Castlevania: Harmony of Despair Coming To XBLA

[The 1 2 P]

As part of their now yearly Summer of Arcade promotion, XBLA will be getting a new exclusive(perhaps timed) 2-D Castlevania game called Harmony of Despair. Of note is the online co-op mode and competitive online multiplayer mode entitled Survival Mode. I'm not sure how thats going to turn out but it sounds interesting.

As a side note, all three systems(including the PS3 and Wii) continue to get really good exclusive downloadable games. I told myself at the beginning of this gen that I would rarely(if ever) support DL only games because I prefer to have a physical disc, case and manual. But Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are making that damn near impossible with all the great XBLA, Wiiware and PSN games they keep releasing. Atleast hard drives are getting bigger.

[Fiesta Rocket]

Well isnt that dandy!

[Fiesta Rocket]

Well isnt that dandy!

Oh and I need to quote myself as well!

[Overbite]

XBLA and PSN own. A great place for companies to release great games that wouldn't do well at retail and at a low price. Games like Shadow Complex or Castle Crashers wouldn't sell if people had to pay $60 bux for it, but at $15 as a download they own.

It's also a good way for companies to release smaller, more experimental games.

[BetaWolf47]

Wait, why is Soma in that image? Don't tell me that those of us in the GBA/DS crowd need to buy an Xbox 360 to play Soma's latest quest!

[Baloo]

Is that Alucard on the cover?

[Kitsune Sniper]

It's a multi-game crossover. Soma and Alucard are in it, along with other characters.

[heybtbm]

Thankfully the 360 controller has an excellent D-pad for precision 2D gaming...oh wait.

Still excited for this one, but will probably stick to the wired SFIV gamepad I bought a year ago and never really used.

[Oobgarm]

If you can do most everything in single player, count me in.

Who am I kidding, I'll end up buying it anyway.

[The 1 2 P]

Gotta love those second accounts

XBLA and PSN own. A great place for companies to release great games that wouldn't do well at retail and at a low price. Games like Shadow Complex or Castle Crashers wouldn't sell if people had to pay $60 bux for it, but at $15 as a download they own.

It's also a good way for companies to release smaller, more experimental games.

I think all three consoles have a good variety of these affordable download only games and the $15 and below price point you mentioned is definitly helping them to sell.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this get a PSN release as well, unless they have an exclusive PS3 one in the works. I heard awhile back that a Symphony of The Night 2-D sequel was coming to the PS3 and 360 but I guess it either fell thru or was never more than a rumor.

[Zthun]

XBLA and PSN own. A great place for companies to release great games that wouldn't do well at retail and at a low price. Games like Shadow Complex or Castle Crashers wouldn't sell if people had to pay $60 bux for it, but at $15 as a download they own.

It's also a good way for companies to release smaller, more experimental games.

I would love to pay the extra $5-$10 bucks if it would have a disc, manual, and box. Branding the game sucks.

It's a multi-game crossover. Soma and Alucard are in it, along with other characters.

This just looks like mad fun. I'm so getting this, and I rarely look forward to download only games.

[The 1 2 P]

Just a minor update. This game is coming out on August 4 for 1200 Microsoft points($15).

[Voliko]

I am going to DL this, and so are a couple of my friends. Judging on Konami's most recent work on 2-D CastleVania's, this should turn out to be excellent. I am still very curious/sceptical as to how well the co-op is going to be excecuted though.

[Oobgarm]

Still no word I've seen on single player. At $15, this had better offer a decent amount for those of us who'd rather play a CV game alone, like God intended.

[Jorpho]

But we already got Harmony of Dissonance! Have they run out of useful title words already?

Someone somewhere is already heralding this as the end of originality and goodness and purity, I'm sure.

[megasdkirby]

I'll wait until it gets a reduction, perhaps 50% off.

[Oobgarm]

I've searched everywhere and still nothing on a single-player mode. I've really enjoyed all of the GBA/DS Castlevania games, so putting all of them together would be really cool...but I don't have the desire/ability to drop money on XBL just to play this game.

[Graham Mitchell]

I read about the game in the latest issue of Game Informer. It states that you can play "up to" 6 people cooperatively. Hopefully, that's indicator that there's a single-player mode.

They said in the article that how the game works is that each playable character has different powers that allows them to unlock different areas of the castle, and whenever somebody picks up an item, everybody in the party gets it. This encourages people to split up and explore independently to cover the most ground.

They also stated that keeping track of your party and all the monsters is easy because the map function in this installment just zooms the screen out really far, giving you a diarama-like view of the whole area and indicating where your buddies are.

I have been BEGGING to God for a new sidescrolling Metroidvania style CV game on the newer high-end consoles (sorry, but that Wii Ware game looked pretty disappointing compared to some of the great DS titles we've been getting) and this game is an answered prayer. Also sounds like a great thing to do with my buddies in SF and Seattle on a Saturday afternoon. I'm all over this.

[AWinterFuneral]

I'm mega stoked for this game, pretty much the only one of the summer game releases I am actually going to get, especially since it's going to be multiplayer.

[heybtbm]

sorry, but that Wii Ware game looked pretty disappointing compared to some of the great DS titles we've been getting.

I'm right there with you waiting for a modern console SOTN-style Castlevania. But...

Castlevania Rebirth is more in line with Castlevania IV than the newer "Metroidvania" style, and let me assure you...it is excellent. I'd even say it's better than the last two DS entries...and that's coming from someone whose favorite game of all time is SOTN.