Castlevania The Metroidvanias - Game Sack

Episode 259 - Another focused look at the Castlevania series, this time the 2D ones that fall into the "Metroidvania" style of gameplay. Which is the best and which is the worst?
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[@NiGHTSnoob]

Man the GBA and DS were such a golden time for Metroidvania games. The 6 Castlevanias, Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission, Mega Man ZX and Advent, there was just always something new to play.

[@michaelswitzer2121]

I always love the sound effects added to the game carts and consoles I don't know why it's satisfying

[@sachinvenugopal6926]

Me too 😀

[@uzmaqasim2302]

My uncle got me a Gameboy advance in 2011,when I wanted a psp. While the world was playing psp games,I was playing The aria of sorrow. It was the best thing that happened. The music of that game still makes me nostalgic. And it is through this Gameboy advance I realised the joy of playing these old games that came before me

[@GT6SuzukaTimeTrials]

Harmony of Dissonance was my jam in high school. Replaying it tonight after all these years!

[@ohlord3650]

Beautiful game but that music and color scheme was a fever dream nightmare lol.

[@Toschez]

@@ohlord3650People say that, but it honestly looks great in the intended hardware. If you are on an emulator, you may need to colour-correct it.

[@lawsonlee528]

I try to play through symphony of the night every halloween, it is still to this day my absolute favorite game!

[@Next-xm2dh]

Play the Others Too you Know....

[@Next-xm2dh]

@Eissari4 Ecclesia, HOD, Circle of the Moon and Aria Doesn't have that

[@jrvbamafan1]

I actually do this every year myself. I finished my playthrough about halfway through Oct this year, but I absolutely love SOTN.

[@twistedtick]

Order of Ecclesia is actually my favorite post Symphony Metroidvania.

[@retrocute]

I also thought OoE should rank higher; HoD is my least fave

[@artemesia_witchprincess7414]

Better than COTM, and Harmony without a doubt. Portrait is way too easy. Haven't replayed Aria, and could never beat Dawn because my L button broke lol, so I wont weigh in on those two.

[@madspunky]

Indeed, Ecclesia is the one I keep coming back to. It might have bland level design, but it has the most interesting weapons and enemies.

[@sjake8308]

Agree: I thought OoE was outstanding (and I still go back to it occasionally). I think the weakest ones are CotM and HoD (though they're still pretty good).

[@NickEnlowe]

It's my favorite by far, has even surpassed Symphony of the Night for me and I'm not sure if I like it better than Bloodstained or not, but they're close. The review makes it look like Joe didn't get very far in the game. He doesn't seem to have a clue that you still get to tackle Drac's castle, for instance, which has very interesting and innovate level design for the series.

[@magetsalive5162]

33:32 I thought the glyph menu worked that way because you had a “last 3 used” memory function for each hand… so, y’know, if there was a trio of glyphs you liked using for each hand, you could quickly swap between them rather than hunting for them in the entire list. I kinda thought it was a nice function, but I guess I can see where it might be confusing.

[@zhaoyun255]

It's just something about Rondo of Blood + Symphony of the Night that made me keep coming back to it.

[@specknacken6507]

"Thank you Konami" This sounds so weird and wrong nowadays...

[@Madman-bi5bf]

I mean some time ago Capcom was a pretty shitty company before but they got better hopefully the same can be said and done for Konami in the future

[@specknacken6507]

​@@Madman-bi5bf Capcom was never so low to release games like MGS Survive and Contra Rogue Corps and nothing else besides bare minimum ports and collections of games from their glory days. Even when they were at their lowest they at least tried. RE5 and 6 for all their faults are still competently made games with high production values and care put into them and i despise RE6 but that's not the point. And we still got stuff like Revelations 1 and 2 along with glorious remasters of RE0 or Okami way before the Ultra "RE7-MM11-MHW-REmake2-DMCV Comeback Combo". I give Konami 3 more years (and that's generous) to release a game with some form of budget and vision or a collection where they'd have to actually put in some effort like a CV DS Trilogy Collection where they'd be forced to change things like touch controls for modern consoles which requires competence and care. If all they're gonna do is to rely on their old and easy to port (but not optimize appearently) games from the past and low budget, almost cynical, products straight out of their asses they can rot in their MGS3 and SH2 "erotic action" pachinko hole for all i care.

[@Wolfdragon92584]

Konami were my favorite 3rd party publisher back in the day. Here's hoping they get their game together. If not, independent developers will pick up the slack. EA gave up on Dead Space. Now Negative Atmosphere will pick up the slack. Independent game developers are listening more than the large ones are.

[@BoozeAholic]

@@specknacken6507 You make it sound as though Konami cares. You do realize that they're actually one of the richest gaming companies from Japan right? It's similar to how everyone assumes Sega is going bankrupt when they're still the 2nd richest game company in Japan, after Nintendo.

[@BoozeAholic]

@@specknacken6507 I ain't defending Konami, just saying that Capcom had to win back gamers, coz Capcom was on the verge of bankruptcy. Konami doesn't care, coz they don't need us. It's a shame & I wish someone would buy off their Ips, but it's the same case for Sega. I wish someone would buy off Sega's ips too. In both cases, Konami & Sega re too expensive to buy out. Nintendo or Sony are the only game devs in Japan who have the cash flow to buy them out.

[@RafaelWingnux]

Order of Ecclesia is AMAZING!

[@JazGalaxy]

Yeah, that was a plot twist. I’m shocked Joe didn’t like it. Maybe he would like it more if he knew it was pronounced Ekk-Lah-see-uh.

[@kubev]

@@JazGalaxy Honestly, a long time ago, I would've considered OoE to be my third favorite Castlevania game in this style, but revisiting it in the past year really changed my opinion on it. I found most of the enemy drops to be really uninteresting, with most of them being crafting items instead of interesting items. As much as I hate farming for items in games like this, I have to say that it's at least a nice surprise on occasion in these games. Over the past year, I've been playing a lot of SotN with the SotN Randomizer, and the enemy drops with the Randomizer have gotten me to play SotN so much differently. I don't think OoE encourages the same level of variety in how you play it.

