, the fighting is alright, but there is too much "sloth" in it overall.
Exploration in general is a good thing, but when you cant quickly climb a ledge, in a game where 90% of it involves climbing, is a giant pain.
There is AWESOME graphics and a cool, albeit short musical score, and the combat combinations are awesome as well. On bad thing is the difficulty.
I remember dying 15 times on 1 certain boss.

This game also takes cue's from SHadow of colossus and God of war, but doesn't perfect any of them in their respects. It does have superior graphics and Music, a 7.5/10 if you wanna give it a go.

[Musashiden]

If you're looking for canonical chronology, this is the progression:

Lament of Innocence (1094) - Leon Belmont - PS2
Castlevania Legends (1450; retconned) - Sonia Belmont - Game Boy
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1476) - Trevor Belmont - NES
Curse of Darkness (1479) - Hector - PS2/Xbox
The Castlevania Adventure (1576) - Christopher Belmont - Game Boy
Castlevania Adventure II: Belmont's Revenge - (1591) - Christopher Belmont - Game Boy

Castlevania/Haunted Castle/Vampire Killer/Super Castlevania IV/Amkumajou Dracula X68000/Castlevania Chronicles (1691) - Simon Belmont - NES/Arcade/MSX/SNES/Sharp X68000/PSone

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1698) - Simon Belmont - NES
Harmony of Dissonance (1748) - Juste Belmont - GBA
Rondo of Blood/Dracula X (1791) - Richter Belmont - PC Engine/SNES/PSP
Symphony of the Night (1797) - Alucard Tepes - PSone/XBLA/PSP
Order of Ecclesia (18XX) - Shanoa - NDS
Circle of the Moon (1830) - Nathan Graves - GBA
Legacy of Darkness (1844; retconned) - Cornell - N64
Castlevania 64 (1852; retconned) - Reinhardt Schneider/Carrie Fernandez - N64
Bloodlines (1917) - John Morris/Eric LeCarde - Sega Genesis
Portrait of Ruin (1944) - Jonathan Morris/Charlotte Aulin - NDS
Aria of Sorrow (2035) - Soma Cruz - GBA
Dawn of Sorrow (2036) - Soma Cruz - NDS

...I like Castlevania.

[HUNK]

Wow, thanks man! I appreciate the timeline. I always thought that Richter was the primier castlevania dude, just because I played Rhondo of Blood first and it was old and featured him. (Plus he's the Castlevania image of a dude with a whip beating dracula.)

I can sympathise with you Odin. Castlevania games are ridiculously hard. I purposely play them saying "Let's get pissed off." and then get board. I do still enjoy playing them though. I absolutly love the soundtrack. Most of it seems to be redone pieces from the previous titles but it's still just classic!

(Trevors theme for the win!)

[yellowpin]

well, what kind of games did you play before?
I think you can try the wii or the xbox games.








________________________________
Ps3 accessories, Wii accessories, Xbox 360 accessories, ps3 controller

[HUNK]

Unfortunately I'm super ghetto so Xbox360/Wii are out of my reach.

As for the newer Castlevania games, I really want the try the fighting game version. I saw it awhile ago and it got REALLY bad reviews, but you know, I'm still interested.

After all, Dissidia got bad reviews and I loved it.
(PS: Newest System I've got is PSP)