Castlevania: HD and You

[Jason_Rocks68]

Hello everyone it's your fellow PSNPeer Mr.68! (or Jason_Rocks68 if you prefer,)
And today I am going to be discussing Castlevania: Harmony of Despair!

NOTE!

As I will be discussing each character there will be spoilers for their respective games. Please be aware of this, as to not ruin the story for those of you who wish said game is not spoiled I will hide each characters Bio in a Spoilers box. Thank you for your understanding.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair and You!

Congratulations! You have make the wise decision of purchasing Castlevania:HD.
(From this point on I will refer to the game as C:HD)

Let me be the first to welcome you to the World of Castlevania. You might be familiar with the previous titles in the Castlevania series seeing as how they have spanned over 25 years and many generations of consoles.
This entry in the series plays as a Mertoidvania (Side-scrolling, 2-D Adventure/Exploration (RPG in some cases) style game.
Entries in this style of gameplay include: Symphony of the Night (PSX), Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance , Aria of Sorrow (GBA), Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, Order of Ecclesia ( Shanoa (DS)

If you are familiar with any of these titles then you will fit right in!

Controls

As with any game, it has controls.
The default controls are as follows:

Square = Primary Attack
Triangle = Secondary Attack
Circle = Hunter Skills
Cross = Jump
L1 = Backdash
L2 (Hold) = Item menu
R1 = Personal Skill (Not used if none)
R2 = Open Treasure Chests/Use items/Activate Switch/Revive Other Players
Start = Menu (Game does not pause)
Select = Phrases for Multiplayer

Gameplay

The gameplay is similar to the other games mentioned up above, but with major changes for some factors.

• You cannot level up in this title
• You cannot Pause the game at anytime, even in single player
• Treasure/Boss chests are SHARED, if one character collects a treasure chest everyone gets treasure (exception being you are a skeleton or Water of Life, more on that later.)
• You have a timer of 30 minuets to complete the stage, don't panic this is more than enough time to get everything within a stage if you so desire.
• Water of life is only available in multiplayer games (local and online)
• Once you die (in multiplayer) your character will turn into a skeleton, if you die again there will be a 3 minuet penalty to the timer.
• Once the timer runs out, the stage is over and the mission is failed.
• All of YOUR characters share equipment, one piece of armor can be equipped multiple times TO DIFFERENT CHARACTERS.
• Sub-Weapons/Spells/Glyphs level up and make that character stronger, exp is gained through hits. 1 hit = 1 exp
• Exception to #9 Soma, Alucard, and Charolette do not level up, they get stronger through equipment and collection.

Choosing the right character for you!

There are a total of 7 starting characters for the PSN version of C:HD. Let's meet them right now!

Soma Cruz

Bio:

The reincarnation of Dracula. He is mortal, but possesses an amazing talent: the power of dominance over monsters' souls. By collecting the Souls released by slain adversaries, Soma can harness those creatures' power. A natural warrior, he is also skilled with all types of weaponry.

Breakdown:
Soma has the ability to take the soul of any slain enemy. This happens randomly. There are three types of souls, Red Souls, Blue Souls, and Yellow Souls. Soma can have one Blue, one Yellow and four Red souls equipped at any one time.

Growth:
Soma does not get stronger by collecting more souls, but the souls themselves get stronger by collecting more of the same type i.e. 1 skeleton soul < 9 skeleton souls.

Soma does most of his damage through his equipment, the better the equipment the better Soma is.

Recommendation: Low
While Soma is very versatile later on, in the beginning you will not have much access to any of his better weapons. Soul wise, yes you can grind for them, but it is much easier to grind post game as the Soul Eater Ring becomes available for purchase.

Adrian Farenheights Tepes (Alucard)


Bio:

Alucard the dhampir son of Dracula who once fought and defeated his father so that his mother's soul might find peace

Breakdown:
Like in Symphony of the Night, Alucard is able to equip two attack weapons, unless he is equipping a two-handed weapon.

Many Attack weapons can be used by either Alucard or Soma, although they will not necessarily attack like they did in Symphony of the Night for Alucard.

All of Alucard's swords now swing in a horizontal swipe and swords that were swung overhand in Symphony of the Night no longer do so.

Most special abilities from Symphony of the Night also appear in this game, except that they now have no more than one special attack, which is always performed using the down, down/forward, forward + attack key combination.

One time use weapons from Symphony of the Night cannot be used by Alucard in this game.
Unlike Soma, Alucard cannot equip any Axes, Lances, or Firearms, however, Alucard can equip some swords that Soma cannot.

