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Castlevania + Fighting Game =...the hell?

As I continue my quest for Halloween goodness this Octoberween, I once again find myself taking on yet another series staple to any Halloween gaming list: Castlevania. I’ve tried my best to keep it off my previous lists if only not to be too typical with other lists of Halloween Gaming. But time and time again it happens to find its way on my lists. A previous year it was Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for PSP, another year it was the Virtual Console Release of Rondo of Blood so this year I thought I’d try my best to keep it off my list. Sadly it was not meant to be for I could not resist this title this year. Most people chalk it up to that Castlevania game that “no one asked for” so I too missed out on in myself when it came out new. But after playing it this year I have to admit I regret my decision to pass. So without further delay here is game #07 for Halloween Gaming for 2013: Castlevania Judgment.

For those not in the know Castlevania Judgment is a Nintendo Wii game that instead of being another chapter in the Castlevania saga is in fact a 3D fighting game. I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be playing a legitimate castlevania game that wasn’t an action side scroller, a 3D free roaming level or a “metroidvania” style of game. It was something I’m sure not many were prepared for, especially on the Nintendo Wii. So what’s good about this game? Well for starters IT’S A CASTLEVANIA FIGHTING GAME! How awesome is that? You get to play as the various heroes and villains in the castlevania series! From series staples like Simon Belmont and Alucard to the lesser known characters like Eric Lacarde and Camilla, you get to battle it out in the story mode that also unlocks other characters after you beat the game with your selected character. The game’s story is able to work by having a new, mysterious character called Aeon who has the ability to warp time so that the good and bad guys can meet up in some whibbily, wobbly, timey, whimey, temporal cross-over call the “Time Gap/Rift”. His reason for this is of course unknown until you beat the game with all characters.

The gameplay style to Judgment though is kind of hard to explain. The best description I can go with is that it’s like the Final Fantasy Dissidia fighting game series, where various heroes and villains in the castlevania saga find themselves on their own personal story arch within the game. Though they don’t all exactly mingle or join forces like in Final Fantasy Dissidia. The story mode instead has you following a specific story path that is based by the character you’re playing as. This is all possible thanks to the mysterious, time altering character Aeon who meets up with each of the player characters you choose to send them on their personal quest. So far I know of Simon Belmont’s story where he wants to face off against Trevor Belmont to see who’s the strongest and Alucard’s where he wants to stand up to his father, Dracula. It’s great that you get to use your character’s specific weapon in battle but you also get to use sub weapons like axes, throwing knives, holy water and the cross. Though I didn’t find a “sub-weapon” crash attack, your character does get one super attack at a push of a button.

 

The music and level designs are pure castlevania goodness thru and thru. The music is top notch and is what you’ll expect with renditions of Vampire Killer, Beginning and Bloody Tears along with other classic tunes put into the mix. The levels are detailed and series perfect with the various areas offered for your one-on-one matches. They have breakable objects, arena hazards and even ring-out areas if you’re not careful. You even get to fight on a ghost ship, complete with a kraken trying to knock you off the ship, as well as a scene ripped straight from every level of “that” castlevania game that has you approaching the main castle. The character designs, by famed manga artist Takeshi Obata (who worked on Death Note), might be a hit or miss for some. I myself found them to be an excellent attempt in trying to mix the anime style of the DS titles offered at the time with the harshness appeal that was done in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. For some it might not work but I felt it did the character’s justice by keeping their essence as characters, though it might take a little getting used to in seeing both Alucard’s and young Eric’s look.

Though the story mode is the primary mode to play this game, along with arcade, versus, survival, training, tutorials and online battle, I personally got into the “Castle” mode, where it plays like the Quest Mode found in the Dreamcast version of Soul Caliber. Though not as robust you get to play as your selected character and venture into Dracula’s castle, room by room, collecting treasure and battling enemies along the way. You get save rooms but they are spread thin, making random encounters possible with lesser enemies familiar with the series like zombies, mermen and even a centaur sub-boss. Some rooms have enemies with simple victory rules as “beat the character” to oddball rules like break “x” number of items in the room, to performing specific attacks. It’s barebones but it’s enough to keep you adventuring as if you were playing a classic castlevania, side-scrolling title. You can even accessorize your character with equipment you find along the way as well as unlock other extras during gameplay in the gallery mode.

It’s also cool that if you connect your DS title of Order of Ecclesia to your Wii with this game you can unlock Shanoa and Aeon as playable characters, though Aeon is left untouched in the story mode, as well as special unlocks in Order of Ecclesia itself.

 

So if this game is as great as a castlevania title, why is it only at number 7? Well for one though they did their best with the fighting game engine, it still has some problems. I’m sure Konami never intended for this game to be a serious contender to stand toe to toe with other fighting games like Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter and the rest, but it could’ve used a little more work. Though the fighting controls are not that overly complex, with pushing two separate buttons to perform finishers, break guards and charge attacks, they sometimes get in the way. You don’t know how many times I got frustrated when I tried to perform a quick attack after blocking only for my control inputs to instead perform a block breaker. Also the AI is inconsistent in battles. I could be tearing thru opponents with the greatest of easy, complete with easy opening to use my finisher move, only to hit a brick wall with one character that spams every quick attack they have. In another instance the fights could be very challenging only for the final boss to be as weak as the final boss in Castlevania II. I can see why people would consider this “mediocre” because of that. Also good luck trying to find someone online to fight against, the fight lobbies are as dead as Dracula after the final battle. There are moments when the game can be rather challenging yet that challenge can border on the frustrating from time to time.

Plus it’s a shame that the graphics don’t look as good as the opening intro video.

Despite this I don’t understand why this game catches so much flack for what it is. It’s actually a nice change of pace from the typical castlevania title. If anything it is unique from the norm that we’ve come to expect. So that should mean something when people bemoan how most titles in the series just seem to be rehashes of previous glory. I can see how many fans would be turned off by this game but if you give it half a chance you’ll be surprised in what if offers. It’s cool to see other characters from the series interact with each other more or less (Though Maria’s obsession with breasts can be odd). When I was looking for a Wii game to add to this year’s list I couldn’t pass it up when I found it at a used game store for only $5, complete with case and instructions, thus why I broke my own promise in trying to leave out castlevania this year.

And since the Wii is considered dead with the release of the Wii U, I thought it fitting that this game could fit the mood for any Halloween gaming night. Plus you can play it on your Wii U if you wish, since one control option is the classic controller. It may not be perfect, it may not be that good, but for me it’s good enough to place as number 7 on this year’s list. It still sets the mood for any dark night of Halloween gaming goodness. It has the tone, it has the tunes, it has the setting, and it has very essences of what makes a Halloween game.  It just so happens this time around it’s a fighting game based on the castlevania series, who knew!

My Top 11 Halloween Games for 2013

#11) Resistance Retribution – PSP: $8 used.

#10) The X-Files Video Game – PSOne: $10 used.

#09) Corpse Killer – Sega CD 32X: $14 used.

#08) Doom 64 – Nintendo 64: $14 used.

#07) Castlevania Judgment – Nintendo Wii: $5 used.