The Gamer's Quarter

[antitype]

So I've been playing a lot of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, aka Castlevania: Hakuya no Kyōsōkyoku (or "White Night Concerto"/"Concerto of the Midnight Sun"), which may or may not be a better title than Harmony of Dissonance, albeit equally oxymoronic. It's only fitting, however, because HoD is a pretty oxymoronic videogame, for better and, I guess, for worse.

[Shapermc]

HoD is definatly IGA's best game. It is also my current favorite Castlevania, just eeking out Rondo by millimeters. A while back we had a stupid list thread for top ten games which I put HoD on there which led into this split topic where I attempt to defend HoD. Also, this is kind of messed up, but on Tuesday I just started up a new game again. I think it is my 6th time through the game with Juste. I was attmepting to speed run it, but ... I left it on a counter top (not paused) for an unknown amount of time. When I set it down it was shortly over 1 hour and when I saved next I noticed it was well over 2.5 hours. So much for that.

Anyways, that LJ community kicks ass. I am going to join, is there rules for posting?
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[SuperWes]

I'm really not a fan of White Night Concerto, but I'm 100% sure that this is because I happen to have stumbled into the game the wrong way... twice.

I originally played the game in Japanese at its release. I got pretty far, but at some point I ended up at a spot where I couldn't figure out where to go next to progress. I would go around the castle in a circle, checking out every edge until I came across something, but nothing ever appeared and eventually my level got so high that I could kill most things without any challenge. I eventually just gave up on it.

I bought the game again when I found a used copy at Gamestop ($25 for a used game, ouch!). I started from the beginning and started making my way through the game. Eventually - either at an earlier point in the game or the exact same place - I got completely stuck again. This time I didn't allow myself to level up to abnormally high levels and instead I just put the game down and never touched it again.

Harmony of Dissonance is one of my least favorite Castlevania games and it all has to do with bottlenecks in the design that apparently only I am capable of stumbling upon.

-Wes
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[dark steve]

Harmony of Dissonance gets mad props for having a holographic universe.

[Shapermc]

[antitype]

[dessgeega]

[dessgeega]

(incidentally, i joined the community too.)
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[seryogin]

I primarily enjoy Harmony of Dissonance for the compositional thoroughness of its soundtrack. I especially enjoy the theme that plays when you first enter the castle.

I do not however much like the game. After I figured out that there were TWO castles, I stopped caring. But then again, I haven't finished a Castlevania game since Symphony of the Night. And that, oddly enough, is the only Castlevania game I've ever finished (even if Dracula's Curse is actually my favorite of the series; never could quite master Dracula's final form).
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[Shapermc]

[dessgeega]

[Shapermc]

You're so bitter Dess. Put on a happy face.

Actually I think it is an attempt to make the dual castle of SotN make sense. An attempt to rectify the sins of the past. If all else fails look to the subtitle of the game.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[Mister Toups]

[seryogin]

[Mr. Mechanical]

Harmony of Dissonance just requires too much of me. I got to a point where I got stuck and eventually learned through a FAQ that I had to find two items to unlock a door somewhere.

This was after I spent hours traversing both castles looking for the one door I missed.

That was a long long time ago too, so if I were go back to it I'd have to start up a new game and pay close attention to everything as I went along. I don't really want to do that just yet.

Yeah, a single castle would have been much better than the multi-castle shit they pull on you in that game. It seems like they only made it that way as a response to the people who played Symphony of the Night and glitched about so they could get a higher percentage.

I mean, I played SotN all the way through because an inverted castle was more interesting than just a pallete swap with new enemies. The terrain you had to traverse was physically different and all that. And that second castle was like one huge secret. You could beat the first half of the game and not ever know the second half was there, which for reason rubs me the right way. Not quite so with Harmony.

I just realized I often like the artwork for Castlevania games more than the games themselves, save for the NES games. Dracula's Curse is my favorite of the series as well, even though I never made it past the haunted pirate ship or the swamp areas.

[Shapermc]

[antitype]

[seryogin]

[Mr. Mechanical]

Okay so pallete swap was a poor choice of words. My bad guys. Officially.

I'm just not as patient with these videogame things as I used to be. I was younger when I played Symphony of the Night, and less jaded.

[Shapermc]

It strikes me as so strange that time comes into this. I mean... they are not that long, but you will play RPGs.

So, have you guys played Casltevania: Bloodlines?
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[antitype]

[Shapermc]

[seryogin]

[Mr. Mechanical]