I want to start playing Castlevania.

I've never played a Castlevania game in my life and after watching some videos online, I feel like I'm severely missing out. I just need some recommendations on which Catlevania game I should start with.

I was thinking of starting the series with the first DS iteration, Dawn of Sorrow. but I think that's a sequal to one on GBA so I don't know if I'd be confused or not. I was thinking I could scout out the 3 GBA games used at Gamespot, and start with those, but I'm leaving on vacation Monday and I'm not counting on easily finding them.

what Castlevania game did you guys start with and which do you recomend I start with?

EDIT: sorry for the typos

Either Dawn Of Sorrow or Order Of Ecclesia. Both are great titles. Forget Potrait Of Ruin, the partner system is pretty annoying ( for me at least ).

ok it seems most people here started with the DS games...I think I will too..I'll try to find DoS . thanks for the advice everyone!

I started with Portrait of Ruin, I clocked in well over 50 hours if I remember right. After I was done playing that one I went back and played all the other ones I missed out on. Some of the best games I've ever played. I still have to play Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP, that will be one of my next game purchases.

Castlevania is easily one of those titles that sets a standard for the entire video game industry. I highly suggest starting with Circle of the Moon on the GBA, it has an experience that is amazing in comparison to some of the other titles. I was personally disappointed with the OoE ending, it just felt a little weak to me. Definitely try your luck at finding circle of the moon and the other GBA titles, if not, pick up what you can, you won't really be dissapointed with any of them. If you won a Playstation and have a few bucks, check ebay for a copy of Symphony of the Night, it's one of the greatest games ever created.

I also started playing Castlevania with Circle of the Moon and I highly recommend you start with it. The story of Circle of the Moon has been deemed non-canonical by Iga so it makes little difference to the overall Castlevania plot. I must say that Circle of the Moon is easily one of my favorite games of all time. I enjoyed the bosses in Circle of the Moon more than in any other Castlevania game I have played.

If you do plan on getting Dawn of Sorrow, I would recommend you play Aria of Sorrow first. I actually enjoyed Aria of Sorrow more to be honest, but both are excellent games.

Harmony of Dissonance, the other GBA Castlevania, was good but I didn't enjoy it as much as other Castlevania titles. Portrait of Ruin is excellent. Order of Ecclesia is good, but I think it's probably my least favorite of the DS Castlevanias. I felt as though the focus had drifted from exploration to a more linear design. The world map design didn't suit my tastes well and it seemed to only slow the action down for me. It WAS the most challenging Castlevania I have played though.

Sadly, I have not played Symphony of the Night. Boo. I'm planning on purchasing a copy soon.

oh well since it's like that...I'll go to gamestop tomorrow and throw down a couple of bucks on whatever Castlevania GBA games they have...if they have none I'll buy DoS...

I just finished going through all 6 DS & GBA ones, and the most fun ones for me were Aria of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin, but it's hard to go wrong with either one. I'd play another one before you dive into Ecclesia though. That one's frustrating as hell at times.

I've never played a Castlevania game in my life and after watching some videos online, I feel like I'm severely missing out. I just need some recommendations on which Catlevania game I should start with.

I was thinking of starting the series with the first DS iteration, Dawn of Sorrow. but I think that's a sequal to one on GBA so I don't know if I'd be confused or not. I was thinking I could scout out the 3 GBA games used at Gamespot, and start with those, but I'm leaving on vacation Monday and I'm not counting on easily finding them.

what Castlevania game did you guys start with and which do you recomend I start with?

EDIT: sorry for the typos

DRAGONPIECEZ

Personally I started with Castlevania 1 when it comes to the entire series, but as far as the DS goes I went in order. Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin then Order of Eclessia.

There is a GBA Double-Pack that includes Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow. I would severely recommend that for you to start, since I think Circle of Moon is a little bit hard and has heavy controls. Aside, in Aria of Sorrow you can see the beginning of Soma Cruz's story - if you like it you can follow it by playing DS's Dawn of Sorrow later.

We must also remember that all these 'Metroid-esque' Castlevanias (with map exploration and key items) started with Symphony of the Night (PS, Saturn). If you want a little more old-school experience the first Castlevania (NES, Wii VC) would be perfect.

3D Castlevanias aren't that great IMO.

I've never played a Castlevania game in my life and after watching some videos online, I feel like I'm severely missing out. I just need some recommendations on which Catlevania game I should start with.

I was thinking of starting the series with the first DS iteration, Dawn of Sorrow. but I think that's a sequal to one on GBA so I don't know if I'd be confused or not. I was thinking I could scout out the 3 GBA games used at Gamespot, and start with those, but I'm leaving on vacation Monday and I'm not counting on easily finding them.

what Castlevania game did you guys start with and which do you recomend I start with?

