Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
This is an odd game. It’s been a long time since I’ve booted up a game only to think to myself “What the hell is going on here?” I get going, see the main menu screen with little explanation, and decided to dive right in, they’ll surely tell me what’s going on. Instead I’m presented with an image of a huge castle and an arrow pointing to a boss, and then the game kinda zooms in but not quite onto my character, who, on my television, is about half-an-inch high. I very slowly move to the right, then quit the level, because I was completely lost.
I read up a bit, and learned how to play, including finding out that I could zoom in, and I was off and running, still a little confused. I could finally see my character, but I couldn’t figure out why he moved some clunkily, with his slow-moving axe that took out every enemy in two to three hits and his clumsy jumps. The game still had a bunch of interesting puzzles and obstacles, so I made it about halfway through the level before I died. Second try was exactly the same, with a slight sidetrack to another part of the level which deadended unless I had a partner.
It’s...interesting, but I don’t know how much I like it, mainly because it’s tough to tell what’s going on. The fact that enemies don’t respawn is nice, and that the level must be completed in thirty minutes makes each stage seem like its own complete idea, and the fact that the boss unleashes a death ray that slices through the dungeon every 30 seconds makes it feel like an actual threat. You have to slowly build up strength, however, by getting equipment and items that carryover whether you win or lose, but that also means that you’re not expected to win the first time you play a level.
I don’t know, I’ll have to play more.
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