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Castlevania: Judgment

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Castlevania: Judgment


Developer(s) Konami
Publisher(s) Konami
Release date(s) United States of America November 18, 2008
Japan January 15, 2009
Europe March 19, 2009
Genre(s) 3D Fighting
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Teen
CERO: 12+
Platform(s) Nintendo Wii
Media Wii Optical Disc


Castlevania: Judgment (悪魔城ドラキュラ ジャッジメント, Akumajō Dorakyura Jajjimento) is the first Castlevania game on the Wii, and is also the first in the series to be a one-on-one versus fighting game. It was released in November 2008 in the United States, January 2009 in Japan, and March 2009 in Europe.

Contents

[edit] Story

See also Judgment Timeline
According to Iga; "So as many of you know, the Castlevania timeline goes over 1000 years", "And there is a character trying to destroy that timeline. Due to magic forces, a variety of characters from different eras are brought together"[1]

Galamoth plots to send the Time Reaper from 10,000 years in the future into the past to destroy his rival Dracula, and change history. Aeon discovers this and pulls together champions from different eras of history into a time rift, in order to find a chosen one capable of destroying the Time Reaper.

In this world, a battle has been raging between vampire hunters and their prey for ages. Thirteen people from around the world have been called into an alternate dimension through a gap in time. A mysterious man named Aeon appears before the thirteen and tells them "if you pass the trial, you can have your wish..." The trial is a battle between those assembled. But what will they gain if they pass the trial? And how do they escape from the time gap? An epic, era-spanning battle of destiny is about to begin![2]


Like most traditional fighting games, there is a story surrounding each character.

[edit] Character Gallery

See also Judgment Artwork

[edit] Playable characters

Simon Belmont
The wielder of the Holy Whip.
From : Castlevania, Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania Chronicles, Simon's Quest
Hyper Attack :
Vampire Killer

Alucard
The half vampire son of Dracula.
From : Dracula's Curse, Symphony of the Night
Hyper Attack :
Inferno Blade

Death
A god who swears his allegiance to Dracula
From : Castlevania series
Hyper Attack :
Hell's Gate

Dracula
The Lord of Darkness
From : Castlevania series
Hyper Attack :
Demonic Megiddo

Maria Renard
A girl with mastery over animals
From : Rondo of Blood, Dracula X, Dracula X Chronicles, Symphony of the Night
Hyper Attack :
Group Cooperation

Eric Lecarde
A boy entrusted with the devil's spear.
From : Bloodlines, Portrait of Ruin
Hyper Attack :
Alucard Spear

Carmilla
A female vampire who loves to bathe in blood.
From : Simon's Quest, Circle of the Moon
Hyper Attack :
Maiden's Feast

Golem
An artificial being that has an unnatural soul.
From : Castlevania series
Hyper Attack :
Shock Beam

Cornell
A beast man who is under an ancient curse.
From : Legacy of Darkness
Hyper Attack :
Blue Crescent Moon

Grant DaNasty
The most agile man in Valachia.
From : Dracula's Curse
Hyper Attack :
Million Edge

Trevor Belmont
The man who defeated Dracula for the first time.
From : Dracula's Curse, Curse of Darkness
Hyper Attack :
Vampire Killer

Sypha Belnades
A witch who made deals with spirits
From : Dracula's Curse
Hyper Attack :
Disintegrate

Shanoa
Glyph Master who was deprived of her memory and emotions.
From : Order of Ecclesia
Hyper Attack :
Glyph of Gales

Aeon
The Guardian of Time
From : Judgment
Hyper Attack :
Requiem of the 13th Hour

[edit] Non-Playable Enemies

Zombie - A simple enemy

Merman - Another simple enemy

Minotaur - A sub-boss

Iron Gladiator - Another sub-boss

Giant Octopus - A stage hazard enemy

Time Reaper - The Final Boss for True Story

(no in-game images)
Galamoth - Seeks Dracula's throne

[edit] Gameplay

Castlevania Judgment is a 3D fighting game, complete with subweapons, hearts and generation bending characters.

