well said. indeed, there's much more passion, understanding and appreciation here, in this video, in this channel, than there will ever be in those companies, boards of directors and investor committees, with their dreadful, often soul-crushing [ 55:22 ] 'executive decisions', that so often destroy excellent projects and tear apart the lives of those most worthy and at the same time most vulnerable: the creatives, the storytellers, the visionary devs that made those companies in the first place... this, must be one of the best videogame documentaries ever uploaded on TH-cam, or any platform for that matter. Superbly written and passionately delivered. Moved me deeply, and in many places it achieves actual literary, poetic, and philosophical heights [ 2:32:27 ].
I don't understand how anyone can write and edit a 7 hour long script, and then create a video to go along with it all. This is incredible. I salute your hard work.
@@IFinishedAVideoGamei just beat the first castlevania and decided to watch this before moving forward. i’m glad you saved me from grinding through a lot of less than stellar titles due to sheer completitionism.
Yeah man, I was very little when I had the Gameboy version and I got to play the first release on my brother's SNES, he had like a cartridge converter for the Japanese version and there was like type out password to select checkpoints if I'm not mistaken. You brought me back to a very happy place on top of it all. Just excellent. You gained a life long subscriber here for what that's worth
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I just came across your channel. I've got my entire extended weekend planned. And can't wait for new uploads. Absolute bangers bro! 🤘🏼🤘🏼
I LOVE how Dracula is the final boss in pretty much every single game in this series. The lead up to walking up that final staircase and wondering "what is Dracula gonna throw at me this time" is something you don't get in many series
I think Nintendo really love to use recurring villains but there is something about the eternal struggle between the Belmonts and Dracula that really works in Castlevania. It just feels epic
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I really enjoyed all seven hours of this video! Has anyone ever told you that your voice and cadence of speaking is similar to the author Dan Jones? I just listened to his audiobook version of Powers and Thrones and think that you two sound very alike!
I believe Dracula was totally absent in Lament of Innocence. Death was the final boss, but the forgotten was the best boss battle in that game, imo of course.
Wow I hate to hear that the creator was so mistreated that he quit the industry. As the creator of one of my favorite game series I hold him in high regard. Mr. Akamatsu, wherever you are, you have my respect.
@@marcosdhelenoof the third one? It’s only marginally easier than the famicom version. The first one is pretty much the same from what I’ve experienced.
@@Nocturnewashere I also like that version of Simon, and feel that had that version been in a game with dialogue, ala Symphony, it may have been better received.
I'm only about halfway through, but I've just gotta throw my 2 cents in here. Your ability to seamlessly drift between high-level concepts and particularities while keeping an enjoyable pace is astounding. You offer the *perfect* amount of information to help contextualize things for the viewer without ever becoming the pedant. Your voice shines through every moment - I can just hear the respect in your voice as you talk about Rondo of Blood - and you should be very proud of this video.
Hey Majuular! I love your videos! This video is so well written and incredibly therapeutic to watch and listen to. This creator is one of my faves on YT, been binging both you guys' videos a lot this week.
I concur here whole-heartedly. The man is a legend, a scholar, a baller AND a shot-caller. But, if I may be rude here and put the two of you in direct competition I would just like to point something out. Because, there's one thing you have that not he, nor any other TH-cam stud has or ever will have; a sweet-ass neck-brace and the ability to wear the shit out it. Love your vids, the recent one covering the indie games was yet another great watch where time slips right the fuck out the window. You long form content guys are in short supply, good to see you here enjoying some work from a peer! Class act legends baby, love to see it.
All I can say is thanks so much for the kind feedback, my friend. I always think my videos are a bit weird in that they're kind of a mixture of history, analysis and my own opinions and I sometimes feel like that's too niche to really stand out on the platform. Everyone is always so big and bold and here I am not putting my face on screen, doing the most basic editing and trying to just talk about things I think about. You can so easily doubt that it's any good but hearing stuff li this from people who I really respect makes it all the more worth it. Congratulations again for 20k as well my dude - it's only a matter of time before we're sitting up at 100k together!
@@IFinishedAVideoGameon the topic of the games, I believe later on, CotM and the N64 duology were added back into the timeline by Iga. Legends is still non-canon though
I just watched a 7 hour documentary on Castlevania. This is not something I ever expected I would say the first time I popped Castlevania 2 into my NES 35 years ago.
100% agree. Simon's Quest was the first game I ever rented for my new NES back in the day (due to that cover art) and has been a part of my life since then, now more than ever. CV will hopefully live forever...sometimes in spite of Konami, itself.
I remember having a specific spot in my house I could play that game cause the sun hit the screen at just the right angle to make it playable lol still loved that game
It’s kind of sad that Konami has a history of disrespecting/mistreating their developers and properties in pursuit of the bottom line. It’s no wonder the legacy of Castlevania is now outshining the series proper.
One thing that you didn't mention in the section on Rondo of Blood that's an interesting bit of info. Maria's sub-weapons are based on the Four Heavenly Beasts of Chinese mythology. She has Suzaku in the birds that do a vertical attack, Seiryu as the charging dragon, Byakko as the cat, and Genbu as the defensive turtle shell.
The Four Beasts show up all over Japanese media. They're pretty popular as a set of characters. Final Fantasy Legend, Yu Yu Hakusho, Yugioh, Inuyasha just off the top of my head. As far as a varied and elementally themed group goes, they're pretty well represented, but it's interesting that they're primarily good guys in Rondo. They usually form a Quartet of Bosses.
I remember playing Castlevania as a kid. When I finally beat Dracula, my friend ran down the street and told his parents as though we'd achieved some heroic deed.
Massive Castlevania fan here, what you’ve done is literally something I’ve been wanting to see for years at this point. This series needs to come back and thrive like it once did. It makes me sad that Konami have all but abandoned it. Edit: So as many of you probably already know, motion twin (the folks behind dead cells) had gotten the rights from Konami to make a castlevania dlc for Dead Cells. And by god is it excellent… tough as nails and with a killer soundtrack done by Yoann Laulan (the guy behind the dead cells OST) and the Konami Kukeiha Club. It’s a love letter to the series and it proves that even a setting as storied as The Castlevania and it’s surrounding grounds, along with Death and of course Dracula himself, still have the ability to be used to create new adventures.
@@IFinishedAVideoGame , honestly, if anything, I think that the people that are responsible for Dead Cells should have the franchise now, especially since Konami did a Castlevania crossover with them for the newest Dead Cells DLC.
@@leadbones , no, and Inafune was not Castlevania, let alone the out of touch Konami executives, it was always the fans that made the franchise, you complete and utter knob!
My friend, you demonstrate what I think a lot of us viewers will see as a Master Class level of analyzing and explaining various video game series. You show a lot of critical thinking and appreciation for the franchises that you covered. I'm honestly very glad to have discovered your content. Whatever endeavors you seek to take on down the road, I wish you luck.
Thank you so much for your kind words and for the generous contribution to the channel! This was a real slog of a video to make at times so it's really heart warming to get responses like this. I really appreciate it and hopefully I can continue to make videos you enjoy for a long time!
I have been listening for about three hours out of seven, and I paused just to say: Thank you, for giving Castlevania the justice it deserves; on both ends of the spectrum! You manage to explain things properly without it becoming boring, with it even becoming so entertaining that I find myself listening intently. It is clear you not only have done your research, but also that you actually care about the series, while staying truly objective. One can clearly hear how much respect you have for the series just by listening to your voice. Thanks again!
Despite being a 7 hour long video, it feels like everything was kept relatively concise, every minute felt worth watching. I have not been a Castlevania fan, the only Castlevania game i have finished was Sympthony of the Night and i only played that this year, seeing the history has given me more appreciation for Castlevania.
Back in the 80s, my dad and I were huge 80s horror movie fans, he let me watch a lot. He brought home this game for me out of nowhere because he saw the horror elements on the box, ever since then I've played every Castlevania game, thanks dad. And good job on this frickin 8 hour video, you got another sub.
Everyone is talking about how amazing it is to make a 7 hour long video but im blown away by the fact that it only took 2 months to produce. that is an insanely short amount of time for this caliber of video.
Well I think TH-cam dates are a little funky on this one - it took me around ten weeks to do which sounds fast but I was working around 10-12 hours a day! I honestly thought I was going to go insane at one point but I'm really happy with how it turned out!
Someone already probably pointed it out, but the Clock room on SotN where you said you didn't know you were supposed to find out about the statue, when you reach that place the very first time and encounter Maria, the game makes the statue move as a way to tell you that there is a way up there, if the player is paying attention he might try to jump and not reach, then later after finding the double jump upgrade he will probably remember the statue part.
It's funny how quickly Dracula's boss battle final form went from "demon monster" to "artistic rendition of an eldritch nightmare horror and I dunno maybe an alien I guess?"
His second form in the first game was called the “sin of man” or something similar, I believe. The foundation was there. Of course that’s not eldritch, but it wasn’t a simple demonic form either; it was an embodied concept essentially. Purely design-wise, I agree. He’s gotten more complex over time, maybe a bit too much so.
Why the recent "down fall" of the games? Easy. Only a lunatic "re-imagines" the "bad guy" as the "good guy". How absolutely stupid. Evil is evil and has always been at war with good. With the exception of humanity, who have a choice and can blend good and evil as sinners, repent, change, and become good through an interior conversion of soul to good, evil is still evil and is at war with good. The biggest lie satan ever told is that he doesn't exist, followed by the second lie, good and evil are the same or interchangable. Yes, evil does exist. No, good and evil aren't the same, they are, in fact, the exact opposite of the other. God says, "love your neighbor as yourself", satan says, "love yourself above all others." You need to remember the fact that the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. The opposite of satan's hate and selfishness isn't selflessness and loving other above yourself into complete fading away, it's balanced self love, "love your neighbor as yourself." The opposite of love nothing, by satan, isn't to love everything, it's to love just God above all things, everything in the world that is "good" being accepted as a gift of God and every evil thing in the world rejected as evil. Darkness and light are the opposite because even in the light no one can see all things, while in the dark you can see nothing at all. God and good are about balance, with God defining what that balance is. You can drink alcohol but, not get drunk and you can't drink at all IF you are prone to getting drunk (alcoholism), balance. You can eat but never to excess and you shold be very restrained IF you are prone to gluttony. If you have eyes to see, it is obvious that evil says, eat all you want, even if it kills you. While good says, eat enough to be healthy, no more or less, fasting only to honor God (at times) or to bring the body under dicipline to moderation. Good and evil have been at war since before time, as we humans percieve time, began. What did Castlevania do, tried to make the "bad guy" into the "good guy", which is stupid. People noticed and found themselves cringing and dissinterested in such a "creative" (stupid) reimagining of the series. Castlevania is, or was, a tale of good vs. evil at its core. Now it's a tale of evil fighting other evil in some bizzar power struggle, with evil being really good and other evil being really bad... Did I mention how stupid the newest game plot's are? Evil is evil, not even slightly good and always makes excuses to never try or change, and at war with good forever. Good is good, even when it falls it repents and gets back up and tries again to change to become good, and is forever at war with evil.
I just finished this 7 hour behemoth of a retrospective, and I have to say this was one of the greatest videos I've ever come across on yt. Thank you for this dive into the entirety of the castlevania franchise. I started with SotN so many years ago, and had no idea of the history leading up to that gem. Thanks for all the work you put into this. Truly a great example of why I visit TH-cam at all.
This is the kind of franchise where i would see remakes making much more sense than in others. Not remaking the critically acclaimed masterpieces, but reworking the badly aged titles like lament of innocence or 64 into what they originally aspired to be. Love your perspective on all of these, very damn well made, what a huge project of a video, you are nuts for making these this extensive and high quality.
