How Easily Can You Beat Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow With Only a Rocket Launcher

[@Nyarly]

Get 20% OFF + Free International Shipping + 2 Free Gifts with my promo code "NYARLY" at mnscpd.com/Nyarly

[@JulesVonBasslake]

Not sure if you knew this, so... Here's a hint to making Dimitri even easier on later runs. He copies the latest red soul power used against him. So hit him with something like a skeleton or the mandragora or anything that's easier to dodge than those giant gray fire balls. And if you did know, maybe someone else can use this knowledge in their own runs.

[@chadbot4794]

Love your castlevania vids please do more

[@dragonlord4898]

Promotion Skip Button: 2:58

[@Crazycoyote-we7ey]

Max out spin devil to get a EF5 tornado use the soul eater ring for more cheese attacks

[@Hayastantzi92]

No

[@JupiterClimb]

Speedrunning trivia: The RPG used to be the weapon of choice for both the Any% and All Bosses categories (until it was made obsolete by Malacoda last year). Speedrunners would get partway through the game, save, and invest several minutes clearing the boss rush just for the RPG - it was THAT good compared to other options. Definitely one of the best Castlevania bonus weapons!

[@snapchatsnacks3154]

I feel so ahead of the curve because I always liked Malacoda

[@donovanlocust1106]

@@snapchatsnacks3154 what kind of weapon is the Malacoda?

[@RayzeCruxis]

@@donovanlocust1106 not a weapon but a soul. It does drop a Muramasa though.

[@krastyantheparamount]

It's so cool to see an actual castlevania runner watching nyarly Pog!

[@donovanlocust1106]

@@RayzeCruxis what's special about Malacoda?

[@HybridAngelZero]

"We want more RPG videos!" "But *we* want more Castlevania videos!" Nyarly, an intellectual:

[@Silverman160Zero]

That reminds me of an old joke: *On one side of the door.* :"Quick, hand me the RPG!" *Other side of door.* :"Oh God, their gonna fire Final Fantasy at us!"

[@HybridAngelZero]

@@Silverman160Zero LMAO that's a classic. My favorite variant is the "Throw me the RPG" "Sir, with all do respect,we really don't have 60 hours to spare right now"

[@Mordecrox]

@@Silverman160Zero *throws 40d6s through the window*

[@dustin202]

@@Mordecrox_rolls all ones_

[@ls190v2]

Henry Stickmin had a good one in one of Completing the Mission's routes. In a combo choice section, Henry can choose an N64 controller, and Ellie Rose can choose a rocket propelled grenade. They do end up dying by a tank cannon's bombshell in that choice, making it a fail, but the fail text says something along the lines of "Not the right RPG, but it was still fun". Your move, sir/madam/non.

[@nahuelgauto2829]

Soma be like: "All of you laughed at me when I came here only with my fists, now I came back, WITH A ROCKET LAUNCHER"

[@aegisScale]

"Soma, you shouldn't go into the castle, it's too dangerous!" Soma: _Whips out a rocket launcher and a year's supply of ammo_ ". . . On second thought, go ahead, you'll be fine."

[@darkyagami5508]

“Rockets deal slash damage” What, did you strap a knife to the front of the rocket?!?

[@kaimcdragonfist4803]

The best guess I can make is shrapnel. Made of razor blades. I didn’t say it was a GOOD guess lol

[@donovanlocust1106]

@@kaimcdragonfist4803 hey at least it's a guess.

[@raziyatheseeker]

@@kaimcdragonfist4803 Shrapenel might make sense, yes. I figure blunt damage (shockwaves from the explosion) or fire (also from the explosion) could also make sense. But for the sake of fighting Dario and Aguni, it's probably a good thing the rockets aren't fire damage!

[@simplemindedsage]

I mean the US military put knives on a hellfire missile.

[@jruler93]

I guess the shrapnel from the exploding rocket would shred through the monsters pretty well.

[@amateraceon5202]

I'm pretty sure this is just Soma's method of blowing off a lot of steam after the horror of the fists only run

[@andytan2960]

Aka payback

[@MountainMemelord]

Blowing up a lot of steam*

[@LordPai]

Cultist: HES HERE!! Celia: Good...lure him in and Ki- Cultist: HE'S GOTTA ROCKET LAUNCHER!! Celia: Wha- Cultist: AND A SHITTON OF AMMO Celia: ...... Cultist: *screams, an explosion and the radio goes dead* Celia: O_O

[@jruler93]

The RPG actually isn't affected by your strength or attack stats; the amount of damage it does is fixed for each enemy and boss. Because of this, you should equip your best defensive gear when using it.