[edit] Modes of Play

The game features several modes:

  • Story Mode (personalized stories for each character)
  • Arcade
  • Survival
  • Versus
  • Wi-Fi
  • Castle (travel through Dracula's castle)
  • Viewing Mode (music and art)
  • Accessories (enables you to customize the appearance of your fighters with your retrieved items)

Connecting Order of Ecclesia to Judgement unlocks

  • Hard Mode level cap raises to 255 in Order of Ecclesia
  • Queen of Hearts item in Order of Ecclesia
  • Aeon and Shanoa in Judgement
  • New accessories in Judgement

[edit] Subweapons

Each character has four subweapons which they can use. These are as follows:



[Edit Spreadsheet]

[edit] Development

Shortly after a patent for the game Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the Nintendo DS was found, a patent for another game called "Castlevania: Judgment" was found. In late 2007, Iga had indicated that the next game Konami was planning on releasing after their third Dual Screen game would be a next gen game. At that time Konami was leaning towards making the game an Xbox 360 exclusive game due to the success of that platform in the United States. However, the July issue of Nintendo Power revealed that Castlevania: Judgment was a fighting game for the Wii, with character design by Takeshi Obata, famous for his work in Hikaru No Go and Death Note. About the decision to make a fighting game, Igarashi says, "I guess some fans may worry about the game quality, but I am confident that we can achieve a very high-quality game. I think that fans…will see that it stays true to the Castlevania series. Even though this is a fighting game I can guarantee that it will be fun.”

When the game was first announced, six characters were confirmed: Simon Belmont, Dracula, Death, Alucard, Maria and Shanoa. Other playable characters include recurring enemies and bosses of the Castlevania franchise, and a new exclusive character named Aeon.

Other non-playable characters roam the games stages, serving as obstacles that can be eliminated to replenish energy. These characters include common Castlevania enemies such as zombies and minotaurs.

[edit] Press Release Screens

Maria

Dracula

Alucard

Simon


[edit] Criticism and Reception

The largest forms of criticism for Judgment so far stems from two things: firstly, it is a fighting game and thus rather disconnected from the rest of the series; secondly, the character designs are quite a bit different from franchise standards. Addressing the second, the nebulous 'Castlevania feel' - a factor hard to quantify or describe - is often deemed absent, with most character designs showing heavy leanings towards a style most commonly seen in contemporary jrpgs (with character designs from this installment also appearing generally incongruous with established appearances from other games.) Another commonly cited disappointment with the installment are the stock 'fighting game' character motivations and interactions (Maria's "pettanko" fixation on breasts, for example, and the cliché love triangle plotline amongst the CV III crew). Other critiques are directed at Alucard and Maria's unorthodox choices of weaponry with regard to their mainline canon counterparts. Another significant gripe could be found in its function as a fighting game itself, with sometimes awkward controls and and over-generous distribution of devastating "power attacks," which upon connecting display a somewhat grueling cutscene and take a sizeable chunk of the opponent's life, somewhat jeopardizing the flow of the battle.

With regards to the former, Koji Igarashi has so far done a meritable job of explaining why they would develop the game as a two-player fighting game. However, it still stands to reason that playing a long adventure game on Wii using the motion controls would be very tiring - IGA himself admits that precise movements while wagging the Wiimote might require a superhuman degree of coordination. The Wiimote can still be used as usual, with the player able to control Alucard's sword and other weapons by swinging the Wiimote. Unfortunately, players have found the controls to be unsatisfactory, citing the limited directional movements of characters coupled with the largeness of the arena as a major stumbling block. Other control schemes are available in the form of the classic controller and GameCube controller. The special attacks' animations, while indeed spectacular, are also time-consuming and deplete a disproportionate amount of a player-character's health.

The reviews of the game vary between above-average and very poor. Overall, Judgment appears to be a case of a solid concept plagued by a lacklustre execution. It is hardly unique in this respect.

[edit] Review scores

  • Publication Score
  • 1UP.com D-,
  • IGN 7.5/10,
  • Nintendo Power 7.0/10[citation needed],
  • X-Play 1/5

[edit] See Also

[edit] Related Products

[edit] External links

Referenced News Articles


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