Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

And as I mentioned, that was a linear game with very minor exploration elements.

It actually wasn't until 1987's Castlevania II Simon's Quest that the franchise went nonlinear.

And, you know, that game obviously had some growing pains.

If you've ever played that game, it's not the most enjoyable experience, I would say.

Zelda 2 is, I think...

I don't know if it's Zelda 2 or Castlevania 2.

I don't remember which one, because I played both of them back-to-back about a year ago, specifically for ATB, which I haven't...

ATB is I've had to put on the back burner because I'm caring for my mum, so I just can't have a project where I play 3 million RPGs.

I'm sad I miss it, but I've had to retire it, but...

i did i made sure i was like if i'm covering rpgs i have to talk about zelda 2 and castlevania 2 simon's quest those like defining rpgs so that was the last time i played both of those um yeah was for

that and then that didn't end up going anywhere because

it's hard to do projects when you're caring for your mom the whole time so i'm not making any writing out of this i'm just playing games when i have free time now um and you mean like god intended yeah Like, God intended.

Fast forward, some BBG is making eldritch monsters and the night equals bad monsters appear.

It's like Castlevania II.

Deciding to ask questions I get laughed at for asking something very important, warding stones were magical.

I'm a wizard, by the way.

what about if it's a terrible night to have a curse how do you feel about that

no oh yeah it was know what fuck dragon quest 3 it was fucking simon fucking simon's quest i like that game too i like castlevania but what the fuck no they're not good stop it I don't like it.

Boring.

I

ones...

i didn't care for the 64 ones at first i went back later and i i liked them more because i i don't know if i was like looking at them with fresh eyes because at the time i just wanted 2d pixel based castlevania yeah and um and and so when i went back again i was like okay i it's it's fine for what it is i i get it you know it's still a little clunky but yeah that that classic style that know that 2d now what about um uh castlevania 2 simon's quest did you get into that one much because a lot of people who love castlevania that was kind of me like they didn't like it as much because it was more exploration and less

just yes so because i came to castlevania as a series much much later in life

right

i by and large bypassed Simon's Quest because I knew it was more RPG than the first one and went straight to Dracula's Cursed for Castlevania III because it had returned more to the side scroll but there was branching paths now and then obviously Super Castlevania IV or Castlevania IV whatever you want to call it is just next level for gaming.

So I've never really sat down and played Simon's Quest.

I have in my mind I'm going to sit down one day and play Simon's quest as it was meant to be played the first time.

But there are so many obtuse things in that game.

But Castlevania was, it was something special.

And then Castlevania 2 Simon's Quest came out.

I was a little disappointed in it when I first started playing it because it wasn't what I was used to.

And then I got really stuck at the place where everyone got really stuck in Castlevania 2 Simon's Quest.

But I also had a... subscription to nintendo power that my grandmother got me for christmas every year so i got the tips and tricks and the maps and all that stuff and i learned to really appreciate castlevania 2 the music is amazing in that and the game is great despite the fact that it is confusing i'm not gonna i'm not gonna pretend that it's not a a poor translation of that game and then three came out uh

translation is awful

The cover art enticed me, and I thought... think I traded in some games to get them, and when I got them home, I was like, yeah, this is fantastic too.

Wildly different games in their approaches to 2D platforming, and what else can I say about the way in which Castlevania just took everything that I love about Halloween, monsters, ghosts, and ghoulies, and just threw them straight into just one of my favorite platform games of all time.