[@Wolfdragon92584]

It's Dark Souls hard, but rewarding in its own way.

[@JazGalaxy]

Wolfdragon92584 really? It’s been a very long time since I played it but I don’t recall having that reaction at all. O remember having to fight the end boss a few times and that collapsing tower a few times just because I didn’t understand what I was supposed to do. But other than that I didn’t have any problem with it and really enjoyed it. I only think I died at those spots.

[@Wolfdragon92584]

@@JazGalaxy Well, for a Castlevania game it was very tough. Granted, most Castlevania games since the 90s were rather on the easy side- with some exceptions. It was definitely the toughest Castlevania since Circle of the Moon.

[@kylethestyle]

I remember when Circle of the Moon came out. Everyone complained the game was "too dark," and some went as far as to say it was "unplayable." This may be why Harmony of Dissonance is so bright.

[@AlexRN]

kylethestyle it totally is. Also CotM being “too dark” was a blessing in disguise since it’s graphical style when blown up on a backlit screen (be it a GBA SP, a DS, or an HDTV) looks so much better than the super bright HoD and AoS games that came after.

[@TXFDA]

That is EXACTLY what it was. The major complaint about Circle of the Moon is that it was too dark. It actually wasn't too dark, it was the un-lit GBA screen that made it that way. A lot of early GBA games made their games extra bright to compensate for the lack of lit up screen. A lot of the SNES ports did that (Donkey Kong Country and some of the Mario ports are good examples). I imagine the group making Circle of the Moon hadn't thought about the darker screen yet (I mean, it was a super early game. Googling tells me it was released the same month as the GBA itself. March 2001.) By the time Harmony was released, it was already pretty common practice to make games brighter on the GBA to try and make it visible on the dark screen. Honestly, I hate that they had to make games brighter to make them playable. To the point where I'd rather use my GBA flash cart to play rom hacks of a lot of the games that darken the colors. I didn't find any such hacks for Harmony, but someone DID make a hack to remove the weird glowing border around stuff, so that's something.

[@XeviousvSBlackmanta]

Also, just to add: If you get all the boss orbs in Julius mode and finish that map Julius will "unlock" the full power of the Vampire Killer making it stronger.

[@AllieRX]

I was kinda disappointed that the Castlevania Anniversary Collection didn't include any of these games. But considering the $20 price, it's understandable. I hope Konami does a second Castlevania Collection, but with all the Metroidvania installments and Rondo Of Blood.

[@anthonya.jumelles7103]

Konami would have to put in work to get the DS games working in single screen or not be willing to sell Symphony of Night for more than 10 bucks, both things that aren't up their alley.

[@AllieRX]

@@anthonya.jumelles7103 If Capcom can get the Mega Man ZX games to work on modern consoles with their upcoming Zero/ZX Collection, then Konami should do the same with their Castlevania titles.

[@bhirawamaylana466]

@@anthonya.jumelles7103 more like they never heard of their consumer, I mean look at new Contra, I don't know if that can be consider as Contra game when it's just generic top down shooter there even no run and avoid mechanic just shoot at endless enemy unlike other 3D contra game and the character is boring to look.

[@moviemetalhead]

It's called Castlevania Requiem. It has Rondo and SoTN.

[@jbarrera6638]

That'll never happen

[@chico20m]

The moment when Alucard enters in the darker lobby and the music begins to play just when lights get brighter. I never felt so damn heroic as that moment.

[@xRocketzFighterx]

Wait Joe actually loves someone that isn't, Yuzo Koshiro? :O

[@zanegandini5350]

Do you blame him? Michiru is a total babe

[@Dorelaxen]

Symphony of the Night will always be my favorite. So, so damn good.

[@PurpleSanz]

9:39 First time I notice how extremely well Joe's last name "Redifer" fits into the Castlevania universe. It could totally be the name for a new character, like "Redifer Belmont" and it would sound great.

[@Whatever4690]

I had SOTN, it was so good the guy i lent it too never gave it back.

[@skree_fpv436]

Ha-ha! Same thing happened to me!

[@dromano1977]

I have had to buy the game on four separate occasions for that same reason

[@cult_of_odin]

@@dromano1977 it took one time and I've never "loaned" another game to anyone.

[@GeorgiaRidgerunner]

i never loaned my games movies or cds out... games were to expensive to loan cd and dvds were to risky because of scratches

[@kevinlawrence4812]

@@GeorgiaRidgerunner that's just stinginess.

[@CaptainRufus]

I found Ecclesia the best of the Igavanias. To each their own.

[@madspunky]

Same here!

[@hermanodelalmasinpar828]

Me and my brother think the same.

[@yani4349]

Same..

[@moroseloki1912]

I love it as well The Glyphs the remixed soundtrack and that Art.

[@NecromancerAdr]

And you, my dude, are correct.

[@AlanJones1984]

Thanks for keeping going with the show, Joe. Been a fan for almost 6 years now and still love the content.

[@Demonskunk]

In Order of Ecclesia, the reason some things are shown twice with different colors is because you have one equipped. You can equip the same glyph multiple times, so it needs to be shown twice. I found Order of Ecclesia's difficulty refreshing after so many super easy Castlevania games. I feel that you're intended to rely on your skill a lot more, instead of being super powerful.

[@TXFDA]

Honestly, I feel like a good metroidvania style Castlevania game would let you rely on either skill OR power. Like, you can make your way through the game by being good at it. Or you could simply grind to get stronger, making the game easier for you. I always prefer when I have the option to make a game easier for myself by actually putting in the work to MAKE it easier for myself.

[@largolagrande]

By the way: there is also a patch on romhacking to remove the glowing outline in the GBA version.

