Dengojin
Wild Rose
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Post by Dengojin on May 24, 2018 4:15:04 GMT -6
Greetings everyone!
I got Curse of The Moon the moment it became available in Japan, so I decided to go ahead and pick it from the Nintendo Eshop for the Nintendo Switch. I have played the game for 3 hours now and the gameplay is just something that hooks you up right from the start with it's very responsive controls and catchy 8 bit tunes. The level designs are very simple, but diversed and this is what really matters here.
In the beginning of the game, you start playing as Zangetsu, he is the basic well rounded character, with an average weapon reach and has the highest HP between the 4 characters. Miriam has the longest weapon range with highest jump and her slide which can make her reach places the other characters can't, her HP is also the second highest after Zangetsu's. Alfred, the character we were all worried about being overpowered and the game breaker.. but he is actually far from it, his normal attack is very short, weak and has a very weird attack angle that it will miss a lot of times. His special attacks consumes too much sub weapon points, so you will have to use his abilities at your own risk. Gebel is so much fun to play as. His normal attack has a decent reach, but don't really work as good on ground enemies, but super effective against flying enemies and has a decent damage as well, his bat flying abilities consumes sub weapon points by 1 every second. That's it for my impression introduction, but there is nothing that has no pros and cons.. so let me talk about that for a moment, but I will start with the pros.
Pros:
- Beautiful retro graphics mixed with both 8 bit and 16 bit for bigger enemies.
- Controls feel very responsive, controlling the character have never been this fun with this kind of an action 2D game.
- The game is very well balanced and makes every character useful in their own way.
- The diversity in boss battles are pleasantly surprising
- Soundtracks are simply amazing, 8 bit Galleon Minerva is beautiful!
- Different modes after beating the game
Cons:
- I mentioned that the graphics are good for a retro game style, but sometimes the character melds into the background and makes it hard for you to tell where the character is because of their color pallete.
- on the nintendo Switch, if you switch from docked mode into portable, the controls will stop responding and you will have to restart the game for them to work again. I hope they patch this soon!
- Black borders on the sides and game is not taking the whole screen, aspect ratio can easily be fixed with future patches too. Might be just a Nintendo Switch thing.
- Standard run is way too easy, until you unlock the extra modes
That is pretty much it, Curse of the moon is a very nice gift from Inti create and Artplay to the backers if not almost too generous, but if you are someone who is purchasing the game from digital stores you will get what you pay for, more than what you expect from a $10 game. The game is a nice spin-off title and I would if this become a whole serious, not to replace the main Ritual of the night format, but along aside with it like it's sibling, because if they make a second Curse of the Moon and become it's own series.. I'm 200.6% sure it will get all the support from not only Bloodstained fans, but retro gaming fans in general.
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XombieMike
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Post by XombieMike on May 24, 2018 22:22:01 GMT -6
We do have spoiler tags that can be used. If someone is reading through recent they could find this on accident. I don't see any big spoilers above, I'm just saying: Use spoilers with the button available in the toolbar above. Its to the far right. Second from the end. So, I have finished the first run through and started the next mode. Gonna put it down for the night, as I should have already been in bed, ahhaha. I love the game though. They did such an amazing job with it. I love it more than any Classicvania for sure. The amazing fun of the game almost makes up for IntiCreates putting backers last with this botched release. I think I will redo the CotM theme here on the forums and make it work much better and look more like the 8 bit style. |
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exalt9
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Post by exalt9 on May 24, 2018 23:53:12 GMT -6
This game is very challenging. I am stuck on Valac.
This is my first CV-style game.
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Post by Nuralit on May 25, 2018 4:59:23 GMT -6
I love it, but playing it regularly is definitely easier than any other Classicvania, since allies have independent health bars, and you only lose a life after dying with all of them.
However, Zangetsu-only is absolutely brutal and is going to take me a good while. Nightmare mode also changes up enemy placement and boss movesets so that's quite something.
There's one final mode I haven't unlocked yet, don't know how to get to it, might unlock after I beat Zangetsu-only.
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Post by XombieMike on May 25, 2018 6:35:34 GMT -6
I consider this kinda less a spoiler and more a challenge to those who have made it through at least once: When you use the Curse of the Moon option to go back and play a level you will see the level progression and a special item you have collected under each level EXCEPT I don't have any for the very first and the second section. DO THEY EXIST?! Getting those may unlock something! |
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Post by Nuralit on May 25, 2018 7:03:40 GMT -6
I consider this kinda less a spoiler and more a challenge to those who have made it through at least once: When you use the Curse of the Moon option to go back and play a level you will see the level progression and a special item you have collected under each level EXCEPT I don't have any for the very first and the second section. DO THEY EXIST?! Getting those may unlock something! I have no proof of this since I haven't tried it yet, but I'm halfway certain you get those in Nightmare Mode since you get to use the three party members right from the start to access areas Zangetsu can't get to. |
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Post by Torabi on May 26, 2018 10:28:30 GMT -6
The music was awesome, and the bosses were interesting. The controls drove me nuts. Playing on PC, with a keyboard, and it was a guessing game, since several buttons (like the pause screen) weren't listed anywhere, and any instructions given were controller-only. I couldn't figure out the initial control setup screen, nothing seemed to work there other than skipping.
