Vampire Hunter D Review (PS1) | St1ka's Retro Corner

[@st1ka]

Hey folks, sorry about the extra advertising in this video. Warner Bros copyright claimed the video because of the song at 11:05 so they now decide how much advertising goes into the video.

[@Klaus_Schwab_777]

I think we all can live with this🌚I hope you can do money from integration in future,because you do awesome work.

[@st1ka]

@@Klaus_Schwab_777 Honestly, my main source of income from the channel is Patreon. I make pennies from KZbin ads lol

[@Klaus_Schwab_777]

@@st1ka btw I mean kinda sponsored videos and e.t.c😳😅

[@st1ka]

@@Klaus_Schwab_777 Oh, somehow I doubt I'll ver grow big enough to score sponsorships lol

[@Klaus_Schwab_777]

@@st1ka who knows ,now im shut my mouth🌚

[@TheGunmanChannel]

Cool in-depth review as always St1ka keep up the good work dude

[@st1ka]

Thank you! I try! ^^

[@oldfan4049]

Funny enough, one could call this game "a Devil May Cry before Devil May Cry". I mean, it has survival horror roots, swordfights and magic, prerendered graphics, platforming and static camera angles. Yes, it isn't a slasher or not even a beat'em up, and it has no emphasis on comboing, but if anything I'd call it proto-DMC.

[@paranormalzen]

It wants to be Devil May Cry, but plays like The Crow: City of Angels.😂

[@st1ka]

Haha!

[@PressStartToContinueYT]

New subscriber here, this is a good video. I haven’t seen many videos on this game, and this was really well done!

[@st1ka]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! ^^

[@joshmcgootermier2301]

That reversible cover saves the package.

[@st1ka]

It really does.

[@ico128]

I never knew about this game. Reminds me a bit of Berserk on the Dreamcast. Too bad it isn't as good.

[@st1ka]

I heard Berserk for the Dreamcast isn't good either. Sadly it seems like a lot of these anime adaptations didn't turn out too well :\

[@jessehayes8052]

Berserk guts rage is a good hack and slash

[@alexanderkrill51]

Despite this game’s reception I still want to try playing it!!!

[@st1ka]

That was basically me coming into this game xD

[@user-nh5zd3ic8r]

Anyone else thought it should have been called “D the vampire hunter”

[@st1ka]

That's a good point

[@nozoto]

What an ironic stroke of fate. The original Vampire Hunter D, released before Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, heavily inspired Castlevania. But when VHD was made into a video game, it ripped off Resident Evil without showing much of a personality of its own x)

[@st1ka]

Pretty much, yes xD

[@TexasHollowEarth]

Thanks for mentioning the original. It was a landmark OVA release. I had a VHS bootleg of this one way back.

[@st1ka]

@@TexasHollowEarth I need to watch the original sometime. Especially considering how much I enjoyed the movie.

[@SegaCDUniverse]

One of my favorite animes. Gonna queue this up later to watch, thanks bud!

[@st1ka]

hope you'll enjoy it! :D

[@MrIronJustice]

So glad you watched the movie and gave it a good word in this video! Its one of my all time favorite anime.

[@st1ka]

I'm shocked at how good the movie was. I'm usually the first to defend modern anime, but they really DON'T make'em like anymore.

[@RetroJackal]

I liked this game bitd. It was always a bit naff, but I really liked the music and the atmsosphere.

[@st1ka]

I loved it when I played it back when it came out. Playing it now though... oof!

[@nicholaspurcell5960]

Fantastic review. I really enjoyed this video 🙂

[@NovanoirEcho]

I just replayed this myself a little bit ago on a harder difficulty. Given growing up i read the books and really liked the movies. I found this game to be quite good. Someone randomly picked it up and tried it will likely be turned off by it.

[@st1ka]

I do remember really enjoying as a kid, but playing it now, I do feel it hasn't aged well. But if a fan of the books and anime enjoys it than I'd say the game did what it set out to do ^^

[@silverphoenix684]

So glad you were featured in THG, youtube was hiding your channel from us.

[@st1ka]

Haha thank you! Sadly yes, the YT algorithim doesn't appreciate me very much

[@yittmashups]

Saw this on Vimm's Lair downloading PS1 roms and almost thought it was a sequel to the PS1 game "D". Definitely was not expecting this type of game; pretty interesting! Also, amazing channel video intro btw!

[@st1ka]

haha thank you! ^^

[@TheRealJPhillips]

As much of a vampire hunter D fan I am, i never knew there was a damn game for it. * side note: BLOODLUST is a MASTERPIECE!

