Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night.

[illdog]

It still looks like a PS1 game and is presented poorly. Basically you explore the castle from Symphony, or you tap the map and Alucard moves from one room to another. You randomly encounter enemies from Symphony and you try to beat them at Colomns. You can level up and assign stat points like in Puzzle Quest and you can equip items you find or win like Symphony to bolster your defence and attack. You also fight bosses, cast spells, eat comedy foods and can transport between safe rooms to help you get around the massive map. Oh, it has all the music form Symphony too.

Its sounds pants but its all sorts of awesome, im in the grips of a full addiction. I think i must just like uncovereing maps of Castles room by room. I also like finding equipment and weapons that are slighly more powerful than the last and placing them in boxes dotted around a picture of my character. And playing Colomns.

[illdog]

Ive given this game its own thread cos im probably going to dribble on about it.

Whilst i am enjoying it and ive sunk a bit of time into it (bout 5 hours) it does have some issues. Touch screen controls dont always cut it when your trying to put blocks in place in a hurry. To 'quick drop', you swipe downwards on the screen, starting from where your blocks are currently falling. Sometimes, and even though i have the sensetivity turned right down, it picks up your finger leaving the screen and put the blocks one place over. It doesnt sound like much but it can be the difference between life and death, especially when your really low on HP and there are no Safe Rooms in sight.

Alos, the bosses (in the red outlined rooms) are an incredible spike in difficulty. They chain together some serious shit and they dont stop there either, they keep them coming constantly so you have to beat them and quick. Im not so good at Colomns that i can get in there first every time, so multiple rematches are needed and annoying.

Its repetetive too, no question. Its basically playing Colomns and looking at a map, but the Castlevania exploration and items just has me hooked.

[DANGERMAN]

it's kind of cool how much it apes Castlevania. Obviously it looks the part, but it pays to do a bit of grinding early on, there's items to equip, and it's not a linear route through the game. I've passed through 6 area, but only cleared (and even then there's the odd room I cant reach yet) maybe 2 of them.

It doesn't quite work like Puzzle Quest in that you dont need to disappear blocks to attack. As I understand it, and I skipped the tutorial so I might be wrong, there's an egg timer at the bottom of the screen, when it's one way up you're attacking, when it's the other you're defending, but I could be wrong (might just be who scores the most points in that time). What it means is you can win despite playing quite badly if you are significantly stronger.

I'm really enjoying it, I'm over 27% through, but I imagine progress slows as you have to return to areas

[illdog]

Ive hit a massive sticking point at 86%. There are these bosses you have to fight and they're so powerfull they kick my ass in about 60 seconds. Im guessing i just have to wonder around and grind to toughen up but at the moment i really cant be arsed.

Shame, as i had got my character to a point where i was using magic to heal instead of items (Holy Magic) and was strong enough to take down most enemies without much bother.

Ive found some of the tougher enemies a bit random when it comes to besting them at Colomns. There are times when i would get my ass whooped in 20 seconds three times in a row. On the fourth time i would beat them without a problem. Odd.