Latest Posts by twilightemperor06 - Page 3

Castlevania franchise box art by Ayami Kojima

And nothing of value was lost

Boy do I get the feeling

"why can't they just be friends?" but not in the homophobic way, in the "the fandom claims a show/book/movie that has open queer characters and relationships is queerbaiting because their favorite ship isn't canon and I'm sick and tired of it" way

First impressions

Castlevania symphony of the night

Castlevania symphony of the night is most popular title in the castlevania franchise considered one of the essential titles of the original PlayStation and my first entry into the castlevania series

Now I’ve never played a castlevania game or even a Metroidvania game before the most I’ve played was a demo for Metroid dread

But now that I’m playing one for the first time how do I feel about it I’ll go over it under the cut

Now just a reminder I haven’t finished the story yet so if I’m leaving out anything that’s why

The story so far

The game starts with us playing as richter facing Dracula at the end of rondo of blood with one of the most infamously cheesy voice acting scenes

Thank the maker for the redub

After we defeat Dracula the game cuts to four years later richter has gone missing and castlevania has reappeared leading Alucard (the son of Dracula from castlevania 3 ) to investigate

The game starts with you at full power blasting through enemies with your abilities until you remember this is a metroidvania game and death comes to steal your weapons and abilities from then on you travel across the castle meeting new people fighting monsters and frequently coming across a mysterious woman named Maria who seems to know something about richter

Hey this is where I am at the moment I’ll save the full summary for the full review

The gameplay

Castlevania sotn has you roaming throughout the castle fighting monsters and exploring what might be there

Like most Metroidvania’s the game is very much open ended meaning you can explore at your own pace however some areas will be blocked and won’t be accessible unless you find a relic that will give you the ability to proceed

The combat in this game has cool twist in it that there are rpg elements attached to it

In this game Alucard can be customized through the weapons and equipment you find from beating enemies or exploring

There are many weapons in this game from long swords short swords rods shields bows and many others and these give a lot of room for customization during combat

Alucard however can only equip two weapons at a time so be smart with how you design him and make sure it’s fitting for the level and enemies you’re facing

I should also note that many powerful weapons you get early in the game are typically one use so be mindful of that

Another thing I should mention is that alucards abilities can be gained through relics you find in the game from the ability to double jump to his transformation powers

There are many enemies in this game that have a lot of cool concepts and designs however they can be difficult to deal with in the beginning however once you get the hang of things the enemies become more easier to deal with

The most annoying enemies however are the smaller ones because while they may take less damage to kill they are much harder to hit

This can make them deadly if they are placed in Large amounts

Another thing I should mention is that early in the game I’d recommend not going

At the monsters considering there’s a good chance of your butt getting kicked and you being faced with monsters while at low heath

Castlevania is divided into many levels that are fun to explore and play through

A lot backgrounds are very cool to look at and there’s a lot a variety in the enemies you face with my favorite’s being the library and colosseum

However the ones I’d argue being poorly designed are the clock tower platforming ones

Not only do you have to deal with flying enemies who could knock you back if you get hit but enemies like crows who attack you when you get to close and are much smaller making them harder to hit and Medusa head who are small as well except they come from the side off the stage

Overall this is a very fun game to play and so far I’m enjoying it I’ll give a full review once I finish the game so have a good day

So she blocks anyone who criticizes her takes

Lovely

Advice I could have used a long time ago

I’m begging y’all not to engage in culture wars. It will ruin your mental health and your perception on the internet. And it will fill your feed with uneccesary drama.

If you see something that makes you uncomfortable, just block it.

Okay I know this is old but there are a lot of problems here that i have to address

Number one, you do not kill the shadow character. That's basic Jungian symbolism which the entire series is made around. You can never fully rid yourself of a shadow only accept it and integrate it

How is akechi a shadow character again? This is a pretty strong assumption about his role and character and I fail to see how it holds water if we are to argue through series traditions shadows are based on the repressed inner qualities of a person which begs if akechi is a shadow what sort of repressed trait does he reflect akechi’s goal has been to kill shido and last akechi the game has not subtle about how jokers life has been affected by shido nor has it been secret about how much we want to take him down

Yes akechi is a foil to joker and the phantom thieves but to claim he is a shadow character is a very large stretch that I fail holds any water if any character that role it would most likely been maruki his goals do align with the inner conflict regarding on weather they are justified in changing the hearts of others for the benefit of others

Number two, the phantom thieves did not condone Goro's actions obviously, but they were all during the fight and in the aftermath completely willing to sympathize with Goro and bring him bac into the group. It's weird to make a game about sympathizing with the outcasts and then just decide to exclude the one victim who wasn't a GOOD VICTIM TM, especially since in the last game they let Adachi live for some reason.