[@rjante2236]

Wait really? What a strange mechanic.

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

@@rjante2236 It does make sense in a way. Why would being strong make a _gun_ hit any harder? Should still be signposted though.

[@rjante2236]

@@LonelySpaceDetective Good point, haha

[@jruler93]

@@LonelySpaceDetective Being stronger does make the Handgun and Silver Gun stronger, just not the RPG.

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

@@jruler93 Oh, that's still a thing in Dawn of Sorrow? I know that was the case for Aria, but after reading that tidbit about the RPG I would have thought otherwise. Weird. Maybe they just wanted the RPG to always be effective even if you're underleveled.

[@BigGnome]

13:18 As someone who recently played Dawn of Sorrow for the first time and had to look up how to do that exact seal, the issue is generally that Dawn of Sorrow prioritizes drawing fast over drawing accurately. Drawing the outer perimeter of the shape as a circle helps significantly.

[@TARINunit9]

I wonder if they tweaked this for the Dominus collection at all? The time limit now seems to be very generous, and there's an option to do magic seals with button presses -- which snaps the cursor to the hexagonal points

[@WhiteFangofWar]

Dracula's servants are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you... you will be worse.

[@calemr]

Now I want a Chainsaw as a bonus weapon in another Soma Cruz Castlevania.

[@WhiteFangofWar]

@@calemr The fourth character in Castlevania 64 was originally going to have a Chainsaw. He got turned into the Gardener enemy, who is cool but still... missed opportunity.

[@corryjamieson3909]

I just realized, Soma is literally firing all the castle workers.

[@Y00bi]

'I don't know how my RPG would work underwater.' Actually, RPGs work fine underwater.

[@luisyanez6261]

Haven't seen the video yet but the title has some "I am done. No more punches, I'm going for the rocket launcher" energy

[@DeitySkullKid]

Let's just all agree that the magic seals were a bad idea.

[@fae_gavan7582]

There should have been an option to turn them off. I don't exactly mind them, but it gets kind of boring at times.

[@t-universegamer7609]

Nah, theyre not great but they arent really that bad either. The problem is ppl playing on emulator and not on a DS screen, as it was intended, and the complaining its "unnecessarily difficult".

[@Llortnerof]

@@t-universegamer7609 Eh, even on the DS i found them more annoying than anything. They don't really add to the game.

[@t-universegamer7609]

@@Llortnerof Maybe you should read what I said again. I said even though theyre not great, theyre not nearly as bad as people make em out to be because theyre not playing the intended way. I'm not defending the obviously obligatory double screen mechanic because I think its great or innovative, I'm criticizing people's bad criticism.

[@Llortnerof]

@@t-universegamer7609 And i'm disagreeing with your criticism. So what's your point here?

[@MegidolErin]

This might be the first time the notification has worked correctly and not shown up hours or days after the upload

[@otaku2567]

Nyarly really feeling the burn with that magic seal bs, imagine dark souls with such a mechanic

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

Would a DS Dark Souls have a subtitle that abbreviates to DS, or would it not have a subtitle because it already is DS

[@sutpecna]

​@@LonelySpaceDetectiveDSDS (dark souls for the nintendods) sounds like something I'd dream after a long, exhausting day at work, wake up the next morning and think "wow what the fuck"

[@emperordraygon]

Ancient problems require modern solutions.

[@LordHonkInc]

Hey, Nyarly, I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but please never apologize for uploading a video. And don't worry, self-imposed challenges don't always have to seem impossible to be fun (for example, RE4 speedrunners tend to favor the NG+ categories to the standard New Game ones; the game itself is easier, but they're still really entertaining to watch)

[@Reynsoon]

Props for using the Judgment version of 'An Empty Tome'. That game's soundtrack carried it on its back. Also, here's an apropos line I found from Alvin and the Chipmunks: "Your Kung-Fu is no match for my rockets."

[@BossMr51]

alt title: the run where soma is done with everyones shit

[@douglasthequilava]

Soma: kaboom? Nyarly: yes Soma, kaboom. Soma: =D

[@cuddlebug9699]

Death Scythe is still the best weapon in the game in my opinion,It took me ages to grind it as a kid. But the power and protection it gives you is amazing

[@MythicMachina]

Fun Castlevania Fact: For the US version of Castlevania 1, the Holy Water was translated to the Fire Bomb in order to avoid ties to religion. I'd like to imagine that this run is just an "advanced" fire bomb. Or the rockets are just filled with holy water idk.