Thanks very much! Honestly I feel like I went insane making this one but it's been so cool to see the response and feel like I'm spreading a bit of love for a severely under appreciated franchise. Also I absolutely agree about the remakes and really think that should be the purpose of them in a wider sense. I don't feel like I need remakes of Resident Evil 4 or Metal Gear Solid 3 - I want to see Vagrant Story and Jade Empire realise the potential they have!
_How on earth_ do you keep pacing and clarity ongoing -while jumping from technical to narrative to philosophical, biographical, developmental, to retrospective and comparative? Your inflection and cadence stays really balanced, just like your assessments of the pros and cons. These are true reviews. Earned my subscription, easily.
That's so much my dude - it's really nice to hear you enjoyed the writing as I really laboured over it this time around! Nice to hear that's paying off!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Sincere high praise, with no intention of flattery beyond based admiration: the labor shows, but also the sacrifice and tenacious dedication. Recommending you to some of the millennials at the studio and am now watching the Prince of Persia series, of which I'm also a fan. (... And metal music: the style direction of Warrior Within was cringe AF :D )
I've never played any of the Castlevania games, but after slowly eating away at this video over 4 days, this is one of the coolest TH-cam videos I've seen in a while. There's so much more to he Castlevania franchise in quantity and (occasionally) quality that I was completely unaware of. Thanks so much
The older ones (nes) are hard as all hell compared to the others. Start with the psone, snes, Sega Genesis, Gba, or PS2. The ones older then that are a bit harder. Emulators are your friend.
Somehow this popped up in my timeline and I started watching it without realizing it's length. I now finished it, watching an hour or two every day. I can only say : Thank you. It can not be overstated how passionate you are about making videos and how incredibly good this is. Whenever I disagreed with you about anything in this video you always made clear that this is "your point of view" and "your opinion", showing that you know your stuff and the topics fans are disagreeing on. You not only did research on the Castlevania games and Konami but on the whole picture in every single case and this is something to be admired as it must have taken you months of your life.
Thanks my man! I'm glad the passion shone through - it's been so nice to see the reception the video has got because honestly I felt like I was losing my mind at points haha
I've been slowly making my way through this video for the past couple weeks and now that I've finished it I can safely say this is one of my favourite TH-cam videos of all time. Seven hours is such a huge runtime for a video but every moment feels so dense and well researched. This isn't just a compilation of shallow reviews but instead an actual deep dive that feels incredibly passionate and well researched. Even when a game isn't received well you manage to find the parts of it that work and shine a light on why they turned out this way. Not only that but the entire video serves as a really good narrative on its own terms about the self destructive nature of konami, taking wonderfully creative developers and crunching them through the machine until there's nothing left. At certain parts of this video I felt sincerely emotional due to how badly the people responsible for these amazing games were treated. Thank you for the fantastic video, I enjoyed it a lot!
That's so nice to hear. Thank you so much for leaving such a nice comment. These are two things I always try to be really conscious of - am I giving these games a fair shake and trying to understand what the developers were trying to do? is the video telling the wider story of the franchise It's so nice to hear that this all came through even though the video is so long!
Even if the reveal for Matthias wasn't great, I love the detail that he looks like a color swapped Soma Cruz. Dracula's soul always takes a similar form, but the inherit goodness of Soma comes across in the white and blue while Matthias is clad in black and dark green
Every time I replay any Castlevania game I get drawn back into this rewatching this video. The way he is able to so acutely understand and write about each game, and the ebb and flow of the old school game industry that birthed them is unmatched. That sort of lens adds so much extra weight to the analysis. By the end it feels like you’ve unlocked the complete picture for why Castlevania is so enduring, as well as why it still remains unique to this day. The hot and cold history of Metroid is the perfect fit for this analytic format, and I’m very excited for the retrospective. I feel like I never know how to properly write comments of praise… it’s a great video!!!
Thanks my friend - that's such a lovely comment especially when I put so much effort into trying to make these histories distinct from other long videos on the platform! Metroid is just rendering as I write this comment - should be out on Sunday!
This was an excellently constructed and very comprehensive retrospective of a series that I very much grew up with. I loved the level of detail and analysis you put into all of the games; it let me see behind the scenes into the development process and people of games that hold a very special place in my heart. I have to say, if I already didn't hold any respect for Konami's business acumen or creative integrity before this, it would have certainly led me there anyway. I'd also like to thank you for letting me see an abreviated summary (and impact) of the earlier portable games that I really didn't have a chance to play (I never really cared for portables) and that had I had largely ignored. It didn't help that when I did want to check Ecclesia out, I found it almost impossible to get here in Mexico, since no stores carried copies in any large numbers and when they were sold out, you had to special order them and import markup really sent prices through the roof... having the context of Konami cutting back on production of the game really put that episode in perspective. I'll give the game a go on emulation now, I think. You put it back in my head and thankfully, they're easy to set up now :P Perhaps the only part of your analysis that I really disagreed with was your take on Lords of Shadow (as you said, it's a deeply divisive title). I have the collector's edition of the first game myself, and having played it I have to say you were far kinder in your assessment of it than I. I agree with you that the game looks great, but even discouting my gripes about the Castlevania elements, I feel it failed on a basic level as an action game since, as you yourself noted, combat in that game really pushes you to a short and repetitive playstyle in spite of giving you seemingly a lot of options to try. Going into what I didn't like about it as a Castlevania title has more to do with the fact that I never felt the ambiance I would expect from Castlevania locales was there. It looked awesome, to be sure, but most of the time it felt to me like a high fantasy game rather than a gothic horror one (even a sometimes goofy one like Castlevania) and when the sets did turn to the aesthetic I'd expect, the music never was there, since I feel that Lords of Shadow's OST really missed on the punch I'd come to expect out of Castlevania themes. It didn't help matters that I never swallowed the narrative, considering they pull Satan literally out of nowhere and you get turned into Dracula almost entirely by accident. The less said about its sequel(s), the better as far as I'm concerned. The first game was not a bad action game per se, just average if you account for its combat flaws. I wouldn't rag on it nearly as much if "Castlevania" wasn't in the title to prime my expectations, honestly. That rather long rant aside (sorry if I rambled, but that game really stuck with me since I did end up feeling somewhat robbed after everything was said and done), I really loved your retrospective, and if you'll forgive me getting on a soapbox to get a years old grievance off my chest, I certainly intend to go through the rest of the retrospectives on your channel. If this is the quality in the rest of your posts, I'm in for a looooong and entertaining time. Thanks for posting!
Honestly I love reading through long comments like yours - it really makes me feel like the video has been engaged with and that's all you can ever ask for! I hope you enjoy Ecclesia as much as I did and I'll happily concede that I won't convince you on Lords of Shadow haha! Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy the others!
have i ever played one of these games? no. have i seen the show? no. do i know anything about the series before watching this video? no. did i just finish this video in a day and a half? yes.
@@IFinishedAVideoGame it is a true testament to your video creating abilities to be able to make me (or someone in general) interested and invested in something they have no prior knowledge about. keep up the amazing work and i’ll be waiting for the next video!
I really appreciate your work and effort here! I also, more personally, appreciate you're willingness and ability to not just write off games as bad or just instinctively hold some up on a pedestal; it's actually hard to come across content where a creator will fairly evaluate each game!
Thanks so much my friend! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to reply to your comment - I've been neck deep in the script of my next video and sometimes that makes the days fly by without me noticing. I'm really pleased you enjoyed the video and especially my approach to "negative reviews". I always try to work out what the aim of the developers was and to at least give that some credit. I firmly believe nobody sets out to make a bad game - especially back in the 80s and 90s when people were getting into the industry for the sake of pure creative passion!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I completely understand, your videos are massive and well polished! And I completely agree, even into the early 2000's games were still being made out of passion, so even if a game was objectively bad there was still often some fun to be found in it!
When I played Rondo for the first time in the 2010s as soon as the opening cutscene started playing my reaction was "holy crap, wait a minute, what year was this again?" i was so impressed by the entire presentation all the way through to the first boss battle
It's an incredibly underrated game - for my money, it's the best 2D platformer ever made. There is just so much love and care poured into every moment!
Castlevania 2 Simon's Quest will always be very special to me. Reading the box art and booklet in the car on my way home from the store got my imagination so fired up. The music, the art, the atmosphere, the open ended sense of adventure. Amazing underrated game.
While I can't say I totally agree with your appraisals of Dracula X and the Lords of Shadow series, I can say that I definitely appreciate and respect the time, effort, energy, dedication, and work ethic it takes to create such a comprehensive, thoughtfully composed, and thorough retrospective video. Truly well done!
It's pretty funny that all the genius developers Konami used to employ - Kojima, Igarashi, Murayama - have all gone on to spiritually revive the games they were known for and prove that people wanted more of them.
This is a phenomenal achievement. I dig long form game criticism/analyses/histories and you’ve made something remarkable here, something I will rewatch over and over. Within the past two months I’ve purchased the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, the Castlevania Advance Collection, and Castlevania: Requiem. I’ve had so much fun playing all these games, most that I missed out on first time around, and to watch this transcendent video at this specific time is magical. Big Ups IFAVG! Thank you so much.
Thanks so much my dude! Good to know that this was well timed with your return to the series! Hope those future watches give you just as much enjoyment!
You have to remember SOTN released before internet was really widely available. I remember beating it as a kid and throughly enjoying it. Then a couple years later a friend revealing to me that there's a whole second half to the game! It was mind boggling for the time.
Good sir, I've been on TH-cam for a long, long time now. I've also been playing Castlevania since the first NES release all those years ago in the 80's. As a lifetime Castlevania fan and with all the other YT videos I've ever seen, other Castlevania retrospectives included, this has to be one of the most incredible videos I've seen on this platform. A 7 hour, free documentary about a topic so nebulous to a lot of gamers, full of information and context that I've literally never heard of since 1986. Absolutely incredible, I cannot thank you enough and this video has truly been a gift. Planning a 2nd watch through and you are GREATLY appreciated.
I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to reply! I've been away over the weekend but let me just say that your comment and contribution put a massive smile on my face. This video was a true passion project which I thought was going to drive me insane so to see people enjoying it this much and helping get the word out about such a fantastic series. I'm so pleased it resonated with you!
The only real criticism I have for it is particularly towards the orbiter type enemies that sometimes just annoyingly circle in and then move right in on, usually in a group, that you sometimes just can't really even dodge out of. One of the few times I feel like the game is being bullshit.
The Clock Room in SotN has an easily overlooked tell on what you're supposed to do with regards to the path to Orlox's Quarters. When you meet Maria there, regardless of what time it is, the game forces the statue to move while you're talking with her. After that, it moves every odd minute. It's one of those subtle things that gets easily forgotten despite all the effort they made to make it stand out, even going so far as to audio balance the grinding of the statue to be louder than usual during the cutscene.
That's actually extremely interesting and I wish I'd noticed that when I first played it. i think it's just been burned into my brain for years that that sequence was bullshit - turns out I was the bullshit one!
I actually only realized it opened every other minute as an adult. As a kid I just came across that room multiple times trying to figure out what I was supposed to do, and eventually noticed that the room sometimes looked a bit different. It was a pretty neat moment when I realized it was the statue that sometimes disappeared.
@@IFinishedAVideoGame what about the confessional its pretty interesting that you can actually get ghosts that can either be good or evil like you can get blessed by a preacher and he might give you grape juice
@@justinroux1610 I always thought the goal of that was to listen to the womans confession then tell it the the priest so her confession is heard by him. Been awhile since I did that though so I could be mistaken.
Even though I enjoy longform content, strangely, I don't think I've seen videos like yours that would comprehensively discuss each entry in a very long series anywhere else.
@@Aramillis now that I think of it, yes. But Noah likes to get all video essayist about it (I hope it makes sense), while this guy is very focused on the games themselves.
