Castlevania HD

So I've been having a lot of fun with the new Castlevania game on xbox live, Harmony of Despair. If you enjoy the classic 2D side scrolling Castlevania gameplay and "Metroidvania" type level design then you'll probably have a blast with this too.

I have heard a lot of negativity from my friends towards the game though, despite them being long time Castlevania fans as well. I've heard things like "you can't play by yourself" or "it's too difficult". "The exploration element is gone" and "the added time limit rushes things". While these issues are somewhat present, they don't really put a damper on the experience.

It's true that things can be a little too difficult at first when you play by yourself. The game was designed with multiplayer in mind (up to 6 people) and the creatures of Dracula's castle don't exactly take it easy on you when you're by yourself. Regardless, it is possible to obtain great equipment and finish this game all by yourself. In my opinion it's not that hard to do.

There is still a bit of exploration your first time through the six stages of the castle, but it doesn't take long to see everything, so I'll give you that the exploration isn't exactly the scope it was in Symphony of the Night. There aren't any break away walls that lead to additional mysterious cooridors of the castle (only food actually) so pretty much what you see on the map is what you're getting out of the levels. I'd like to point out again that this was designed to be a multiplayer experience.

There is a time limit that's always set at 30 minutes. I've played many a game on there and took my sweet time exploring and the time has never run out on me. I think after you experience the game you too will forget that the timer is even there. I'm not really sure why they wanted to include this.

The characters come from different time periods in the Castlevania history. Playable now are Alucard, Soma Cruz, Shanoa, Jonathan Morris and Charlotte (with more supposedly coming later in download content). The story goes that the Grimior of Castlevania (log book if you will) has come to life, bringing with it the terrible creatures of Castlvania's past within it's pages. Fortunately the heroes of the past games were also contained within these pages. Not much of a story, yeah, but there you go.

Experience points and leveling are gone from the game. Instead your character's strengths are dependent upon the equipment you find in boxes and enemy drops. The characters also obtain spells/sub weapons that level up the more you use them. For characters like Jonathan who only carries the Vampire Killer, leveling your sub weapons also increases his strength directly.

Playing online is a lot of fun. It actually reminds me a bit of my Phantasy Star Online days, i.e. blasting through levels to collect as much loot as you can. The annoying thing is that EVERYONE plays as Alucard or Soma. Granted, they are arguably the best characters in the game, but still. Be ready to expect a party full of duplicate Alucard/Soma if you play online. This comes to mind. I like to play as Jonathan Morris myself. I guess because I like the classic whip wielding vampire hunter gameplay and sub weapons.

So in a nut shell, I would only recommend this game if you've had the thought "man, wouldn't running through the castle with a friend". If you're looking for a traditional Symphony of the Night type experience then you might want to skip out on this one, or at least try the demo.