You should put a Maria mode :|,I really miss her u.u
Reviews for "Asslevania: SOTB"
This game had a lot of potential. The game itself is solid. Learn the mechanics and get a little farther each time. It definitely appealed to the Castlevania fan in me. And then the rest of the game happened.
No checkpoints in the slightest, a confusing leveling system where I seem to randomly level up once every ten deaths, unkillable ghost enemies that react strange and essentially ruin the entire game, incredibly slow movement speed, and no upgrades make this a poor mock of what Castlevania is. Even the original Castlevanias were easier and more fun.
Also, making me go through the same area fifty times in a row to increase play time does not make me want to play the game. Hell Dark Souls is one of the hardest games out there and it at least has an okay checkpoint system. This could've been pretty great but it falls flat quickly
deathink responds:
There is a check point, but it takes a little thinking to figure out. Other than that I didn't think a game that was only 3 mins long really needed much more check points than that. Anyway, thanks for the review. And I would stay away from real mode if cupcake mode game you any trouble.
I just finished cupcake mode and time trial, and I have to say that I enjoyed this game. First off, It was difficult, which is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the castlevania series. Well, at least the first game. It was difficult in both a good and a bad way. The restrictions of the character's movements together with the layout of the castle made it hard to forge on ahead without planning your moves beforehand. That is, when you aren't thrown into a piston right after you dash into the next room, or into Dracula himself, right after a cutscene. Dying because you can't see into the future is not an enjoyable experience, but It can be appreciated as a nod to the era where 4 hours of gameplay could be stretched into 4 months of trying, dying and crying. At least ironically. I also enjoyed the jibes at the castlevania series as a whole. For instance, everywhere you go you are assaulted by invisible walls, which I presume are a reference to the nonlinear nature of the metroidvania games. There was a wall chicken (sadly inside a painting) but I'm dissapointed that there were no unfairly placed stairs with enemies next to them that made it impossible to pass without taking damage.
The game was simply a joy to speedrun. The dash mechanic made it feel so good to zoom through the level, and unfair obstacles weren't really a problem since you're expected to memorize the layout in a speed run.
All in all, I loved it, but the artificial difficulty was a problem for me. I mean, taking away all but one of my hearts and expecting me to beat Dracula? That's reaching the meatboy simon says boss in hell levels of frustration.
Ps. What is up with the tower on the right path, the one you can take before reaching Dracula? The tower is just empty.
deathink responds:
Hey man, thanks for the review. I am really glad you enjoyed the game and all its subtle Homages. I really did mean this as a speed run type of game. Pt 2 will be vary none linear (that part is built already) and will be much more an exploration type of game. Oh and that one town my not be completely empty... hint hint.
An interesting game that leaves the player screaming "I DAMN THEE ARTIFICIAL DIFFICULTY!". Obviously a huge throwback to castlevania in many ways and, while not near as hard, still presents a large number of talking points that could be called unjustifiably outdated or intentionally rigged to screw the player over as frequently as possible, which I might have favored a whip delay or something in exchange for these:
-Rooms you occasionally enter instantaneously in harm's way. One room you literally enter falling into a crusher and it sucker-punches you almost every time for some health.
-Crushers + ghosts. I'm almost 100% sure this was done very intentionally to attempt to infinite combo the player into death regardless of level or health standing, unless you miraculously pull it off without getting caught into it. Crushers or spikes make the player turn backwards for a brief instant, giving the ghosts a free card to approach. Many of the spinning spikes do not present opportunities to repel the ghosts, but rather hopefully just get through it so you don't have the ghost ANYWHERE in the spike region and of course, don't get hit afterwards. If the ghost is anywhere within the field of spikes (which appear in groups almost always for mini-marathons of this) and you cross the point where the ghost is "dormant" the ghost will live inside your ass and waste 0 time violating said ass into a pulp, often leaving the player paralyzed in a state of irrevocable ass-kicking.
-I re-iterate this. Ghosts that are, at any point, unable to be repelled and must have their exact region crossed over, almost always guaranteed to result in death.
-Green ghosts proving to be outrageously hard to contend with, with almost every room they appear in sporting the idea "don't get hit or you're dead regardless". Though, this could easily be the motto for any room with multiple obstacles with any chance of coming into close proximity, since the paralytic hit period guarantees you can keep getting sucker punched over and over again until your death.
-Many rooms you can't really work out a solid strategy that seems to guarantee or even moderately increase your odds of coming out alive, regardless of health level. Some just throw so much crap at you in such rapid, brutal succession that you have to perform them perfectly in a manner that often doesn't seem clear in timing or even often method to the player. Many rooms I would best in one attempt by shear luck, try to repeat what I'd done in said lucky streak later, and consequently get pulverized because even after having done it a few times, I still had no fucking idea how I'd done so.
Other than that, there were lots of humorous bits, psyche outs, and lots of little details that simply bled retro, including many of my areas of disappointment. My only regret is that the only remotely modern mechanic present was the "level" system, which seemed pretty ill-explained, poorly tracked in progress, and generally had a humongous tendency to not make a half-shit's difference unless what was hurting you was a single, lone obstacle or opponent.
This IS a good game, despite the negative aura around my review. It's a fun tribute and representation of Castlevania, but simply seems contradictory, counterproductive, or mildly uncreative at some points due to the over-abundance of similarities present.
I'm sure many others find this to be a real masterpiece.
8/10, 4/5 ~WCCC
deathink responds:
Thanks for the review man. I grew up in the 80's, when developers still had the "drain all kids of there quarters" mentality. I love brutally hard games, and if you were a fan of castlevania, you loved it for 2 reasons. It had monsters, and it kicked your ass. I Made this game for myself and other hardcore games out there (like Mick).
how do you kill the "tits"?
also is it a glitch if you hit "R" you get a free cross throw?
deathink responds:
That should be fixed now... as for the boobies... just keep slapping them!