Comments on: Anatomy of Castlevania III: Block 3-00 to 3-04

By: jparish

jparish — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:47:32 +0000

I believe the lightning spell costs several hearts, but fire costs one per shot and is twice as powerful as the upgraded whip with the same range and less lag time. It’s pretty boss.

By: MetManMas

MetManMas — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:39:38 +0000

I haven’t really used Sypha much, so I wouldn’t know how good her magic is. And if you’re getting her the standard way (as in not using a certain name to start with her), you have to go through Block 4-A(lternate) afterwards, and that’s both a pretty brutal step up in difficulty and a stage that’s fairly stingy on sub weapon drops.

By: LBD "Nytetrayn"

LBD "Nytetrayn" — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:15:22 +0000

@Jparish: Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve played– much less used Sypha. My memory was telling me that her magic cost a bit to use…

By: jparish

jparish — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 02:42:01 +0000

Sypha is way better at keeping her distance. Her spells keep enemies pushed back, so she doesn’t need to avoid enemies — they never come close enough to dodge. Magic is super cheap and super powerful. Grant’s subweapons are far more limited, so he has to get up right in an enemy’s face to deal damage.

By: LBD "Nytetrayn"

LBD "Nytetrayn" — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 01:21:19 +0000

@Jparish While I agree that they take damage similarly, I disagree that it’s silly; Grant is at least better at avoiding damage through his added agility and climbing abilities. What does Sypha bring to the table to match that?

By: jparish

jparish — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:34:23 +0000

@LBD You’re silly. Grant takes damage just as badly as Sypha (their extra one-point damage penalty is the same).

By: LBD "Nytetrayn"

LBD "Nytetrayn" — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:24:01 +0000

I wound up liking Grant the most by default. Alucard was disappointing, and Sypha folds like Superman on laundry day if anything gets too close.

By: MetManMas

MetManMas — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:13:34 +0000

@Kupek How much use you get out of Grant really depends on what route you take through the game. For me he’s been great at tearing up some parts of Blocks 4 and 5, but I bailed on Block 3 early.

By: Kupek

Kupek — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:44:36 +0000

I think I’m in the minority in liking Grant the most. My nine-year-old self was enamored with the freedom of Grant’s wall-climbing ability – even if it did mean the occasional death as I tried to round a corner. Alucard’s flight ability would seemingly offer more freedom, but I always felt constrained by the heart limit, and you couldn’t get on top of screens using it.

I actually liked Sypha the least, but I can know see that her secondary abilities could offer real power if used well.

Anyway, as always, these are fantastic reads, and I’m particularly interested in reading about the different approaches people had with secondary characters.

By: Kirin

Kirin — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:36:36 +0000

Man, those are some gorgeously atmospheric 8-bit backgrounds.