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Retro Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness is way more different from Castlevania 64 than i remember

Reinhard Schneider

Forgotten vampire hunter
Pronouns
He/Him
I know this is a weird reason to write a thread, but it's spooktober so please bear with me a little.

I'm a points at avatar Castlevania 64 fan and it's probably my most played Castlevania game only behind the original NES one, however, this extends only to CV64, wich back in the day i got before release yadda yadda. Its sequel/prequel/Goty edition Legacy of Darkness is a game i may have played less than five times in the last 20 years, and not a single time in the last 5, wich is saying something since i have both on every single system that can emulate the N64.

Lately i've been streaming it and noticed that my memories from the game are more distorted than i thought. In several conversations i've had here and in other communities i have always said that it's basically a polished version of the original game with a few new levels and two of them being slightly or completely remodeled.

I was so very wrong.

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I'm almost finishing Cornell's adventure, and the game focus is completely different. For starters, Castlevania 64 keeps a steady rythm by not letting you stay on a zone neither for too long or for too little time, it makes sure that levels never overstay their welcome while throwing you at varied settings like traversing through a creepy forest, escaping from a vampire infested mansion, getting lost in an underground cave... The biggest zone is the Castle center, and even then it makes sure to guide you from A to B to C and, lastly, to D, and it only ramps up right at the end, at the clock tower.

Honestly, i think that Castlevania 64 is a masterclass of level design for that alone, but that's besides the point.

Legacy of Darkness is not like that. The game starts slow and keeps that pace until the villa, when you're faced with a longer and more nervewrecking quest than CV64's Mandragora and Nitro: Rescueing Henry and lately escaping from the Villa. I won't give spoilers here, but if you have played CV64, the way the game uses the Villa is exasperating and it wouldn't be strange if it became a roadblock for a lot of people.

After that, you're thrown at the second outer wall, then the art tower, and from there the intensity increases steadily until reaching the climax at the tower of the execution. At that point, the clock tower feels like a very well deserved rest.

Why, if it's the same game?

Well, because it isn't.

I said before that i have always said that it's basically a polished version of the original game with a few new levels and two of them being slightly or completely remodeled, right? Well, that's a fucking lie.

Most of the levels have been redesigned one way or another. Castlevania 64 has an exploration+combat focus, while Legacy of Darkness is all about intense platforming, right at the start in the ghost ship you're given a completely optional platforming section on the ship's masts, then you have the cargo section with the thin wood beams and obstacles from the get go. The forest has two timed platforming puzzles, the twin towers are more aggressive with the trap platforms and staircases, and after the Villa it just ramps up with platforms, traps and falls galore. It has overall more save points and it fucking needs them because it gets almost psychotic once you reach the second third of the Ruins tower, and then the Execution Tower is peak Castlevania design.

In what ways does the game changes to become like that? I'll try to make a small, spoiler-free list with the most relevant changes

  • Ghost ship: It's a whole new level
  • Forest of silence: Timed platform challenges, an uncaged fight becomes a caged one
  • Outer wall: You have to go through both towers thrice instead of twice
  • Villa: Slower, more exploration based, but Henry's rescue is harder than Malus'
  • Outer wall 2: Whole new level. Platforming galore
  • Tower of art: Whole new level. Day/nigh blocked doors, exploration/platforming mix
  • Tower of ruins: Labyrinth --> Falling platforms --> Precision platforming. Hand sweat inducing
  • Tower of duel: Different cages for each duel (fire walls, etc...), athletic obstacle course between duels, hard final boss at the end
  • Tower of science: Platforming galore
  • Tower of execution: Platforming galore deluxe
  • Clock tower: Same as CV64. Thankfully
This is Cornell's adventure, but as hazy as my memory is, i recall Reinhardt and Carrie keeping the same routes as in the original but with the updated level designs.

In any case, i think that the narrative of just being a remaster should be dropped, it really feels like a sequel that just takes place in the same setting, and deserves a new look from the fandom, and the gaming community in general.
 
I would really love a remake of this game. Even though the 3D Castlevania games by Iga are more polished and control better, they never really felt like Castlevania games to me.

Castlevania 64 / Legacy of Darkness are the true 3D successors to the 2D games.
 
I would really love a remake of this game. Even though the 3D Castlevania games by Iga are more polished and control better, they never really felt like Castlevania games to me.

Castlevania 64 / Legacy of Darkness are the true 3D successors to the 2D games.
I would be content with a NSO re-release tbh. I was hoping for it to be in the second wave.
 
If I remember it right, some of the Castlevania 64 features are removed in Legacy of Darkness like voice acting.

And the slower pace if you decide to use the expansion pak.
 
If I remember it right, some of the Castlevania 64 features are removed in Legacy of Darkness like voice acting.

And the slower pace if you decide to use the expansion pak.
Yes, voice acting got removed, but it was barely there to begin with. Dracula was voice acted in the PAL version, but not in the rest of the world. The prologues are still voice acted on LoD

Aside of that, nothing else was lost, in fact LoD added a lot of things, even gameplay wise by including camera control, being able to switch camera modes every time, throwable weapon lvl up, etc...