Alucard uses Dark magic which grows stronger through scrolls containing said spells. Note: Collecting scrolls does not make Alucard stronger, just said spell.

Growth:
Alucard is practically equipment based, as for his spells you can find those in treasure chests in select chapters. Since there are only 5 there really isn't a lot to do with him once you max them out.

Recommendation: Very Low
Alucard is only as good as his equipment, and starting off I would say he is the worst character to choose. He does improve as his equipment gets better, but his magic is..... terrible. Out of his 5 spells I would say only 2 are worth it (said spells being Dark Metamorphisis and Soul Steal.)

He does have his ability to turn into mist for a second in which you can get an extra inch to your jump by holding up and when he slide kicks he transforms into a wolf for a second, pretty cool but that's about it.

Johnathan Morris


Bio:

A young man whose clan the Belmonts entrusted with their sacred whip, the Vampire Killer. While he comes across as less than serious, he never backs away from his responsibilities:
He chose to fight Dracula even with his knowledge that the whip would steal part of his life to make up for his lack of experience. Jonathan can learn a variety of Martial Arts.

Breakdown:
Jonathan can only use the Vampire Killer in this game (Sorry PoR fans) and has the most Sub-Weapons in the game, meaning it's going to take a very, very long time to get his attack to max.

Martial Arts are button inputs that are found within treasure chests and can be used by doing the motion showed on the status screen and pressing Triangle.

Growth:
As with all Sub-Weapon users, you must use said sub-weapon until it levels enough to see any real changes to your damage, and since Jonathan has the most sub-weapons in the game his growth is very slow.

Recommendation: Low
Johnathan is not a bad character per se, but he has the most sub-weapons which you must find and level up for him to be of much use, he also has the slowest whip speed of all the whip users. On the + side he can whip in 3 directions (forward, down+left/right in the air) and that's about it. Martial arts are a fun little tactic but not really all that useful in a heavy fight.

Charloette Aluin


Bio:

A gifted mage hailed as a genius by some. She infiltrated Castlevania and fought alongside Jonathan Morris as his counsel. Charlotte has mastered a special art: by binding monster energy to her book, she can wield it in the form of Spells.

Breakdown:
Charloette can be a beast in the right hands, some of her spells are down right game breaking, but getting said spells is harder than it sounds and by harder I mean prepare to spend hours trying to learn her spells.

Growth:
Charloette gets stronger by absorbing monster's spells, her personal ability creates a shield in front of her that will absorb spells. If it were that easy a lot of people would be playing as Charolette.

When you hear a metalic "SHINK" sound when an attack or magic hits her shield that is a spell you can absorb. It happens randomly sometimes you get it from the first attack, other times it may take 20 minuets. Also she can only absorb 1 spell from 1 enemy, no maxing out 1 spell at 1 enemy for you.

Recommendation: Medium
If your willing to put in the time Charloette can be the best person in your team, starting out she has just about nothing save for 1 spell. The more spells she acquires the stronger the base attack becomes (not like you need it though.)

Shanoa


Bio:

A sorceress in the Order of Ecclesia, an organization which pledged to fight Dracula, Shanoa fought Dracula with Magical Glyphs at her command. With power of Magnes, she can also cling to magnets. Her expressionless face belies the great power that hides within.

Breakdown:
A very peculiar character, Shanoa is both Manly enough to equip Armor but feminine enough to wear Dresses, with this in mind, she can have a variety of builds (personally I use a MP Regen build.) Her weapons are.... lacking and she only has 4 spells. Shanoa can either be a great teammate or a giant nuisance depending on the player.

Growth:
Because she only has 4 spells she gains attack quicker than other characters, her spells are..... useful in some situations, but mostly your going to stick to 1-2 (Fulgur and Nitesco) As with sub-weapon users her spells gain exp through hits. 1 hit = 1 exp.

Recommendation: Low
Shanoa only starts out with 1 spell and her rapier weapon glyph is not that great, once you start getting her spells to around level 5-6 she starts to bloom, but until then expect to trudge through stages.

Julius Belmont


Bio:

Perhaps the strongest vampire hunter to ever live, it was Julius Belmont who killed Dracula once and for all during the Demon Castle War in 1999 with the aid of Alucard, the Belnades clan, and the Hakuba family by sealing Dracula's Castle into a solar eclipse ending his cycle of resurrection.

Breakdown:
The manliest of the group, Julius storms Castlevania beard twitching, whip glowing. Seeing as how all whip users are practically the same not much else can be said, although he does have some martial arts jonathan has and vice-versa.

