Skullknight.NET Podcast: Episode 32

Walter

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Staff member

Episode 32 (03/24/2013): Volumes

A smorgasbord of podcasting awaits you as Walter gives dramatic readings of the Dark Horse back-of-volume blurbs. The gang also dissects the meaning behind Flora's reference to hellfire, and gives their thoughts on volume covers across the ages. Also in the outtakes section this week, Griffith and Walter chat about Vagabond while waiting for Aaz.

Podcast Notes:
0:00:19 Dry spell
0:04:30 Volume 37's cover/Bersrek covers
0:15:45 Dramatic Readings of Dark Horse Volumes
0:25:40 Walter loses his shit
0:27:20 Flora and hellfire
0:38:15 Video Games (Castlevania: Mirror of Fate; Assassin's Creed 3; Day of the Tentacle; The Cave)
1:05:00 Outtakes: Vagabond
 

Th3Branded0ne

I'll be back.
I hope Miura doesn't go longer than the previous break, but if he does we all know he's working hard to wow us all in the end. I was curious of the pic with the bulldozer before listening, now I know why :ganishka:
As for Vagabond it does feel long for me since I last read it too, but will dig into the volumes to fill me in again.
 
Loved the Vagatalk, thanks a lot guys, had me smiling all the way. I guess you'll like volume 35 a lot less if 33 or 34 feels like Inoue has a sort of meandering style in his current storytelling. I don't mind the no-action phase that the series is going through right now and think Inoue could show us what our chap Kojiro's going through too, to sort of give Musashi's tale a break but farming is fun. Musashi's time with that family in volume 33 tore me, I thought it was well depicted and covered a full year or so, in terms of timeline.

Have you read further than 3 volumes Aaz? What are your thoughts on the series?
 

Walter

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Staff member
Johnstantine said:
Did you guys ever play Order of Ecclesia?

It's the only Castlevania I ever played:(
Aaz has finished it. I've only played about 30 minutes of it (got sidetracked, forgot about it). I remember it being quite a bit more challenging than previous CV games. I kept dying at the first boss (giant skeleton). You should definitely check out Aria of Sorrow (GBA) and Dawn of Sorrow on DS.
 

Aazealh

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Johnstantine said:
Did you guys ever play Order of Ecclesia?

It's the only Castlevania I ever played:(

Well, did you like it? It's a pretty good series overall, and if you're interested in more I'd be happy to give you advice.

The original games (from the NES to the PC Engine) play a bit differently (they're straight action/platform), and are generally a lot harder. Still, I'd recommend them if only for your video game culture. The original Castlevania, Castlevania II (that's often disregarded, wrongly so), Castlevania III that pushed the envelope, and then Super Castlevania IV that revisited the series on a 16 bit platform. Then there's Rondo of Blood, the last of the classical games before the move towards a more "Exploration-RPG" gameplay that was pioneered by Symphony of the Night, on PlayStation.

After that, all the handheld titles followed the same formula (while the main consoles got 3D titles that weren't very good). Most of those GBA and NDS titles are pretty good if you like the genre. Among them I'd recommend Circle of the Moon, Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow (sequel to Aria). There's more but those are the best ones (I'm not listing Ecclesia since you've already finished it). And then of course there's Mirror of Fate on the 3DS who takes the series in yet another direction.
 
Great podcast.

I went back to play some of my Castlevania games this month and started with Circle of the Moon. It's a great game and I was happy it was a launch title over here in the USA with the Gameboy Advance. I like the harder difficulty and all the extra modes. The DSS card system wasn't my favorite but they had some fun combos.

Harmony of Dissonance on the other hand is my least favorite. Don't get me wrong, it's still above many other GBA titles that have come out, but I think it's the weakest of the handheld Castlevania games. While the graphics are colorful and impressive for the time, the music is pretty awful, the game is far too easy even on hard mode, and switching between the castles was rather boring. Still worth a play if you like these games though.

Going through Aria of sorrow right now, having a blast! I love collecting the souls. :)
 

Aazealh

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Staff member
tama chan said:
Harmony of Dissonance on the other hand is my least favorite. Don't get me wrong, it's still above many other GBA titles that have come out, but I think it's the weakest of the handheld Castlevania games.

It definitely is.
 

Sammoniac

You taffers!
Thanx for the new podcast, gentlemen. Damn, these back of the book lines are just too much :ganishka:

Also, glad to hear about old adventure games. I loved the Monkey Islands, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, the King's Quests, Grim Fandango and the like.
Last year I also bought newer ones such as The Whispered World and Book of Unwritten Tales. They have some little flaws here and there, but both are pretty awesome (especially BoUT). :isidro:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Sammoniac said:
Also, glad to hear about old adventure games.
Speaking of which, The Cave is 50% off on Steam right now (til Thursday evening): http://store.steampowered.com/app/221810/
 
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