[@phlaelym]

Something I never see in these videos about Symphony of the Night is the secondary attack for many weapons being mentioned. This wasn't even mentioned in the official strategy guide. For instance, if you perform the haduken input (down, down-forward, forward, then press the attack button) with the Wereblade it doesn't swing once - Alucard swings the blade about 6 -7 times very, very quickly. This is strong enough to kill many bosses with only a few hits. The Falchion can be thrown like a boomerang, also using the haduken input. Some of the weapons used a back-forward input instead of the haduken input. If you ever play this game again, try this with the weapons.

[@kekeke8988]

Never knew!

[@lirpa5]

One of my favorite eras of handheld gaming during the 2000's. The excellent GBA an DS Castlevania games that were constantly pumped out by Classic Konami will always have a place in my heart. It's one of the many reasons the 3DS era feels so lacking to me.

[@Invidente7]

One of my favorite castlevanias is portrait of ruin. I loved the dual characthers and the different stages a.k.a "portraits" were a breath of fresh air. And also it was great to know more about the story of castlevania: bloodlines. ... When it comes to classic 2D castlevanias, my favorite is Super Castlevania which I was able to finish back in the day thought a lot of effort.

[@jaredbellow]

I felt like I would have enjoyed it more without the constant "Jonathan! Charlotte!"

[@jangel8446]

I'd choose Bloodlines for favorite Classic-vania, it's gameplay feels like retro done perfectly. IV wins in presentation though

[@eligozdiff5038]

That’s literally my opinion on both metroidvania and 2d side, good thing I’m not alone

[@Crazy_Gamer_OG]

In case anyone is wondering, you can buy all these games on the Wii U Virtual Console for around $9.99 each. Yes, _that_ Wii U.

[@bhirawamaylana466]

Quick before Nintendo shut down or remove them like Duck Tales remastered from their eShop !!!!

[@hepwo91222]

@أفضل ألعاب مع جستر yes, but Wii U actually has two screens like the DS games do, so its more authentic

[@jbfarley]

@@hepwo91222 so do emulators

[@hepwo91222]

@@jbfarley emulators give mixed results depending on the game, the ROM, the emulator used, and the hardware readily available. Most of these games can be emulated without a hitch, but the DS games, nah, its a bit of an issue with a second touch screen and not as convenient.

[@theodorerelic2718]

@@bhirawamaylana466 That wasn't Nintendo's decision, that was Capcom's.

[@Aragorn7884]

When Konami cared about quality video games...😩😳😞😒

[@B33FY2011]

Now it's cash in after cash in. Oh, you need that extra save slot? Yeah that will be $10.

[@kur1su74]

@@B33FY2011 Yeah that's totally not how it actually worked in MG: Survive but whatevs.

[@raptecclawtooth9046]

Next then the 3D Castlevanias? -Castlevania 64 -Castlevania 64 Legacy of Darkness (is not bad as everyone thinks, just the camera sucks) -Lament of innocence (very good one) -Curse of Darkness (another very nice) -Lord of Shadows (is not a bad game, but i don't consider this a Castlevania, still have to put in this list) -Lord of Shadows 2 -Reincarnation (that reject form Dreamcast)

[@MrX-rk9or]

Lament of Innocence? One might just wonder if the title was pointed at the unknowing gamer starting up the game. Barely any music, mapdesign is bland at best and nothing else interesting ever happens. Curse of Darkness is almost as bad, only real difference being it has some good music. The N64 ones got a fair review at AVGN and those last gen CVs leans more to being some DMC siblings.

[@gianlucasighinolfi7095]

@@MrX-rk9or Reincarnation never came out...

[@Madman-bi5bf]

was lord of shadows 2 any good?

[@bhirawamaylana466]

What the, Order of Ecclesia is one of the best Castlevania game it's have unique mechanic and feature woman as Main Character which only few in Castlevania universe, heck Order of Ecclesia is the best for me which follow by Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow coz you can play as Dracula.

[@slopesgameroom]

Ooooooo yes, my fav genre... looking forward to this

[@slopesgameroom]

@Most Deadest Pool of em All. hahaha I get this almost daily

[@LOCKEYJ]

Slopey slopey slopey slopey boy-ee

[@shabmaster7128]

There's a slope on this bridge

[@zaakaryvoid991]

Love this entire series, mainly because the titles of the games all sound like gothic metal bands or albums. Aria of Sorrow. Symphony of the Night. Harmony of Dissonance. Circle of the Moon, etc.

[@danlord7717]

They sound like Blind Guardian album titles

[@AmberShort]

Castlevania Symphony of the Night is one of my favorites too and still own on my PSX. I like it quite a bit that I even rushed Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles just to unlock it on my PSP,

[@T4silly]

Yes! Time to pause Dragon Quest for my other favorite series ever!

[@lapisphilosophorum2313]

This episode has been one of my favorites by far. You're doing a great job Joe. I've been addicted to Game Sack for years.

[@will_stevens]

I actually really liked Order of Ecclesia. It felt like a breath of fresh air in my opinion

[@charleybarley7148]

My second favorite game on the DS (behind Dawn of Sorrow).

[@MiguelPaulettePerez-bj8ml]

Every time I hear music from Symphony of the Night, I get the shivers

[@neutral6944]

Castlevania: SOTN is my favorite castlevania game, the best.

[@kellinwinslow1988]

It's good for sure but I have to agree with James Rolf,my favorite is Castlevania 4. Treasure before they left Konami.

[@one7decimal2eight]

It is by far my favorite, but there are certain parts that suck especially the weapons you fine. Superbunnyhop points them out. Check out his review for sotn

[@CosmicCosmo1]

Wrong. Castlevania 3 is the best

[@XeviousD]

@Neutral 69 Alternative title: Demon Castle Dracula X: Nocturne In The Moonlight

[@ZinhoMegaman]

As traditional Castlevania my favorite is Rondo of Blood, then after it is Symphony of the Night.

[@loudsnore]

Joe, you should try the Dawn of Sorrow randomizer they did away with the seal drawings.

[@Moonwalker86]

As a huge fan of Castlevania games I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this masterful work. This video is a national treasure.