[@st1ka]

Oh the movie is freaking awesome. It was my first time watching it and I loved it!

[@st1ka]

@Imitation Station Agreed. I'm usually the first to defend modern anime, but we really don't get anime like this anymore.

[@st1ka]

@Imitation Station Gotta check out Ninja Scroll then :D

[@MrIronJustice]

Yes, Ninja Scroll is a good time, and doesn't overstay its welcome. Let us know your opinion!

[@TheRealJPhillips]

@Imitation Station what's up with this NINJA SCROLL 2 trailer that's on youtube. I'd give anything for a release of that

[@jbmaru]

Hmm I thought it was a vampire hunter practicing drifting in his white car...

[@st1ka]

An Initial D x Vampire Hunter D crossover is something I'd love to watch or play

[@johnstrano636]

I was today years old when I discovered this game exists. I loved the amine though.

[@st1ka]

I do like to go for the lesser known games :P

[@Pyro-Moloch]

That's a damn good intro

[@st1ka]

Thank you! Hope you enjoyed the video! :D

[@GreenTygur]

The original Vampire Hunter D is one of my absolute favorites of all time. Bloodlust is obviously the more technical marvel but for me it lacks the classic horror vibes of the original. If you are looking to watch the original do your best and get your hands on the 1985 version ( I'm pretty sure it's on youtube somewhere). Why? Because there was a 30 year anniversary Blu Ray release about 5 years ago and the English dub is nowhere near as good and more importantly it is missing half of the astounding music from the 1985 version. The re release just simply leaves it out and it is very awkward. I still hope that some anime director will pick up the torch and make another entry in the series. This series is one of the greatest.

[@st1ka]

Oh thank you for that. I haven't watched the original yet, but I want to. ^^

[@barry-allenthe-flash8396]

Man, this one is painful. I mean, Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust _fucking rules_ (glad you've finally seen it for this, man!) and honestly this doesn't *look* terrible for the PS1. I know it reviewed terribly, and I'm sure it _plays_ terribly, but.... y'know, just _looking_ at it as an observer, it resembles stuff that _doesn't play_ terribly so my brain just can't fully accept it. I mean, we've played Onimusha, for example - that did blade-based melee combat like this. That had pre-rendered backgrounds and cinematic camera angles like this. My brain just stops there, lol. It's like "I know how this works" and just wants it to be that, and kinda blocks the platforming and can enjoy the footage. But man, I *know* it is not Onimusha. I *know* it is not some kind of proto-Devil May Cry or Castlevania Lament of Innocent either, even though it resembles that sort of thing _on the surface._ And that's why it hurts: I just wish Vampire Hunter D happened a little bit later so someone could've taken the anime license, looked at _those games_ that did this kind of thing a _whole lot better,_ and pump out something respectable. Hell, I kinda wish someone would do a big-budget Vampire Hunter D *now* in the style of a FromSoft title like Bloodborne and Sekiro; that would be awesome! People have figured out game designs that would do this license justice _now..._ *sigh Oh well. Dude, this was a cool one to talk about for Halloween, and it's entertaining for us to watch you play, so thanks for taking one of the team! Seriously, this may be a pain to actually play, but it _looks_ pretty cool from WAY over here on the sidelines, lol.

[@st1ka]

Oh graphically it looked fine. It's the game itself that was kinda bad. It kind of reminds me of Soul of the Samurai, another Onimusha-like game for the PS1, which also doesn't play well.

[@The_RadicalOne]

Wow! I had no idea it came out in Pal territories.

[@st1ka]

It's not a common game but it's not too expensive either.

[@Dacho_Shaki]

I didn't like it back then, I don't like it now. Honestly, at my first experience with this game, I thought I didn't get it, that it wasn't meant for me, but replaying it recently I remembered why I didn't like it.

[@st1ka]

Yeah, this game is very very not good >.>

[@colinswinbourn117]

Read the book, watched the film. Not played the game also wasn’t aware that there was a PAL version

[@st1ka]

Heh, you're not missing much imo

[@TexasHollowEarth]

You know about the 1st anime movie, right? The one referenced here is the sequel.

[@Alianger]

The vampirefather of devil may cry!

[@st1ka]

hah! Something like that yes.