[@williamreely3455]

Bet Julius feels preeeetty dumb still using a whip in the 21st century when Soma's war-criming Dracula's castle into a smoking crater.

[@nice-guyhunter4013]

Living for the Castlevania content. If Konami won’t make more games at least we can challenge run the old games

[@connorreid8472]

Soma: what I'm funny like I'm some sort of clown? I bet you think i shouldn't have a GUN EITHER!!!

[@pokepress]

Feels like there should be some secret weapons from Contra or something. Imagine having the spread gun.

[@seanstone749]

I've been absolutely loving your new runs! I've never been into Castlevania but your videos have made me respect the games

[@quizlaire]

There should be a rom hack that does the magic seals for you, but fails 50% of the time

[@donovanlocust1106]

That's evil

[@cliftonsavage2636]

@@donovanlocust1106 still higher than my success rate

[@ayan8136]

​@@cliftonsavage2636 same here brother.

[@iPhroggy]

being a non castlvania player, what weapons does this game not have, i thought it was like medieval witches and warlocks but i've seen everything from sword, to gun, and now RPG???

[@chrisavenell3172]

Yeah menace is not the real final boss of dawn it's the meatball monsters that are the real true final challenge and it becomes a dps race to see if you can kill menace before they kill you.

[@alexanderkreczkevich8100]

On the topic of sealing death, I've ran into the same problem using original hardware and cart. No matter how fast or precise I did it, the seal wouldn't count and i was thrown back into the fight. I thought maybe you needed to do something special before sealing like hitting 'em with a certain weapon/soul or having a certain item equipped. But finding nothing online and after many, many attempts I just kinda gave up and did it really fast and sloppy (pretty sure i missed 2 nodes) with it actually accepting it, sealing him for the victory. My next two playthroughs same thing; quick but precise = fail. Extremely fast and sloppy = success. My conclusion is that the seal is glitched in that it has to be done in a split second or just over and over again until it glitches itself to work.

[@SeanNH94]

"I'm just a Soma with a rocket launcher"

[@marcosdheleno]

here's a very "in brand" run you could do. either a "summoner" run, or a "minion" run. summoner would be using only summon blue souls, and yellow souls. minion would be more broader, with would include any ability that summons a monster, which includes the witch aprentice and the zombie dog(or abbadon).

[@ryuzxa]

Imagine being a demon in Dracula's castle and you see a white hair dude holding an RPG

[@rjante2236]

"Hey so, I surrender."

[@Fireafyanimations299]

Some random monster: Nooo you can't just use a rocket propelled grenade because you are doing a dumb challenge- Soma Cruz: haha RPG go boom boom

[@ianh1504]

Rockets would work fine underwater as long as the fuel mixture carries its own oxidizer. Maybe even more effective because the pressure wave would propagate much faster in water

[@kazekamiha]

Heard you like RPGs, so we put an RPG in your RPG.

[@xelthos2051]

Glad to know there are rom hacks for the Seals. Been wanting to replay this on steamdeck but dreaded using the thump pad for seals.

[@ritachikorita6916]

You think needing to hit the mannequins in the Puppet Master fight twice is difficult? Try needing to hit them four times on hard mode. I ended up using the knife special to get around fighting the Puppet Master until after Zephyr, by which point I was much better equipped.

[@ZorotheGallade]

The Nunchaku from the Boss Rush make that much easier, but I don't know if you have access to them by that time.

[@krastyantheparamount]

Soma Cruz straight up went Leon Kennedy mode

[@deltaquarayza]

I actually did this run casually, and it was a heck of a lot of fun. Would recommend.

[@raziyatheseeker]

Much as the Positron Rifle from Aria seems fun (and great at giving everyone in the castle cancer!), I'm pleasantly surprised at how stupidly good the RPG is. I was never able to obtain it from the boss rush in Dawn (same with Aria's posi-rifle), but an easy mode run of just blowing everything up was a great idea.

[@donovanlocust1106]

Wait how does it give everyone cancer?

[@raziyatheseeker]

@@donovanlocust1106 Well, a positron rifle would be a particle beam weapon. And one of the issues of weaponizing particle beams is that they would likely irradiate stuff with gamma radiation. Very well, in fact. It's not as safe as a laser weapon would be (and apparently, a laser powerful enough to blast someone could also permanently blind anyone in the vicinity without eye protection), nor a plasma weapon (which has its own issues with sustaining the plasma). I like energy weapons in sci-fi a lot, but there's good reasons why we don't have them yet. Portable power sources notwithstanding for an energy gun.

[@donovanlocust1106]

@@raziyatheseeker wow this was really interesting to read.