[@Syntheticham]

Joe, the side shots of the monitor when changing scenes is some A+ work. I love your videos. Give Dave my love

[@ivanb4681]

Order of Ecclesia is incredible. I say good day to you sir!

[@artemesia_witchprincess7414]

Agreed. They were actually moving fwd and improving the play system, even if there were some uninventive stages, and other signs of creative burnout.

[@hiroyui9699]

Loved order of Eclesia. Didn't like it at first but towards the end really grew on my.

[@byzero8608]

top 10 metroidvanias #1 - Symphony of the Night #2 - Orchestra of Unhappiness #3 - Encore of Depression #4 - Interlude of Annoyance #5 - Ditty of Creepiness #6 - Rock Opera of Genocide #7 - Mix Tape of Disorder #8 - Drum Solo of Ennui #9 - A Cappella of Bad #10 - Bonus Track of Boredom

[@Jesse__H]

I laughed at Mixtape of Disorder😁

[@colefitzpatrick8431]

You totally missed Performance of Peril, Concert of Callousness, Music of Mid, Aria of Sorrow, Jam session of Juvenility, Melody of Melancholy, and Harmony of Dissonance!

[@SIMIFU]

Funny enough about Harmony of dissonance is that I think the bad music is intentional given the title of the game. Also once you beat it and reach the credits, the music becomes amazing for only one song lol

[@peterdwyer6118]

I only finished CV SOTN this year. I know I'm late but still amazing.

[@Keezawea]

better late than never, man!!

[@PurpleSanz]

Did you get the good ending?

[@peterdwyer6118]

@@PurpleSanz I killed shaft if thsts what you mean.

[@antoninocamillo1223]

Oh no, Casltevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate is missing!

[@valletas]

Why do youtuber allways do that to new games?

[@valletas]

@rockman fan still we would want a review

[@valletas]

@rockman fan i have played it in the mean time 1 its does not suck its not a good game either but it is far from a bad one 2 it has everything a metroid vania has if this is not a metroid vania then super metroid and castlevania sotn isnt either

[@kekeke8988]

@rockman fan It is. Play it and see.

[@rudolph2937]

I dont understand your complaints about the maps. They are all the same, except the colors

[@marcsm2008]

In the old style, the outline of the map uses only one color (usually white) and all the passages are just parts of this outline missing. The new style has the outlines in multiple colors. In Aria, for example, the outline is white, but he passages are light blue. Some people have trouble seeing the passages on the DS screen. Trying to find passages that we didn't went through yet is a bit harder, specially for people with poor eyesight.

[@felman87]

Michiru Yamane was certainly busy in 2002-2003. She composed music for the 2 GBA castlevania games along with the PS2 Castlevania entry, Lament of Innocence.

[@Malisa1990]

1. Order of Ecclesia - In my opinion it is the best one because it is the culmination of everything good from the previous games wrapped into one. 2. Symphony of the Night - It practically invented a new genre of games and completely revamped the series that many people including myself love more than the original. 3. Castlevania: The Lecarde Chronicles 2 - This one is a...bit odd.This is actually a fan made game and Konami supported the fan project by "gaving them bless" and thus allowing the game's public release. And the game is excellent and on par with other games so much so that it doesn't even feel like a fan game. It is even the hardest one and that is a big plus in my eyes. 4. Aria of Sorrow - Hands down of the best GBA games on the system, great animations,improved gameplay,improved soundtrack it just blasts the other GBA Castlevanias out of the water. 5. Circle of the Moon - I really really love this game probably because there is no easy way to obtain equipment or healing items and late game monsters are like minibosses that do tons of dmg to you. Probably the hardest one of the official releases. 6. Portrait of Ruin - It was meh,pretty forgettable and to gimmicky,it had some great ideas and some locations were really cool but overall Ecclesia took all of the positive things from this game and discarded the bad ones. 7. Dawn of Sorrow - This would be probably NO.1 or 2 if it weren't for the horrible touchscreen gimmick. I hated bosses and usually delayed battling them and just grinded for souls because I didn't want to deal with the stupid seal gimmick. 8. Harmony of Dissonance - I love every game from the series and even tho this one is on the last spot I still think it is a great game. But it is too easy,to bare bones and there are some gimmicks that I really disliked,like the annoying Rare Ghost that prevents you from completing the bestiary or item collection to 100% or the fact that you can just buy 99 heal potions and jut breeze through a game not even using the OP tomes.

[@kg21bestpf94]

Call me crazy but i actually like the music in Harmony of dissonance

[@Christian-rn1ur]

-DarkCloud- 5407 I didn't hate it either. I also kinda dig the glowy outlines on your character.

[@pichonPoP]

i like the three ones were the games that i played a lot of back in 2002-2005

[@yani4349]

Same. My only real gripe about it is that there really should’ve been more save rooms, but even then it was still ok.

[@kg21bestpf94]

@一本のうんち Yeah it was some great music and a great game as well...Aria was better but Harmony should NOT be missed.

[@sherrdreamz7232]

Portrait Of Ruin was my first and favorite, followed by Order Of Ecclesia due to having the most challenging gameplay. I'm so glad Koji Igarashi made Bloodstained which is a superb climax to the whole metroidvania system in modern times.

[@midasmagnezone4282]

8:01 It's not weaker than the regular whip, just check your attack stat when the card is activated--it's higher. Of course the damage done will depend on each enemy's weakness and tolerances.

[@kekeke8988]

Joe apparently doesn't understand the concept of elemental attributes. You'd think after all those RPGs he would have gotten it down. I guess he just grinded his way through all those games without understanding anything.

