Curse of Darkness | The Castlevania Game That Killed the Franchise 🗡🧛‍♂️

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness PS2 retrospective review. Konami were growing increasingly risk-averse in the 2000s. Looking at their catalogue from the time, it’s likely they were deciding which franchises to keep on and which to ditch. Curse of Darkness needed to be a huge success if it was going to save the Castlevania franchise from being killed off forever.
If you’ve seen the great Netflix Castlevania animated show, you will probably recognise the names Hector, Isaac and the term Devil Forgemasters. Seasons Two and Three of that show took a lot of inspiration from Curse of Darkness. The show did a good job of taking the characters and setting of this game and adapting it.
I would rate Curse of Darkness in the top half of all Castlevania games. But for the team size which Konami had committed to the production of this game, it sold about the same as one of the GBA or DS games which were made by like a dozen people.
Curse of Darkness wasn’t the final Castlevania game. But there was never another console game in the main Castlevania canon.
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[@HPRshredder]

Hell yeah!!! Summoned Skull!!!

[@HPRshredder]

Appreciate the name drop lol, this was a great video

[@scottskene8387]

For me, Curse of Darkness was to Lament of Innocence what Majora's Mask was to Ocarina of Time

[@MattyStoked]

So eloquently put 😮 You should be making these videos, not me!

[@muffinzetta3670]

It didn’t kill castlevania like 5 more castlevania games came out after this.

[@h.p3st]

yeah the name of the video is a lot of bs and the series survived even the n64 titles ... i even like lords of shadow ...KONAMI killed castlevania with this dammed pachinko games 🤣

[@fredalejandro9932]

@@muffinzetta3670 Yeah and each one of them sell less than the last and were clearly made on a tight budget

[@JesusKristov]

Yeah he addresses that in the final part of the video dude

[@richardbors6548]

It was a good game, but LEGENDARY soundtrack, esp the starting castle.

[@briansalva3550]

IMO Lords of Shadow series was the deathblow.

[@MattyStoked]

I mean that's an interesting take but the Mercurysteam games are a totally different beast! One day I'll get to them 😅

[@Miraihi]

Lords of Shadow were absolutely what killed the franchise. Just because Konami didn't understand for some reason what made Castlevania games great. At least we have Bloodstained now.

[@foottothenuts]

@briansalva3550 I agree. I fucking hate Lords of Shadow. All of the charm and personality of the series was gone and replaced with generic gritty Hollywood fantasy movie shit. A "castlevania" game in name ONLY.

[@ZeptoZeno]

Obviously since nothing happend since then besides remakes.

[@fishingmule3266]

@@briansalva3550 100% agree. It’s like Konami just gave up on making Castlevania, so they just made some dumbed down reboot.

[@JimFaindel]

I got into the series precisely on Curse of Darkness, on the original Xbox. I loved, and still love that game to pieces, must have put 100 hours into it. The combat, the crafting, the music, even the melodramatic characters. Can't get enough!

[@MattyStoked]

That's rad! It's kind of the perfect game for 2005 Xbox. Hack and slash action, edgelord characters, blazing metal guitars. What a time to be alive!

[@MattDraper]

Stoked and Castlevania are like peanut butter and chocolate!

[@Larry]

Most excellent video Sir, Really enjoyed this I did!!! :) I'm honestly surprised that Konami hasn't considered a Dark Souls type CastleVania, or even an Arkham Asylum type 3d Metroidvania with the series yet.

[@MattyStoked]

@@Larry exactly the same, mate. There's a lot of talk about the influence Castlevania had on Dark Souls. And one thing we know about DS is it was made on a relatively small budget with a tight team. I would love small, Arkham Asylum type game, I think that would suit the tone of the series really well ❤️‍🩹

[@RedSpade37]

I just love the whole series, top to bottom. I really want to replay Curse of Darkness. I had a lot of fun with it.

[@MattyStoked]

@@RedSpade37 same! I love this series and Curse is a lot of fun.

[@ScottsGameAsylum]

Curse of Darkness? morelike Curse of Dankness!

[@MattyStoked]

🌿🌿🌿

[@One-ct3xe]

If they just would have given us a Kid Dracula glow up!! 😢😢😢

[@graymatter9431]

Yesss I loved Kid Dracula, I wish we got more and it’s sad they didn’t make a new one for switch. Game is so underrated

[@MattyStoked]

TBF a 3D action Kid Dracula would be awesome. I'm seeing a spooky Yooka Laylee / Balan Wonderworld style mascot game with loads of Halloween aesthetic...

