Forums > Game Forums > Castlevania II: Simon's Quest > Another "black sheep" turns out to be a gem
Unicorn Lynx (181775) on 5/28/2012 7:24 AM · Permalink · Report
People, what's going on here? Why is this vast, immersive, ahead-of-its-time game always compared unfavorably to its immediate neighbors in the series?
This is more baffling than in the case of Zelda. The first Zelda was a masterpiece and the second one is indeed irritating in its difficulty (though I still love it). But this? They replaced hair-pulling linear platforming with comfortable open-ended RPG. This is a no-brainer choice for me.
When people say Simon's Quest is extremely difficult, they are joking, right? It has unlimited continues that allow you to advance from the same spot! The only difficulty comes in form of puzzles that are much easier than what you can find in adventure games. I didn't even need a guide to reveal an invisible platform with a crystal (and I use guides all the time, for everything). Yes, the kneeling puzzles are more obscure, but townspeople do provide clues (they do say "kneel" and they mention crystals, I just checked that).
To each his own, I guess... I just find it unfair that games in which pixel-perfect jumping and a saint's patience in repeating the same stage over and over again seem to be always rated higher than experimental, daring, genre-crossing products.
GTramp (81964) on 5/29/2012 6:06 AM · Permalink · Report
Nerd doesn't post on YouTube, they use a different video hosting. And anyway, in one of recent videos he confessed that for the most part he was just trolling in his early Castlevania 2 review. And the game is good indeed. Except for that "kneel holding a crystal to summon a tsunami" episode.
Donatello (466) on 5/29/2012 8:07 AM · Permalink · Report
His older videos are hosted on Youtube, in fact. But yes, AVGN is just a fictional character and a lot of his rants are really scripted. I frickin' love James though, but moreso because of the amount of work he puts into it and what a good filmmaker he actually is. There is a feature film coming up in a year or so!
But anyway, I actually plan to try this out in the near future. I finished the first Castlevania a few months ago, but I've been really interested in this game and some design choices really fascinate me. I'll see how it plays soon.
chirinea (47495) on 5/30/2012 1:43 AM · Permalink · Report
Sure, he's a fictional character, but there are some good points in his reviews.
Anyway, I also respect James a lot, he posted some "making of" videos and the amount of work he puts in is indeed insane.
Oleg, if you're interested, check this out.