[@mariowario5945]

God, these castlevania games are beautiful 😢

[@TNB12]

I'd rank them like this: 1-I really ended up loving Portrait of Ruin. I thought the soundtrack was just as good as SotN, the two characters specializing in different things was extremely fun to experiment with, finding all the spells for Charlotte or the subweapons for Jonathan and completing all the quests was very worthwhile as they rewarded you with some really OP gear, like the time stop spell. The different portraits were incredibly varied and fun to explore, with a ton of new enemies, new music for each one, secret rooms and memorable bosses, and even the endgame gauntlet dungeon was something I really enjoyed. The only flaw I can think of is that leveling up Jonathan's subweapons took way too long, but it's also entirely optional so you can just ignore them if you want. Charlotte's spells are better anyways. 1-(tied) Symphony of the Night is still up there, however, and I can't really decide between the two. While the inverted castle was a bit of a pain to navigate because of those jumps that you couldn't quite clear without turning into bat, everything else I absolutely adore. Banger soundtrack, insane amounts of gear, even with fun gimmicky attributes, tons of cool powerups, great enemy variety, and just the slick and classy presentation that pretty much defined the rest of the series from then on. This game is what got me hooked to Iga's works, and because of that I discovered about Bloodstained and how the spirit of the Igavanias was still living on. 3-Aria of Sorrow introduced the massively fun soul collecting and that's really a stroke of genius. Turning the main character into Kirby really made everything a lot more interesting. This was the second Igavania I played and it consolidated my appreciation for the genre. The story was a slight step up from every other game in the series, and the movement and controls on handheld Castlevanias were finally perfected with this entry after the rougher style of CotM and HoD. 4-Order of Ecclesia. True, I was a bit disappointed by how linear it was at first, but the game opens up massively once the first half is over and you unlock Dracula's castle. The boss fights and combat overall felt very polished and tactical, making me consider enemy weaknesses and patterns for the first time and forcing me to learn how to avoid taking damage and gitting gud for once. It's a slow burn to the second half, but once I made it through the Classicvania portion, I found it a lot more enjoyable. Not that the first half was THAT bad to begin with. 5-Dawn of Sorrow could've been amazing if it wasn't for those pesky seals ruining the pace of boss fights. The best thing about it is undoubtedly Julius mode, as it's definitely the best alternative campaign in the series. Although I'm with you on the sliding puzzle, and overall I feel the castle's design was a bit weaker in this entry than the others. 6-Harmony of Dissonance is a game that on all accounts I should be harsher on, but there is something about the ground movement and dashing around the entire map that was just inherently fun to me. Having both a forward and a back dash was an interesting choice that really saved the experience, because that soundtrack would've made my ears bleed out otherwise. I just wish the castle had more fast travel points, as it's a massive slog going from one end to the other. 7-I don't hate Circle of the Moon, but I think you can tell it wasn't made by Igarashi. The controls feel weird, like how you can turn around in midair while whipping, completely changing the direction of your attack, instead of the more sensible retreating jump attacks you could do in Symphony and most other games. Nathan felt incredibly heavy and the castle was very lazily designed, with huge rooms filled with enemies and no real interesting landmarks or memorable layouts. The difficulty was also a bit erratic, as the final boss was one heck of an unexpected spike while the rest of the game was fairly easy. At least this one still managed to have a great soundtrack.

[@TheDrQuake]

Why PoR? Most weak level guidance and levels balance, also - good ending , OMG< how stupid the way is...

[@Next-xm2dh]

@@TheDrQuake Because Portrait Is Great

[@TheDrQuake]

@@Next-xm2dh Nope, only for eyes, gameplay is just have no balance and not polished at all to match progress with difficulty.

[@Basyilo]

Actually, Order of Ecclesia is my favourite portable Metroidvania game. You should mention the artwork btw. Great video.

[@sebastianesilva398]

Even after all these years I keep going back to most of these, even the lesser ones. Pure comfort food.

[@LazyScoutJace]

OMG these games were my junior high-late high school childhood. Thanks for bringing back these memories!

[@justincorber7528]

Just my opinion: 1. SOTN; hands down. 2. Aria/Dawn of Sorrow 3. Order of Eclessia 4. Portrait of Ruin 5. Harmony of Dissonance 6. Circle of the Moon

[@songokusolo]

Justin Corber Sorry pal, can't see why people like OoE so much. Uniteresting story, very little innovation when you compare it to PoR, and some very boring stages. This game is overhyped for sure and I am happy that some are starting to renew their persective on it.

[@Next-xm2dh]

@@songokusolo Not as Overhyped as SOTN that Is

[@Christian-rn1ur]

Next SOtN isn't overhyped at all, it's the evolution of the genre that made all of the following games possible. Absolutely deserves the praise it gets.

[@albuttt]

I've played everyone of these and Portrait of Ruin is my favorite overall cause of the dual protagonist and Charlotte. Order of Ecclesia was the burnout point for me too, and while I absolutely adore the return of the gothic style character portraits and Shanoa's design, it actually bugged me to no end that Shanoa's Sprite has brown hair instead of the luscious black. Though I understand black would conflict with most things.

[@Kevin-kw5db]

Very well presented mate. There is a ton to cover and you got through it all with out rushing or fanboy'ing over certain things for 20 minutes.

[@animatedplastic]

Great video. Dracula X:Nocturne in the Moonlight (Symphony of the Night in the US) Blew me away when I played it. The JPN version came with a music CD, which I still listen to today. I had almost all of the Castlevania games except Aria of Sorrow. I never played that one, but from what I see it looks awesome. I played all of them on the Advanced SP which was backlit so I never had an issue. I still think the SP was a very cool version of the Advanced. I think my favorite ones were the versions for the DS. I guess I am in the super minority as I thought the Seal system for Dawn of Sorrow was a pretty clever idea and thought it added some extra challenge element to the game. The ice block thing though I would agree was kind of strange and not very well done. I just think they really wanted to incorporate some element into the game with the new tech that was available on the DS in ways we hadn't seen. I don't really know of any games that actually incorporated that element very successfully or well. I loved the Portrait of Ruin as it wasn't the same old style and the Paintings giving you new environments was a huge plus. I really enjoyed that one as well. The story was different as well. I think the Portrait of Ruin was the best of the 3 DS games, but they were all very good in their own right and each one was kind of different enough from the other to make them all stand out. I think the games in the Advanced and DS were some of the best Castlevania games we ever got. I think I could break them out and still play them today and thoroughly enjoy them. I just wish you could play Advanced games on the 3DS as I still play that system daily as a break at work and waiting for files to load when doing graphic design. I now have a Switch, but I still think the 3DS is the most versitle system they ever made with one of the most insane battery lives I have ever seen on a hand-held system. I have played the Bloodstained version on the Switch and those are awesome, even the 2D 8-bit version. I do prefer Bloodstained 2 though. I hope we continue to get more good Castlevania games in the future.

