Castlevania Series Retrospective | A Complete History and Review
Video Overview & Insights
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On the backend, I think Konami realized the IP Castlevania was bigger than they could deliver upon alone with such a fickle audience, and it didn't fit in that micro-transaction pushed reinvention of the company direction since Castlevania games are so large in scope and are not pick-up-and-play mobile experiences. In the meantime, they've turned to alternatives to keep the franchise alive. Animation is an excellent stand-in to allow creativity to regroup and retain audience attention after so many commercial flops. Licensing the characters to Vampire Survivors and Dead Cells and Netflix absolutely generated Castlevania "stuff" to engage with, which made money and took zero effort on Konami's part. That's inarguably just good business. They are not good stewards of Castlevania, and its too valuable to let it rot.
Vampire Survivors is basically a Castlevania love letter even before they licensed DLC to bring the actual IP into the game. Your first character uses a whip and every enemy has an equivalent sprite version in some version of some Castlevania title from years past. If they're gonna do Castlevania better than Konami can and in a new and interesting way through roguelike progression, letting them do it was a great idea. Releasing Dead Cells in a physical version with Castlevania prominently displayed on the box as a primary eye catch is proof the demand is there, and after the success of that DLC expansion to Dead Cells, giving Motion Twin the reigns on a new canonical series title is really just a logical next step and people seem genuinely excited about it because Motion Twin makes amazing 2D action platforming roguelikes. That entire genre being relatively unexplored until recent years has opened up lots of opportunities that absolutely fit the series makeup.
Funny enough, one of the first roguelike games that I'm familiar with IS a Konami title for the Game Boy, released only in Japan called "Cave Noire". It could've been a Castlevania title with very little changed. Just going up into a castle instead of down into a cave. It's gameplay is pretty much Crypt of the Necrodancer without the musical elements, but you get a randomized loadout of a few spells and items and pick more up throughout each subsequently more difficult cave descent.
Come to think of it, Necrodancer would be a great crossover title with Castlevania and it's storied musical history of memorable themes. Somebody go tell Reggie Konami to make that.
Thanks to Netflix, Castlevania is currently more popular than it's ever been but where are the new games? Why is it that a series that has given us countless classic games and spawned entire genres lies dormant?
There is only one way to find out and that's to embark on a journey through all 33 games, across Belmonts and Vampires, consoles and generations - deep into the house of the dark Count Dracula.
It's part critique, part retrospective, part review and part history lesson - obviously full of spoilers and obviously full of my opinions.
Credit for the incredible thumbnail goes to the immensely talented - @MicahTheBrave
1:11:00 that's really going to have to be a generational thing younger people will never truly understand about games from the 90s. 90s era games had this strong need to flex graphical capabilities. It was essential to show off wherever possible, competition was fierce in ways completely alien to the game markets of later gens. So often in 90s games you'll see some completely superfluous graphical flourish, like a completely out of place 3D polygonal graphical asset in an otherwise 2D sprite game (Mega Man X3, I'm looking at you), or a game composed almost entirely of photorealistic sprites taken from photographs of real people or stop motion assets (Mortal Kombat and Jurassic Park for the Sega Genesis, that's you), and out of their contexts these decisions genuinely don't make sense. Personally I adore all of it because my nostalgia is comfortably nested directly in that era, but I also have the self-awareness to recognize that some of it was ridiculous and silly. Not all of it, though, like you mentioned, some of that really does add visual flavor and style to the game that helps keep things interesting. Maybe that's what modern indie games inspired by the classics are lacking: they lack that extra absurd flare you'd never think to do if it weren't for marketing people calling up your boss, screaming at them about how their new game doesn't look cutting edge enough to sell consoles in the midst of a very hot console war.
All media in this video is used for the purpose of review, commentary or criticism and is defined as fair use under US Copyright law.
=== Chapters ===
1:06:00 in hindsight that feels like such a strange strategy when you spell it out like that. Oh, you're concerned about the SNES just being the NES again and a pointless upgrade? Don't worry, all the games for the SNES are just the same games again from the NES!
00:00:00 - I - Nightfall
00:04:01 - II - Castlevania
Albus may not have been the protagonist, but he sure was the hero. Shanoa may be my favorite protagonist.
00:17:05 - III - Vampire Killer
00:21:20 - IV - Simon's Quest
This retrospective reinforces my absolute contempt for the Netflix series. It couldn't decide if it wanted to tell it's own story or be an adaptation and the result is the worst of both worlds. In spite of making a character called "Isaac" who was a really great character, he isn't Isaac. And Hector was completely ruined by my estimation. And I don't think I need to even begin with Nocturne.