While you aren’t wrong in asserting that the game is about sympathizing with the outcasts this is only half the message a consistent theme throughout the story and social links is seeking justice for those who are a victim of those who abuse their power considering most of the phantoms thieves and confidants are victims of someone in power in someway or another

I’ll dive more into how this relates to akechi later on

Also neither the phantom thieves or the investigation had any intention of killing akechi or Adachi the reason akechi died was cause of outside interference

Number three, Persona 5 Royal did a lot of things to fix Akechi's social link which is super rushed even though he's supposed to be Joker's greatest foil in the game and meant to reflect him and understand him on a deep emotional level but it's almost worse because it tempts the audience with an idea of Akechi surviving the final dungeon something the fans wanted and then has him die a second time. There's literally no reason to kill him or make his death ambiguous when you're making a game that is a 1.5 patch of the first game because the first game was rushed out.

The only reason akechi is alive in the third semester is because of maruki who made it so that akechi is alive for joker and akechi has made it clear he would rather die than have his own existence be under someone else’s thumb so this ignores the reason for his second death so if you’re going to ignore his own motivations and character in the third semester then

Number four, he was literally all primed for redemption. He was screaming about how he wanted to have friends. His only desire was to have a true sense of justice rather than being a fake detective. He is one hundred percent aware of his flaws. Joker, the main hero of the story is deeply invested in him living and wants that redemption for him too. And then they just kill him.

Since you decided to lecture us on basic jungian psychology I’m gonna lecture you on basic storytelling

The whole point of akechi’s death is giving the thieves and the player more incentive to stop shido

Remember what I said about how it’s about seeking justice for victims of those in powers this is where it applies here

Akechi is a victim of shido much like the other thieves and confidants and the players are allowed to sympathize with him this even comes up again in the pre fight dialogue with shido with the thieves holding akechi’s death against him

Therefore since we the player now know what akechi’s been through and have witnessed shido murdering his only son we now have a stronger drive to stop shido now with the motivation of avenging akechi and honoring his sacrifice

If you’re going to argue this writing decision undermines the themes the story I fail to see how this holds water without ignoring the context behind the scene in question

Since akechi dying to his abuser and his death being used as motivation to stop said abuser certainly makes it hard for me to believe this isn’t sympathizing with his abuser

The way they kill him is dumb too, the phantom thieves are just about ready to get through to him and then a clone of Akechi shows up to shoot him in the head. THEY MAY AS WELL HAVE A PIANO DROP ON HIS HEAD IT WAS SO RANDOM. 

Ugh this is by far the worst one

It has been established that shido’s cognition is more advanced than the others to the point his own cognitions can serves as guards and minions for him plus it has been revealed that shido was completely aware of akechi’s plan to kill him as well of his own plan to dispose of him once akechi served his purpose

If your going to ignore details that are made clear throughout the game I have to question your talents as a literary analyst

Persona 5 or Persona 5 Royal?

Neither, because I cannot forgive Persona 5 for the cardinal sin of killing Goro Akechi their best and most interesting character. It's a decision that makes absolutely no sense for the story.

Number one, you do not kill the shadow character. That's basic Jungian symbolism which the entire series is made around. You can never fully rid yourself of a shadow only accept it and integrate it.

Number two, the phantom thieves did not condone Goro's actions obviously, but they were all during the fight and in the aftermath completely willing to sympathize with Goro and bring him bac into the group. It's weird to make a game about sympathizing with the outcasts and then just decide to exclude the one victim who wasn't a GOOD VICTIM TM, especially since in the last game they let Adachi live for some reason.

Number three, Persona 5 Royal did a lot of things to fix Akechi's social link which is super rushed even though he's supposed to be Joker's greatest foil in the game and meant to reflect him and understand him on a deep emotional level but it's almost worse because it tempts the audience with an idea of Akechi surviving the final dungeon something the fans wanted and then has him die a second time. There's literally no reason to kill him or make his death ambiguous when you're making a game that is a 1.5 patch of the first game because the first game was rushed out.

Number four, he was literally all primed for redemption. He was screaming about how he wanted to have friends. His only desire was to have a true sense of justice rather than being a fake detective. He is one hundred percent aware of his flaws. Joker, the main hero of the story is deeply invested in him living and wants that redemption for him too. And then they just kill him.

The way they kill him is dumb too, the phantom thieves are just about ready to get through to him and then a clone of Akechi shows up to shoot him in the head. THEY MAY AS WELL HAVE A PIANO DROP ON HIS HEAD IT WAS SO RANDOM.