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Currently working my way through Harmony of Dissonance, and after all the NES games it's like a day off from difficulty! Mind ye, I've temporarily skipped the N64 titles until I can get a decent controller so I've plenty of challenge ahead. Your videos are dangerous man! I'm already getting a Panzer Dragoon itch and I've only watched one segment so far! Great stuff
What a rollercoaster. I didn't expect a retrospective to make me feel so many feelings. I was nostalgic, excited, disappointed, and sad all at the same time. What a series, and what great characters that have stood the test of time. For example, seeing Simon and Richter in Smash Bros. gets me excited EVERY time. It's disappointing that it's fallen off the gaming radar. I'm excited for this new animated series with Richter, and now that I'm finished with this video, I'm gonna go play Rondo of Blood for the rest of the week! Thank you for your effort.
Your comprehensive long form series could be applied to any subject. It takes a gifted individual to be able to hold a viewers attention for as long as you do.
Thanks my dude - I really appreciate that as I do genuinely doubt my writing at almost every turn haha! There is some seriously talented writers in this space so it's always hard to feel like you have a unique voice or take! So yeah thanks a lot!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Hey, thank you! You're doing great. I can understand the pressure. You hold yourself to a high standard, which has brought you success. Hopefully you can access a flow state and trust the process. That's something we all need. Seeing someone on the edge of it is good for us.
Figuring out which souls was easy based on the tomes, given the pretty clear text and the fact that each tome has the right monster on the cover and is color coded with what type of soul it is, figuring out how to trigger them was not. You need all 3 of them equipped right at the start of the 2nd phase of the Graham fight, which causes him to say something along the lines of "How do you have THOSE powers?" You can then switch them off and the cutscene will still trigger. Though the combo, which allows the bat to shoot fireballs in midflight, is pretty good at killing his floating halo laser safely, at which point he can no longer hit you if you duck. I think I had to find it online, so I agree with the criticism that it's too obscure. Nowhere near enough to damage my love for the game though. Easily top 3 in the whole series. Maybe my fave of the bunch.
A month ago or so a dear friend decided to depart from this world. I confess that the fact of him taking his own life came as a surprise, a bit of a shock (he was a cultured, empathetic, and quite intelligent guy, actually young, and doing well financially). One of our favorite topics was videogame history and desing, and his favorite game of all time was Symphony of the Night, followed by FFVII. He would have loved this documentary. Such a pity I found it just today. Anyway, as someone said, putting together this vid is more work than Konami has put into Castlevania in the last 10 years: there's much more passion, understanding and appreciation here, in this video, and in this channel, than there will ever be in those companies, boards of directors and investor committees, with their dreadful, often soul-crushing [ 55:22 ] 'executive decisions', that so often destroy excellent projects (Golden Axe, Rings of Power, The Witcher series... the examples are endless) and tear apart the lives of those most worthy and most vulnerable: the creatives, the storytellers, the visionary devs that made those companies in the first place... This, must be one of the best videogame documentaries ever uploaded on TH-cam, or any platform for that matter. Superbly written, excellently edited, passionately delivered. Moved me deeply, and in many places it achieves actual literary, poetic, and philosophical heights [ 2:32:27 , 2:13:04 , 7:14:36 ah! what a joy to listen well written and well spoken English, but above all, ideas that are true, deep, and heartfelt].
Videos like this make me fall in love with games all over again! Also, just love the narration, the way in which the good and the bad are both discussed even-handedly and last but not least the sheer amount of will needed to create such a comprehensive video. And, even at 7+ hours it feels like there is absolutely no padding! Instantly subscribed!
Thanks Mikko - that's awesome to hear! I always try to see the best in games because I truly believe nobody sets out to make a bad title! Got another out this weekend so hopefully you enjoy that as well!
I just spent 7 and half hours watching a TH-cam video... and I don't regret a single second of it. I've watched a lot of game franchise retrospectives and this is by far the most well researched and edited one I've ever seen.
Thanks very much Josh! It was a huge amount of effort to put together but I'm really pleased with the outcome and glad it could spread some joy about the series to other people!
I've watched this whole thing several times now, and it's great every time. The analysis not just of the individual games but of how they influenced each other and how Konami and the industry as a whole pushed and pulled on the franchise does an excellent job maintaining interest throughout the runtime. Thank you for your hard work and dedication!
That's awesome to hear. I really think that videos like this without the history or industry context end up just being like a long diary entry so it's cool to hear my "alternative" is working for people! The history is just way more interesting than endlessly talking about my personal experience!
I was listening to some of the classic Castlevania songs on TH-cam, and this video was suggested. I'm really glad I found and watched it. I've been a big fan of the Castlevania games since playing Symphony as a kid. I really enjoyed hearing about the development processes and behind the scenes information that you don't normally hear about. I look forward to seeing what videos come next!
Harmony of Despair is a great game that I will always revisit once in a while. It can still be played on emulator with full online functionality, and there's a small but active community still keeping it going on Discord. The grind can be pretty rough but it's a fun experience I would recommend to any fan of the series.
Fantastic! Over 7 hours and I still could have heard you talk more on this subject. Thank you for doing these pieces. They are some of the best content available! The sentiment at the end that the franchise isn’t dead because games continue to draw inspiration from it, and that there’s always a chance for it to come back when least expected, really hits home for me, being a longtime fan of this franchise and especially a fan of the similarly dormant Darkstalkers series from Capcom (seems to be a thing for me regarding monster-centric video games that get treated poorly by its handlers). So long as a series has its fans and they are available to reach new fans, it is never truly dead.
Thanks so much for watching my dude. I'm glad the ending resonated - I thought it might be a bit too "artsy" but I really do think the series lives on despite it's absence!
This video is incredible, I'm almost finishing it, but it's unbelievable that I've already watched almost 7 hours of it, because it only felt like 1 or 2. Videos like this really push up the quality standards for TH-cam videos - thank you so much! And thanks for all the praise you've given to Order of Ecclesia - I really love that game and it made me happy to see it receive such praise in such an important video.
Thanks so much. That's such kind words that I'm sure I don't deserve! Glad you enjoyed it so much, here's to making something else that reaches this level!
I still think Shanoa's original design and character is one of the best blends for a strong female character and is still to this day my personal favorite female character of all time. It a shame we never got any more metroidvania games with her, she could have easily had her own franchise of games.
shanoa does have her own franchise its called bloodstained lmao while not as good as OoE, the bloodstained games are still better than pretty much any castlevania game aside from OoE (gonna be honest, I think SotN is overrated) but an important part of Shanoa’s story is that Ecclesia was destroyed and all memory of her or Ecclesia were wiped from history, so that Barlowe would be in damnatio memorae. if Shanoa goes around saving the world more; it would both undermine the plot of OoE and would require serious retconning OoE is my favorite game but i dont actually think a sequel is appropriate and i absolutely do not trust Konami with Igarashi’s baby and i think calling Shanoa a “strong female lead” is super cringe btw. it reduces one of the greatest characters in video gaming to a dumb trope and cliche.
@@tictacterminator I totally agree with you, I just wish we could get more games like Order of Ecclesia with her but bloodstained was definitely a step in the right direction, I always give Miriam the long hair at the barber that is like Shanoa's haha. Lets hope they only improve upon things for bloodstained 2. Yeah, I know the term "strong female character" has really been dragged through the mud over the past few years but I have not found a better wording to use yet, I just really love her as a beautifully designed character that slays monster and demon while also feeling like a very human character with.
5:36:52 I can't help but laugh at the vision of Shoanoa gobbling up midfight a full plate of soup she was carrying in her pocket while Dracula farts a swarm of bats at her
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I can only guess it started with eating steaming fried chickens hidden in the walls that you break with your whip in the earliest Castlevania game.
Came here from SuperEyepatchWolf's charity stream. I'm "only" 2 hours in, but so far this is an amazingly comprehensive video with research that is already teaching this lifelong die hard Castlevania fan a ton about the series. Thank you!
Damn, I couldn't disagree more with your end views on Dawn of Sorrow. Though perhaps that is because I played it before Aria. I absolutely ADORE the work of Ayami Kojima, whose character design is only rivaled by the Metal Gear series' Yoji Shinkawa and Soraya Saga's work on Final Fantasy VI... but I still don't feel Dawn of Sorrow's lack of this art is as big a detriment as you're stating. Forgive me, but calling the presentation similar to a Toonami production or Digimon (while complementing Rondo of Blood's art style giving it a "unique and charming identity"), as well as most of the time refusing to call this game's castle "the castle" in favour of "the cult's headquarters" (giving no such treatment when mentioning Bloodlines' Castle Proserpina or Brauner's Castle in Portrait of Ruin), I feel hides a level of subjective vitriol you might have towards it, and does your critique of the game bit of a disservice.
A 7 hour retrospective of my all time favorite series on a dreary day that my obligations were cancelled due to rain so all I have to do is relax and game while watching this video......Christmas came early this year.
@@IFinishedAVideoGame You are very welcome sir. It was even better than my cancelled plans. I loved the retrospective, you did a fantastic job and your hard work is greatly appreciated. I got so wrapped up in Castlevania watching your video I loaded up the Anniversary Collection and played the classics while listening to your video. Thank you for the nostalgia trip.
@@jobygrantlandsnvrwntrmusic “Attention span is the amount of time spent concentrating on a task before becoming distracted.[1] Distractibility occurs when attention is uncontrollably diverted to another activity or sensation.” I can copy and paste as well.
This is such an insane, passionate contribution. Really well done, great reviews, well documented, scripted, edited and narrated. Only someone that really loves this series could pull this off. Subscribing to this channel was a no-brainer. Consider me a fan :D
Thanks very much! This was a huge project to undertake but I really wanted to do the series justice and tell my version of it's tragic history! Hope you enjoy the rest of the channel!
Iga needs to work on his logic. If i hadn't had the right angle, the right weapon, and a *metric shit ton of luck* and just *happend* to cut a celestial body in *half on accident* the game that easily became my favorite in the series could just as easily have become an abomination that i would personally escort to the gates of oblivion *with a smile.* :3
Ah yes, a 7 hour video about a video game series that I’ve never played but heavily respect and admire from afar, I cannot wait to watch every second of it :D
Thanks a lot! I really put a huge amount of effort into trying to make my videos really cohesive and gripping despite the long run time. I kinda think of them as a "season" consisting of mini episodes. Hopefully that comes across!
I had forgotten how emotionally resonant Order of Ecclesia was, even though it's one of my favorite games. I cried just watching the footage of the ending in this video lol
It just makes the story of Igarashi's relationship with the franchise all the sadder! He genuinely got pretty great at writing a heart tugging story by the end of his run! Ecclesia might be the best story he's ever come up with
Currently there seems to be a sea of TH-camrs doing hour-long retrospectives/critiques/etc of video games. I'm not even half an hour in and already know that you're a cut above the rest. You really got an eye for design like Tim Rogers but with the no-nonsense attitude of a Mathew Matosis or Joseph Anderson. Just the way I like it.
I actually watched the whole thing. You are a madman for making this, and I applaud your effort, and your takes on each and every game. I am so glad to see that you also hold Super Castlevania IV in such high regard.
Honestly, SCIV was one of my favourite games when I was younger and I've always felt it was so crazy that people started talking it down. Glad I could contribute my bit to rebuilding its legacy!
I still love the Eric Lecarde twist in Portrait of Ruin. I always love stories that bring back the previous protagonists and have them interact with the new ones.
Something else great about the game is that it gives you three different modes to beat it as was tradition at that point. Jonathan/Charlotte are only the first playthrough. You can unlock both the twin sisters and Richter/Maria of all things. Seeing Richter and Maria work as a team was honestly one of my favorite experiences in the franchise. The game has huge replay value.
@@davidxanatos219 The axe armor is a meme option since SotN, but in Portrait you need two characters, so who was the armor's partner? I forgot completely about it.
Geez...one small like in return for your tedius, maticulous, and painstaking work to get this 7 + hours of Castlevania greatness on YT doesn't seem fair. I want to say very nice job on the video, have a beer (or 2, depending where you buy) on me!
