Castlevania Judgment

Castlevania Judgment[lower-alpha 1] is a 3D fighting video game developed by Konami and Eighting for the Wii. The game is based on the Castlevania series of games, and is the series' first fighting game.[4]

Castlevania Judgment
North American box art
Developer(s)Eighting
Publisher(s)Konami
Director(s)Akihiro Minakata
Yuta Kobayashi
Producer(s)Koji Igarashi
Artist(s)Takeshi Obata
Composer(s)Yasushi Asada
SeriesCastlevania
Platform(s)Wii
Release
  • JP: January 15, 2009
  • EU: March 20, 2009[2]
  • AU: April 2, 2009
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay
A fight in Castlevania Judgment.

The game features 3D environments, and uses the motion-sensing controls of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.[4] The Wii Remote is used for attacks, including basic attacks, "sub-weapons" and weapon attacks, by swinging the remote, and the Nunchuck is used to move the character around the stage and for defensive moves.[5] Players can move freely around a stage, similar to the game Power Stone.[5][6]

Each character utilizes different weapons and different types of weapons that are available depending on the stage and interactive environment of the stage; also, they can set traps or use monsters in the stage to attack one another.[4][5] Summons are available in combat, some of which can be caused by items. Players are able to make use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection to play against each other, and can connect with the Nintendo DS game Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia to unlock bonus content in both games.[4][6] Examples of stages include the Throne Room, Torture Chamber and the Ghost Ship.[5][6] Players can choose to pick a different palette color for their chosen character, referred to in the game as "alignment color", two of which apply accessories chosen by the player.[6]

Plot

Galamoth plots to send his servant, the Time Reaper, from ten millennia in the future into the past to destroy his rival Dracula and change history.[7] A man named 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.[8] Each character has their own unique storyline, cutscenes and ending sequence when playing through the game's story mode.[5]

Characters

Judgment features 13 playable characters, made up of heroes and bosses from throughout the Castlevania franchise's history,[4][6][9], along with the new original character Aeon for a total of 14.[10]

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

Development

Konami registered a game called Castlevania Judgment with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 11, 2008.[11] The game's lead designer, Koji Igarashi, began planning to bring a Castlevania game to the Wii, and wanted to utilize the motion sensing controllers. To do so in a prolonged adventure story, however, would have been very tiring, since much of the franchise's gameplay involves whipping and swinging. But in an action setting, the swinging motion would be broken up with resting intervals and be more enjoyable.[5] The game is focused on recreating the Gothic feel of the franchise.[5] Igarashi described the process of developing multiplayer combat as a somewhat challenging task.[5] The design team worked on the game's graphics, especially in-game textures, with some of the designers of Elebits and Dewy's Adventure who joined Igarashi's development team.[5]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic49/100[12]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1Up.comD-[13]
Eurogamer3/10[14]
G4[15]
Game Informer5/10[16]
GamePro[17]
GameRevolutionD[18]
GameSpot3/10[19]
GameSpy[20]
GameTrailers6.5/10[21]
IGN7.5/10[22]
Nintendo Power7/10[23]
Nintendo World Report7/10[24]
ONM68%
X-Play[25]

Initial reaction to the announcement that the game would be a fighting game was received by some with shock and skepticism.[6] IGN's initial viewing of the pre-E3 build of the game made their reviewers conclude the game had promise.[6] However, Takeshi Obata's character design was harshly criticised by David Oxford, an editor of gaming website Kombo.com. The editor thought the design was not in the style of Castlevania and too similar to Obata's work on Death Note.[26]

After being shown at the 2008 edition of the Tokyo Game Show, the game received generally harsh criticism. Kotaku editor Luke Plunkett wrote a long hands-on article about the game.[27] He reported "I walked away from the show feeling bad. Bad for Castlevania fans, at least" and "There is just nothing right about this game. Nothing." Game designer Koji Igarashi had complaints about the control scheme, reporting that "There's also the issue of the Wii controller. It's difficult to do those sorts of precise movements when you're waving something around."[28] He otherwise objected that the initial reaction to Judgment was "unfair."[29]

