Played through a little more of Richiter Mode this evening, although mainly only to progress through the map. I’m trying to get to where Dracula should be, to see if I really need to do all the paintings to complete the game. However, I can’t remember the route and so keep getting lost.
Um. NINE new games arrived today. Yes, 9. To add to the two that came yesterday. I have too many games to play. Tch. So I decided to play one of my new games, and chose Gunpey. I used to love Tarepanda no Gunpey on the Wonderswan, and this version, although lacking in the squished-panda department, is just as ace. Stylus control really makes it much simpler and less frantic, although I suspect they’ve upped the speed a bit to …
As an aside, I really should get round to scanning the covers for some of these games… I thought I’d have a quick go through as Richiter Belmont. And it was quick. I mean, he’s fast. Badly animated, but fast. I killed the boss at the end of City of Haze, who was really easy, and due to the way the map is open from the start I found my way to the Clock Tower and killed Stella (or Loretta? …
TA-DAAAH! Completed! I gave up on the Nest of Evil thing, and went back to the game proper. Decided it was time to actually learn to use the Vampire Killer, so set about killing Richiter Belmont. Yes, really. Well, a “memory” of him anyway. Bizarrely, the weapon I killed him with, was the Cream Pie. It dealt a fair amount of damage, and could be thrown at such an angle so as to be just out of reach of his …
Again, the stats: 8 hours 34 minutes in, Level 39 reached, 895.5% explored. Good lord. Who’s betting it’ll be 1000% when all is done? So I completed the final four paintings. Or at least, what I thought were the final four. The bosses today included Medusa (who was VERY easy, once I realised there was a place you could stand, from where you could slap her about, but not get hit by any of her attacks (well, you had to …
I will start by pointing out my “stats” at the end of today’s play: 6-ish hours in, Level 30-ish ranked, and (wait for it…) 455% explored. Why bother with a percentage if you’re going to go over 100%? Eh? Anyway. I finished my fourth painting, and then explored more of the castle. This involved back-tracking into other paintings for power-ups I may have missed (like the Toad Morph one), and then I made it up into the Clock Tower. Every …
Sand painting boss found! It was some woman who, who had a strange attack – she throws hearts at you, and if you’re Jonathan, and they hit you, then she takes control of you and you control Charlotte. Jonathan then attacks you. Erk. Luckily, I killed her without too many attempts, and then it was back to the Castle to rest up, and move onwards (and upwards). I found the next painting – Nations of Fools – which was set …
And into the next painting I went! One nice thing about the paintings is that it allows Castlevania-ing in locations not normally included in Castlevania. So there’s a bit less castle, and more, well – this painting is in Egypt, so it’s got sand. And sandworms! It adds a bit of variety to the proceedings, anyway. So I’ve gone though loads of this Egyptian level, and not found a boss yet. I’ve found a few places I can’t yet reach …
Wow. Just wow. Yeah, so it doesn’t have the soul collecting of Dawn of Sorrow, and the tag-team system ranges from pointless to annoying, but how any reviewer can say this is anything less than fantastic is beyond me. It ticks all the boxes: save points and warps in sensible places, a shop to buy potions, a great (if confusing, currently) story, and excellent graphics and controls. Today’s play took me back to the City painting, as Wind told me …
Just in the nick of time! With my handheld versions of Castlevania having run out yesterday, Play Asia delivered Portrait of Ruin today. Phew, eh? And… is it any good? Of course it is! It’s ACES! The first thing to hit me was the graphics. Not the character graphics, as although they’re good – they’re nothing special, but the backgrounds. Several layers deep with detailed parallax. 3D objects in the distance (like a big abbey thing which you see ‘around’ …
I found an archaeologist, and led him through the pyramid I could get further through than the other one (if you see what I mean). I then found a secret room, and in it, some panels on the floor – one for each attack type. I walked over them all, and the Striking one disappeared and boosted my stats, but I don’t know what to do with the other two. I then left, and bumped up my cooking skills to …
Hmm. I seem to be a bit stuck. I’ve explored a load of Aegis, found two pyramids (one of which I can’t do anything in, and the other appears to finish as a dead end), and talked to lots of people, but I don’t know what to do now. I bought some herbs, filled my bottles with water and tried using my recipe for potions. But it doesn’t work. So I thought I’d use my recipe for Thai curry instead …
I thought the next boss was going to be Mint, and I certainly met her, but no. It turned out to be a big machine (controlled by a lab technician on the top screen) and a load of soldiers (which kept being “beamed in” by another lab technician). Both were overseen by a man in a hat. And it was the most amazing boss fight ever. You have to kill all the soldiers before you can attack the machine, but …
Off I went to Ft. Eagle, where there was some sort of military base and loads of soldiers. And some Metal Gear references, not least with the killing of a snake. And there’s a great bit where you overhear some pilots saying they spent the budget on a new runway and they don’t have any money left for planes, so they practise by running round pretending to be planes! Killed lots of evil sheep, some snakes, some slime things, loads …
Finally managed to drag myself back to this game. I don’t know why it’s been so hard to do so, as it’s a great game, if a little hard. Having said that, the baddie that I thought was a boss due to his difficulty last time I fought him, fell to my club with ease this time. Sadly, the real boss (a huge crystal monster) was waaaay harder. I had to level up my stats (you don’t level up yourself, …