Castlevania:Curse of Darkness
This time I'll be taking a look at Castlevania:Curse of Darkness, released in 2005 and the 2nd CV game for the PS2. In a surprising move, it is also available on the Xbox, though not playable on the 360, booo! The only known difference with Xbox version is that there is a Moai statue that is only in the PS2 version, as you need a Lament of Innocence save for it to appear near the beginning of the game. Curse of Darkness, henceforth referred to as COD if I feel like it, was the 2nd 3-D Castlevania game directly produced by Koji Igarashi, and therefore the 2nd official 3D game. Curse takes place in 1479, 3 years after the events of Dracula's Curse, thus making this game a sequel of sorts. Trevor Belmont is present though not the main character. You play the role of Hector, a familiar looking though new character. My friend, Steve, rightly speculated that since Alucard is sleeping during this time, Konami "graciously" designed Hector with "familiarity" in mind. And nothing else...
Hector was a minion of Dracula during CV III, but fled Vallachia, renouncing his powers as a Devil Forgemaster. This is a person who has the ability to control and summon creatures to aid him in battle.
Anyway, due to Hector's betrayal, Dracula was defeated by Trevor and as a consequence, the curse of the title spread throughout Europe, descending the continent into pestilence and anarchy. Isaac, a friend and fellow Devil forgemaster, comes to believe that Hector is responsible for their master's death and has Hector's love, Rosalyn, burned at the stake as a witch. Consumed by vengeance, Hector returns home to enact his revenge on Isaac, thus beginning the game. This simple tale becomes something much more intriguing as players make their way through the game.
The graphics in COD are good, as Hector is full of details and the Innocent Devils' various forms all look well defined. However, the backgrounds are static and fairly lifeless. When combined with the geometrically similar rooms of every area in the game, the overall graphic design of the game is lazy and feels like a rush job.
The music is a source of mixed opinions from those in game music circles. Michiru Yamane composes once again and I enjoy her work as much as ever. The guitars that were missing from Lament of Innocence's score reappear adding familiarity to Curse's score. This can be seen in Legendary Belmont with allusions to "Beginning" from Castlevania III. Despite this homage, the common consensus is that this score has a lot of filler pieces. I acknowledge that the music of the Infinite Corridor is pretty bad and repetitive, compounded by its inclusion in a frustrating area. The rest of the score is quite good and I have gained a new appreciation for it for this review. Legendary Belmont is a great battle track and probably would find its way into my Top 20 Castlevania tunes. Other highlights include Garibaldi Temple and Abandoned Castle.
COD's gameplay thankfully brings back the Symphony RPG style that Lament inexplicably left out and it functions just the same. The big new feature is the aforementioned Innocent Devils. They also level up just like Hector and are capable of using hearts to fuel their various abilities. Because their hearts are also their life, exercise discretion. There are several different types of Devils, each specialized for healing, fighting and suchlike that change forms based on the weapons you fight with, giving the player good incentive to change weapons up. The Innocent Devil System is pretty neat, and offers good replay if you aren't looking to get the best one of each type every game.
Hector also retains the multiple weapon equip system, instead of using a whip. He has swords, axes, lances, and more that all possess standard blows and the ability to combine with an extra button to create combos for greater effect. These combos increase as weapon types grow in strength and also play a factor in your Innocent Devil's use. An odd thing about the different weapons is that despite their appearance, some weapon types are functionally the same, the one handed sword having the same chaining attacks as some axes. An odd design choice to be sure, or perhaps just developer laziness?
Speaking of developer laziness, why is the only character in the bonus mode Trevor Belmont? Alucard is sleeping to be sure, but Grant and Sypha should have definitely been playable as well. Trevor plays more like a ninja now and it would have very cool to see the others in 3D with interesting new abilities beyond what they had in Dracula's Curse. It would have been just as excellent as Dawn of Sorrow's Julius Mode if they had implemented it properly. This plus the fact that 3D Castlevania bonus modes never allow leveling up! This really hurts the experience, as they is no real reason to ever fight basic enemies. Of course the game tediously forces you to fight by locking doors. This is not much fun, it just takes up time. At least Trevor actually can increase his stats by defeating bosses, I guess he and Julius are just better Belmonts than Leon (who had to find such powerups in hidden chambers in Lament) A real letdown for the fans!
The player also has the ability to combine raw materials to forge his own equipment, thus allowing the player to combine stuff on the fly. Material is dropped by various enemies and some weapons can be bought as base ingredients. Hector also is able to steal rarer materials from enemies. This ability is not necessary to get through the game and the powerful weapons that you can make and fool around with do not carry over, so it is pretty much a waste to experiment with.
Combining allows you to create lots of weapon types, adding some good variety to the combat. This variety is a necessity to avoid boredom in combat. Enemies are smarter than Lament's in that they will actually try to hit you regardless of where you are, but they still are easy dispatched with careful dodging and your Devils' assistance.
The last big change is subtle, but preferable. Lament's odd real time item use has been replaced by a traditional item menu. There were deaths in Lament due to players forgetting to heal in real time, not anymore.
Challenge is a mixed bag, depending on the adage of how much you level up. If you just progress normally with no grinding, some bosses will require some dexterity. This is subjective of course due to the Innocent Devils that you use and which abilities you learn with such. Some of the Devils' attacks are so overpowering that it is just a matter of wearing a boss down by using all the ID's hearts then simply summoning another one and repeating the above.
As usual in Castlevania, the bonus Trevor mode, in which you play as Trevor Belmont, is definitely harder in some areas. But then again, some areas are also a lot easier for Trevor. Challenge is really inconsistent in his mode.
Replay value is the most disappointing area of this game. There are lots of ways to play this game to be sure (using different Innocent Devils, different weapons and suchlike) but because there is no new game plus feature, it feels like a waste of time. There are many secrets in the game from secret weapons and hidden Devils that I would have gladly found if only to be able to use them from a new game. I can't fathom the reason not to include this or a form of NG+. It is not cheating, the player must earn the rewards, and while it does indeed take away the challenge of subsequent replays, you DON'T have to use the secret weapons or already powerful devils. Simply put, would it be so hard to just have a new game option and a NG+ one right next to it when starting a new game?! The Castlevania handhelds have been doing this since Aria of Sorrow, and that was in 2003. A big disappointment for replay value and for Castlevania fans.
In summation, Castlevania:Curse of Darkness is an interesting continuation of the classic Dracula's Curse, with some new gameplay innovations that mostly come off positively. At the same time, its potential is not fully realized, with poor level design and the unfortunate lack of replay value.
The story is meant to continue Dracula's Curse, but with obvious characters missing, the continuation comes off more as half-baked. It may have been a better choice simply to set the game after Trevor's death, thus explaining the lack of characters that really should have been present. Doing this would have allowed the original elements of Curse of Darkness' story to better stand on their own.
Finally, I enjoyed this game when replaying it for this review. I am also glad that IGA acknowledged in a 2007 interview that his team will continue trying for a perfect 3D Castlevania, as he feels that they haven't quite got there yet with Curse and Lament. It is a rare thing to see a producer admit faults in their work, and I admire IGA's honesty in this matter. I look forward to the future of 3D Castlevanias.
8.2/10.0
-Ugly Bob
article id: 132 | poster: bob