That's really kind of you my dude! That's gonna certainly buy me a couple of drinks on NYE to unwind after spending what feels like my whole life working on this haha!
4:42:06 I actually managed to get my hands on both volumes of this manga at a second-hand shop. Honestly, it filled in a couple of blanks for me, sure, but it still loses it for me simply for the fact that the English translation team who handled this called Trevor "Jeff". Jeff fucking Belmont. I cackle every time I pick up the second book.
Castlevania is one of those franchises that has been with me all my life. This video was such a bittersweet experience, seeing the whole story how the series went from console-defining masterpieces to micro transaction-littered garbage. Thankfully many people behind the series had actual passion for what they created, and thanks to that we now have Bloodstained to carry the torch. As for Castlevania, I'm a bit surprised there hasn't been anything new announced, seeing the success of both the Netflix series and Bloodstained, proving that the demand is still there. Perhaps it's for the best, seeing how low Konami has fallen.
The Sorrow games are my personal favorites. After watching your video, nostalgia kicked in, so I bought the Advanced Collection and replayed Aria. I can't believe it’s already over 20 years old, and it has aged so well. What a masterpiece!
I absolutely love that you made this! Playing and beating Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, and Order of Ecclesia (I cry at the ending scene every time) were some of the fondest memories of my childhood, and I'm so happy to see such an in-depth history of the Castlevania franchise on my feed! Seriously, thank you so much for making this! I saw the anime on Netflix and I was very surprised that it was made to begin with, in an era where the Castlevania series is all but dead, despite how influential it used to be.
You're more than welcome! It was nice to be able to spread the good news about Order of Ecclesia as I never think it gets the recognition it deserves! Glad you enjoyed it!
If you're looking for a challenge in SOTN, enter RICHTER as your name. You get to play as Rondo of Blood Richter Belmont, with all of his abilities and item crashes. No leveling aside from health upgrades.
It was about three months all things considered! A pretty big undertaking in terms of writing and recording but I don't think anything came close to how hard beating Chronicles was!
I'm always amazed by how much polish your videos have with the lengths they are. You don't just play numerous games and give your opinion off the cuff. They're simultaneously reviews and full on retrospectives of a series, with very good editing and scripting. I have to commend the effort and I'm always surprised when a video this long keeps my attention.
Thanks so much, Arthur! Honestly, I sometimes get some quite big doubts because I think my videos can sometimes occupy a weird middle space - not quite a documentary, not quite a personal review, not quite a video essay. It's really nice to see people really appreciating it and seeing what I'm going for!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Keep doing what you're doing. So many of us find it fascinating. You take us on a journey through the life of a series. And personally I find that more intriguing than straight up reviews and gameplay impressions. The context of something is as important as the thing itself
You know what I love most about your retrospectives? (ok maybe not most cause there's lots to love) It's that you get and really sell how important the next console generation is. It'd be so easy (and so many people do) to just go, "ok this ones on the NES and now we're at SNES and now we're looking at the Genesis." Which completely underminds just how big those advancements were in comparison to the last few generations. Actually reminds me a lot of the novel Devil in the White City which really sold how groundbreaking the Chicago's World Fair was (I've never been more hype to experience a character go "this is a ferris wheel lol)
That's actually something I really try to think about when writing about games. How did it compare to games at the time, what were the developers trying to achieve, what did it make me feel - basically avoiding "does it hold up" because I find that to be a completely redundant way of talking about art!
Seeing how Aria of Sorrow laid the foundation for future games by redefining the formula was staggering! I just played Bloodstained Curse of the Moon and it was like the themes and gameplay followed the Aria blueprint.
Thank you, that was a fun trip down memory lane. I even plugged in my old NES on my oldest TV to play some of the classics again. Great job and very informative.
By using the Wayback Machine on a website from Konami (1990's Corporate History section), you can find out that in 1995, one of it's important divisions of Kobe Building suffered from damage due to the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, later revealed in an IGN review that Castlevania suffered because of this incident with a major loss of important assets. And if you look at release dates, Dracula X came out the same year of the earthquake, it can be theorized that important files of Rondo were lost which possibly might had a big effect on Dracula X's development from what might've been a proper port to what it is today.
Finally getting a Julius Belmont game that shows what happened during the Battle of 1999 is my personal white whale of the Castlevania franchise. It’ll probably never happen, but considering the modern state of Konami, sometimes dead is better.
Konami really shoud make not only the 1999 Demon Castle war but also the one mentioned in the backstory of Bloodllines (covering the events of book Dracula).
5:55:53 "A fresh paint of coat" hahaha Fantastic video, by the way. I absolutely adore obscenely long video essays and retrospectives, and now I've discovered a whole channel to binge. Excellent work.
I finally made it through! Thank you so much for this, I loved the video and now, because of it, Castlevania as a whole. It's been a real treat learning about the lore and history of the stories and being able to go back to the Netflix series with fresh eyes has been wonderful. I had no idea that most of the characters in the Netflix series were ACTUAL Castlevania characters and not Netflix OCs. This video has been a treat for me to listen to in the car or at the grocery store and I look forward to seeing more longform videos like this. Keep up the good work, you've earned a new subscriber❤
dread showed 2d gameplay on a aaa budget can still return aaa sales, but with Igarashi no longer at Konomi, I'm not sure I'd even want to see another game from them in that style. That said, the souls series has for like a decade now been demonstrating a formula for how to make successful 3d action rpgs featuring high difficulty and exploration of an interconnected game world, and it's almost criminal that we haven't seen at least an honest attempt to revive the Castlevania franchise in that style.
This is more work than Konami has put into Castlevania in the last 10 years
LOL okay that might be the best comment on the channel
They've only done ports and fucking pachinko
😊
well said. indeed, there's much more passion, understanding and appreciation here, in this video, in this channel, than there will ever be in those companies, boards of directors and investor committees, with their dreadful, often soul-crushing [ 55:22 ] 'executive decisions', that so often destroy excellent projects and tear apart the lives of those most worthy and at the same time most vulnerable: the creatives, the storytellers, the visionary devs that made those companies in the first place... this, must be one of the best videogame documentaries ever uploaded on TH-cam, or any platform for that matter. Superbly written and passionately delivered. Moved me deeply, and in many places it achieves actual literary, poetic, and philosophical heights [ 2:32:27 ].
no
This is why TH-cam exists. Sometimes I do want to watch 7 hours of amazing video game content and history. Thanks bro
You're welcome!
It exists because you can't suck your own tiny pecker. So you feel the need to suck someone else's.
@@mattbooth2296 Name 5 people that laugh at British men for the reason you're imagining. L
Damn right,
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Do the same thing for Megaman.
I don't understand how anyone can write and edit a 7 hour long script, and then create a video to go along with it all. This is incredible. I salute your hard work.
It was a hell of a lot of work I'm not going to lie - but I'm really pleased with the finished video! Seems like people really enjoy it as well!
@@IFinishedAVideoGamei just beat the first castlevania and decided to watch this before moving forward. i’m glad you saved me from grinding through a lot of less than stellar titles due to sheer completitionism.
Yeah man, I was very little when I had the Gameboy version and I got to play the first release on my brother's SNES, he had like a cartridge converter for the Japanese version and there was like type out password to select checkpoints if I'm not mistaken. You brought me back to a very happy place on top of it all. Just excellent. You gained a life long subscriber here for what that's worth
@@IFinishedAVideoGame
I just came across your channel. I've got my entire extended weekend planned. And can't wait for new uploads. Absolute bangers bro! 🤘🏼🤘🏼
That's nothing. There's a 20 hour video I watched on here all on a manga
I LOVE how Dracula is the final boss in pretty much every single game in this series. The lead up to walking up that final staircase and wondering "what is Dracula gonna throw at me this time" is something you don't get in many series
Especially with the radically different designs and monstrous forms he takes. Fighting him just never gets old.
I think Nintendo really love to use recurring villains but there is something about the eternal struggle between the Belmonts and Dracula that really works in Castlevania. It just feels epic
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I really enjoyed all seven hours of this video! Has anyone ever told you that your voice and cadence of speaking is similar to the author Dan Jones? I just listened to his audiobook version of Powers and Thrones and think that you two sound very alike!
I believe Dracula was totally absent in Lament of Innocence. Death was the final boss, but the forgotten was the best boss battle in that game, imo of course.
Its what makes Aria of Sorrow even funnier
Wow I hate to hear that the creator was so mistreated that he quit the industry. As the creator of one of my favorite game series I hold him in high regard. Mr. Akamatsu, wherever you are, you have my respect.
It feels good to be able to raise his profile a little!
the saddest part is, knowing how nintendo forced developers back in the day, the us version dificulty probably wasnt even his fault!
@@marcosdhelenoof the third one? It’s only marginally easier than the famicom version. The first one is pretty much the same from what I’ve experienced.
Konami was always savage.
@@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526 Japan is savage..respect for the man
I can’t believe how many times they set out to do character redesigns, when to this day, Alucard in SoTN still is the drippiest protagonist ever.
It's baffling isn't it - Kojima's art is transcendent and needs no additions or changes!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I'm even one of the very few who liked Kojima's interpretation of Simon. Her art is perfect for the series.
@@Nocturnewashere I also like that version of Simon, and feel that had that version been in a game with dialogue, ala Symphony, it may have been better received.
He's so drippy even the anime didn't have the balls to change it.
He looks pretty similar to psaro from dq4 (whose the star of the upcoming Dark Prince game)
I'm only about halfway through, but I've just gotta throw my 2 cents in here. Your ability to seamlessly drift between high-level concepts and particularities while keeping an enjoyable pace is astounding. You offer the *perfect* amount of information to help contextualize things for the viewer without ever becoming the pedant. Your voice shines through every moment - I can just hear the respect in your voice as you talk about Rondo of Blood - and you should be very proud of this video.
Hey Majuular! I love your videos! This video is so well written and incredibly therapeutic to watch and listen to. This creator is one of my faves on YT, been binging both you guys' videos a lot this week.
@@cam_draws24 cheers! Thanks for the kind words :)
I concur here whole-heartedly. The man is a legend, a scholar, a baller AND a shot-caller. But, if I may be rude here and put the two of you in direct competition I would just like to point something out. Because, there's one thing you have that not he, nor any other TH-cam stud has or ever will have; a sweet-ass neck-brace and the ability to wear the shit out it. Love your vids, the recent one covering the indie games was yet another great watch where time slips right the fuck out the window. You long form content guys are in short supply, good to see you here enjoying some work from a peer! Class act legends baby, love to see it.
All I can say is thanks so much for the kind feedback, my friend. I always think my videos are a bit weird in that they're kind of a mixture of history, analysis and my own opinions and I sometimes feel like that's too niche to really stand out on the platform. Everyone is always so big and bold and here I am not putting my face on screen, doing the most basic editing and trying to just talk about things I think about.
You can so easily doubt that it's any good but hearing stuff li this from people who I really respect makes it all the more worth it. Congratulations again for 20k as well my dude - it's only a matter of time before we're sitting up at 100k together!
Oh hey, fancy fiding you here. Good taste, Maj.
According to Igurashi, Symphony of the Night wouldn't have been green lit without Castlevania 2. So thank you again, Akamatsu.
Big ups to the OG man Akamatsu - it's so nice to see him getting more appreciation these days!
@@IFinishedAVideoGameon the topic of the games, I believe later on, CotM and the N64 duology were added back into the timeline by Iga. Legends is still non-canon though
I just watched a 7 hour documentary on Castlevania. This is not something I ever expected I would say the first time I popped Castlevania 2 into my NES 35 years ago.
Hopefully it did that long history justice!
100% agree. Simon's Quest was the first game I ever rented for my new NES back in the day (due to that cover art) and has been a part of my life since then, now more than ever. CV will hopefully live forever...sometimes in spite of Konami, itself.
Fuck, that comment made me feel old
I've waited 22 years for tell someone I beat circle of the moon on the og equipment and them be impressed. Thank you for making my dream come true.
