Forum Links
Thread Information
Views
1,315
Replies
5
Rating
4
Status
OPEN
Thread
Creator
Creator
RetroGamer9000
12-28-13 11:38 AM
12-28-13 11:38 AM
Last
Post
Post
RetroGamer9000
12-30-13 12:15 AM
12-30-13 12:15 AM
System
8.2
Views: 647
Today: 0
Users: 2 unique
Today: 0
Users: 2 unique
Thread Actions
Order
Castlevania HoD - Revenge of the Findesiecle [Good, yet Flawed]
Game's Ratings
Overall
Graphics
Sound
Addictiveness
Depth
Story
Difficulty
Average User Score
8.2
8
8.5
8.5
7
6.5
7.5
12-28-13 11:38 AM
RetroGamer9000 is Offline
| ID: 947208 | 1508 Words
| ID: 947208 | 1508 Words
RetroGamer9000
Level: 30
POSTS: 45/187
POST EXP: 6924
LVL EXP: 157231
CP: 1748.2
VIZ: 64823
POSTS: 45/187
POST EXP: 6924
LVL EXP: 157231
CP: 1748.2
VIZ: 64823
Likes: 2 Dislikes: 0
Having played Castlevania : Dracula's Curse for the NES as a little boy, I have always held Castlevania at a high regard in terms of depth and gameplay. Harmony of Dissonance was no exception to that. So when I found out that there was a hack of HoD available here on Vizzed, I jumped to the occasion, paid the Viz fee, and began playing it. What I found as I played it was a good - yet flawed - hack that needed a lot of improvements. Hopefully, in this review, I can help bring to light all of the issues that can be addressed, and hopefully someone can improve this game to make it 100% brilliant. Graphics: 7 One of the major things that factors into a game's creation is the graphics. Most of the time, if a game has terrible graphics, it will not be engaging to the player. Before I began playing the game, I read a previous review that was left regarding the game and its features. One of the things that struck my attention was the options of playing as different characters. Upon seeing this, I began to experiment playing as them. And this is where I found FLAW #1. Allow me to elaborate by going over each character one at a time.
Other than that, Julius Belmont is very well done. Now that we have covered the issues with the sprites, let's go into FLAW #2...the map. Having played Harmony of Dissonance before, I am very well familiar with the game and how you progress throughout the castle. The MetroidVania style of gameplay made having to backtrack a must. Here, when playing as the other "playables", all doors are unlocked and you can go to any given location you want to. Only drawback is you still have to go back to collect vital items in order to progress and reach hard to reach items. If there was a remake of the hack, I would suggest that the necessity of backtracking be reimplemented to the point of not going through specific doors until an objective is cleared first. Given the many things I have pointed out, I still give the Graphics a rating of 7. A lot of adjustments and improvements can be made. Sound: 9 The game's music is pretty much the same as in the original HoD, except for one thing. In the opening credits, instead of the original music, it plays Heart of Fire, theme main theme for Julius. This music is also played in the first series of rooms in the castle when playing as Julius. The sound for this game gets a 9 on account of the playable characters Mario and Megaman. In a way, with all the Belmonts having their own set sounds for attacking or being hit, I kind of expected the same thing from these two. Addictiveness:9 Despite the flaws that I have mentioned, this hack is still quite addictive. Being able to go on through the game as these characters presents a challenge, and it is one that I really enjoy taking. I only have a few thoughts that could make it better. When playing as Juste or Julius, you can pause the game and go to the menu, which can allow you to equip and use items that you pick up. Seeing Mario, Simon, and Megaman pick up these same items, I would have expected you to be able to do the same for them. Instead, pressing Start on the controller only causes the game to pause. No menu, no using the items. If this were remade, I would suggest implementing that all characters have a menu that allows them to use all items picked up. Or, if Mario, Simon, and Megaman still could not use the items, don't have them around in the castle. Another thing I would like to point out would be to translate the entire game. All of the text - with a few exceptions - is in Japanese, and cannot be read unless someone know the language. It would be a good idea - if the hack were remade - to have the text translated and rewritten into the game. Story: 6 Why do I give the Story a 6. For this simple reason. Aside for the original story of Juste's journey, THERE IS NO STORY! I can understand Juste having a story for his trek through the castle, but what about the other characters you play as. These are characters from other games. How did they end up here in this world, and why must they trek through the castle to defeat Dracula? I'm sorry, but this makes the game a little less enjoyable to me. If you have a character you can play as, the character must have a story to explain his purpose for being there. Depth: 6 The reason I give the Depth of the game a 6 is the same reason I gave the Story the rating I gave it. Enough said. Difficulty: 10 This game can be extremely hard to play. For Juste and Julius, it is easy to play as these two. But with Mario, Simon, and Megaman, the limitations caused by the sprites they have make the game REALLY hard to play. Let's Wrap This Up! Castlevania HoD - Revenge of the Findesiecle is an okay game to play. While there are some good things about the game, there are a lot of things that can be improved. I like the game to a degree, and I do recommend people to play it. But I would warn you that there are numerous things that can make it a dull experience at times. My final, overall rating of this game is a 7.5. Thank you for reading this review. I am the RetroGamer9000, signing off! Stay Retro, my friends. Having played Castlevania : Dracula's Curse for the NES as a little boy, I have always held Castlevania at a high regard in terms of depth and gameplay. Harmony of Dissonance was no exception to that. So when I found out that there was a hack of HoD available here on Vizzed, I jumped to the occasion, paid the Viz fee, and began playing it. What I found as I played it was a good - yet flawed - hack that needed a lot of improvements. Hopefully, in this review, I can help bring to light all of the issues that can be addressed, and hopefully someone can improve this game to make it 100% brilliant. Graphics: 7 One of the major things that factors into a game's creation is the graphics. Most of the time, if a game has terrible graphics, it will not be engaging to the player. Before I began playing the game, I read a previous review that was left regarding the game and its features. One of the things that struck my attention was the options of playing as different characters. Upon seeing this, I began to experiment playing as them. And this is where I found FLAW #1. Allow me to elaborate by going over each character one at a time.
