Castlevania Judgement

[Paj!]

I like the idea of it, despiter NEVER playing a Castlevania game in my life. I like those kinda fighters, and I'm not sure HOW bad the gameplay actualy is yet...

[Hero-of-Time]

I've just checked GAME and its £19.99, looks like I will just snap it up there as I get it early and get my reward points. In other news....

 

don’t think Castlevania Judgment did all that well in North America. The game may have turned out better than most people expected, but Castlevania fans just don’t want to see the franchise head into the fighting direction. While we may be a bit more willing to embrace the title, Japan has given it the ultimate cold shoulder. According to Enterbrain sales, the title sits at 3,700 units moved thus far. I’m guessing that’s not near what Konami expected

 

Oh dear

[ShadowV7]

Holy crap that's bad. I reckon I would pre-order it but i'm not getting anymore games altogether for a little while now. That backlogue is too big for me to buy new games now.

[nekunando]

Holy crap that's bad. I reckon I would pre-order it but i'm not getting anymore games altogether for a little while now. That backlogue is too big for me to buy new games now.

 

I hear that ..there has been several games that have tried to tempt me since the turn of the year but I feel more commited to taking care of the games I have already! When I see a game for a great price, I think of Okami sitting sealed at home, Zack & Wiki needing finished, Shenmue II, Silent Hill, SKies of Arcadia: Legends, Head Hunter, Batallion Wars, Beyond Good & Evil, Tales of Symphonia.. wow, I'm only scratching the surface there, I could go on for ages about what needs to be played in my collection.. but you get the idea

 

The upside is I can save money and buy new games later on down the line for a better price when I actually have time for them (if I ever have time ) but also.. I have so many great games to play

[Owen]

I've preordered this, it looks rather fun with the traps in the arenas etc...and at £19.99 i think it's worth it. Probably get it even cheaper on play.com or something.

[K-project]

I actually cancelled my pre-order for this, sadly. Saw some video reviews and watched a few clips and thought it looked a bit lacking. Didn't much care for anime boobies as someone in their mid-thirties, and the extra long special move sequences just looked really indulgent and pointless. I didn't have an issue with the design of the characters (it's a beat 'em up after all), but the camera looks seriously broken. Even for £18 I couldn't come up with enough reasons to warrant a purchase.

 

I picked up Guilty Gear XX Accent Core for about £8 instead and I reckon that'll prove a much better choice in the end. Sorry Konami. If it's any consolation I pre-ordered PES2009 and I'll definitely be getting that!

[Hero-of-Time]

This arrived a few hours ago and I have played through story mode a few times now. The game isnt that bad at all, definetly doesn't deserve the bashing it got when it was released in Japan/US and easily worth the budget price.

 

Now I have only played through a couple of Castlevania games in my time but what is the deal with Maria? I played through her story mode and she is obsessed with womens breast sizes! Is she some sort of lesbian vampire hunter? Her conversation with Sypha is hilarious.

[darksnowman]

This arrived a few hours ago and I have played through story mode a few times now. The game isnt that bad at all, definetly doesn't deserve the bashing it got when it was released in Japan/US and easily worth the budget price.

 

Don't say that... you'll make me think its worth buying...

 

Now I have only played through a couple of Castlevania games in my time but what is the deal with Maria? I played through her story mode and she is obsessed with womens breast sizes! Is she some sort of lesbian vampire hunter? Her conversation with Sypha is hilarious.

 

O rly? Now you've gone and done it!

[nekunando]

..hmm.. even though it is already a low price, I'll be waiting for a considerable price cut still ..and I still might want to have tried it first before purchasing

 

I really don't like the logo, though.. it doesn't give me a Castlevania vibe

 

Anyway, I'd definitely like to try it some time : peace: I'm hardly a fighting game purist so might find enough in there to enjoy

[Zechs Merquise]

This arrived a few hours ago and I have played through story mode a few times now. The game isnt that bad at all, definetly doesn't deserve the bashing it got when it was released in Japan/US and easily worth the budget price.

 

Now I have only played through a couple of Castlevania games in my time but what is the deal with Maria? I played through her story mode and she is obsessed with womens breast sizes! Is she some sort of lesbian vampire hunter? Her conversation with Sypha is hilarious.

 

I was thinking of picking it up, what's the online like? It's only 17.99 so it's a bit of fun for very little expense!

[Hero-of-Time]

I was thinking of picking it up, what's the online like? It's only 17.99 so it's a bit of fun for very little expense!

 

I can't really help you here Zechs as I very rarely play my Wii online. Its a hassle switching my cable from the 360 and then Wii and 9 times out of 10 I just do it to get a VC game and then back in the 360 it goes. Sorry.

[Pete]

Ive been in 2 minds if to get this but screw it im gonna take the chance when I get so cash soon. Edit: but then I want to get Mad World and the new pro evo and I can only afford so many games , Proberbly I will just end up pushin the boat out on all 3.