The jump physics were rough. I don't think I died a single time to a normal enemy, but I died more times than I can remember jumping into pits, or walking off ledges, because you have no inertia and just drop like a rock. And the number of times I fell off instead of climbing up or down a flight of stairs... Speaking of stairs, not being able to jump while climbing them was frustrating.
I think I found all the secret items, except for the one in stage 2. Stage 1 doesn't appear to have one, but the Curse of the Moon interface is a bit confusing. I'm not really sure what the glove even does, though I would guess it's attack power. It seems like there's more to the game than I found though, considering that Zangetsu is listed on the website as having more abilities to unlock, there's a button assignment in the control settings that's just question marks, and there's quite a few achievements, considering the length of the game.
I did find it odd how easily Zangetsu allows the others to join him, let alone live. The dialogue's... quirky, to put it nicely. Gebel's walking animation amused me more than seems reasonable.
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Busterific
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Post by Busterific on May 26, 2018 11:06:47 GMT -6
The jump physics were rough. I don't think I died a single time to a normal enemy, but I died more times than I can remember jumping into pits, or walking off ledges, because you have no inertia and just drop like a rock. And the number of times I fell off instead of climbing up or down a flight of stairs... Speaking of stairs, not being able to jump while climbing them was frustrating. I think I found all the secret items, except for the one in stage 2. Stage 1 doesn't appear to have one, but the Curse of the Moon interface is a bit confusing. I did find it odd how easily Zangetsu allows the others to join him, let alone live. The dialogue's... quirky, to put it nicely. Gebel's walking animation amused me more than seems reasonable. If you grew up with the original games, the jump physics, falling, and stuff with the stairs are very familiar. I'm certain that it intentionally behaves that way.
Relating to the secret item on stage 1... I believe you have to play in Nightmare mode for the secret item on state 1 to be accessible. I could give directions, but there isn't anything too difficult when you've got the appropriate character and I don't want to be too spoilery.
I was thinking that about Zangetsu myself although it makes sense since this is an old style game that's not supposed to be all that plot heavy. I like how they ended it on the first playthrough though. Still going through the Nightmare levels here. |
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Nezuto
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Post by Nezuto on May 26, 2018 12:22:46 GMT -6
The dialogue's... quirky, to put it nicely. Well, the trailer did seem to aim at being campy, when they advertised it, so possibly dialogue was meant to be taken in a more retro way? That being said, I have to agree.......Maybe I'm just getting old and remember too many 80's action flicks and their camp lines.  Oh and I have to ask, in your opinion, is it worse than the original Resident Evil on PS? |
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Post by yulia11 on May 26, 2018 12:34:02 GMT -6
I pledged $60 and where is my copy?
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Post by Masquerade on May 26, 2018 13:11:47 GMT -6
I pledged $60 and where is my copy? The console codes aren’t available at the moment but the stores across the world are all accessible as well as temporary steam codes provided by fangamer. Unfortunately, we probably won’t have them until no later than June 6th. |
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Post by ghaleon on May 27, 2018 1:38:05 GMT -6
I believe in honesty.
Frankly this game isn't bad but I doubt I'll really enjoy it much once the newness wears off. I don't care for graphics so much that I refuse to play games if they don't have great graphics, but at the same time I don't automatically give anything with 8 bit graphics a pass like I see so many other people do. They're fine, but I didn't see myself surprised with anything either (except maybe the final boss. She's cute! No seriously, I've never thought of an 8 bit girl as cute before but she is... is it just me?). The difficulty is the biggest gripe I have. I really really wish they didn't hide harder difficulties behind a regular run first. It was just too darn easy except bs insta kill locust swarm moments in the final stage, which is really only going to be an issue for a first playthru, not future ones. Nightmare difficulty is what I would have liked to begin with.
I find the music to be pretty average for 8 bit music. It's not castlevania good IMO. Though I do like the bgm for stage 2 quite a bit.
Sorry. But I just think it's a nice little perk to come along with the BS package, which is good enough for me. But I would have felt disappointed if I coughed up 10 bucks for it (I'm picky with my purchases though). Not egregiously so, but kinda like 'meh, oh well, better luck next time'.