00:32:47 - V - The Adventure
00:38:23 - VI - Kid Dracula
That momentary desync of VO's L/R channels was startling. I thought maybe there was something stranger about to happen. Nah. Just typical didn't even notice it edit mistake. Tbh 7+ hours of watchdown for QC is a lot.
00:41:52 - VII - Dracula's Curse
00:57:03 - VIII - Belmont's Revenge
"im interested in this"
01:03:50 - IX - Super Castlevania IV
01:17:59 - X - Bloodlines
Love how perfectly in depth you go. Never too far, and always just enough. Been watching about 30 minutes each day, enjoying every step!
01:29:21 - XI - Rondo of Blood
01:45:41 - XII - Dracula X
On the final level of IV...
I'm tired boss. I think I hate Castlevania now.
01:52:12 - XIII - Legends
01:59:13 - XIV - Chronicles
Back to watch this for a third time
02:08:03 - XV - Symphony of the Night
02:36:32 - XVI - Castlevania 64
Please do the doom games.
02:55:57 - XVII - Legacy of Darkness
03:08:28 - XVIII - Circle of the Moon
Castlevania 64 was great. Glad you didn't give it disservice. It was an amazing game that separates people who try and people who don't.
03:22:38 - XIX - Harmony of Dissonance
03:36:19 - XX - Aria of Sorrow
58:14
Thank You Mr. I Finished A Game for liking my comment that I used for knowing where I went to sleep at so I could come back and finish the video, lol
04:02:11 - XXI - Lament of Innocence
04:20:33 - XXII - Dawn of Sorrow
Theres a new one coming out so i need a redo
04:37:19 - XXIII - Curse of Darkness
04:52:14 - XXIV - Portrait of Ruin
7 hours
05:08:57 - XXV - Dracula X Chronicles
05:18:42 - XXVI - Order of Ecclesia
I never realized that Portrait of Ruin's structure is a lot like Super Marion64
05:41:55 - XXVII - Judgement
05:53:33 - XXVIII - Adventure Rebirth
15.October of 2026 the reign of Dracula will fought once more. Welcome back Castlevania you were dearly missed <3
06:00:09 - XXIX - Harmony of Despair
06:10:49 - XXX - Lords of Shadow
Thank you for giving Super Castlevania IV the respect it deserves. The game feel, variety, set pieces, and presentation just feel so good. Itβs an example of making a game more easier to its benefit. Egoraptror and other peopleβs critiques of it can kick rocks IMO
Itβs spectacle done right
06:36:37 - XXXI - Mirror of Fate
06:49:04 - XXXII - Lords of Shadow 2
One guy who created a youtube challange for a SMT3 recommended this video cause last boss was around 10h to have a try of winning he watched it while doing that. So here I am finally trying this video and yeah I love Castlevania while trying this franchise for the first time this year with Anniversary Collection and to tell you how much I enjoyed it I got 100% for that collection on steam and pre ordered Belmonts Curse and bought all collections avaiable (even Requiem on PS4). Probably will start playing Advance collection this day.
07:06:27 - XXXIII - Grimoire of Souls
07:14:55 - XXXIV - Daybreak
This might be the best long form video game retrospectives on YouTube. There was a lot of love put into this video, and I canβt wait to hear your opinion on the new game ππΎ
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#Castlevania #konami #retrospective
A fantastic video for a fantastic franchise!
More User Perspectives
New 2d Castlevania game has been announced!!!!! Castlevania: Belmont's Curse!!!!!!
@aarronforste8706The Netflix series is dog shit
@alanviniciuswanderleytavar4399The series is a masterpiece ππ
@Nikooneshot-n7h1:07:40 well that's not fair. That "honor" should be bestowed to Symphony of the night, because BOY HOWDY was that game an infuriating slog to play through for what people consider THE definitive metroidvania Castlevania. It's archaic is what it is
2:23:15 yup. Pretty much sums it up, my endless frustration with this game: loooong backtracking when the movement is already pretty slow, unclear where you need to go next, unhelpful warp rooms most of the time. Also the annoying "fighting game button combinations". The whole exploration is a complete slog, and when that's THE ENTIRE GAME, it becomes tedious and annoying. ESPECIALLY if you get lost, unable to find the place or item you need to go through to progress. DEEE-finitely didn't end up circling Castlevania THREE TIMES OVER before I found that single mist grate I needed to go through to move forward. Nope. Didn't happen to me. No sir
As someone's whose gotten into the castlevania games recently after several years. This video was so great to watch
@saintb0redLet's take John Seward and Quincy Morris, smash them together, and give them the Vampire Killer whip!