[@almaelma11]

Great video as always ^^ Vampire Hunter D is quite a game yes. I dont find it bad but find it kinda just eh. It had some great ideas to it that seemed to have been bogged down by certain choises cus "resident evil is popular, we can do it too!" Not the best mentality to have. It really does help to raise the VP meter in this game, along with making sure you have an extra life from overcharging your magic because of the sometimes unfair enemys. I would have taken away many of them items and put an emphasis on puzzles, I too had so many damn items by the end. The only useful item outside the healing ones were the VP raising ones. Ya it hurt you but heal spell and your good to go. One last thing I didn't like was that the bad ending was gotten from doing something that takes more steps then the good ending. You know what I'm talking about but it really annoyed me becuase I thought I was being smart when I did it hah. Again, great review. I don't see it as bad but I'm not about to defend this game too so I think that speaks for itself lol

[@st1ka]

Hehe, understandable ^^

[@jucameiloco8468]

I was playing Anima: Gate of Memories and from start it made remember this game. When I reached the platforms part it remembered this game too much, when the platforms become unskippable, I stopped playing it. Having two main character who talk during the game, was the first common thing, great part of the game is passed inside buildings, enemies re-spawn (not a problem more experience as they get easier to defeat as you get stronger or find how to avoid theirs attacks ), some part of the game have static camera, exploring and solving puzzles is fun, the voice acting is as good as in Vampire Hunter D (which I like). But the platforming was the deal breaker, when you jump the camera moves up and you lose perception, and sight of where you gonna fall.

[@st1ka]

I actually wanna get both anima games. How are they btw?

[@jucameiloco8468]

I didn't know that there was another anima game. Except for the platforming, Anima: Gate of Memories its a good game.

[@shaneklevitz8064]

Castlevania SOTN + resident evil = vampire hunter D This is the 3d Castlevania game on ps1 we never had.

[@datamanmachine]

Comment section 101 for Games that arent that old: You either had never heard of this game or loved it as a kid.

[@st1ka]

I liked as a kid, but don't really like it as an adult tbh

[@Sr.D]

I was aware of the game back then, but never get to play it, the movie was excellent thou

[@st1ka]

The movie is awesome, but you're not missing out on much by not playing the game

[@gibakigamer4041]

This is one of the 3 best anime and manga based games ever made the other 2 are devilman and spriggan all of them are ps1 games but people have to undesrtand it has the ps1 limitations.

[@st1ka]

I mean, I understand the PS1 limitations, but there are plenty of anime and anime-inspired games on the PS1 that play better than this imo.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Love the movie, but OOF, this game.

[@st1ka]

I did enjoy the game when it came out, but playing it now... it's very huh... not good.

[@nightmarezer0507]

HEEEEEY EVERYBODDDYYY

[@st1ka]

Hi Dr. Nightmare Zero!

[@acerodons6036]

so was this ever playtested

[@st1ka]

Who even knows? xD

[@welikewhatwelikenetwork1213]

Man, this really had potential. You can see a good game in there, but they just missed so hard. Incredibly disappointing.

[@st1ka]

They really did :\

[@peachflavored]

I remember playing this for like 20 minutes and thinking: nope! It was a good decision not to buy this crap in favor of some other better game. It's also a shame they went the RE clone route instead of the DMC clone route on PS2, it probably would be a better bet and today maybe it would be a classic. The movie sure is, with MadHouse at that time you couldn't go wrong and that character design by Minowa Yutaka (also did Ninja Scroll and some other older classics) is a sight to behold.

[@st1ka]

The movie was so good! It was my first time watching it and it tottally held up. The on the other hand... heh... not so much.

[@TexasHollowEarth]

You're comparing this to a Shinji Mikami-led, PS2 game made by Capcom? This is a much smaller & older development, published by Jaleco.

[@peachflavored]

@@TexasHollowEarth I'm not comparing anything. There are DMC clones with lower budgets that are pretty decent on PS2.

[@Naldito15]

This has very a similar gameplay style to soul of the samurai for the ps1, but soul of the samurai is actually a very good and underrated game. Its like what vampire hunter d wanted to be gameplay wise as a kid I always wanted to play vampire hunter d for the ps1 since i liked the anime movies growing up. I could never find the game on sale, though. Maybe that was for the best 😅

[@RedJester68]

I know this came before the first Devil May Cry, but I feel like the best way to make a Vampire Hunter D game would be something akin to DMC1. It's action packed but it still has elements of survival horror from its Resident Evil roots and the action doesn't get as intense and in-depth as later games in the series. Just smooth out some of the jank and modernize it and you could get a pretty satisfying Vampire Hunter D game that feels accurate to the feel of the series.

[@st1ka]

Oh yeah definitely!