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Post by freddythemonkey on May 27, 2018 7:46:35 GMT -6
ghaleon Nightmare mode isn't even an harder mode to be honest lol since you have all the characters from the get-go (well, almost) and you can get every power up in every level. Boss patterns are slightly harder but nothing major, really. Completing Nightmare mode skyrocketed my already good respect for the game though. I loved how it completely changed the last level and the last boss fight, which was epic, I'd say more than any retrovania boss fight. Overall this is a very carefully crafted game. The aesthetic is the "retro" thingie done right (like Shovel Knight did): it's not about giving it a free pass just because it's retro, it's honestly very well done. There are an awful lot of indie titles which don't know how to make a GOOD pixel art, let alone with the 8bit aesthetic, but there is a lot of attention to detail here. It's not the best 8bit pixel art in the world, but it's pretty great. The BGM, while not being Castlevania level is pretty good and memorable for the most part, bosses are tightly designed in both aesthetic and mechanics. The amount of endings and replayability also surprised me. This is not like a freebie at all, this is a full fledged game. I would have gladly paid 15 euros or so for it, I am a sucker for this style sure but CotM managed to surprise me.
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Pure Miriam
Legendary Comrade
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Post by Pure Miriam on May 28, 2018 16:44:25 GMT -6
After some absence, in order to play the game without spoilers, after beating normal and nightmare mode, i came back to do my analysis on Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. THE PROMISE AND WHAT WAS DELIVERED
IGA and his team promised a retro-style prequel mini-game for consoles and PC, and that's exactly what we got. From the aesthetics to the soundtrack, to the gameplay and overall difficulty, the game is crafted to be what it was promised to be. They delivered exactly what was promise, with the single change being the game following a spin-off story rather than a prequel as originally intended. Such decision was probably made to make possible to play the game with four characters that wouldn't fit on a prequel plot at al. Nothing short of perfection. They delivered what they promised. THE GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is really fun, abeit not without some flaws. Don't get me wrong: the game is engaging, fun, entertaining and you really want to just keep playing it forever. But the game has some small problems that can grow big. When you get the other characters, Zangetsu turns almost into a filler character. All others are way more useful and stronger than him in many aspects. I know they probably did that in order to give Zangetsu new skills in a certain mode, but even so, it's bad when the main character of a certain game is way less interesting and fun to play then almost all others. Something else to complain is that the bosses on normal mode are too easy for a retro game. They only pose a real challenge on Nightmare mode. But the game IS addictive, due to how fun it is. THE SOUNDTRACK
Probably the BEST aspect of the game. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon soundtrack is nothing short of amazing and fantastic. It's really well crafted and well done to simulate a high-quality 8-bit OST reminiscent of the old castlevania games. THE PLOT
The game's plot is quite simple (if not, a bit undeveloped) but it is interesting noneless. Specially considering what happens on the ending of normal mode and the other spoilery things... FINAL THOUGHTS
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is a great game, a great addition and i see it as a "warms up" for what Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will be.
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(yber])ragon10]{
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"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the world, and loses his own soul?"
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Post by (yber])ragon10]{ on May 28, 2018 17:54:26 GMT -6
I consider this kinda less a spoiler and more a challenge to those who have made it through at least once: When you use the Curse of the Moon option to go back and play a level you will see the level progression and a special item you have collected under each level EXCEPT I don't have any for the very first and the second section. DO THEY EXIST?! Getting those may unlock something! I have no proof of this since I haven't tried it yet, but I'm halfway certain you get those in Nightmare Mode since you get to use the three party members right from the start to access areas Zangetsu can't get to. You are both correct. Getting the HP max-up in the first stage can only occur in Nightmare mode, since you can't start with Gebel to take that first staircase up otherwise. The max-ups are mostly perks to make the rest of the game somewhat easier. There are 3 HP ups, 2 MP ups, 1 Atk up (Gauntlet) and 1 Def up (armor). The final stage doesn't have any power-up to collect.
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2018 3:32:17 GMT -6
I pledged $60 and where is my copy? Open your email and search for Fangamer correspondence. The one titled Backer Survey or something. It is the form that lets you change/upgrade tier (now locked), change your info and platform of choice (now locked, too). It added a new option for codes. If you click that area, you get it. |
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EbonAnimus
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Post by EbonAnimus on Jun 5, 2018 13:09:54 GMT -6
I´m working on the last 4 Archivements atm, and i must say "DAMN", on Vereran it´s like the old days while playing Castlevania on Gameboy, i was young back than and crushed 2 Gameboys in rage before beating it^^
I may have become a little rusty but this one is cool in every way, Soundtack, Difficulty, Uniqueness and overall youth-feeling while beating it in different ways, has been years since i had so much fun playing something^^
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