By the way, the prologues were VA'd by SotN's very own Scott McCulloch (original Richter Belmont's voice)

About the expansion pack, the game didn't slow down, it just had a lower framerate.
 
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I watched ThaBeast run through Castlevania 64 a while ago. It looks like a pretty cool game! I didn't know it had another version. Hopefully one day they come to NSO or something so more people can try them out!

 
I would really love a remake of this game. Even though the 3D Castlevania games by Iga are more polished and control better, they never really felt like Castlevania games to me.

Castlevania 64 / Legacy of Darkness are the true 3D successors to the 2D games.
We need more remakes of ambitious but somewhat janky projects in general.
I get that it's a marketing nightmare to go "This game that's been made fun of by everyone is here again!", but it sucks only seeing good games getting remade
 
I get that it's a marketing nightmare to go "This game that's been made fun of by everyone is here again!", but it sucks only seeing good games getting remade
Plumbers Don't Wear Ties got a re-release. I think the bar on what does and doesn't get re-released is pretty much buried six feet under at this point.
 
We need more remakes of ambitious but somewhat janky projects in general.
I get that it's a marketing nightmare to go "This game that's been made fun of by everyone is here again!", but it sucks only seeing good games getting remade
I would argue two things

1.- The N64 games are actually good, but victim of a series of factors (mainly Kurt Kalata, being the webmaster of Castlevania Dungeon, absolutely hating the N64 games, the AVGN CV64 video, and the loudest sector of the Castlevania fanbase disproportionately loving Symphony of the Night while bashing CV64)

2.- Nightdive is actually doing that. The Turok games and Shadowman were considered janky at one point and they re-released them

I watched ThaBeast run through Castlevania 64 a while ago. It looks like a pretty cool game! I didn't know it had another version. Hopefully one day they come to NSO or something so more people can try them out!


Matt McMuscles did Halloween playthrough last year that is worth a watch, particularly because he bashed the game in his What Happened video time before that.

 
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I wonder if a definitive edition is possible in the future (I love the og's intro and the voices among other details that were lost in LoD)
Cornell's bosses in general were kind of weird. The "USE LOCK ON!" message irked me the wrong way.
I appreciated the campaign in general though, and that rendition of sinking old sanctary is my favorite.
 
I wonder if a definitive edition is possible in the future (I love the og's intro and the voices among other details that were lost in LoD)
Cornell's bosses in general were kind of weird. The "USE LOCK ON!" message irked me the wrong way.
I appreciated the campaign in general though, and that rendition of sinking old sanctary is my favorite.
In so far, only boss that put the use lock on on screen was the Harpy, i guess because how small and mobile it is.

It would be nice to have an all in one package, put the VA, the redesigned levels, the subweapon level system and the new graphics all in the same game. Give different versions of the same levels to different characters.

We know it wont happen, but a fan can dream <3
 
Sorry for the double post but i need to make a rectification, because turns out the Click Tower isn't the same either.

It does a bait and switch. First two rooms are exactly the same CV64 high stakes platforming, i saved in the corridor before the third room and called It a day.

Hooo boy how wrong i was again.

Third room receives you with a botomless pit in the middle of the room, and the vertical axises switch up to the hysterical LoD platforming style, flamethrowers and all.

Once you get through It then there are pendulums, a small sliding puzzle where a mistake will decimate your health big time, and more flamethrowers.

At least there aren't Medusa heads.

From there on, it's just the final battle.

My conclusions are reinforced after the clock tower: It's a different Game, Konami Kobe clearly didnt just want to re-release CV64, they knew they would have been eaten alive.

Legacy of Darkness is pure Classicvania in a different sense than 64. It has the platforming and the quirky environments - some inspired by SotN like the Art Tower - It's hysterical and merciless and has some trololol moments.

To get the full Castlevania 64 experience one has to play both. That this has gotten such a mid reputation is heart breaking.

Now, on to enjoy the rest of the content
 
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I like the CV64 games. It is true they're flawed (fuck that stupid segment with the exploding potion or w/e it was) but they're also far too over hated.
 
I like the CV64 games. It is true they're flawed (fuck that stupid segment with the exploding potion or w/e it was) but they're also far too over hated.
And even so, i would say that that segment is overrated

Only points of real difficulty of that section is the mechanical room (with the gears, and the mechanic platforms) and the absolute end with the motorcycle skeleton.

CV64 hate goes back to the days of Castlevania Dungeon, wich back then was the primary source for Castlevania reviews and opinions at the time, and where the webmaster Kurt Kalata absolutely lambasted the game mostly because it wasn't Symphony of the Night, and then the AVGN video did the rest.

How much would those two pieces of media influence the general opinion of the game, that recently some youtubers and media outlets like Digital Foundry have been giving the game a chance and PRAISING it.

Since i always link Matt McMuscles' playthrough, here's DF's John Let's Play video

 
And even so, i would say that that segment is overrated

Only points of real difficulty of that section is the mechanical room (with the gears, and the mechanic platforms) and the absolute end with the motorcycle skeleton.
Yes, which is why the section is fucking awful. It's not "over rated" in the slightest, it's the worst part of the game.
 
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