[@Moonwalker86]

I would pay dearly for these games if they come to the Nintendo SWITCH.

[@wes788411]

Saad サアド سـعد The GBA games are on the Wii U.

[@Moonwalker86]

@@wes788411 Sadly I don't have a Wii U.

[@RadicalRickEntertainment]

SOTN has probably my fave game music of all time. I heard it was released on the Saturn too but only in Japan.

[@stratohealing]

For me it's : 1. Order Of Ecclesia 2. CIrcle of the moon 3. SOTN ( amazing game but way too easy ) 4. Aria Of Sorrow 5. Harmony of dissonance 6. Portrait of Ruin 7. Dawn Of Sorrow I always thought the metroidvania games were too easy for my taste exept for order of ecclesia and circle of the moon. I Have never played Harmony of dissonance in hard mode tough.

[@SeveredLegs]

I love that Joe's hands are trembling while he's plugging the game into the cartridge slot on the GBA.

[@wimwiddershins]

SotN started my collection of all these Metroid style gems. Still awesome!

[@Moonwalker86]

This video is a Masterpiece and I always come back to watch it as I'm a huge Castlevania fan and for your marvelous work ❤️

[@WillKeaton]

I'd just like to say I really appreciate the extra effort you put into the segments between the in-depth look at the games, the parts where you're just looking at the camera. In the past these parts often felt like a waste of time, but here they feel like proper set up for the upcoming segment. Good job.

[@doricdream498]

I can understand why HoD's soundtrack is so offputting, but IMO it's one of the greatest soundtracks in the entire series. It's an acquired taste, but I absolutely love how crunchy and psychotic it gets. Clock Tower Casualty in particular never fails to give me anxiety with it's aggressive build-ups and sudden loop. Luminous Cavern is also one of my favorites, and I can't stop thinking about when I saw someone describe it as "what it feels like to attend your own funeral."

[@ohmanthatguy2443]

It's late at night, this was a symphony to my ears.

[@clydefrosch]

there's also patches to get rid of the outlines for HoD

[@MilenAnessar]

My favorite in order : 1. Aria of Sorrow - What more can I say? It's fantastic! Almost perfect in my eyes. 2. Symphony of the Night - Classic and wonderful, still has some flaw but it is the starts of its kind so it's acceptable. 3. Portrait of Ruin - Super fun with tons of content to play around, team mechanic is nice. 4. Dawn of Sorrow - Overall solid game, but judging by every review I came across it seems like I'm the only one who don't have a problem with Seal system. (Maybe because I'm an artist so I used to drawing lines like that) 5. Circle of the Moon - Balls hard but not BS, a little clunky in control but fine enough. the Arena tho.... friggin' insane. 6. Harmony of Dissonance - Pretty good but I don't know what to say that something bugs me, not too bad but I feel it need more polish. 7. Order of Ecclesia - the Only Metroidvania I didn't finished, not because it's hard but I get tired of it quite quickly for some reason. Might get back to it someday.

[@MyRetroLife]

I've been waiting for this episode since the series began, and Joe, you didn't disappoint!

[@BookerCan]

After Symphony of the night, Dawn of Sorrow(DS) has to be my favorite metroidvania. By the way, you forgot to mention Julius Mode in Dawn of Sorrow, where you can play as Julius, Yoko and Alucard, which is a gameplay nod to Castlevania 3. My favorite channel on YT.

[@bland9876]

Julius can now also level up

[@Nist498]

Honestly Castlevania was one of those series that screamed "I would be awesome as an RPG!"

[@turtleanton6539]

Yup

[@kekeke8988]

They tried that. It's called Simon's Quest.

[@pamelahermano9298]

It would be amazing if the Switch could release Symphony of the Night. This game is just meant to be played in handheld.

[@MrJechgo]

Portrait of Ruin is my favorite ^_^ I loved the tag-team mecanics and the characters were actually likeable. The story itself has its share of plot twists that surprised me too. Gameplay-wise, the game controls pretty well, you get 5 unlockable characters and even the secret area is great. The Nest of Evil has you fight bosses from Aria and Dawn of Sorrow, and the Greatest Five dual crush is pure fanservice :D The only thing I kinda hated was that they reused themes for the last 4 portraits. Now, I undertand that it might have been a nod to the inverted castle, but it would have been nice to get 4 brand-new environments. They were not bad though... except Burnt Paradise, they went overboard with the medusa heads there X_x Order of Ecclesia is too difficult of its own good... Consuming mana for attacks was one more thing to manage and special moves could be activated by accident and consumed a lot of hearts. In addition, the sidequests were more complicated due to the lower item drop rate and such. Also, the story was kinda dumb, as Shanoa loses her memories at the beginning of the game, including how to use her own abilities. It was also kinda stupid that as the story progressed up to Dracula's Castle, she never regained part of her mind, up to the point of completely recovering before the castle. Finally, the secret stuff wasn't as good as Portrait of Ruin, as due to the difficulty, getting the best item wasn't easy...

[@joshuaworman4022]

if you ever do a castelvania clone series or a clone series in general i would like to massively, massively, massively, MASSIVELY recommend RUSTY for the nec pc 98. there is an english translation patch.

