The sequel to one of the greatest games of all time, does it live up to the hype.
Back when it first came out, it sure packed a punch and rose to the challenge. It proved to be a worthy sequel and a excellent Castlevania game. Sadly tough, it haven't aged as gracefully as one would hope. In my opinion, it's not so much time that undermines the game, but the many great Castlevania games, that have come since it's release. Still, some aspects of the game are still top notch and some aspects of the game are superior, even to the newest of CV games.
As in previous games, your task as always is to stop Dracula. The never ending cycle of evil in the form of Dracula and his castle, has ones again risen and threatens the peace of the world. Though this time around, the protagonist is not of the Belmont family, but a young vampire hunter by the name of Nathan Graves. Along with fellow hunter, Hugh Baldwin and his father, the veteran vampire hunter Morris Baldwin. In the opening scene, Nathan and Huge gets separated from Morris and he is left alone to face Dracula. To make matters worse, Hugh starts whining and tells you to stay out of the way and let him do the hero stuff. Nathan of course sets out to find his mentor regardless of what Hugh says, Nathan is the one entrusted with the heirloom whip('Hunter's Whip, not the Belmont's Vampire Killer) and the one chosen as the successor of Morris. So that's it, a shallow story just to give you a reason to whip your way through hordes of darkness and challenge Dracula himself.
The gameplay is the same adventure style, that was first implemented in Symphony of the Night, and has a few more quirks of it own to set it apart and give us a slightly different experience. You'll run around Dracula's castle seemingly free to go wherever you see fit, but you'll eventually run into a parts which is not possible for you to pass just yet . After fighting bosses you'll usually get a power-up which enables you to get passed certain parts and in that way move the story along and progress through the game. As the enemies and the bosses grow stronger, so does your character. The RPG-element of the game is just a basic level up system, no customization or anything, but even so it's an important and fun part of the game. I personally love powering up my character and turning my once pansy little character, into a badass beast slayer. Though this feeling is not as strong as in other CV titles with RPG elements.
The classic sub-weapons are once again at your disposal, including the Cross, Axe, Holy Water, Knife and Stopwatch. Their powered by hearts, which you find by destroying certain objects throughout the different areas and each weapon has their own use at various parts and against different enemies throughout the entire game.
The most Unique part of CotM lies in the new Duel Set-up System (DSS) which is your magic in this game. It consists of different card combinations, with tons of different result like, Increasing the strength of your whip, summoning powerful beasts or even turning you into a skeleton! The cards are randomly dropped by non-random enemies, meaning some can be really hard to find without the use of a guide. Sadly though, this part is really not as fun as it might sound. You'll rarely need any magic at all, and probably will settle with the plain whip like I did. I never used the DDS through the entire game, except for the last fight. Veteran Castlevania gamers will breeze through this game with ease and will probably have no need to focus on the whole DDS system. So the main portion of the game lies in the action platforming style like in older Castlevania games. It's fun for the most part and can even prove to be a challenge at times, which is more then you can say for most of the later instalments of the series. Most of the time you'll have a good idea where to go and what to do, but a lot of backtracking makes the adventure really tedious at times, especially thanks to some uninventive enemy design. Most of the enemies are really bland to begin with and it doesn't help much that most of the variation you'll come across, are basically the exact same unit. For example, A red fire enemy will later be a more powerful yellow lighting enemy, which after awhile can become rather old and seems like a cheap way to mix up the action. Then again many can offer a nostalgic value for fans of the older games and some of them can really put up a fight and give you a more interesting and fun adventure.
Through the years Castlevania has been known for it's excellent music and this game is no exception. A lot of the music from the old games have been remixed for this one, but it also adds a few new tunes of it own.
The look of the game is not all that, neither has it aged very well. Most parts of the game looks really good, as does the beasts and creatures throughout the castle. My main issue lies with the main character and his animations, which are awful. Most of his movements look really weird and choppy, more like an older Game Boy rather then the GBA.
Combine the choppy animation with the not so fluent control and there are some minor issues that might build up some frustration in the less serene gamers out there. The normal walking pace is just way too slow, though you'll soon learn to run, it's either running or slowly walking. All in all the control is not that bad, but could have been tweaked some more.
The bottom line, Castlevania - Circle of the Moon is a tough, but sweet adventure, that will give the fans of the series more of the same awesome adventuring and new gamers a great introduction to the CV games.
Most veteran Castlevania gamers will find it a little on the easy side and finish it under 10 hours. Though most gamers probably will put in more hours and might find a great deal of challenge.
On a more personal note, I actually found the game to be more of a chore then fun at times and a disappointment compared to other Castlevania games I've played. I have played newer instalments of the series and have set a higher standard for the series. So beware if you're thinking of picking this game up, after playing some of the more recent Castlevania titles as you probably will find this a little disappointing.