EDIT: sorry for the typos

I went to Best Buy and they had NOTHING. then I went to gamestop and got what I could get...they had the classic Castlevania port on the GBA, Circle of the Moon, and Order of Ecclesia...

I picked up CotM and OoE...I was heated up for a while because I regret not buying Castlevania 1 for it would have been nice to start with. also Gamestop pulled the "oh this is the last copy of OoE we have so I have to give you the display case" BS and when I opened the game I ended up with a missing booklet... once I popped in CotM I was immediatly happy. the game is amazing. it's everything I expected and more. the music is sick and the gameplay itself is amazing. at first I was like, "man he's slow, I wish there was a dash option"...and what do you know? I find the dash boots!! I just don't like when you die you have to start from where you last saved...you lose EXP and items and everything. but overall it's great

some questions-

in the top left corner of the screen there is a knife like symbol and next to that I have 60 hearts...what are those?

also what do the L and R buttons do and what is the DSS? does the DSS card I choose correspond with the ability I get with the L button? then what does R do? thanks.

EDIT: just figured out about the knives XP

Really glad to hear you picked up Circle of the Moon, you won't be disappointed at all. That game definitely left a mark in me as a gamer, I want to replay it just talking about it. The DSS system if I remember lets you use cards to gain special abilities. You create combinations using one top card and one bottom card, leaving you with a ton of combinations. Enemies will drop their card (if they have a card, very few do) so make sure to kill a lot of the same enemy and try for their card. I believe R activates whatever ability your card combo created, however you won't know what it does until you use it. For instance, some abilities raise defense based on the % of the map uncovered, you won't know this until the ability is active and you get hit. Some of the abilities are rather hard to figure out, but if you can risk it, try attacking, getting hit, and all sorts of actions to figure out what it does. Once you learn the ability, it'll show up in the DSS menu when that combo is selected. Another great feature of the game is that you can replay it like 4-6 times as different classes. I was so hooked when I first got it back in the day that I played every single class and wasn't bored, that may be a bit much for most players, but if really get into the game and don't feel like jumping to the next, it's a great addition and challenge. Anywho, I'm ranting as I remember many hours of my past, enjoy the game, the music is indeed sick.

Really glad to hear you picked up Circle of the Moon, you won't be disappointed at all. That game definitely left a mark in me as a gamer, I want to replay it just talking about it. The DSS system if I remember lets you use cards to gain special abilities. You create combinations using one top card and one bottom card, leaving you with a ton of combinations. Enemies will drop their card (if they have a card, very few do) so make sure to kill a lot of the same enemy and try for their card. I believe R activates whatever ability your card combo created, however you won't know what it does until you use it. For instance, some abilities raise defense based on the % of the map uncovered, you won't know this until the ability is active and you get hit. Some of the abilities are rather hard to figure out, but if you can risk it, try attacking, getting hit, and all sorts of actions to figure out what it does. Once you learn the ability, it'll show up in the DSS menu when that combo is selected. Another great feature of the game is that you can replay it like 4-6 times as different classes. I was so hooked when I first got it back in the day that I played every single class and wasn't bored, that may be a bit much for most players, but if really get into the game and don't feel like jumping to the next, it's a great addition and challenge. Anywho, I'm ranting as I remember many hours of my past, enjoy the game, the music is indeed sick.

Matt-Porter

aaah I see! thanks for the help! but one thing is worrying me. I hope I don't get bored with the game with it's repetitiveness... I beat Cerberus and Necromancer and I just got the ability to destroy blocks...the game is a blast so far...but will this ability lead me to different parts of the Castle with different enemies? because I may get bored if the rest of the game is just backtracking through places I've been at already.

[QUOTE="Matt-Porter"]

Really glad to hear you picked up Circle of the Moon, you won't be disappointed at all. That game definitely left a mark in me as a gamer, I want to replay it just talking about it. The DSS system if I remember lets you use cards to gain special abilities. You create combinations using one top card and one bottom card, leaving you with a ton of combinations. Enemies will drop their card (if they have a card, very few do) so make sure to kill a lot of the same enemy and try for their card. I believe R activates whatever ability your card combo created, however you won't know what it does until you use it. For instance, some abilities raise defense based on the % of the map uncovered, you won't know this until the ability is active and you get hit. Some of the abilities are rather hard to figure out, but if you can risk it, try attacking, getting hit, and all sorts of actions to figure out what it does. Once you learn the ability, it'll show up in the DSS menu when that combo is selected. Another great feature of the game is that you can replay it like 4-6 times as different classes. I was so hooked when I first got it back in the day that I played every single class and wasn't bored, that may be a bit much for most players, but if really get into the game and don't feel like jumping to the next, it's a great addition and challenge. Anywho, I'm ranting as I remember many hours of my past, enjoy the game, the music is indeed sick.

