Review: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

This isn’t your average 2D Castlevania.

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: X360 

When taking Castlevania: Harmony of Despair into consideration, one has to understand one very important fact:

This is Castlevania at its most primitive – a hardcore variation with no real point other than to sate a player’s need to kill or be killed. It’s man versus beast, vampire versus skeleton, and assorted other beings versus a host of recycled creatures that, at one point or another, have been featured in a past Castlevania title.

This fact, now fully addressed, leaves one to wonder whether or not the experience that Castlevania: Harmony of Despair offers is one that is truly noteworthy in canonical terms. To that end, I say only this:

“Die monster. You don’t belong in this world!”

Hey, don’t look at me like that! My quoting Richter Belmont isn’t really a bad thing; it’s simply my way of expressing what I felt embraced the nature of this variation of the Castlevania formula. At first glance, my words are as empty as my soul, I know, but in reality, the fact of the matter is that this isn’t a true Castlevania title, at least when you boil it down to its base components and thus, Richter Belmont’s timeless dialogue from Symphony of the Night rings out clear.

When it comes down to it, this is a bare bones action game that is designed as nothing more than your basic boss rush – with an insane amount of grinding necessary to progress through the game. To make the task more interesting, you’re allowed to form a group of up to six people online, all tasked with tackling the same objective and goals – run from room to room, eliminate any threats, avoid traps and spikes, grab some loot, and finally, finish off the level boss.

That’s it.

Seriously, that’s really it. There’s no real storyline, which is a shame since you’ve got an amalgamation of characters from past titles in the franchise that have suddenly been thrust together in an effort to kill Count Dracula. Why are they suddenly part of the same timeline? Who brought them together? What plot devices serve to explain the sudden events that have now transpired? Where’s Waldo? Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? None of these questions are answered, not a single one (though I believe Waldo is killed early on in stage 2 – which explains why nobody can find him). While I understand the need to strip out a truly epic narrative, the lack of a basic plot is something that’s pretty damn noticeable.

The stages, creatures, items and music are simply recycled from past titles in the series, which really isn’t a bad thing. Some creatures require new strategies, which changes things up a bit, but on the whole, it’s a very cookie cutter paradigm for game design. It’s hard to complain about most of these recycled attributes, because they’re honestly implemented quite well, which is a testament to the series itself (I mean, if you can reuse stuff from games that are several years old and it works, well, that’s awesome). However, there is very little that is wholly new and interesting to be found, apart from the interaction you have with six people vying for items and kills.

In terms of items, the game is a virtual loot-fest, an epic struggle to find and secure loads of goodies that can be equipped by your character. Honestly, this is one of the facets that will keep you playing, as some loot is really, really rare and because of that, is also really, really hard to secure. The best part about the looting system is that everyone gets an item when a chest is opened, meaning you don’t have to be fast and furious to get your ass to the nearest chest! This is a great feature, in that it stops people from hogging all the good loot. Going through levels isn’t something that you can do immediately and having the right loot can mean the difference between getting to the next chapter or being Dracula’s bitch.

Speaking of being Dracula’s bitch, death can come swiftly and easily in Harmony of Despair. When you die, however, you aren’t out of the game. Instead, you become a skeleton and can chuck bones at other creatures. You have a life bar and you can actually do some damage with your “weapon” – make no bones about it. If another player happens to find a “Water of Life”, of which there are several of per level, they might be kind enough to restore you to your former glory, thus allowing you to die like a retard in some other area of the castle. If you get killed as a skeleton, however, time ticks away from the timer and the rest of the players will curse you for even being part of the game.

I didn’t mention the timer, yet, did I?

Well, now’s a good time to let you know that each level is thirty minutes long – that’s it. You have half an hour to get through the level, loot the heck out of the place and whoop some serious boss ass. If people are dropping into skeleton form and dying, time gets knocked off the timer, which blows monkey chunks when you’re fighting an end of level Puppet Master or some other major badass. There is an achievement for beating a boss with five skeletons, so there is inspiration amongst the insanity, but overall, skeletons + fighting bosses = ARGH.

You are given the chance to play the game single player if you like and many people will tell you that it’s impossible. I’m here to tell you, however, that it’s not impossible – just freaking hard. Of course, this will also depend on which character you choose. At your disposal are Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin from the Nintendo DS title Portrait of Ruin, Shanoa from the Nintendo DS classic Order of Ecclesia, Soma Cruz, from the Nintendo DS title Dawn of Sorrow (the sequel to the GBA Aria of Sorrow), as well as the ever popular Alucard from Symphony of the Night – the Castlevania game that features the best opening sequence known to man.

In terms of voice acting, that is.

Keep in mind – character choices are hardly aesthetic. Each character handles as they did (for the most part) in their previous titles, meaning there is great variation among the masses. Jonathan uses a whip as his main (and only) weapon, but has a number of different sub-weapons at his disposal, while Alucard has the ability to transform and perform all kinds of interesting spells – plus he can use weapons. This means that there are a number of different facets that each character brings to the table, thus making multiplayer all the more exciting.

Visually, the HD packs a nice punch and it only serves to prove that a 2D Castlevania could work on the Xbox 360. However, as I said earlier, most everything in the game is simply rehashed from prior titles, which really isn’t a big deal when you realize that this game is really nothing more than a fan service for lovers of the franchise. Musically, it’s a great game, but again, recycled. It’s hard to get pissy about this fact, due to the overall quality of the title!

Now, we get to the million dollar question: Is it worth it? Is Harmony of Despair worth buying?

I can honestly say that this is the only game I’ve been playing since I downloaded it on release day, so I’d love to just jump up and shout “HELL YES”, but the fact of the matter is that this game is going to appeal to fans of Castlevania only. Add the brutal difficulty (hard mode is easily going to cause people to throw controllers, punch pillows and/or end relationships) to the mix and you’ve got a game that’s got a somewhat limited appeal. The lack of a story and the recycled nature of the game doesn’t hurt all that much, at least once you realize that this is really nothing more than a looting free-for-all with a boss rush thrown in, but it’s still limited in its scope. There is DLC planned, which will add to the title’s longevity, but in the end, this is one of those titles that simply lacks enough to keep the average player sated. Fans, however, will bask in the multiplayer glory to be found within.

 By: Pete Sellers