Other than that, Julius Belmont is very well done. Now that we have covered the issues with the sprites, let's go into FLAW #2...the map. Having played Harmony of Dissonance before, I am very well familiar with the game and how you progress throughout the castle. The MetroidVania style of gameplay made having to backtrack a must. Here, when playing as the other "playables", all doors are unlocked and you can go to any given location you want to. Only drawback is you still have to go back to collect vital items in order to progress and reach hard to reach items. If there was a remake of the hack, I would suggest that the necessity of backtracking be reimplemented to the point of not going through specific doors until an objective is cleared first. Given the many things I have pointed out, I still give the Graphics a rating of 7. A lot of adjustments and improvements can be made. Sound: 9 The game's music is pretty much the same as in the original HoD, except for one thing. In the opening credits, instead of the original music, it plays Heart of Fire, theme main theme for Julius. This music is also played in the first series of rooms in the castle when playing as Julius. The sound for this game gets a 9 on account of the playable characters Mario and Megaman. In a way, with all the Belmonts having their own set sounds for attacking or being hit, I kind of expected the same thing from these two. Addictiveness:9 Despite the flaws that I have mentioned, this hack is still quite addictive. Being able to go on through the game as these characters presents a challenge, and it is one that I really enjoy taking. I only have a few thoughts that could make it better. When playing as Juste or Julius, you can pause the game and go to the menu, which can allow you to equip and use items that you pick up. Seeing Mario, Simon, and Megaman pick up these same items, I would have expected you to be able to do the same for them. Instead, pressing Start on the controller only causes the game to pause. No menu, no using the items. If this were remade, I would suggest implementing that all characters have a menu that allows them to use all items picked up. Or, if Mario, Simon, and Megaman still could not use the items, don't have them around in the castle. Another thing I would like to point out would be to translate the entire game. All of the text - with a few exceptions - is in Japanese, and cannot be read unless someone know the language. It would be a good idea - if the hack were remade - to have the text translated and rewritten into the game. Story: 6 Why do I give the Story a 6. For this simple reason. Aside for the original story of Juste's journey, THERE IS NO STORY! I can understand Juste having a story for his trek through the castle, but what about the other characters you play as. These are characters from other games. How did they end up here in this world, and why must they trek through the castle to defeat Dracula? I'm sorry, but this makes the game a little less enjoyable to me. If you have a character you can play as, the character must have a story to explain his purpose for being there. Depth: 6 The reason I give the Depth of the game a 6 is the same reason I gave the Story the rating I gave it. Enough said. Difficulty: 10 This game can be extremely hard to play. For Juste and Julius, it is easy to play as these two. But with Mario, Simon, and Megaman, the limitations caused by the sprites they have make the game REALLY hard to play. Let's Wrap This Up! Castlevania HoD - Revenge of the Findesiecle is an okay game to play. While there are some good things about the game, there are a lot of things that can be improved. I like the game to a degree, and I do recommend people to play it. But I would warn you that there are numerous things that can make it a dull experience at times. My final, overall rating of this game is a 7.5. Thank you for reading this review. I am the RetroGamer9000, signing off! Stay Retro, my friends. |
Member
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 12-12-13
Location: United States
Last Post: 2996 days
Last Active: 2059 days
UberHaxorGamer |
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 12-12-13
Location: United States
Last Post: 2996 days
Last Active: 2059 days
12-29-13 12:44 PM
TheFadedWarrior is Offline
| ID: 947732 | 177 Words
| ID: 947732 | 177 Words
Level: 110
POSTS: 919/3591
POST EXP: 266776
LVL EXP: 14343037
CP: 20574.1
VIZ: 81471
POSTS: 919/3591
POST EXP: 266776
LVL EXP: 14343037
CP: 20574.1
VIZ: 81471
Likes: 0 Dislikes: 0