[@joshuaworman4022]

@Timothy Owens ive never tried it but i know niko emulator also works on android though i have no experience getting it to work so i cant say if its great or not. most f the setting configurations from the video should still apply though,

[@joshuaworman4022]

@Timothy Owens ill warn you it can be obnoxious to configure things so that you see any text at all. be sure to follow the video carefully

[@joshuaworman4022]

@Timothy Owens pc 98 emutlation is ... its not the most user freindly thing

[@ShulasShulman]

Whoa that game looks great, thx so much. I rly hope i can find the dos version.

[@joshuaworman4022]

@@ShulasShulman unfortunately there is no dos version.

[@LockeTheCole]

You forgot Castlevania: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. 😏

[@bignekidbatzero]

to be fair it isn't castlevania but if it was it would easily be the best by a long shot, btw there's no way konami could pull a might number 9 vs mega man 11

[@MrX-rk9or]

@@bignekidbatzero Because Iga left Konami. Otherwise title would definitely had been Castlevania: Ritual of the Night.

[@bignekidbatzero]

@@MrX-rk9or true

[@hajkie]

I found Ecclesia to be the best game of the metroidvanias. Exploring, and then coming back later to open secret paths and even the challenge modes was amazing. What it lacked in a huge end castle (although it was pretty large still), it made up for a gigantic world. And you found yourself coming back, even farming the extra runes. I actually found ecclesia to be the easiest to grind too, although i do agree on the difficulty in the beginning.

[@canalretrocraft]

It's unbelievable how much expressive these games are in this skit!!

[@nobel11]

Now we need "Metroid: The Castlevaroids"

[@kekeke8988]

There aren't any.

[@Desticler]

Actually, that's every single Metroid game.

[@Naeem_El]

I like anytime you talk about Castlevania on Game Sack

[@ryanchristensen5266]

Honorable mention should be "Harmony of Despair". Sadly overlooked and under appreciated. It is a slight departure from the series due to it's multiplayer component, but the co-op made it an amazing experience. Also, easily one of my favorite Castlevania soundtracks ever, newly performed and recorded classics from all over the series with some super shreddy guitar work. Way up the list for me.

[@matthewshean1991]

Ryan Christensen yeeeaaah it’s fantastic!!! Music is out of this world good. Bored of this song on this chapter? Switch it out! Game play is perfect except we want more chapters!

[@kg21bestpf94]

Symphony > Aria > Harmony > Portrait > Sorrow > Eccelesia > Moon

[@whatiskensworth]

Check out Dawn of Sorrow - Definitive Edition It's aptly named. ;)

[@Real1Gaming]

Joe, you missed one! The one for 3DS "Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate" It's a Metroidvania-style castlevania game. Easily the worst of them, but still.

[@DOSfanatic]

Different creator, he didn't miss it

[@Real1Gaming]

@@DOSfanatic The video is about Castlevania Metroidvanias. Not Castlevania MetroidVanias made by Iga's team at Konami. And one of the ones featured did not have Iga as creator so... Yeah, he missed it.

[@gianlucasighinolfi7095]

@@Real1Gaming yep you are right!

[@gianlucasighinolfi7095]

@@DOSfanatic Yep he missed it!

[@Stroggoii]

@@Real1Gaming It's about 2D Castlevania Metroidvanias. Curse of Darkness is 3D and Mirror of Fate is 2.5D.

[@TheMultiGunMan]

You put a lot of effort into your videos and it shows. They're extremely well done. Keep up the good work because your efforts are appreciated.

[@reagandow850]

How lucky can one be? I was thinking it was an off week. I love it when I’m wrong. Game Sack kicks ass.

[@tonizamboni7362]

Circle of the moon was my first GBA game, my first Castlevania and my introduction to many of the original castlevania songs, and i wouldn't have it any other way because the renditions are really, really good. I would really like to somehow hear the non-bitcrushed versions of these tracks but that is not likely to happen.

[@Stroggoii]

The original songs are some of the best in the GBA too. Awake and Proof of Blood are the best first and last stage song duo in the whole series IMO.

[@micaholson1052]

Cotm is my favorite Castlevania on the gba

[@mrcodpwns]

Actually i like more cotm than sotn, the reason is that sotn progress system doesnt work, is like enemies become more weak while you become stronger with the time, you dont even have to move when facing a boss, just press attack button a few times and the boss die in less that 5 seconds.

[@Trini84818]

These games need a HD remake on the Nintendo Switch.

[@benjaminpadillaaa]

Too bad Konami only makes mobile and pachinko machines now.

[@ScatterbrainPete]

Or at the very least a re-release. Perhaps a Castlevania Anniversary Collection 2.

[@bland9876]

If we got an HD remake of Sorrow that would be awesome and yes the switch has a touch screen only the seals for defeating bosses would be hard to do on a controller but I'm sure you could use the right stick to aim a cursor around to destroy the ice blocks

[@jinkisaragi874]

@@bland9876 They could get rid of the seals pretty easy.

[@Penrose517]

Ecclesia is my personal favourite for many of the reasons Joe didn't like it haha. I havn't played SoTN, so for me ranking goes: 1. Ecclesia 2. Aria 3. Portrait 4 Dawn 5. Dissonance (the music is a bit of an acquired taste, I personally like it a lot, fits the -dissonant- theme of the game ) 6. Circle

[@shootermcgavin1208]

K C You haven’t played SoTN? What are you waiting for?

[@JFD62780]

About the DS Vanias: The DS sound system is hardware-driven 16 channel PCM. Closest comparison I can make is those Capcom Q-Sound arcade games. ;)

[@GameSack]

Q-Sound really doesn't have much to do with hardware. If you have a left and a right channel and they can both ply digitized sounds simultaneously, you're good. Q-Sound is basically fake surround that only works if you're sitting in the right spot. So it's more about how the sound itself is mixed rather than the hardware playing it back. 16-channel PCM is pretty damn good, I haven't really researched the DS specs yet but that seems right. However I did reasearch the Castlevania games' music AFTER I completed this episode and they were basically MIDI-ish, like they did on consoles of old (SNES, Genesis, etc) where they created or used pre-existing instruments instead of streaming music as an audio file. The actual music files are pretty small for each game.