I remember having a specific spot in my house I could play that game cause the sun hit the screen at just the right angle to make it playable lol still loved that game
i remember being like 11 or 12 and i got all the way to dracula but i just couldn't beat him so i had my friend help me lmao.
After 7 hours I figured out Castlevanias biggest problem. It's Konami.
Konami and Capcom were the 2 signs of quality back in the day, when you saw a game on the shelves. (Along with Nintendo of course)
@@jcollins1305 keyword: "were" (capcom is still good tho)
It’s kind of sad that Konami has a history of disrespecting/mistreating their developers and properties in pursuit of the bottom line. It’s no wonder the legacy of Castlevania is now outshining the series proper.
@@EmilForsberg_GRYBO Only true G's stayed with Capcom in 2010-15. Their worst 5 years.
You needed 7 hours of content to decipher that? Wow
One thing that you didn't mention in the section on Rondo of Blood that's an interesting bit of info. Maria's sub-weapons are based on the Four Heavenly Beasts of Chinese mythology. She has Suzaku in the birds that do a vertical attack, Seiryu as the charging dragon, Byakko as the cat, and Genbu as the defensive turtle shell.
That is actually very interesting - I wonder why they did that
The Four Beasts show up all over Japanese media. They're pretty popular as a set of characters. Final Fantasy Legend, Yu Yu Hakusho, Yugioh, Inuyasha just off the top of my head. As far as a varied and elementally themed group goes, they're pretty well represented, but it's interesting that they're primarily good guys in Rondo. They usually form a Quartet of Bosses.
7 hours of video and still missed something, that is how amazing this game series is.
I remember playing Castlevania as a kid. When I finally beat Dracula, my friend ran down the street and told his parents as though we'd achieved some heroic deed.
Because you did.
I mean it genuinely is a big achievement haha
We hadn't achieved some heroic deed? o.o
beating the 1st castlevania, especially as a kid, is a pretty big deal. it's a remarkably difficult game.
@@hypnos9336 I play RoB and SotN at a competitive level and I've still never beaten the OG Castlevania
Massive Castlevania fan here, what you’ve done is literally something I’ve been wanting to see for years at this point. This series needs to come back and thrive like it once did. It makes me sad that Konami have all but abandoned it.
Edit: So as many of you probably already know, motion twin (the folks behind dead cells) had gotten the rights from Konami to make a castlevania dlc for Dead Cells. And by god is it excellent… tough as nails and with a killer soundtrack done by Yoann Laulan (the guy behind the dead cells OST) and the Konami Kukeiha Club. It’s a love letter to the series and it proves that even a setting as storied as The Castlevania and it’s surrounding grounds, along with Death and of course Dracula himself, still have the ability to be used to create new adventures.
I've been wanting to make it for so long and honestly it's a bit of a dream that it's gone down as well as it has!
Pretty much the Konami MO
Better abandoned, than disgraced. Have you tried Bloodstained?
@@IFinishedAVideoGame , honestly, if anything, I think that the people that are responsible for Dead Cells should have the franchise now, especially since Konami did a Castlevania crossover with them for the newest Dead Cells DLC.
@@leadbones , no, and Inafune was not Castlevania, let alone the out of touch Konami executives, it was always the fans that made the franchise, you complete and utter knob!
My friend, you demonstrate what I think a lot of us viewers will see as a Master Class level of analyzing and explaining various video game series. You show a lot of critical thinking and appreciation for the franchises that you covered. I'm honestly very glad to have discovered your content. Whatever endeavors you seek to take on down the road, I wish you luck.
Thank you so much for your kind words and for the generous contribution to the channel! This was a real slog of a video to make at times so it's really heart warming to get responses like this. I really appreciate it and hopefully I can continue to make videos you enjoy for a long time!
I thought the same thing. I just finished it. I have been engaged all day. This is beyond phenomenal work. Hope to see more! 👍
Did I just watch 7 hours and 20 minutes of the history of Castlevania....you bet I did. Well done!!!
Thank you! I'm really pleased that I got to tell my version of the franchise. Glad you enjoyed it!
I have been listening for about three hours out of seven, and I paused just to say: Thank you, for giving Castlevania the justice it deserves; on both ends of the spectrum! You manage to explain things properly without it becoming boring, with it even becoming so entertaining that I find myself listening intently. It is clear you not only have done your research, but also that you actually care about the series, while staying truly objective. One can clearly hear how much respect you have for the series just by listening to your voice.
Thanks again!
Despite being a 7 hour long video, it feels like everything was kept relatively concise, every minute felt worth watching. I have not been a Castlevania fan, the only Castlevania game i have finished was Sympthony of the Night and i only played that this year, seeing the history has given me more appreciation for Castlevania.
I appreciate that! I actually think when you look at how long I speak about each game - it's really not that long!
Back in the 80s, my dad and I were huge 80s horror movie fans, he let me watch a lot. He brought home this game for me out of nowhere because he saw the horror elements on the box, ever since then I've played every Castlevania game, thanks dad. And good job on this frickin 8 hour video, you got another sub.
That's one hell of a cool Dad
Everyone is talking about how amazing it is to make a 7 hour long video but im blown away by the fact that it only took 2 months to produce.
that is an insanely short amount of time for this caliber of video.
Well I think TH-cam dates are a little funky on this one - it took me around ten weeks to do which sounds fast but I was working around 10-12 hours a day! I honestly thought I was going to go insane at one point but I'm really happy with how it turned out!
Someone already probably pointed it out, but the Clock room on SotN where you said you didn't know you were supposed to find out about the statue, when you reach that place the very first time and encounter Maria, the game makes the statue move as a way to tell you that there is a way up there, if the player is paying attention he might try to jump and not reach, then later after finding the double jump upgrade he will probably remember the statue part.
It's funny how quickly Dracula's boss battle final form went from "demon monster" to "artistic rendition of an eldritch nightmare horror and I dunno maybe an alien I guess?"
When you have to make 20 different games where it's the same boss, you have to get creative
His second form in the first game was called the “sin of man” or something similar, I believe. The foundation was there.
Of course that’s not eldritch, but it wasn’t a simple demonic form either; it was an embodied concept essentially.
Purely design-wise, I agree. He’s gotten more complex over time, maybe a bit too much so.
Why the recent "down fall" of the games? Easy. Only a lunatic "re-imagines" the "bad guy" as the "good guy". How absolutely stupid. Evil is evil and has always been at war with good. With the exception of humanity, who have a choice and can blend good and evil as sinners, repent, change, and become good through an interior conversion of soul to good, evil is still evil and is at war with good. The biggest lie satan ever told is that he doesn't exist, followed by the second lie, good and evil are the same or interchangable. Yes, evil does exist. No, good and evil aren't the same, they are, in fact, the exact opposite of the other. God says, "love your neighbor as yourself", satan says, "love yourself above all others." You need to remember the fact that the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. The opposite of satan's hate and selfishness isn't selflessness and loving other above yourself into complete fading away, it's balanced self love, "love your neighbor as yourself." The opposite of love nothing, by satan, isn't to love everything, it's to love just God above all things, everything in the world that is "good" being accepted as a gift of God and every evil thing in the world rejected as evil. Darkness and light are the opposite because even in the light no one can see all things, while in the dark you can see nothing at all. God and good are about balance, with God defining what that balance is. You can drink alcohol but, not get drunk and you can't drink at all IF you are prone to getting drunk (alcoholism), balance. You can eat but never to excess and you shold be very restrained IF you are prone to gluttony. If you have eyes to see, it is obvious that evil says, eat all you want, even if it kills you. While good says, eat enough to be healthy, no more or less, fasting only to honor God (at times) or to bring the body under dicipline to moderation. Good and evil have been at war since before time, as we humans percieve time, began. What did Castlevania do, tried to make the "bad guy" into the "good guy", which is stupid. People noticed and found themselves cringing and dissinterested in such a "creative" (stupid) reimagining of the series. Castlevania is, or was, a tale of good vs. evil at its core. Now it's a tale of evil fighting other evil in some bizzar power struggle, with evil being really good and other evil being really bad... Did I mention how stupid the newest game plot's are?
Evil is evil, not even slightly good and always makes excuses to never try or change, and at war with good forever. Good is good, even when it falls it repents and gets back up and tries again to change to become good, and is forever at war with evil.
I just finished this 7 hour behemoth of a retrospective, and I have to say this was one of the greatest videos I've ever come across on yt. Thank you for this dive into the entirety of the castlevania franchise. I started with SotN so many years ago, and had no idea of the history leading up to that gem. Thanks for all the work you put into this. Truly a great example of why I visit TH-cam at all.
That's really nice of you to say man - glad I could provide you with a good chunk of interesting entertainment!
This is the kind of franchise where i would see remakes making much more sense than in others. Not remaking the critically acclaimed masterpieces, but reworking the badly aged titles like lament of innocence or 64 into what they originally aspired to be. Love your perspective on all of these, very damn well made, what a huge project of a video, you are nuts for making these this extensive and high quality.
Thanks very much! Honestly I feel like I went insane making this one but it's been so cool to see the response and feel like I'm spreading a bit of love for a severely under appreciated franchise.
Also I absolutely agree about the remakes and really think that should be the purpose of them in a wider sense. I don't feel like I need remakes of Resident Evil 4 or Metal Gear Solid 3 - I want to see Vagrant Story and Jade Empire realise the potential they have!
_How on earth_ do you keep pacing and clarity ongoing -while jumping from technical to narrative to philosophical, biographical, developmental, to retrospective and comparative?
Your inflection and cadence stays really balanced, just like your assessments of the pros and cons. These are true reviews.
Earned my subscription, easily.
That's so much my dude - it's really nice to hear you enjoyed the writing as I really laboured over it this time around! Nice to hear that's paying off!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Sincere high praise, with no intention of flattery beyond based admiration: the labor shows, but also the sacrifice and tenacious dedication.
Recommending you to some of the millennials at the studio and am now watching the Prince of Persia series, of which I'm also a fan. (... And metal music: the style direction of Warrior Within was cringe AF :D )
@@IFinishedAVideoGame it really is, it’s the reason I decided to subscribe 🥳
I couldn't have said it better. Had I done the video, it would have been horrible ramblings. This man is on point.
Me too
I've never played any of the Castlevania games, but after slowly eating away at this video over 4 days, this is one of the coolest TH-cam videos I've seen in a while. There's so much more to he Castlevania franchise in quantity and (occasionally) quality that I was completely unaware of. Thanks so much
This is basically the perfect reaction I was going for! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
The older ones (nes) are hard as all hell compared to the others. Start with the psone, snes, Sega Genesis, Gba, or PS2. The ones older then that are a bit harder. Emulators are your friend.
@@jeremyhall2727they are tough but you can get good if you put a little time in
You can also watch the animated show
If you ever play them and want something new to scratch that symphony of the night itch bloodstained was made by ol boy that made it
Somehow this popped up in my timeline and I started watching it without realizing it's length. I now finished it, watching an hour or two every day.
I can only say : Thank you.
It can not be overstated how passionate you are about making videos and how incredibly good this is. Whenever I disagreed with you about anything in this video you always made clear that this is "your point of view" and "your opinion", showing that you know your stuff and the topics fans are disagreeing on. You not only did research on the Castlevania games and Konami but on the whole picture in every single case and this is something to be admired as it must have taken you months of your life.
Thanks my man! I'm glad the passion shone through - it's been so nice to see the reception the video has got because honestly I felt like I was losing my mind at points haha
I've been slowly making my way through this video for the past couple weeks and now that I've finished it I can safely say this is one of my favourite TH-cam videos of all time.
Seven hours is such a huge runtime for a video but every moment feels so dense and well researched. This isn't just a compilation of shallow reviews but instead an actual deep dive that feels incredibly passionate and well researched. Even when a game isn't received well you manage to find the parts of it that work and shine a light on why they turned out this way.