[@graymatter9431]

@@MattyStoked that would be amazing I’d love a 3D Kid Dracula

[@jeffchronister4092]

I don't think it killed it. It wasn't the best castlevania game in the series , and yet it did have alot of fun and interesting ideas with " devil forging" , it's familiars and the progression system. Having said that, i still prefer Symphony of the night and super castlevania over the other games. Mainly for the whip abilities in super castlevania and all the positives in sotn. The farming, the familiars, the crissagrim, the ability for alucard to change to bat, wolf or mist. I think adding things to castlevania games like the devil forging and rpg elements using various armors and weapons as well as powered up relics can only enhance any potential future games in the series. The real downfall of castlevania and why it's been in hibernation for so long is Igarashi and kojima leaving and konami focusing on pachinko and mobile games with the series. Sadly it seems that once every hundred years konami will appear and a new game will be in the works.....

[@MattyStoked]

You make a good point about IGA and Kojima leaving Konami, but that's no reason to stop making the games. They made 10 games before Igarashi with a whole host of creative talent. That's almost as many Castlevania games as IGA produced. So it's not like they didn't have the talent! Honestly, I would have loved love to see the series continue without IGA's involvement.

[@Miraihi]

Curse of Darkness may be the progenitor to Dark Souls. I don't have any proof, but it certainly feels like it.

[@MattyStoked]

I've heard similar things before! Dark Souls owes a lot to Castlevania, for sure.

[@Galamoth06]

Correction: It's not the first game in which you fight a Belmont. Off the top of my head, there's Aria of Sorrow' fight against Julius Belmont, and 1991's Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge for the game boy had Christopher Belmont fight his son Soleil, who had been turned evil by Dracula.

[@ZombiePhoenix]

9:33 "But this game does have the honor of being the first time you get to fight a Belmont" Well that's not true. Alucard fights Richter Belmont in Symphony of the Night and could optionally kill him for a bad ending.

[@blumiu2426]

Exactly, I started thinking he hadn't played the games saying that.

[@Sephylis-tl4ll]

You full of bs.

[@Ghost_Of_SAS]

Very informative and enjoyable video. Shame it has to be cheapened by a clickbait (and let's face it: factually incorrect) title and thumbnail in order to appease the algorithm gods. I know why you guys have to do it, I just wish you didn't need to.

[@joshfacio9379]

great video! i remember when this came out i was really excited because of the cv3 connections, but something didnt click with me i guess.. i remember around this time anime and games were going to a loli asthetic mixed with odd s&m designs with waif guys. the wii cv judgment fighting game designs were awful lol. that and how cv games felt copy paste or randomized rooms with a hub where most games were castle room after castle room. i guess i missed how cv 2, 3, cv4, rob, and bloodlines had varied levels and atmospheres. give me a sidescroller with a barbarian with a whip traversing the countryside and im happy lol.

[@spudsT]

Super great production values... but Sonic music in a video for a franchise with DAT soundtrack?? 🎧

[@INKf3KT]

Nice video bro

[@maynardwayward12]

I remember enjoying Curse of Darkness when it came out, more than the previous game, but I don't know if it will hold up with that level design.

[@sirchezdreammachine5112]

If you like curse of darkness and the battle mechanics you should play nano breaker it's the game that's engine was used for curse it's plays almost exactly the same and it's by Konami

[@M00shu]

I think the most tragic thing about Curse of Darkness is how its arguably the best 3D Castlevania game.... It just came out at the wrong time.

[@PikaLink91]

Ha! Beat you to it! I subscribed of my own volition 2 sec before you said "please sub" because I actually liked the vid and not because I was told to.

[@brandonmuse5532]

I really liked the music and soundtrack to this video game. I have never played it.

[@charaznable8072]

Iga and the development team just weren't skilled enough to make a good 3D action game.

[@MattyStoked]

Not true because both these games rule. Lament of Innocence is a PS2 hidden gem!

[@charaznable8072]

@@MattyStoked Nah they suck even the fans knew it hence why it bombed.

[@MattyStoked]

@@charaznable8072 second best-selling Castlevania game over. Only beaten by the first game. Bombed? Ok!

[@charaznable8072]

@@MattyStoked Now you're just showing your bias it bombed so hard they made a hard turn and never went back to a 3D Castlevania until they hired an outside studio, it doesn't matter how much it sold the comparison is how much it sold in comparison to how much it cost to make and how much it was expected to sell. Lol I just realized it only sold 400k in it's entire run dude if you don't think that's a bomb for a AAA game released in 2005 your are delusional.

