Tuned in to Retro Vidya & Tech!

>>1665
Rondo for classic (I suck at classic), and SotN for Iga. I actually haven't played many Igavanias, so SotN is kind of the default. I played Circle of the Moon recently and rather enjoyed it. Good difficulty curve and the spells were fun. If only the card drops were more common.

I tried Harmony of Dissonance right after and I kind of burnt out and dropped it. Not really sure why. It wasn't that it was really bad. I just struggled to get into it. Felt really tedious to navigate all of the long corridors.

>>1667
HoD's a weird one. Personally, I think it's flawed but fundamentally good, but I can understand why people would disagree. Its map is its biggest weak point; it's hard to navigate, really samey, and there's no really inspired enemy placement. At the same time, I love the background details and the little differences between the castles, and the slowness and confusion makes it feel kind of dreamlike in a way that works with the story.

The movement is some of the best in a Castlevania, and magic+subweapons is my personal favorite way to spice of a Belmont. Juste also gets some incredibly wacky shit at the end of the game, like infinite jump boots. At the same time, it's such an easy game you never really need to use the tools it gives you.

So…yeah, I don't think you're wrong for dropping it. It's hard to get into! But I still enjoy it (especially now I'm not playing on an original GBA)

>>1668
I'll definitely pick it up again some time in the future, but I guess it just wasn't clicking with me after how straight forward CotM was.
>I love the background details and the little differences between the castles
I really liked that too. Huge leap forward in terms of sprite work. I was really surprised by just how hellish and otherworldly parts of the castle seemed. Felt much closer to SotN in terms of tone and atmosphere.

>>1665
I think mine's Aria as well. It's so tightly designed that it's hard to argue against it. Sure, some of the souls are unbalanced but that's the kind of complaint you only have after several playthroughs. I also enjoy Dawn about on par now with the Dominus Collection's implementation of the Seals (though them not fixing the luck was egregious, at least there's a mod for it). The weapon fusion system gets a lot of deserved flak, and I agree it could've been far better implemented, but the rest of the game around it is really strong and with the fixed luck I found myself drowning in Souls anyway, which also made the 'strengthening souls by keeping multiples' system far more apparent as well. I seriously don't understand how they messed up such a crucial part of the game, or how they left it broken, either.
Also, not to ignore Classic, I'm also a Rondo guy. My first game was Rondo X and while I have a fondness for it, Rondo is still stronger overall. III, Bloodlines, and Chronicles all follow pretty close behind. Great games, the lot of them.
>>1667
The more time goes on, the more I think Circle's 'middle of the ground' approach to Classicvania and IGAvania deserves another shot. Plus its style of Extra Mode is truly unique and I love it, wish more games took from it there. Especially Thief/Luck Modes (also in SotN), it's a crime in my eyes that those are only in two of those games.

>>1672
CotM's extra modes are neat, but I burned out on them quick. It would be nice if you could pick which one you wanted out of all of them from the beginning instead of having to play through each version to unlock the next

I have mixed feelings about CotM. I loved it back in high school, I still have a fondness for it, but the last time I actually tried to play it I got to the bondage goat boss and was just…done. I didn't want to beat that boss, I didn't want to deal with the zombie dragons, I didn't want to deal with the waterway. I have no idea how I beat that game on an original GBA back in the day.

>>1680
>it's a crime in my eyes that those are only in two of those games.
Really surprised there aren't more. Seems like a really obvious thing to add to increase replay value.

>>1680
>I didn't want to deal with the zombie dragons, I didn't want to deal with the waterway.
I died on the Zombie Dragons more than anything other than Drac. I thought I was just bad, but I guess it's a really common issue people have with the game. The waterway was pretty bad too. So many things hitting me from off screen. Actually didn't realize that I needed to go kill Death first, so I kept trying to make my way through the poison water. Thought there was an item I needed deeper in or something.
>I have no idea how I beat that game on an original GBA back in the day.
Isn't it extra hard on an original GBA because the palette is so dark?

>>1667
>If only the card drops were more common.
There's a ROMhack that scatters the cards around the castle as treasure to find instead of random drops from arbitrary enemies. Kind of neat, it lets you get certain combos earlier than you would otherwise and withholds others for longer.

>>1690
>Isn't it extra hard on an original GBA because the palette is so dark?

Yes. Yes, it is.

The Chapel was a nightmare. Bloody Swords are invisible on an OG GBA. I could only catch a glimpse of them by movement.

I usually played during lunch and one day I got kicked outside for some reason and I was astounded to find out the sprites had color.

And I had to beat Dracula by sound cues, but I think everyone did.

>>1697
I saw that one after I finished the game. Gonna make sure to try it if I ever do a replay.

>>1698
>The Chapel was a nightmare. Bloody Swords are invisible on an OG GBA. I could only catch a glimpse of them by movement.
I can't even imagine. The swords were bad enough as is. Never really found a good way to deal with them, so I'd eventually just try to run past them.
>And I had to beat Dracula by sound cues, but I think everyone did.
Tell me about it. I played it on my DSi, and I still had to do that. The phase where he starts rushing you is kind of bullshit and inconsistent. Had to spam the jump and wait for the sounds to end. Hoping he was done by the time I dropped down. Not to mention the random pattern he'd use to fly around after. I feel like random sums up CotM's enemies and bosses in general. I never want to farm a fallen angel again.