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Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)

Status: Stopped playing - Something better came along
I started playing this game on Tuesday 20 February, 2018  //  I stopped playing this game on: Monday 26 March, 2018
Current opinion of this game
No comment, yet.

March 26, 2018 04:58:52 PM
So I defeated the bad guy - not Dracula, but the one that was the driver behind most of the story. I think I missed a villager so the game entered weird state wherein I don't know where to go next! Find the villager?

This seemed like a good moment to drop the game and move on to the next one...I think I've given it a solid play and I've got a good sense of it's mechanics and systems.


March 17, 2018 03:57:54 PM
I've been vacilating for a while now. I enjoy the game - fighting monsters, getting beaten, exploring, etc. until I get to a boss. I really struggle against the boss, decide I'm done, then I defeat the boss. And on the cycle goes. One of the more annoying things about bosses is that I feel like I have to spend/waste a lot of time trying out different weapons and spells (and equipment) until I find the "correct" ones and then, I practice and practice and practice and get really frustrated along the way and then, the boss dies. There's no feedback on the bosses (e.g. how much life left) and so I go in blind and hope for the best...

I'm currently fighting Albus - the main opponent, though I'm guessing it's Dracula after this and, sigh, it's the same thing. I've gotten good at dodging most of his attacks and I hit back...but it feels like a slog. I might defeat him and then quit. We'll see...


March 1, 2018 12:43:37 PM
It's been a while since I've played a game that kicked my butt. And this game started out kicking my butt pretty badly. But, I've been learning and improving and better understanding how the game works (and strategizing for that). Mostly, I've been really enjoying it (though I'll admit there have been moments of intense frustration).

I recall really enjoying the GBA castlevania games I played and I think this one is cut from the same mold. The main difference, and I might be misremembering the GBA games is that I've spent a lot of time backtracking to a village to save but also to talk to villagers I've rescued who have little quests and (some) sell items. Rather than switching between weapons you switch between "glyphs" that, for all intents and purposes are weapons. You find some in the wild and there are monsters that also "drop" them. I think the monster drops are random, so you can do a fair amount of grinding (not just to get the glyph drop) but also to get money and items you need for the villager quests.

So far, the hardest part for me to get used to is how far apart the save points are - as you move along an area clearing monsters you keep making progress hoping to get to the next save. You can't really return the way you came either, because all the enemies re-spawn when you move between areas. I've frequently lost a lot of progress because I died just before getting to the next save.

So far I haven't done any grinding and I really hope I won't have to (grind for money to buy healing potions...)....

Based on how full the map is of locations, I'm guessing I'm halfway there? (I'm clearing Somnus Reef right now)


 
kudos for original design to Rodrigo Barria