Dracula X: Rondo of Blood thoughts

[Mathius]

I had a very similar experience when I finally played Ys I & II after many years of hearing the hype. I grew up with the TG-16, but for whatever reason Ys didn't appeal to me back in those days and I didn't end up picking them up until finally within the past 5 years. When I played through 'em I found them to be highly overrated, and while they were good enough fun, they don't crack my top 10. I think Zeta makes a great point when he says that listening to hype for such a prolonged period of time sets your expectations so high, it's virtually impossible for anything to live up to them.

All that said, I think Rondo of Blood is a fantastic game that fully lived up to my expectations. It feels fresh every time I go back to play through it again, and it has aged very well.

I gotta agree with you there Nat. I just got Ys I and II back in May and was a tad bit underwhelmed. For me the only things that withstood the hype was the soundtrack and the story. I can hum those songs all day while at work. But ramming into enemies for a couple hours makes my poor thumb red and sore. But, for what it is, I still love the game.

[esteban]

I had a very similar experience when I finally played Ys I & II after many years of hearing the hype. I grew up with the TG-16, but for whatever reason Ys didn't appeal to me back in those days and I didn't end up picking them up until finally within the past 5 years. When I played through 'em I found them to be highly overrated, and while they were good enough fun, they don't crack my top 10. I think Zeta makes a great point when he says that listening to hype for such a prolonged period of time sets your expectations so high, it's virtually impossible for anything to live up to them.

All that said, I think Rondo of Blood is a fantastic game that fully lived up to my expectations. It feels fresh every time I go back to play through it again, and it has aged very well.

I gotta agree with you there Nat. I just got Ys I and II back in May and was a tad bit underwhelmed. For me the only things that withstood the hype was the soundtrack and the story. I can hum those songs all day while at work. But ramming into enemies for a couple hours makes my poor thumb red and sore. But, for what it is, I still love the game.

Whatever. You know what's truly disappointing? Your trivial contributions to this thread. Take that!

Just kidding, guys. It's OK if you don't think Ys I & II is great, you jaded, jaded fools.

[Mathius]

[/quote]

I had a very similar experience when I finally played Ys I & II after many years of hearing the hype. I grew up with the TG-16, but for whatever reason Ys didn't appeal to me back in those days and I didn't end up picking them up until finally within the past 5 years. When I played through 'em I found them to be highly overrated, and while they were good enough fun, they don't crack my top 10. I think Zeta makes a great point when he says that listening to hype for such a prolonged period of time sets your expectations so high, it's virtually impossible for anything to live up to them.

All that said, I think Rondo of Blood is a fantastic game that fully lived up to my expectations. It feels fresh every time I go back to play through it again, and it has aged very well.

I gotta agree with you there Nat. I just got Ys I and II back in May and was a tad bit underwhelmed. For me the only things that withstood the hype was the soundtrack and the story. I can hum those songs all day while at work. But ramming into enemies for a couple hours makes my poor thumb red and sore. But, for what it is, I still love the game.

Whatever. You know what's truly disappointing? Your trivial contributions to this thread. Take that!

Just kidding, guys. It's OK if you don't think Ys I & II is great, you jaded, jaded fools.

Why you little...

Seriously though, I DO think Ys is a GREAT game. I was just a tiny, itty-bitty, ever-so-slightly, microscopically, disappointed. Besides, what other game can you put into your car stereo and jam to, while sitting at a stop light with your windows down, and NOT raise eyebrows? Better yet, is there ANY other game can you listen to in your car without your windows rolled UP?

[esteban]

Seriously though, I DO think Ys is a GREAT game. I was just a tiny, itty-bitty, ever-so-slightly, microscopically, disappointed. Besides, what other game can you put into your car stereo and jam to, while sitting at a stop light with your windows down, and NOT raise eyebrows? Better yet, is there ANY other game can you listen to in your car without your windows rolled UP?

CYBERCORE!*   

For reals, I love Cybercore. It's short, simplistic loops are catchy as hell, IMO.

*There are tons of games with great music, but I am just trying to help out an underdog.

[Joe Redifer]

Ys 1 and 2 was a great game for its time, but it hasn't aged particularly well with the exception of its soundtrack and its animated anime cinema intermission movie scenes (which barely move, but still).

[Mathius]

Seriously though, I DO think Ys is a GREAT game. I was just a tiny, itty-bitty, ever-so-slightly, microscopically, disappointed. Besides, what other game can you put into your car stereo and jam to, while sitting at a stop light with your windows down, and NOT raise eyebrows? Better yet, is there ANY other game can you listen to in your car without your windows rolled UP?

CYBERCORE!*  

For reals, I love Cybercore. It's short, simplistic loops are catchy as hell, IMO.

*There are tons of games with great music, but I am just trying to help out an underdog.

Thanks esteban. 

[jboypacman]

Ok i have played all the CV games up to the first PS2 one(am not including the hand held versions)and Rondo was always a sought after game for me for years.

A few years back when i got on board with the PC Engine(Was a Turbo-16 fan for years but was well aware of the import side of it)one of the first games i wanted when i got my Duo-R was Rondo of Blood.

I sold my Vectrex to help pay for my copy off of Ebay and when it arrived i was so excited and could not wait to play it.

After i played i came to the decision this game was my favorite CV game period! I feel it was not over hyped and this was the defining classic Castlevania game(No Metroid-Vania here....Sorry Samus).

It is just a fantastic game to me and yes CV:SOTN is a fantastic game as well it is to me the turn point of games when it became more of a action/rpg than a action game.

I personally hate all the back tracking you do in all of the non-3D current games and i really do not like the 3-D CV games at all.

Again this is my personal opinion about it and my copy of Rondo is one of my prized games in my PCE collection.