Growth:
Uses sub-weapons. You know the drill exp is gained through hits not kills, 1 hit = 1 exp.

Recommendation: High
The reason I recommend him so highly is due to the fact he has the ability to attack in all 8 directions (down, down+left/right only in the air) makes him more useful than Johnathan, his whip speed is the 2nd slowest in the game but due to the fact he can swing in 8 directions rectifies this. He also has the ability to swing from magnet points by pressing R1 if you hit an enemy with this it will count as a regular attack. but hit a stud and you will swing back and forth untill you either jump or release the R1 button.

Yoko Belnades


Bio:

Yoko Belnades is a descendant of the Belnades Clan and a powerful witch, similar to her ancestor Sypha Belnades. She performs tasks for the Roman Catholic Church in their search for Dracula and the remainder of his powers.

Breakdown:
Yoko only has 3 spells and a very questionable weapon, Her main attack is to swing her staff in front of her in a small arc, when ducking she will preform an upward kick. She is a spell caster and a screamer (hehe more on that later<3 ) Holy flames is a fire/holy short range spell, Holy lightning is... well holy/lightning spell that shoots orbs that track 1 enemy then fade out, and Blue Splash is an ice/holy combo that can hit a good amount of times and can wreck bosses *cough*Drac's3rdform*cough*

Growth:
Since she has only 3 spells and starts with them you can pretty much blast out the starting gate with her, but her spells start off weak. with enough time she can go from weakling to monster slayer in about ten seconds fla-is shot- but in all seriousness once her spells reach level 6 she is pretty much done.

As for being a screamer (hehe) she will shout her spell names likes there's a dragon in front of her. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER again so prepare yourself.

Recommendation: Medium
Decent enough in the beginning, can handle herself solo for the first chapter but thats about it, but once she gets going.../)^3^(\

Tips

Here are a few pointers for those new to "Teamwork"

• Don't be afraid to ask for help,
• Local Multiplayer is usually the best for trying to grind items, as you each get an item from the treasure chest = X2/3/4 the chance to obtain an item.
• Boss souls are gaind from the Boss Treasure chest
• Spell Scrolls are found in Treasure Chests
• An easier way to grind sub-weapons is to play Survival (only available in online, find a buddy) Equip an Astral Ring and a Master ring, along with all the equipment you have that increases HP. Set the match to hard and the sub-weapon/spell you want to level to the down+circle slot, then begin. Once you start hold down and use your sub-weapons continually pressing backdash (L1) you will skip the action animation and be able to cast again immedietly continue this untill you can't use it anymore, then run into the boss and repeat, you will come back in a few seconds with full health. It would be best to go 1 at a time alternating between the two of you. I will post a video of this (Not mine) if I didn't explain it properly. (I'm sorry)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xKJjywc8aI

• Don't beat yourself up over dying, it happens from time to time even if you were being careful.
• You are a team, don't try to be a hero and solo a boss just because you can do it in local. Bosses hit harder and have more health the more people there are (Online only)
• Revive your teammates, c'mon don't be a jerk.
• If someone on your team keeps saying "Hear" Stop, zoom out, and see what the fuss is about. He/She may be trying to show you a shortcut.
• In Chapter 7 there is a switch on the left side (2nd to last from the right) that opens a gate on the right side of the map, this lets other players run into the room with the main switch that opens the gate and elevator to the boss room.
• If some characters are faster than you, they have some boots that increase speed (3 tiers: Mercury or Winged (Sonic Boots DLC ONLY)
• If you are looking for specific items/in depth character guides this website is a great resource http://alternateharm...s.com/index.cgi
• All the good equipment is located in Hard mode, Normal mode is to get you adjusted to the game.
• All the money you will earn will mostly come from selling equipment you don't need.
• Buy Super Potions, when you heal with them the people NEXT to your character will be healed as well.
• If you need to go back to the Grimoire' to get a health item, go ahead. It's better to lose a few seconds than die and have to restart the chapter again.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank The Castlevania Wiki for providing the Bio's of each character and information on the characters playstyles.
I would also like to thank Konami for making a Kick-a$$ game that I can't put down.
Don't forget you, the reader, for taking the time to read this beginner's guide.
And finally I would like to thank PSNProfiles for just being awesome in general.
 

Closing time

If you feel I have missed anything in this beginner's guide, go ahead and comment mentioning anything you think is important go right ahead.

Bye-bye

I hope you enjoyed this Beginners Guide to

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Edited July 12, 2014 by Jason_Rocks68