[@TheCrawl]

Great video, friend! I really like this game. I loved Lament, too, but where Lament felt like a 3D evolution of classicvania, Curse was a 3D Igavania style, so it always feels weird to try and compare (let alone rank) them. Anyway, excellent stuff as always! Definitely got me in the mood to play some Castlevania during spooky season :)

[@MattyStoked]

@@TheCrawl agreed, they're both different beasts! I actually thought of you when editing this video as I was thinking "Is Curse of Darkness a dungeon crawler?"

[@verygoodfreelancer]

girl, the game that killed the franchise was judgment lol

[@ZeptoZeno]

Curse of Darkness and Lament of Innocence are still my favourite Castlevania games and it's not even close. I love the atmosphere and OST. I wish they would make more of these kind of Castlevanias.

[@MattyStoked]

YOU GET ME

[@zackeryparkerson]

Hell yeah, man! Wasn’t expecting another Castlevania episode so soon! Also, really dug the intro credits.

[@MattyStoked]

Glad you liked it! I guess i juts can't stop myself from talking about vampires.... 😊

[@drubu716]

I thought the 64 games did the most damage lol

[@graymatter9431]

I loved this game, I was a big fan of castlevania growing up, castlevania legacy of darkness is my favorite castlevania game of all time. I love all the 3D castlevania games especially curse of darkness and lord of shadows. I never understood the hate. I do understand this game gets repetitive, but I never minded that. I wish the original 4 3D castlevania games got a remaster or it’s own collection. Also great video

[@MattyStoked]

A 3D collection has to be on the cards. That's the last collection to release. They've done the rest of them all now!

[@graymatter9431]

@@MattyStoked unfortunately they won’t because they don’t have enough people who are interested in the 3D ones

[@MattyStoked]

@@graymatter9431 we're all right here! I'll use the incredible amount of influence I can flex on KZbin 😅 We'll convince them!

[@TheMilhouseExperience]

Lords of Shadow 2?

[@mee7er]

You need to do a couple run drafts on your script and maybe have someone proofreading. The video is full of minor errors and incorrect facts.

[@MattyStoked]

Oh well, I'm not under any obligation to be 100% accurate and you didn't pay to watch the video. Not to worry, worse things have happened!

[@wackyswacky1374]

The TV show really dumbed down devil forging in a way only a sh*t television hack could. In the game, it is a form of sorcery. Hector is a type of mage that practices a particular subject or school of dark magic. In the show, the writers, being infinitely uncreative, heard the phrase "devil FORGE master" and made it so Hector and Issac "forged" devils out of dead humans, comically using a hammer and an anvil to do so, as if the writer had never heard of what an allegory was before. They don't use LITERAL forges you daft writers. This is just one example of the TV show writers fundamentally not understanding what Castlevania is. Or an example of Western writers not understanding worldbuilding (just look at how the TV writers butchered the mysticism of Game of Thrones, or the worldbuilding of Wheel of Time, or The Witcher, etc). Anyway, this is a good game, but it fails in one VERY important aspect of what makes a good Castlevania game, or even a good 3D Third Person Action game, which is you need to create an environment worth exploring. Look at the varied and interconnected 3D maps of a game like Dark Souls, and then look at the flat, battle arena stages of Curse of Darkness. Koji igarashi somehow made Dracula's frickin Castle seem boring and bland, something that was not the case in past entries. This is why people get bored with this game after a few hours.

[@wylser]

What do you expect from writers who turned Hector into a sex slave and got Alucard raped by twins

[@JohnnyBurnes]

Hate this game. It's cool for a half hour!...Then you've seen everything and have another 8 hours to go! The levels look like they're from the N64. What happened to the detail from Lament? This game bummed me out. I hardly ever needed to change spamming the same combo over and over. Amazing boxart and music though.

[@MattyStoked]

Ah, booo! I wouldn't say they're from the N64 lol but I do agree, it's pretty obvious they threw this one together quickly.

[@PikaLink91]

Castlavania season 2 was absolute trash and detered me from watching season 3.

[@blumiu2426]

Really? it killed Castlevania only for Dawn of Sorrow came out the same year and Portrait of Ruin a year later, keeping up the pace of the releases at the time. I get clickbait titles, but when they are just wrong, it's just going to make people think you didn't do your research. Also, you fight Richter in Symphony of the Night, a highlight of the game. Why did you think you never fought a Belmont before?

[@TSBaron]

​@@blumiu2426 it's a form of drawing engagement. Get a fact here and there wrong and your audience will post multiple comments about what you got wrong.

[@blumiu2426]

@@TSBaron It's a bit more than that. These are crucial aspects when tackling the subject and basic things you come across in research, and pretty basic information one that played the games knows.