DRAGONPIECEZ

aaah I see! thanks for the help! but one thing is worrying me. I hope I don't get bored with the game with it's repetitiveness... I beat Cerberus and Necromancer and I just got the ability to destroy blocks...the game is a blast so far...but will this ability lead me to different parts of the Castle with different enemies? because I may get bored if the rest of the game is just backtracking through places I've been at already.

The new abilities will definitely lead you to new areas, but all of the DS and GBA castlevania games follow the gameplay that symphony of the night started which itself was derived from the metroid series and its style of gameplay so there will be plenty of backtracking although its not as bad since there are usually areas that let you teleport to different parts of the castle so you don't have to walk around aimlessly. But if you want a straight forward action platforming casltevania you might wanna try some of the older games in the series. All the DS and GBA castlevania games are great though so you'll have fun with them regardless.

[QUOTE="DRAGONPIECEZ"]

[QUOTE="Matt-Porter"]

Really glad to hear you picked up Circle of the Moon, you won't be disappointed at all. That game definitely left a mark in me as a gamer, I want to replay it just talking about it. The DSS system if I remember lets you use cards to gain special abilities. You create combinations using one top card and one bottom card, leaving you with a ton of combinations. Enemies will drop their card (if they have a card, very few do) so make sure to kill a lot of the same enemy and try for their card. I believe R activates whatever ability your card combo created, however you won't know what it does until you use it. For instance, some abilities raise defense based on the % of the map uncovered, you won't know this until the ability is active and you get hit. Some of the abilities are rather hard to figure out, but if you can risk it, try attacking, getting hit, and all sorts of actions to figure out what it does. Once you learn the ability, it'll show up in the DSS menu when that combo is selected. Another great feature of the game is that you can replay it like 4-6 times as different classes. I was so hooked when I first got it back in the day that I played every single class and wasn't bored, that may be a bit much for most players, but if really get into the game and don't feel like jumping to the next, it's a great addition and challenge. Anywho, I'm ranting as I remember many hours of my past, enjoy the game, the music is indeed sick.

Gohansephiroth

aaah I see! thanks for the help! but one thing is worrying me. I hope I don't get bored with the game with it's repetitiveness... I beat Cerberus and Necromancer and I just got the ability to destroy blocks...the game is a blast so far...but will this ability lead me to different parts of the Castle with different enemies? because I may get bored if the rest of the game is just backtracking through places I've been at already.

The new abilities will definitely lead you to new areas, but all of the DS and GBA castlevania games follow the gameplay that symphony of the night started which itself was derived from the metroid series and its style of gameplay so there will be plenty of backtracking although its not as bad since there are usually areas that let you teleport to different parts of the castle so you don't have to walk around aimlessly. But if you want a straight forward action platforming casltevania you might wanna try some of the older games in the series. All the DS and GBA castlevania games are great though so you'll have fun with them regardless.

yeah I see what you're saying...this game really reminds me of Zero Mission and Super Metroid, and that's certaintly a great thing...I can tell why it's given the nickname "Metroidvania".

BTW your sig is awesome

BTW your sig is awesome

DRAGONPIECEZ

thanks

I'm glad you were able to get Circle of the Moon. I also have many fond memories of that game, and it just might be my favorite Castlevania... (It was the first GBA game I ever played as I recall.)

I see your questions all seem to have been answered already. If you ever have any other questions about the game or the series as a whole let us know. Castlevania is easily one of my favorite franchises.

Have a blast with Circle of the Moon.

I'm glad you were able to get Circle of the Moon. I also have many fond memories of that game, and it just might be my favorite Castlevania... (It was the first GBA game I ever played as I recall.)

I see your questions all seem to have been answered already. If you ever have any other questions about the game or the series as a whole let us know. Castlevania is easily one of my favorite franchises.

Have a blast with Circle of the Moon.

enigmaticme704

thanks I appreciate it... I'm actually stuck as of now and have no clue where to go...I suck at this game :P

Feel free to private message me if you have any questions. I'm glad you like the game.

[QUOTE="enigmaticme704"]

I'm glad you were able to get Circle of the Moon. I also have many fond memories of that game, and it just might be my favorite Castlevania... (It was the first GBA game I ever played as I recall.)

I see your questions all seem to have been answered already. If you ever have any other questions about the game or the series as a whole let us know. Castlevania is easily one of my favorite franchises.

Have a blast with Circle of the Moon.

DRAGONPIECEZ

thanks I appreciate it... I'm actually stuck as of now and have no clue where to go...I suck at this game :P