Great review, RetroGamer9000! As far as I'm concerned, it's perfectly original and not plagiarized. This review is almost perfect. It has lots of depth, is (visibly) unbiased, and is spaced and easy to read. I love how you used the bullets. However, I do have some pointers. The story, depth, and difficulty are all short of content. Since they didn't change the story, you could have at least said what the original story was. When reviewing the depth, the shortest of all, you should have explained to us how long the game was. For example you could say, "it's a fairly long game and takes about 30 hours to complete. There are many sidequests once you finish the game." I suppose it could be a bit tougher for a Castlevania game, but you could still explain it. Last, the difficulty. You could have said why it was hard, how powerful the enemies are, etc. You could also have said why the game was easy for Juste and Julius. Overall, it's still a pretty good review. Nice job. This review is almost perfect. It has lots of depth, is (visibly) unbiased, and is spaced and easy to read. I love how you used the bullets. However, I do have some pointers. The story, depth, and difficulty are all short of content. Since they didn't change the story, you could have at least said what the original story was. When reviewing the depth, the shortest of all, you should have explained to us how long the game was. For example you could say, "it's a fairly long game and takes about 30 hours to complete. There are many sidequests once you finish the game." I suppose it could be a bit tougher for a Castlevania game, but you could still explain it. Last, the difficulty. You could have said why it was hard, how powerful the enemies are, etc. You could also have said why the game was easy for Juste and Julius. Overall, it's still a pretty good review. Nice job. |
Vizzed Elite
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 02-19-12
Location: There
Last Post: 97 days
Last Active: 13 hours
The Melee Master |
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 02-19-12
Location: There
Last Post: 97 days
Last Active: 13 hours
(edited by TheFadedWarrior on 12-29-13 12:45 PM)
12-29-13 03:23 PM
supercool22 is Offline
| ID: 947825 | 29 Words
| ID: 947825 | 29 Words
supercool22
Level: 125
POSTS: 2916/4943
POST EXP: 182424
LVL EXP: 22408940
CP: 79560.0
VIZ: 4649937
POSTS: 2916/4943
POST EXP: 182424
LVL EXP: 22408940
CP: 79560.0
VIZ: 4649937
Likes: 0 Dislikes: 0
Well...this is a great review you made. It has lots of information and you broke into different categories. So keep up the great work and have a good day. |
Global Moderator
PC/Steam Manager, Content Adder, Activities Manager
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 11-30-12
Last Post: 4 days
Last Active: 46 min.
PC/Steam Manager, Content Adder, Activities Manager
Winter 2024 TDV Winner |
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 11-30-12
Last Post: 4 days
Last Active: 46 min.
12-29-13 10:11 PM
RetroGamer9000 is Offline
| ID: 948002 | 56 Words
| ID: 948002 | 56 Words
RetroGamer9000
Level: 30
POSTS: 52/187
POST EXP: 6924
LVL EXP: 157231
CP: 1748.2
VIZ: 64823
POSTS: 52/187
POST EXP: 6924
LVL EXP: 157231
CP: 1748.2
VIZ: 64823
Likes: 0 Dislikes: 0
TheFadedWarrior:
I thank you for your criticism on my review. I am hoping to make a video version of the review, by which I will probably go more in depth on the parts of the review I did not. Again, thank you. supercool22: Glad you enjoyed the review. Be on the lookout for more to come. I thank you for your criticism on my review. I am hoping to make a video version of the review, by which I will probably go more in depth on the parts of the review I did not. Again, thank you. supercool22: Glad you enjoyed the review. Be on the lookout for more to come. |
Member
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 12-12-13
Location: United States
Last Post: 2996 days
Last Active: 2059 days
UberHaxorGamer |
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 12-12-13
Location: United States
Last Post: 2996 days
Last Active: 2059 days
12-30-13 12:12 AM
Bintsy is Offline
| ID: 948075 | 29 Words
| ID: 948075 | 29 Words
Bintsy
Level: 126
POSTS: 1569/4762
POST EXP: 284166
LVL EXP: 22662628
CP: 11077.9
VIZ: 66975
POSTS: 1569/4762
POST EXP: 284166
LVL EXP: 22662628
CP: 11077.9
VIZ: 66975
Likes: 0 Dislikes: 0
Wow this is a great review, very detailed and organized! Keep posting these very neat and organized posts and keep up the great work!! Have a nice day!!
Bintsy<33 Bintsy<33 |
Vizzed Elite
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 04-12-11
Location: Under My Cloud
Last Post: 2450 days
Last Active: 20 days
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 04-12-11
Location: Under My Cloud
Last Post: 2450 days
Last Active: 20 days
12-30-13 12:15 AM
RetroGamer9000 is Offline
| ID: 948077 | 11 Words
| ID: 948077 | 11 Words
RetroGamer9000
Level: 30
POSTS: 53/187
POST EXP: 6924
LVL EXP: 157231
CP: 1748.2
VIZ: 64823
POSTS: 53/187
POST EXP: 6924
LVL EXP: 157231
CP: 1748.2
VIZ: 64823
Likes: 2 Dislikes: 0
Member
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 12-12-13
Location: United States
Last Post: 2996 days
Last Active: 2059 days
UberHaxorGamer |
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 12-12-13
Location: United States
Last Post: 2996 days
Last Active: 2059 days