[@Krimzonsx]

1:30 Devil may cry 1 is definitely up there in that list for me

[@Marqrk]

Dawn of Sorrow if it were made in America

[@timdoe8895]

Bro yk that nyarly content be hitting DIFFERENT. But man back to back like this? I'm here for it.

[@somebody4952]

A part of me wishes that enemies were programmed to see you have a super weapon and be like "Oh shxx! Run!"

[@cidredwood6170]

If fighting is sure to result in victory then you must fight!

[@alxcus2962]

I guess you could say that Soma... Stopped pulling his punches!

[@BafemousGoat]

As a child i never passed through Death thanks to the seal, just years later, after i lost and found my ds, i managed to beat it

[@GlennMagusHarvey]

Bat Company's hitbox is very weird and it took me quite a while to figure out how to avoid it reliably. I mentioned the low-level guide I wrote in one of my comments on your other videos, and in it I also wrote up my findings on this topic. There is a good amount of jump-kicking involved. So yeah, there's that as well as how to dodge Abaddon's attacks. And how to...make do against Menace.

[@Copaplay-LC]

nice to know: those leech like creatures resemble the langolier monsters from a steven king novel/movie. and there is theory that the 3 heads of menace are Celia/Dario and Dimitri.

[@OmegaReaver]

I would just like to point out that you can craft a frigging Gatling gun in Curse of Darkness.

[@Shmey]

I owned Curse of Darkness, but never ended up playing it. I was too addicted to Diablo 2. Now that I don't really care about Diablo 2, I wish I still had some of my old games that I never played.

[@Feuerhamster]

"It does make this weapon less than ideal for close range" You don't say.

[@ssjmatt8424]

You know, after watching you go through torture with the fist only run, you really deserved to have fun and just unleash devastation upon your enemies!

[@Adogwithashotgunreal]

3:43 "a rocket launcher is less than ideal for close range" Really? you don't say.

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

nobody tell solid snake in smash that

[@matthewcolvard6410]

Rocket Propelled Grenade is correct actually, you said it right.

[@themaskedmark92]

Mina:soma is a good guy 🥰 Soma:i m gonna kill everyone with a rocket launcher 😅 Mina: ok maybe not that much 😐

[@noxturne16]

Soma is everyone’s dream man

[@rjante2236]

Soma: Just because I'm a good guy doesn't mean I play fair

[@randomnobody660]

Not that this matters, but small correction: A positron rifle is not a "futuristic laser weapon" so much as a "futuristic anti-matter weapon".

[@xinyyc]

I never had trouble with magic seals on the original DS, even when the touch screen started wearing out and scratches started appearing. I wonder if this'd be even easier on a gorilla-glass screen or using a PC drawing-tablet or something. The worst part about these boss battles was how long they were if you weren't grinding levels & souls.

[@zenkozenko4989]

I don't even NEED to watch the video, I think it'd be VERY easy. /s

[@wubilicious4158]

Now I will wait for "Castlevania Curse of Darkness with only the Gatling Gun" to be made somewhere on the internet xd

[@KirbytPink]

You have done with fists. Guns. And even a rocket launcher.But now...face the worst! Can you beat it with Milican's Sword or Terror Bear!?

[@SaviourV]

Why did you have to mention the Terror Bear? 😅😅😅

[@KirbytPink]

@@SaviourV kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZmUdKR5dshlnKc 😈

[@provolonefucker64]

Terror Bear is not that awful, with the Demon soul however, it becomes a S tier weapon

[@SaviourV]

@@provolonefucker64 I'm fairly sure that the Terror Bear's been filled with some really heavy material. Chances are that Dracula's minions would be in the sick bay, courtesy of Soma, complaining of immense *BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA.* Or alternatively, *BRUTE FORCE TRAUMA.* 😆

[@tsyumamatsuthehavenofguard32]

Dawn of sorrow completed. S rank. Unlocked infinite ammo rocket launcher

[@raziyatheseeker]

Exactly. I was thinking of killing huge bosses in one hit with a rocket launcher in RE4, when he got to Menace and mentioned how satisfying it was to shoot it in the head.

[@kaimcdragonfist4803]

@@raziyatheseeker I still just use a rocket launcher on Salazar. I hate that fight and the little bastard deserves the disrespect lol

[@tsyumamatsuthehavenofguard32]

@@kaimcdragonfist4803 I also use it on the right hand. Cause money is nice

[@Demi-Fiend76]

Slowly switching to castelvania territory and I'm completely OK with it 👌

[@crh1985]

I heard “Rocket launcher” and “close range” and thought or Super bullet break and started to laugh There is a boss holding a rocket launcher and says im going to get close and blast you to bits

[@dragonlord4898]

Promotion Skip Button: 2:58

[@Rubedo2k10]

An entire RPG run.... is that "Salil Al Sawarim" suddenly playing in the background there?