Not only that but the entire video serves as a really good narrative on its own terms about the self destructive nature of konami, taking wonderfully creative developers and crunching them through the machine until there's nothing left. At certain parts of this video I felt sincerely emotional due to how badly the people responsible for these amazing games were treated.
Thank you for the fantastic video, I enjoyed it a lot!
That's so nice to hear. Thank you so much for leaving such a nice comment.
These are two things I always try to be really conscious of - am I giving these games a fair shake and trying to understand what the developers were trying to do? is the video telling the wider story of the franchise
It's so nice to hear that this all came through even though the video is so long!
I can't find the words to praise enough the astounding work you put together! Truly a monument to Castlevania!
Thanks very much! Hopefully it does the series justice!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame You're research and passion for that material shines through. It's a wonderful achievement!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Wait how does TH-cam say your reply is 5 months old while the comment you're replying to is apparently 4 months old.
I like your use of the term "hallucinogenic horror." We need more games with this vibe, I really love how trippy Dissonance looks
Yeah I was pretty happy with that line - I think it perfectly encapsulates why Harmony is actually kinda cool looking
I think the only thing come closer to hod tippy feel in Castlevania series is "nation of fools" and brauner battle.
So just horror from hallucinations? Or horrors from acid tripping colors?
@Char Aznable I'm personally leaning towards the visuals. The tracers and pulsing colors are such a vibe, feels like coming down off an acid trip
Even if the reveal for Matthias wasn't great, I love the detail that he looks like a color swapped Soma Cruz.
Dracula's soul always takes a similar form, but the inherit goodness of Soma comes across in the white and blue while Matthias is clad in black and dark green
Every time I replay any Castlevania game I get drawn back into this rewatching this video. The way he is able to so acutely understand and write about each game, and the ebb and flow of the old school game industry that birthed them is unmatched. That sort of lens adds so much extra weight to the analysis. By the end it feels like you’ve unlocked the complete picture for why Castlevania is so enduring, as well as why it still remains unique to this day.
The hot and cold history of Metroid is the perfect fit for this analytic format, and I’m very excited for the retrospective. I feel like I never know how to properly write comments of praise… it’s a great video!!!
Thanks my friend - that's such a lovely comment especially when I put so much effort into trying to make these histories distinct from other long videos on the platform! Metroid is just rendering as I write this comment - should be out on Sunday!
This was an excellently constructed and very comprehensive retrospective of a series that I very much grew up with. I loved the level of detail and analysis you put into all of the games; it let me see behind the scenes into the development process and people of games that hold a very special place in my heart. I have to say, if I already didn't hold any respect for Konami's business acumen or creative integrity before this, it would have certainly led me there anyway.
I'd also like to thank you for letting me see an abreviated summary (and impact) of the earlier portable games that I really didn't have a chance to play (I never really cared for portables) and that had I had largely ignored. It didn't help that when I did want to check Ecclesia out, I found it almost impossible to get here in Mexico, since no stores carried copies in any large numbers and when they were sold out, you had to special order them and import markup really sent prices through the roof... having the context of Konami cutting back on production of the game really put that episode in perspective. I'll give the game a go on emulation now, I think. You put it back in my head and thankfully, they're easy to set up now :P
Perhaps the only part of your analysis that I really disagreed with was your take on Lords of Shadow (as you said, it's a deeply divisive title). I have the collector's edition of the first game myself, and having played it I have to say you were far kinder in your assessment of it than I. I agree with you that the game looks great, but even discouting my gripes about the Castlevania elements, I feel it failed on a basic level as an action game since, as you yourself noted, combat in that game really pushes you to a short and repetitive playstyle in spite of giving you seemingly a lot of options to try.
Going into what I didn't like about it as a Castlevania title has more to do with the fact that I never felt the ambiance I would expect from Castlevania locales was there. It looked awesome, to be sure, but most of the time it felt to me like a high fantasy game rather than a gothic horror one (even a sometimes goofy one like Castlevania) and when the sets did turn to the aesthetic I'd expect, the music never was there, since I feel that Lords of Shadow's OST really missed on the punch I'd come to expect out of Castlevania themes. It didn't help matters that I never swallowed the narrative, considering they pull Satan literally out of nowhere and you get turned into Dracula almost entirely by accident.
The less said about its sequel(s), the better as far as I'm concerned.
The first game was not a bad action game per se, just average if you account for its combat flaws. I wouldn't rag on it nearly as much if "Castlevania" wasn't in the title to prime my expectations, honestly.
That rather long rant aside (sorry if I rambled, but that game really stuck with me since I did end up feeling somewhat robbed after everything was said and done), I really loved your retrospective, and if you'll forgive me getting on a soapbox to get a years old grievance off my chest, I certainly intend to go through the rest of the retrospectives on your channel. If this is the quality in the rest of your posts, I'm in for a looooong and entertaining time.
Thanks for posting!
Honestly I love reading through long comments like yours - it really makes me feel like the video has been engaged with and that's all you can ever ask for! I hope you enjoy Ecclesia as much as I did and I'll happily concede that I won't convince you on Lords of Shadow haha!
Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy the others!
Did you just donate 500 dollars?
@@dwarvindoor3134 That's 500 mexican pesos, somewhere around 25 USD, 3 standard movie tickets here in Mexico for comparison
This channel is a goldmine of Quality Content.
Thanks very much!
True
have i ever played one of these games? no. have i seen the show? no. do i know anything about the series before watching this video? no. did i just finish this video in a day and a half? yes.
That's awesome. I always take someone enjoying the video despite having zero interest in the subject matter as the ultimate compliment
@@IFinishedAVideoGame it is a true testament to your video creating abilities to be able to make me (or someone in general) interested and invested in something they have no prior knowledge about. keep up the amazing work and i’ll be waiting for the next video!
go play circle of the moon and symphony of the night!
Legend. Play Super Castlevania 4. It's the best of the definitive Castlevania's as it should be played and the music. Oh my
I really appreciate your work and effort here! I also, more personally, appreciate you're willingness and ability to not just write off games as bad or just instinctively hold some up on a pedestal; it's actually hard to come across content where a creator will fairly evaluate each game!
Thanks so much my friend! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to reply to your comment - I've been neck deep in the script of my next video and sometimes that makes the days fly by without me noticing.
I'm really pleased you enjoyed the video and especially my approach to "negative reviews". I always try to work out what the aim of the developers was and to at least give that some credit. I firmly believe nobody sets out to make a bad game - especially back in the 80s and 90s when people were getting into the industry for the sake of pure creative passion!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I completely understand, your videos are massive and well polished!
And I completely agree, even into the early 2000's games were still being made out of passion, so even if a game was objectively bad there was still often some fun to be found in it!
When I played Rondo for the first time in the 2010s as soon as the opening cutscene started playing my reaction was "holy crap, wait a minute, what year was this again?" i was so impressed by the entire presentation all the way through to the first boss battle
It's an incredibly underrated game - for my money, it's the best 2D platformer ever made. There is just so much love and care poured into every moment!
Castlevania 2 Simon's Quest will always be very special to me. Reading the box art and booklet in the car on my way home from the store got my imagination so fired up. The music, the art, the atmosphere, the open ended sense of adventure. Amazing underrated game.
Me too, ill always remember the first time I figured out the cliff clue. By fluke of course lol
It gets a ton of crap now, but I enjoyed it back in the day.
A 7 hour Castlevania video is all I wanted for Christmas.. thank you very much!
Merry Christmas from father finished - you've all been very good this year
"You want a seven hour long video about a horror themed gaming franchise?"
*Yes*
While I can't say I totally agree with your appraisals of Dracula X and the Lords of Shadow series, I can say that I definitely appreciate and respect the time, effort, energy, dedication, and work ethic it takes to create such a comprehensive, thoughtfully composed, and thorough retrospective video.
Truly well done!
Thank you so much my friend. It's always particularly nice to know that you can disagree and still enjoy the video!
It's pretty funny that all the genius developers Konami used to employ - Kojima, Igarashi, Murayama - have all gone on to spiritually revive the games they were known for and prove that people wanted more of them.
If Konami had just stuck to the path they were on I'm sure they could have turned it around like Capcom. Highly foolish leadership
@@IFinishedAVideoGame common Konami L
This is a phenomenal achievement. I dig long form game criticism/analyses/histories and you’ve made something remarkable here, something I will rewatch over and over.
Within the past two months I’ve purchased the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, the Castlevania Advance Collection, and Castlevania: Requiem. I’ve had so much fun playing all these games, most that I missed out on first time around, and to watch this transcendent video at this specific time is magical.
Big Ups IFAVG! Thank you so much.
Thanks so much my dude! Good to know that this was well timed with your return to the series! Hope those future watches give you just as much enjoyment!
You have to remember SOTN released before internet was really widely available. I remember beating it as a kid and throughly enjoying it. Then a couple years later a friend revealing to me that there's a whole second half to the game! It was mind boggling for the time.
"hey did you play SOTN?"
"Yeah thought it was sick af. Only that the ending has me confused"
"Yeah, but that mirror castle was cool"
"THE WHAT?"
After properly beating the first castle.
Me: 👀
Dude, it took me over a decade to realize that there was a whole second half. I felt so dang stupid
Good sir, I've been on TH-cam for a long, long time now. I've also been playing Castlevania since the first NES release all those years ago in the 80's. As a lifetime Castlevania fan and with all the other YT videos I've ever seen, other Castlevania retrospectives included, this has to be one of the most incredible videos I've seen on this platform. A 7 hour, free documentary about a topic so nebulous to a lot of gamers, full of information and context that I've literally never heard of since 1986. Absolutely incredible, I cannot thank you enough and this video has truly been a gift. Planning a 2nd watch through and you are GREATLY appreciated.
I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to reply! I've been away over the weekend but let me just say that your comment and contribution put a massive smile on my face.
This video was a true passion project which I thought was going to drive me insane so to see people enjoying it this much and helping get the word out about such a fantastic series. I'm so pleased it resonated with you!
@@IFinishedAVideoGamehaha nice! Again, many thanks. And now, Vagrant Story! Incredible.
No criticisms for Order of Ecclesia?
I can't think of any either. What a fucking masterpiece.
A man of excellent taste
The only real criticism I have for it is particularly towards the orbiter type enemies that sometimes just annoyingly circle in and then move right in on, usually in a group, that you sometimes just can't really even dodge out of. One of the few times I feel like the game is being bullshit.
@@ARStudios2000Just got the Dominus collection, shall play and see this for myself. Been a while.
@@Allen-qs2xr good luck
The Clock Room in SotN has an easily overlooked tell on what you're supposed to do with regards to the path to Orlox's Quarters. When you meet Maria there, regardless of what time it is, the game forces the statue to move while you're talking with her. After that, it moves every odd minute. It's one of those subtle things that gets easily forgotten despite all the effort they made to make it stand out, even going so far as to audio balance the grinding of the statue to be louder than usual during the cutscene.
That's actually extremely interesting and I wish I'd noticed that when I first played it. i think it's just been burned into my brain for years that that sequence was bullshit - turns out I was the bullshit one!
I actually only realized it opened every other minute as an adult. As a kid I just came across that room multiple times trying to figure out what
I was supposed to do, and eventually noticed that the room sometimes looked a bit different. It was a pretty neat moment when I realized it was the statue that sometimes disappeared.
@@IFinishedAVideoGame what about the confessional its pretty interesting that you can actually get ghosts that can either be good or evil like you can get blessed by a preacher and he might give you grape juice
@@skyleite2065 it reminds me of the DoS piano room
@@justinroux1610 I always thought the goal of that was to listen to the womans confession then tell it the the priest so her confession is heard by him. Been awhile since I did that though so I could be mistaken.
Even though I enjoy longform content, strangely, I don't think I've seen videos like yours that would comprehensively discuss each entry in a very long series anywhere else.