@TempoTronicaI main simon in smash ultimate too lol
@Gba2Loop-z1eCastlevania music is one of my favorite soundtrack
hands down
An outstanding retrospective to what ultimately became the best darn pachinko machines in all of Japan.
@AdamatronamusPersonally I found Circle of the Moon to be phenomenal, it's one of my favorites of the series. I found it far better than Harmony of Dissonance.
@BigEvil6686Lords of shadow were terrible games, and they WERE Devil May Cry clones.
@SoCalxNinjAI actually thought the magical seals in Dawn of Sorrow were awesome, really threw a panic mode into the ends of the fights and made it feel more like banishing a demon to me.
@benjaminreynolds1188Great work on this, a true labor of love, thank you for this deep dive!
@SoCalxNinjAI have ptsd from fighting that bone dragon while balancing on the raft scene from Castlevania Chronicles π
@SoCalxNinjAThis isn't a criticism, but watching your COTM segment when I've played the game to death as one of my favorite CV games (it goes SOTN, SCV4, COTM, AoS for me) I realize I had forgotten how difficult the movement is for a player unfamiliar with the game, even near the end.
After playing and beating it five or six times total (and restarting it dozens of times) to me (and I suspect any COTM fan) the movement is fluid and familiar. For instance: you can hit four times with the whip in one jump - six if you use a fast whip - by quickly flipping the dpad left and right to tap the foe twice (this actually works if you get it fast enough), and then double jumping to do it again. You can quickly move through weak foes with various tech such as the slide, dash, and cards. You can find combinations that can act like a metroid ice beam and give you the ability to stand on enemies. You can even cheese the game with an easily accessible glitch that lets you use DSS combos you don't have.
That, plus there are four extra game modes - Magician gives you all the cards at the start, Fighter mode is the opposite and makes you into a classic belmont-style character, with no cards and heavily improved HP and STR, Shooter mode gives you powerful subweapons and a homing dagger, and Thief mode is basically COTM's Luck mode.
To me, I'm just a bit disappointed you didn't acknowledge that Nathan is like a mix of Simon and Alucard - plodding, deliberate movement and committed jumps, with upgradeable maneuverability and a high level of power if you know how to play him. The game is a masterpiece hiding just below a hard-to-learn surface.
Ive been a Castlevania fan since the very beginning. I remember renting the first 3 from blockbuster in the 80s. I cant wait for the next installment! Its really sad Order of Ecclesia did so poorly. Ive played and beaten 95% of Castlevanias and it stands at the number two spot for me after SotN. Terrific game.
@CrossroadRiderWild how one of the greatest franchises of all time has a pretty much nonstop history of mismanagement with every single iteration.
@SarcoseDo you think the Upside Down Castle part and other mad changes in Symphony of the Night were planned from the start? I wonder how involved Hagihara was since he had to leave the project halfway through.
@soloistdeveAre you color blind? Just curious
@aspiekane6777I'm up to the 64 games part. Throughout the video, it's been amazing to see that Konami have been a bunch of incompetent assholes since the 80s.
Like, what the fuck, they drove Akamatsu to depression, never made a proper Castlevania 4 sequel, greenlit a sequel to the 64 game and not Symphony. It's a miracle this series didn't die completely and it's all thanks to the creative minds behind it.
Castlevania is the bomb.
@ηγͺγ倧ζͺιThis might be nitpicky, but I want to ask, what do these subtitles even mean?
I'm mostly refering to the "Blank of Blank" titled ones.
Like "Rondo of Blood". What is that? What in that game is referred to as the "rondo of blood"?
IV is not an evolutionary end, many of its elements prevailed in later entries, from diagonal whip (partial) on X68000 and Bloodlines (speaking of which, the team that made this game were advised by the IV team), to enemies and locations from IV appearing on Symphony of the Night and later games.
@myurao6931Your critiques on the PS2 3D games are sadly not on point. Yes, they're really flawed, anyone can see that, but narratively they're not as bad as you put them to be. Lament of Innocence is far from simple.
@Guille-mz7xfI respect and appreciate his analysis, I hate he doesn't want Castlevania N64 burned at the cross. The only positive thing I can say, it makes you appreciate every other Castlevania game and savor the moment, because the next title could be as bad as the N64 one. Maybe with a guide this game is bearable but without one it is a form of population control.
@dominicmartinez-ballard2176I can't wait to see his opinion on the game from Evil Empire, as it looks good
@sdg1512It went from campy horror fun to some neo Gothic terrible story that I just can't care about anymore.
@FranciscoSamourWatching this again in 2026, post Belmonts Curse announcement.
@SnakeDeShaymus