 

Edit - ordered off play, can't wait

Edited April 3, 2009 by Pete

[Andyliini]

I got this game few days ago, and I absolutely love it. I never have been into fighting games, and complicated combos, but this Castlevania just makes me want to play it more and more.

 

The trick is, those complicated combos are not around in this one. It's all about finding a right spot to attack, and then strike strong. I found it very Castlevania-like, altough it's a fighting game. Castle mode is my favorite so far, great fan service. I hope this would sell 30 000 copies in Europe and Austarlia, so it would reach 100k worldwide sales, but I have the feeling, that this non-advertised title will just get lost from players.

[Pete]

Yeah this ok , just ran though it in story mode with Simon, the controls quite stiff but theres a good game here not that deep so maybe its lastabilty may suffer - how ever I may be jumping the gun before I few more play thoughs.

[Pete]

*Bump* so anyone else got playing this yet? Thoughts?

[Funktion]

Yesterday I spend most of my day playing the game (close to 10 hours), and I have some mixed feelings about it.

 

First of all, just a quick note for those interested: a US copy of Order of Ecclesia works fine with this game, in order to unlock bonus content (when you connect the two it unlocks content in both games). It's great to see that not everyone is like Nintendo, which locks access to these bonuses in their games when using copies from different territories.

 

As for the game, it's not as bad as most people paint it to be, but it's fairly underwhelming.

The concept of a Castlevania fighting game didn't shock me as much as it did with most people, since I'm old enough to remember games such as Sonic the Fighters, Golden Axe: The Duel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters and even older similar games, so I kept a pretty open mind about this game.

 

First of all, this is not a regular 1vs 1 fighter, as previously mentioned this game is more akin to games like Power Stone, in which the arenas are less restrictive than most fighting games, and you can even use a few items (barrels, ...) and power-ups to attack your opponents.

Even though the game is not a platformer or an action RPG, most of the times it still feels like a Castlevania game, due to it's art style, the usual great soundtrack and a few fun references to the series. In fact the game is filled with fun references to different games and different periods of the Castlevania timeline, which is sure to please longtime fans of the series, and they actually found a decent way to bring characters from totally different periods to fight each other. A few of the characters suffered quite a transformation, but most of the designs work well, and they managed to give each character a hint of personality and motivations to keep the game interesting.

But, while the game technically doesn't disappoint, the gameplay is far from exciting. First of all, I can't say I enjoyed the controls of this game. Instead of pulling special moves with the usual combination of buttons like in most fighting games, this game uses one button that doesn't do anything by itself, and whose only purpose is to activate special moves when you hold it and then press another button. It may appear OK, but using a classic controller, to pull an air special you must be moving with the left analogue stick, pressing the R button to jump, and then holding the "a" button while hitting the "b" button to attack. It's not very intuitive.

But worse of all, after a few matches the game fails to suck you in. It's simply not very fun to play, not terrible in any way, but a bit boring.

It's a shame, because unlike most fighting spin-offs of other series this game manages to still feel like a Castlevania game, but it just gets old rather quickly.

 

The game has the usual modes: a Story mode,

(and get this: to actually get the ending for a character, you have to finish this mode 13 times (one with each of the first 13 characters, 10 fights for each playthrough), in order to unlock what most people call the "true" Story mode, and only when you finish the game again (now 12 fights for each playthrough) will you get the ending, which is in text form)

a Castle mode (similar to the Weapon Master mode in Soul Calibur), a Versus mode, a Training mode, a Tutorial mode (which teaches you the controls), a Gallery where you can check some character art, voice samples and music tracks (you have to unlock most of the content), and an Accessories option that lets you customize your characters with accessories you unlock during the game.

There's online multiplayer available, but I haven't tried it. Also, like I previously mentioned, people who also own Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia can connect the two games to unlock content in both games, such as characters and accessories in Castlevania: Judgement, and a few bonus modes and increased level cap in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.

 

All in all, it's better than most fighting spin-offs, but it's simply not as fun as games such as Street Fighter IV or Power Stone.

If you have friends to play with the game may be more entertaining, but if like me you play mostly SP you'll probably get bored fast.

Since the game can be found online for as little as £15, it's a decent purchase, especially for open minded Castlevania fans.

[K-project]

Brilliant write-up Funktion. Like you I'm old enough to remember Sonic the Fighters etc, so I was less likely to be offended by this as a spin off game than most.

 

However, I'm really glad I bought Mad World instead of this as a beat 'em up, especially as it's now £17.99. Of course they are different games really, but you get my point. At it's basic level, Judgement didn't look like that much fun as you say in your review, and you could tell as much from the videos etc. It's good to have a proper write up on the forums from someone who has spent considerable time with it to qualify my initial doubts!

 

So thanks again for your great write up. I may pick it up if I see it for £7.99 or something, but even at a budget £18 it's hard to justify the purchase to myself.