[@afropowa1598]

Hmm, I never knew this game was based on the 2nd film. I always thought it was the 1st one. Ehhh, they should have just copy Nightmare Creature's gameplay. That would have actually made the game good.

[@st1ka]

That might have worked better, agreed.

[@elbarto6668]

I'm not a gaming developer, just an ordinary smart@**, but why didn't they just do it with an isometric camera perspective, that would be a lot easier for everyone? I would like to see how mediocre games can be improved by turning some mechanics, chopping them off or adding new ones. :)

[@st1ka]

That's a good question, if I had to guess, I'd say they thought it would steer them too far from Resident Evil.

[@Klaus_Schwab_777]

But im going to say - Second👌Yeah like this game too ,back in the day.But anime better 1000 times.

[@st1ka]

haha!

[@Klaus_Schwab_777]

At least they try be faithfull to movie.

[@st1ka]

@@Klaus_Schwab_777 Very true!

[@pandorasnow]

it sounds like you just watched bloodlust and not the original movie?

[@st1ka]

Yep I watched bloodlust because that's the one this game is based on ^^

[@jamescollinge5043]

If you've watched the movies and haven't read the books, you really should!

[@st1ka]

Oh I've heard good things, but sadly, never read them D:

[@solidussnape391]

Definitely devil may cry was the improvement on it. They were very similar even the doors with the seals on them and the orb collecting to get passed the doors with the seals

[@rolandmendozain]

Age well doesn't bother like nightmare creatures that didn't age well story line and game play and characters is what matter and be honest better then some games now

[@st1ka]

I only have Nightmare Creatures 2 for the Sega Dreamcast and oof, that game is not good xD

[@enirya]

Platforming worse than unpatched Ultima 8, impressive!

[@st1ka]

I actually wanted to make an Ultima 8 reference, but I was afraid people wouldn't get the reference lol

[@tysoncarpenter8628]

I never knew that this bad ass movie and books where a game! Ive never seen the second vampire hunter D bloodlust. Ive found it now on youtube and will watch it!

[@st1ka]

It's a great movie, I hope you'll enjoy it! :D

[@tysoncarpenter8628]

@@st1ka i heard there are like 40 something books too! I really want the books bad! I love to read! Especially when its something good.

[@st1ka]

@@tysoncarpenter8628 I've never read them but heard good things about them

[@tysoncarpenter8628]

@@st1ka me too. They where only made in Japan. Then in 2005 they got a English translation. I just imagin 40+ books cant be cheap lol

[@elbarto6668]

Nice

[@st1ka]

Glad you enjoyed it! ^^

[@strain42]

Vampire Hunter D was actually the very first anime I ever saw. I was a kid and found the tape at Blockbuster so I rented it...and ended up being way too scared to actually watch it 'cause I was super young XD ...also yeah, this game looks terrible.

[@st1ka]

Oh I fell in love with the anime, but the game... not so much xD

[@tonkjon6296]

maaan i never played this game only saw the movies like in 2008 because the girlfriend in turn had them in dvd. osom movies im now reading the novels. they are soooo mucchh better specially because i have the aesthetics in my head from blood lust. jejejejeje

[@diegocrusius]

I understand the critics but I think I feel its going a bit to harsh on the game. Besides all the negative points it looks a fun pickup for fans of the genre. I never saw this game but the child me would certainly have loved it. Had a huge laugh when it talks about the platforming of this game lmao. Also, if it doesnt have bad voice acting, its not a 90s game. "noo! dont goo"

[@st1ka]

Hehe, completely fair. ^^

[@Tetrayahtin-77777]

Why the hell would they give this game tank controls 😳im ENJOYIN it but everybody wants to copy resident evil so freaking bad

[@justsomedude5727]

I love the movies and have been really curious why there arent as many games since the world I feel is perfect for it, too bad this game is a flop, a Vampire Hunter D game needs fast action/hack and slash combat, and some world exploration because the environments are so great.

[@st1ka]

I've only seen one of the movies and I freaking LOVED IT

[@Fattydeposit]

I'm not going to say 'First'. Absolutely not.

[@st1ka]

I see what you did there! :P

[@davidlevy6418]

This game sex? Why does it sex?

[@st1ka]

huh... what?

[@ThomasJeff1898]

⁠@@st1ka (4:36) You accidentally said sex instead of sucks. Which is why the OP got confused.

[@tchitchouan]

Terrible Horrible game

[@st1ka]

Yeah, I liked it as a kid, but playing it now makes me realize I was a dumb dumb kid.