[@shelbyherring92]

Something about action-horror games in the 90s and 00s just wanting to give you an RPG/ATA by the end is hilarious to me.

[@NoNameNoWhere]

I never really struggled with the seals. They annoyed me because it required pulling out the stylus. The execution of the seals? I seldom failed. I imagine they're much more difficult to pull off with a computer mouse.

[@aaaamine]

I love your Castlevania video man

[@SHADOMEGA7569]

the reason the RPG is a slash weapon is because of the shrapnel the case of the missile becomes during the explosion

[@Pibbyeena]

God I’m so happy he called those menace meatballs langoliers

[@raziyatheseeker]

10:23 to 10:36 Catharsis for people with a fear of clowns

[@parafaust6201]

Plot twist: the fast forwarding is actually the unedited footage hes just that good

[@detectivesky6123]

The rpg works underwater because the rocket propellant provides its own oxygen

[@ZorotheGallade]

(Ka-clack) RAWK-IT LAWNCHAIR

[@metalwolfzx]

Forget the powers of a dark lord! We've got a friggin bazooka!

[@humblymichael5823]

The rocket launcher blows your enemies minds too.

[@divineinputs6083]

You should do more videos where you use the most powerful or best thing to trample through the game

[@pokepress]

Can you beat Aria of Sorrow with just Force Light…er, I mean the lightning doll soul?

[@mauricesteel4995]

​@@pokepresswith UNLIMITED... POWER!

[@renatabronka5353]

Bro is the rpg good? Nyarly: that s a lot of damage!!!

[@horntuga6080]

Damn he play sorrow remind me about the world end with you

[@biancalawson9044]

So bummed that you never ended up doing anything with order of Ecclesia. I’d argue that is the best out of the three DS castlevanias

[@LAZERAK47V2]

Just a tip for Abaddon, the safest place to hit him is in the corner behind him. So if he's facing left, hide in the right corner. Most of his attacks don't reach there.

[@Thozmp]

How do most people deal with Abaddon, just on regular runs? The first time I played it, I had a max level Buer soul (summon a circle of flames around you) and kind of sat next to him. It protected me against the swarms and dealt damage until he died. Hell, I think he didn't even move, just stood there in the middle of the screen next to me and my circle of flames.

[@nb_nb]

Soma got fed the fuck up of people insulting his pistol. He brought his big gun this time. Like "I'm not stuck in this castle with you. You're stuck in here with me."

[@Irokaj-backwards]

never played a castlevania game but i like these videos

[@42dusk45]

The final seal is very annoying because the timer or something is bugged. I literally almost never beat the game unmodified.

[@TonyTama]

not much of a challenge run but i WHOLEHEARTEDLY enjoyed myself

[@irishguy167]

Yes man! Absolute favourite type of video you do

[@lazysmurf6472]

The moment I saw the title of the video I immediately went "What the...?"

[@ezrawyvern6795]

16:53 BOOM! Headshot!

[@AndGoatz04]

[Metal slug announcer] *_RAUKET LAOUCHUH_*

[@TheTrueMerrio]

Soma woke up this morning and choose the way of Explosions with him.

[@korvasterindar9672]

Alucard: Soma, here! *tosses him a knife* Soma: Nah, I'm good. *pulls a rocket launcher out of his pants like a cartoon* Nina: My boyfriend brings lethal weapons on dates...

[@melty_x_]

13:20 That right happended to me when i was on that part on the game, i was doing the magic seal perfectly but i still failed, then i just tried doing the magic seal insanely fast, and it did work most of the times

[@homerosz97]

Idk I might be built differently but I hear *everyone* complain about the magic seals in Dawn of Sorrow... I never had an issue with them...

[@mauricioalvarezpino1818]

It will never not be funny to kill fantasy monsters with real world modern weapons

[@Crim-kun]

Did this lvl1 hard mode with rpg and ngl it is fun seeing body parts go flying

[@xenon8927]

the head of an RPG's rocket (on some models) contain molded plastic explosives that turn the copper tip of the round into basically a rapidly extending spike. I'd understand them doing piercing damage but slashing? Why?

[@marcosviniciusferreira6453]

Pulse rifle was one the best and most entertaining weapons I've used on any metroidvania game sad it didn't make dawn of sorrow arsenal

[@crucifixmegabuster95]

I love these playthoughs