[@gargonovich]

For me: #1 - *Aria of Sorrow* - Great stage design, good controls, cool magic system and tons of secrets while not being overly grindy. #2 - *Symphony of the Night* - Pretty much the same as above, I just think the Soul system is better. Really tough to choose between the two. #3 - *Circle of the Moon* - Very different from the others, but I like the controls the best, the boss fights are really well done, and although it's basic compared to the others in terms of features, it's really focused and well-executed. I really like the DSS system, too. The Mage playthrough is always an interesting one. #4 - *Portrait of Ruin* - Like AoS and SotN, really tough to place 3 and 4. Loved the two-character system, great variety, and really well-balanced. #5 - *Dawn of Sorrow* - The changes to the Soul system made the game a lot grindier, which really bothered me. Having to collect 9 souls for maximum power was ridiculous when it could have just been a stat check or story item to unlock further power levels just made the game a time sink if you wanted to explore and have fun with the system. Bloodstained really suffers from this as well. The touch stuff never really bothered me. The seals were a lot easier on the OG DS if you had the thumb slider thing, though. #6 - *Harmony of Dissonance* - The floaty controls and poor music really drag this down, and the castle has good setpieces, but very little good platforming and a lot of dead space. CotM was a lot more fun to navigate for me. The biggest problem is that it's WAY too easy. The bosses are pushovers. Visually impressive, but pushovers all the same. The whole thing sort of feels half-baked. #7 - *Order of Ecclesia* - I agree with you on every point, and that's exactly why this one is on the bottom. Dead last, no question.

[@BinaryDood]

Are you insane. harmony of Dissonance has infinitely better controls than Circle of the Moon. That game is mediocre at best.

[@gargonovich]

@@BinaryDood Once you get used to double tapping to dash, CotM's speed, responsiveness, and gravity feel great. It's very snappy. HoD by comparison feels like you're underwater, has a far less interesting magic system, and is easy to the point of being boring at times (especially during boss battles). Still a great game, but I, personally, enjoy CotM more.

[@BinaryDood]

@@gargonovich The jumps in CoTM don't even make sense, they lack any unity of flow and momentum. HoD is the only game in the series to give you a dash forward, and not only that makes traversal the best but also eliminates the problem you mentioned. I barely walked in HoD, I dashed as long as I could. I disagree with the magic system being better in CoTM, it is reliant on a terrible RNG drop and is not swapable in-game, and also the effects are far less creative. As for the bosses, true there are far too many in Dissonance, but those that are good still outshine CoTMs imo. This mostly because CoTM's bosses are lacking in audiovusal cues for their attacks and either move around the screen to much or have gimmicky hitboxes. Idk, when playing Circle of the Moon I felt like playing something incomplete, like the alpha of a game.

[@gargonovich]

@@BinaryDood I do like the forward dash in HoD, but mashing L and R to move at a decent clip gets irritating. I feel just the opposite about the bosses, everything is telegraphed well once you know what to look for and has obvious patterning and thought put into it, whereas most HoD bosses you can just wreck with Ice+Bible before they do anything. DSS can be unintuitive with the random drop on some modes, but the Mage mode playthrough is super fun because there are a ton of options that the system opens up. As far as the controls go, I think CotM is more like the classic series than any other game in the RPG series, and that could also be why I like it so much since I spent a lot of time with those games before getting into the RPGs. This seems to be a case of different strokes for different folks, I guess! That's what's tough about ranking such a great series, it's totally down to personal preference.

[@BinaryDood]

@@gargonovich Wait, what is the Mage mode?

[@matthagen67]

I know nothing about Castlevania, but I saw your video and I guess I'm interested in this!

[@peliparado94]

Order of Ecclessia is very highly under apreciated imo. After revisiting the DS trilogy myself I believe it is the best among the three. Graphically it's by far the best, and I disagree on your comment regarding the music, I actually think it's pretty great. It has lots of stages, albeit some of them a bit repetitive, they're all explorable and have very varied enemies, not to mention the last one is a fully fledged Castle (which is roughly 1/3rd to half of the game). You can do pretty awesome things with the glyph system if you dig a bit into it, you can even absord super powerfull glyphs from bosses. The amped up challenge is great to balance out the over the top glyphs and powers you get later in the game, by actually forcing you to think which ones are better for each situation. Seems like lots of people do not give OoE a proper chance due to its slow start and its steep difficulty compared to the rest of the DS titles, but it's an incredible game overall.

[@ZakkHung]

I play Aria of Sorrow at least once a month on the big screen. Absolutely love it.

[@cristianpopa3875]

I actually think that Order of Ecclesia is the best metroidvania but hey that's just me. It's closely followed by the sorrow games. SOTN always seemed a bit too easy and lost some of its challenge as you progressed. The gba non sorrow games were meh and portrait of ruin was too gimmicky for my taste.

[@johannesmakila2459]

I totally agree with that.

[@BinaryDood]

Ecclesia was pretty good. Only got great when you get to the castle IMO

[@faxmachine2776]

I agree that Order of Ecclesia is the best. It is much more difficult than the other games, but they tried something new and it worked. I was obsessed with this game. You get special trophy items when you defeat the bosses without taking damage, and you can permanently miss those items. I remember doing the "no damage" challenge to get 100% of the items. If you haven't played it, Salt and Sanctuary brought back a lot of Order of Ecclesia memories for me.

[@ReviewUSA-ri5dv]

Best part of Aria of Sorrow : CLAIMH SOLAIS!

[@osurpless]

Review1316USA Lubricante and Curly are just as awesome, but for the wrong reasons.

[@largolagrande]

Awesome overview of the Igavania, Metroidvania series. We're finally got Game Sack to cover DS games. And I love it. What a time to be alive :)

[@chriswy697]

What song is playing at 21:38? The end list doesn't have timestamps