Noah Caldwell Gervais does similar, but yeah it's rare
@@Aramillis now that I think of it, yes. But Noah likes to get all video essayist about it (I hope it makes sense), while this guy is very focused on the games themselves.
I think I saw one similar for the GTA series, it was like 7 hours long and covered all the games
Another vote for Noah Caldwell-Gervais.
Your favorite son
"FRESH PAINT OF COAT." - This woke me up from a dead sleep lol
It's my calling card
This whole video has single handedly got me replaying the entire Castlevania franchise again. Absolutely sensational work
That's awesome - how far have you got in it so far?
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Currently working my way through Harmony of Dissonance, and after all the NES games it's like a day off from difficulty! Mind ye, I've temporarily skipped the N64 titles until I can get a decent controller so I've plenty of challenge ahead.
Your videos are dangerous man! I'm already getting a Panzer Dragoon itch and I've only watched one segment so far! Great stuff
No worries man! Glad you enjoyed them!
What a rollercoaster. I didn't expect a retrospective to make me feel so many feelings. I was nostalgic, excited, disappointed, and sad all at the same time. What a series, and what great characters that have stood the test of time. For example, seeing Simon and Richter in Smash Bros. gets me excited EVERY time. It's disappointing that it's fallen off the gaming radar. I'm excited for this new animated series with Richter, and now that I'm finished with this video, I'm gonna go play Rondo of Blood for the rest of the week! Thank you for your effort.
You're welcome! I did intend it to really tell the full emotional story of the series so I'm glad that came across! Thanks for the nice comment!
Ah yes, the cycle of men
wake up>play Rondo of Blood>finish Rondo of Blood>sleep>repeat
Your comprehensive long form series could be applied to any subject. It takes a gifted individual to be able to hold a viewers attention for as long as you do.
His scripts are very good indeed, the guy is a very good writer.
he even convinced me to buy a game i determined never to buy - shadow of war. his evaluation and interesting info just overcame me! great work.
@@Alfonso88279 Great voice too!
Thanks my dude - I really appreciate that as I do genuinely doubt my writing at almost every turn haha! There is some seriously talented writers in this space so it's always hard to feel like you have a unique voice or take!
So yeah thanks a lot!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Hey, thank you! You're doing great. I can understand the pressure. You hold yourself to a high standard, which has brought you success. Hopefully you can access a flow state and trust the process. That's something we all need. Seeing someone on the edge of it is good for us.
Aria of sorrow is literally my favourite childhood game and I'm so glad it's actually getting recognition in this video
I couldn't give it anything other than glowing praise! I think it's one of the best GBA games ever made!
For Aria's whole true ending thing, it adds a little something because those powers mimic that of Dracula (Fireballs, bat form, etc.)
That's very true - it's a cool little nod but honestly I've always found it to be quite an abstract clue!
Figuring out which souls was easy based on the tomes, given the pretty clear text and the fact that each tome has the right monster on the cover and is color coded with what type of soul it is, figuring out how to trigger them was not. You need all 3 of them equipped right at the start of the 2nd phase of the Graham fight, which causes him to say something along the lines of "How do you have THOSE powers?" You can then switch them off and the cutscene will still trigger. Though the combo, which allows the bat to shoot fireballs in midflight, is pretty good at killing his floating halo laser safely, at which point he can no longer hit you if you duck. I think I had to find it online, so I agree with the criticism that it's too obscure. Nowhere near enough to damage my love for the game though. Easily top 3 in the whole series. Maybe my fave of the bunch.
A 7 hour dive into one of my favorite game series of all time? Okay, you got a subscriber, a comment and a like.
Thanks! Hope you enjoy it!
The effort you put into this is astonishing. Pure wow!
A month ago or so a dear friend decided to depart from this world. I confess that the fact of him taking his own life came as a surprise, a bit of a shock (he was a cultured, empathetic, and quite intelligent guy, actually young, and doing well financially). One of our favorite topics was videogame history and desing, and his favorite game of all time was Symphony of the Night, followed by FFVII. He would have loved this documentary. Such a pity I found it just today.
Anyway, as someone said, putting together this vid is more work than Konami has put into Castlevania in the last 10 years: there's much more passion, understanding and appreciation here, in this video, and in this channel, than there will ever be in those companies, boards of directors and investor committees, with their dreadful, often soul-crushing [ 55:22 ] 'executive decisions', that so often destroy excellent projects (Golden Axe, Rings of Power, The Witcher series... the examples are endless) and tear apart the lives of those most worthy and most vulnerable: the creatives, the storytellers, the visionary devs that made those companies in the first place...
This, must be one of the best videogame documentaries ever uploaded on TH-cam, or any platform for that matter. Superbly written, excellently edited, passionately delivered. Moved me deeply, and in many places it achieves actual literary, poetic, and philosophical heights [ 2:32:27 , 2:13:04 , 7:14:36 ah! what a joy to listen well written and well spoken English, but above all, ideas that are true, deep, and heartfelt].
Videos like this make me fall in love with games all over again!
Also, just love the narration, the way in which the good and the bad are both discussed even-handedly and last but not least the sheer amount of will needed to create such a comprehensive video. And, even at 7+ hours it feels like there is absolutely no padding!
Instantly subscribed!
Thanks Mikko - that's awesome to hear! I always try to see the best in games because I truly believe nobody sets out to make a bad title! Got another out this weekend so hopefully you enjoy that as well!
I just spent 7 and half hours watching a TH-cam video... and I don't regret a single second of it. I've watched a lot of game franchise retrospectives and this is by far the most well researched and edited one I've ever seen.
Thanks very much Josh! It was a huge amount of effort to put together but I'm really pleased with the outcome and glad it could spread some joy about the series to other people!
I've watched this whole thing several times now, and it's great every time. The analysis not just of the individual games but of how they influenced each other and how Konami and the industry as a whole pushed and pulled on the franchise does an excellent job maintaining interest throughout the runtime. Thank you for your hard work and dedication!
That's awesome to hear. I really think that videos like this without the history or industry context end up just being like a long diary entry so it's cool to hear my "alternative" is working for people! The history is just way more interesting than endlessly talking about my personal experience!
I was listening to some of the classic Castlevania songs on TH-cam, and this video was suggested. I'm really glad I found and watched it. I've been a big fan of the Castlevania games since playing Symphony as a kid. I really enjoyed hearing about the development processes and behind the scenes information that you don't normally hear about. I look forward to seeing what videos come next!
Thanks man! Got another that's due out this Sunday!
This remains as one of my most rewatched videos ever. I love Castlevania. I hope that with Castlevania Nocturne, some new drive for a game emerges.
Harmony of Despair is a great game that I will always revisit once in a while. It can still be played on emulator with full online functionality, and there's a small but active community still keeping it going on Discord. The grind can be pretty rough but it's a fun experience I would recommend to any fan of the series.
Fantastic! Over 7 hours and I still could have heard you talk more on this subject. Thank you for doing these pieces. They are some of the best content available!
The sentiment at the end that the franchise isn’t dead because games continue to draw inspiration from it, and that there’s always a chance for it to come back when least expected, really hits home for me, being a longtime fan of this franchise and especially a fan of the similarly dormant Darkstalkers series from Capcom (seems to be a thing for me regarding monster-centric video games that get treated poorly by its handlers). So long as a series has its fans and they are available to reach new fans, it is never truly dead.
Thanks so much for watching my dude. I'm glad the ending resonated - I thought it might be a bit too "artsy" but I really do think the series lives on despite it's absence!
This video is incredible, I'm almost finishing it, but it's unbelievable that I've already watched almost 7 hours of it, because it only felt like 1 or 2. Videos like this really push up the quality standards for TH-cam videos - thank you so much! And thanks for all the praise you've given to Order of Ecclesia - I really love that game and it made me happy to see it receive such praise in such an important video.
Thanks so much. That's such kind words that I'm sure I don't deserve! Glad you enjoyed it so much, here's to making something else that reaches this level!
I still think Shanoa's original design and character is one of the best blends for a strong female character and is still to this day my personal favorite female character of all time. It a shame we never got any more metroidvania games with her, she could have easily had her own franchise of games.
Completely agree - I think Ecclesia would have been ripe for a sequel!
A sequel yes but a franchise? Konami would ruin that as well.
shanoa does have her own franchise
its called bloodstained lmao
while not as good as OoE, the bloodstained games are still better than pretty much any castlevania game aside from OoE
(gonna be honest, I think SotN is overrated)
but an important part of Shanoa’s story is that Ecclesia was destroyed and all memory of her or Ecclesia were wiped from history, so that Barlowe would be in damnatio memorae.
if Shanoa goes around saving the world more; it would both undermine the plot of OoE and would require serious retconning
OoE is my favorite game but i dont actually think a sequel is appropriate and i absolutely do not trust Konami with Igarashi’s baby
and i think calling Shanoa a “strong female lead” is super cringe btw. it reduces one of the greatest characters in video gaming to a dumb trope and cliche.
@@tictacterminator I totally agree with you, I just wish we could get more games like Order of Ecclesia with her but bloodstained was definitely a step in the right direction, I always give Miriam the long hair at the barber that is like Shanoa's haha. Lets hope they only improve upon things for bloodstained 2.
Yeah, I know the term "strong female character" has really been dragged through the mud over the past few years but I have not found a better wording to use yet, I just really love her as a beautifully designed character that slays monster and demon while also feeling like a very human character with.
@@tictacterminator Also, I would not trust Konami to do her justice either
It’s impressive how easy it was to watch this full video considering it’s over 7hrs. You really did an awesome job!!
That's really nice to hear! I never want to blow my own horn but I do think it flows quite well considering it's so long!
5:36:52 I can't help but laugh at the vision of Shoanoa gobbling up midfight a full plate of soup she was carrying in her pocket while Dracula farts a swarm of bats at her
Honestly Castlevania's relationship with it's characters eating food is extremely strange
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I can only guess it started with eating steaming fried chickens hidden in the walls that you break with your whip in the earliest Castlevania game.
Came here from SuperEyepatchWolf's charity stream. I'm "only" 2 hours in, but so far this is an amazingly comprehensive video with research that is already teaching this lifelong die hard Castlevania fan a ton about the series. Thank you!
Damn, I couldn't disagree more with your end views on Dawn of Sorrow. Though perhaps that is because I played it before Aria. I absolutely ADORE the work of Ayami Kojima, whose character design is only rivaled by the Metal Gear series' Yoji Shinkawa and Soraya Saga's work on Final Fantasy VI... but I still don't feel Dawn of Sorrow's lack of this art is as big a detriment as you're stating. Forgive me, but calling the presentation similar to a Toonami production or Digimon (while complementing Rondo of Blood's art style giving it a "unique and charming identity"), as well as most of the time refusing to call this game's castle "the castle" in favour of "the cult's headquarters" (giving no such treatment when mentioning Bloodlines' Castle Proserpina or Brauner's Castle in Portrait of Ruin), I feel hides a level of subjective vitriol you might have towards it, and does your critique of the game bit of a disservice.
That's really awesome to hear. That was such a fun stream and John has always been so kind about my channel! Glad to hear you're enjoying the video!
A 7 hour retrospective of my all time favorite series on a dreary day that my obligations were cancelled due to rain so all I have to do is relax and game while watching this video......Christmas came early this year.
Hopefully it was a good stand in for your plans! Thanks for watching!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame You are very welcome sir. It was even better than my cancelled plans. I loved the retrospective, you did a fantastic job and your hard work is greatly appreciated. I got so wrapped up in Castlevania watching your video I loaded up the Anniversary Collection and played the classics while listening to your video. Thank you for the nostalgia trip.
@@jobygrantlandsnvrwntrmusic you enjoyed his video so much you had to busy yourself with playing video games whilst listening to it?
I see 🤔
@@Robert-tl2vg multitasking
/ˌməltēˈtaskiNG/ noun/
the performance of more than one task at the same time.
@@jobygrantlandsnvrwntrmusic “Attention span is the amount of time spent concentrating on a task before becoming distracted.[1] Distractibility occurs when attention is uncontrollably diverted to another activity or sensation.”
I can copy and paste as well.
These quick little retrospectives are great to watch when you don't have much spare time.
You know me - MR tik tok
The artwork for Harmony is incredible. Amazing!
This is such an insane, passionate contribution. Really well done, great reviews, well documented, scripted, edited and narrated. Only someone that really loves this series could pull this off. Subscribing to this channel was a no-brainer. Consider me a fan :D
Thanks very much! This was a huge project to undertake but I really wanted to do the series justice and tell my version of it's tragic history! Hope you enjoy the rest of the channel!
Cannot wait until Bloodstained 2 comes out. Iga just does not disappoint with creativity
Absolutely the same for me - I'm thinking it might be quite fun to do a Bloodstained Retrospective almost as a sequel to this video
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I was actually surprised that Bloodstained didn't feature as a full, final segment. I'd be down for a sequel to this video!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Yes Please! :D
Iga needs to work on his logic. If i hadn't had the right angle, the right weapon, and a *metric shit ton of luck* and just *happend* to cut a celestial body in *half on accident* the game that easily became my favorite in the series could just as easily have become an abomination that i would personally escort to the gates of oblivion *with a smile.* :3
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I was just about to request that!
Ah yes, a 7 hour video about a video game series that I’ve never played but heavily respect and admire from afar, I cannot wait to watch every second of it :D
Hope you enjoy it!
literally me
Me too Ive tried playing but they're too hard for me.
Hey, theres not many people who can keep me thoroughly entertained for 7 hours. Your doing something special with this, fantastic video
Thanks a lot! I really put a huge amount of effort into trying to make my videos really cohesive and gripping despite the long run time. I kinda think of them as a "season" consisting of mini episodes. Hopefully that comes across!
I had forgotten how emotionally resonant Order of Ecclesia was, even though it's one of my favorite games. I cried just watching the footage of the ending in this video lol
It just makes the story of Igarashi's relationship with the franchise all the sadder! He genuinely got pretty great at writing a heart tugging story by the end of his run! Ecclesia might be the best story he's ever come up with
@@IFinishedAVideoGameSorry to say, but Ecclesia was actually the one game where Iga wasn't involved in the writing process at all lol
Currently there seems to be a sea of TH-camrs doing hour-long retrospectives/critiques/etc of video games. I'm not even half an hour in and already know that you're a cut above the rest. You really got an eye for design like Tim Rogers but with the no-nonsense attitude of a Mathew Matosis or Joseph Anderson. Just the way I like it.
That's a huge compliment as I love those guys! Hope the rest of the video held up to the first 30 minutes!
Dear God. I'm about to go into a 12 hour overnight shift, this could not have come at a better time. You deserve a medal
You gotta respect those people who have a hard job and work their fingers to the bone to earn a crust.
Same except I'm doing 10 hours, so this will definitely shorten the day 😅
I actually watched the whole thing. You are a madman for making this, and I applaud your effort, and your takes on each and every game.
I am so glad to see that you also hold Super Castlevania IV in such high regard.
Honestly, SCIV was one of my favourite games when I was younger and I've always felt it was so crazy that people started talking it down. Glad I could contribute my bit to rebuilding its legacy!
I still love the Eric Lecarde twist in Portrait of Ruin. I always love stories that bring back the previous protagonists and have them interact with the new ones.
It's probably the best part of that game I'm not going to lie!
Something else great about the game is that it gives you three different modes to beat it as was tradition at that point. Jonathan/Charlotte are only the first playthrough. You can unlock both the twin sisters and Richter/Maria of all things. Seeing Richter and Maria work as a team was honestly one of my favorite experiences in the franchise. The game has huge replay value.
@@yoursonisold8743you forgot about playing as the axe armor so it's actually four
@@davidxanatos219 The axe armor is a meme option since SotN, but in Portrait you need two characters, so who was the armor's partner? I forgot completely about it.
Geez...one small like in return for your tedius, maticulous, and painstaking work to get this 7 + hours of Castlevania greatness on YT doesn't seem fair. I want to say very nice job on the video, have a beer (or 2, depending where you buy) on me!
That's really kind of you my dude! That's gonna certainly buy me a couple of drinks on NYE to unwind after spending what feels like my whole life working on this haha!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Well, enjoy and have a happy NYE and NY!
4:42:06 I actually managed to get my hands on both volumes of this manga at a second-hand shop. Honestly, it filled in a couple of blanks for me, sure, but it still loses it for me simply for the fact that the English translation team who handled this called Trevor "Jeff". Jeff fucking Belmont. I cackle every time I pick up the second book.
That is absolutely hilarious! I must have read a fan translation because I wish I'd seen that
This is my first time hearing this and now i think the next belmont needs to be jeff
His name Jeff
Castlevania is one of those franchises that has been with me all my life. This video was such a bittersweet experience, seeing the whole story how the series went from console-defining masterpieces to micro transaction-littered garbage. Thankfully many people behind the series had actual passion for what they created, and thanks to that we now have Bloodstained to carry the torch. As for Castlevania, I'm a bit surprised there hasn't been anything new announced, seeing the success of both the Netflix series and Bloodstained, proving that the demand is still there. Perhaps it's for the best, seeing how low Konami has fallen.
The Sorrow games are my personal favorites. After watching your video, nostalgia kicked in, so I bought the Advanced Collection and replayed Aria. I can't believe it’s already over 20 years old, and it has aged so well. What a masterpiece!
That's really awesome to hear. Aria is probably my personal favourite so it's amazing to hear that the video prompted someone to pick it up again!
I absolutely love that you made this! Playing and beating Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, and Order of Ecclesia (I cry at the ending scene every time) were some of the fondest memories of my childhood, and I'm so happy to see such an in-depth history of the Castlevania franchise on my feed! Seriously, thank you so much for making this! I saw the anime on Netflix and I was very surprised that it was made to begin with, in an era where the Castlevania series is all but dead, despite how influential it used to be.
You're more than welcome! It was nice to be able to spread the good news about Order of Ecclesia as I never think it gets the recognition it deserves! Glad you enjoyed it!
If you're looking for a challenge in SOTN, enter RICHTER as your name. You get to play as Rondo of Blood Richter Belmont, with all of his abilities and item crashes. No leveling aside from health upgrades.
As someone who views these types of video's to relax and fall asleep to Thanks for the sweet dreams, And the amount of effort it took to make it.
I thought I was the only one to do this 🙂
@@shehzad_ali me too lol
No worries! I'm glad I could help out and thanks for the generous thanks - I really do appreciate it!
Yah screw ASMR give me video game breakdowns and history. :P
The amount of work that this probably took is insane! This is top tier documentary level man. The research, script, narration. Incredible, I loved it.
It was about three months all things considered! A pretty big undertaking in terms of writing and recording but I don't think anything came close to how hard beating Chronicles was!
I'm always amazed by how much polish your videos have with the lengths they are. You don't just play numerous games and give your opinion off the cuff.
They're simultaneously reviews and full on retrospectives of a series, with very good editing and scripting. I have to commend the effort and I'm always surprised when a video this long keeps my attention.
Thanks so much, Arthur! Honestly, I sometimes get some quite big doubts because I think my videos can sometimes occupy a weird middle space - not quite a documentary, not quite a personal review, not quite a video essay. It's really nice to see people really appreciating it and seeing what I'm going for!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Keep doing what you're doing. So many of us find it fascinating. You take us on a journey through the life of a series.
And personally I find that more intriguing than straight up reviews and gameplay impressions. The context of something is as important as the thing itself
You know what I love most about your retrospectives? (ok maybe not most cause there's lots to love) It's that you get and really sell how important the next console generation is. It'd be so easy (and so many people do) to just go, "ok this ones on the NES and now we're at SNES and now we're looking at the Genesis." Which completely underminds just how big those advancements were in comparison to the last few generations. Actually reminds me a lot of the novel Devil in the White City which really sold how groundbreaking the Chicago's World Fair was (I've never been more hype to experience a character go "this is a ferris wheel lol)
That's actually something I really try to think about when writing about games. How did it compare to games at the time, what were the developers trying to achieve, what did it make me feel - basically avoiding "does it hold up" because I find that to be a completely redundant way of talking about art!
Seeing how Aria of Sorrow laid the foundation for future games by redefining the formula was staggering! I just played Bloodstained Curse of the Moon and it was like the themes and gameplay followed the Aria blueprint.
Thank you, that was a fun trip down memory lane. I even plugged in my old NES on my oldest TV to play some of the classics again. Great job and very informative.
That's absolutely awesome to hear! Did you get very far? I feel like the muscle memory might take awhile to kick back in!
This video was such a pleasure to sit through and made a few of my mundane work days more tolerable while I toiled away; thank you for this.
I always love hearing that the videos have jazzed up someones working day. I'm not sure why but that's like the ultimate compliment in my mind
By using the Wayback Machine on a website from Konami (1990's Corporate History section), you can find out that in 1995, one of it's important divisions of Kobe Building suffered from damage due to the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, later revealed in an IGN review that Castlevania suffered because of this incident with a major loss of important assets.
And if you look at release dates, Dracula X came out the same year of the earthquake, it can be theorized that important files of Rondo were lost which possibly might had a big effect on Dracula X's development from what might've been a proper port to what it is today.
That's actually extremely interesting - I wish I'd been able to put that in the video!
Finally getting a Julius Belmont game that shows what happened during the Battle of 1999 is my personal white whale of the Castlevania franchise. It’ll probably never happen, but considering the modern state of Konami, sometimes dead is better.
That's absolutely where they should go if they ever decide to make another - Julius is a seriously underrated character!
have you heard of seal of the eclipse? its not official but hey, its as close as we're gonna get
Man...
Konami really shoud make not only the 1999 Demon Castle war but also the one mentioned in the backstory of Bloodllines (covering the events of book Dracula).
Hours of Vampire Survivors had me craving to give this one a watch again. This really is a fantastic video you've made!
I really need to get around to playing it now that there is the Castlevania DLC!
5:55:53
"A fresh paint of coat" hahaha
Fantastic video, by the way. I absolutely adore obscenely long video essays and retrospectives, and now I've discovered a whole channel to binge. Excellent work.
Yeah that's such a funny flub. I have no idea how I even managed to say that!
Glad you enjoyed it - hope you enjoy my others too!
I finally made it through! Thank you so much for this, I loved the video and now, because of it, Castlevania as a whole. It's been a real treat learning about the lore and history of the stories and being able to go back to the Netflix series with fresh eyes has been wonderful. I had no idea that most of the characters in the Netflix series were ACTUAL Castlevania characters and not Netflix OCs. This video has been a treat for me to listen to in the car or at the grocery store and I look forward to seeing more longform videos like this. Keep up the good work, you've earned a new subscriber❤
Thanks very much! Glad to hear that it was a good watch and could keep you company for quite a few nights!
I needed a 7 hour plus documentary on world of Castlevania Games. Thank you IFAVG
This is one of my favourite videos on TH-cam. Castlevania is among my favourite franchises. You’re an amazing content creator.
Thanks so much. It was a real passion project and I'm so pleased that it took off and introduced a lot of people to the weirder corners of the series!
I think with the success of Metroid Dread this is a perfect time to revive Castlevania in the 2.5D style.
I couldn't agree more! I think a game in the style of Bloodstained or Dread would do really well!
another metroidvania type game deadcells getting a crossover game with castlevania just revealed today
dread showed 2d gameplay on a aaa budget can still return aaa sales, but with Igarashi no longer at Konomi, I'm not sure I'd even want to see another game from them in that style.
That said, the souls series has for like a decade now been demonstrating a formula for how to make successful 3d action rpgs featuring high difficulty and exploration of an interconnected game world, and it's almost criminal that we haven't seen at least an honest attempt to revive the Castlevania franchise in that style.