The reception of Judgment was negative, holding a total rating of 49% on Metacritic.[12] Gaming website 1UP.com rated the game a D-. In addition to criticism about the art direction, 1UP also noted some things that they said disregarded established fighting conventions. This included complaints about the "disorientating" camera control. According to the review Konami had described the game as "Versus Action" which is said by the reviewer to be "an amalgamation that fuses action-game mechanics with a fighter" and then goes on to call the term "the bastard son of neologism".[13] IGN called Judgment a "deep, fun fighter", praising the variety of characters, style and design, while criticizing the camera and lack of control customization possibilities.[22] IGN also nominated it for Best Fighting Game of 2008 for the Wii, but it lost the award to Super Smash Bros. Brawl.[30] Nintendo Power rated the game a 7.0/10, stating that "In spite of being radically different from its action-adventure predecessors, however, Castlevania Judgement is actually pretty fun", praising its presentation, accessibility, and remixed music, while criticising the implementation of sub-weapons, the control scheme, and the character designs, calling them "questionable".[23] In contrast, X-Play gave the game 1/5, claiming it to be enormously unbalanced and having an awful control scheme, as well as "bastardizing established Castlevania designs". GameSpy gave the game 1.5/5, praising the game for its unlockables and its online mode, while criticizing the game for unbalanced characters and irritating camera.[20] GameSpot gave the game a 3/10 score stating "The abhorrent camera, dreadful art, and cumbersome controls are for masochistic applicants only; fans of the franchise, fighting, or fun will find nothing of value in this sloppy cash-in."[31] Following its later release in Japan, the game was a financial bomb, having only sold 3,700 units.[32]

Notes
  1. known in Japan as Demon Castle Dracula Judgment (悪魔城ドラキュラ ジャッジメント, Akumajō Dorakyura Jajjimento)[3]
gollark: Do those even work nowadays?
gollark: ÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆæ.
gollark: GEORGE = extant in arbitrary beespaces.
gollark: Heavpoot's server is undergoing [REDACTED].
gollark: I see.

References
  1. "Release date at IGN". IGN. 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  2. "Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH brings its legendary Castlevania series to Nintendo Wii in all-new action guise". Voltage PR. 2008-07-09. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  3. Konami (2010-08-04). Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Konami. Japanese: 歴代の「悪魔城ドラキュラ」シリーズから選ばれた登場キャラクターを操作して、仲間たちと悪魔城に乗り込み、宿敵ドラキュラ伯爵に立ち向かおう。 English translation: Take control of past protagonists from the Castlevania series to brave the Demon Castle alongside friends and defeat the ancient enemy Count Dracula.
  4. "Konami Announces Castlevania Judgment for Wii". IGN. 2008-07-01. Archived from the original on 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  5. Bozon (2008-07-11). "Pre-E3 2008: Interview With Iga". IGN. Archived from the original on 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  6. Bozon (2008-07-11). "Pre-E3 2008: Hands-on Castlevania Judgment". IGN. Archived from the original on 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  7. http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php?option=com_altcaster&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=9cfac7534b&ipod=y Konami's E3 press conference
  8. Castlevania Judgment manual, pg 1.
  9. Bryn Williams (2008-07-15). "GameSpy: Castlevania Judgement preview". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  10. http://kotaku.com/5076153/castlevania-judgments-final-three-revealed
  11. "Latest Status Info". United States Patent and Trademark Office. 2008-07-01. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  12. "Castlevania Judgment". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  13. 1UP review
  14. Sempere, Josep Maria (11 April 2009). "Castlevania Judgment".
  15. "Games". SYFY.
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2009-01-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. "Castlevania Judgment Review from GamePro". 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011.
  18. "Castlevania Judgment Review". GameRevolution.
  19. Dyer, Mitch (9 December 2008). "Castlevania Judgment Review".
  20. "GameSpy: Castlevania Judgment - Page 1". wii.gamespy.com.
  21. "YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  22. "IGN review". Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  23. Nintendo Power, Holiday 2008, p.77
  24. "Castlevania Judgment". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
  25. "Games". SYFY.
  26. David Oxford (2008-06-27). "Passing Judgment on Wii's Castlevania". Kombo. Archived from the original on 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  27. http://kotaku.com/5063502/i-wish-i-hadnt-played-castlevania-judgement
  28. http://kotaku.com/5067403/koji-igarashi-precise-movements-hard-when-waving-something-around
  29. http://kotaku.com/5028485/koji-igarashi-tries-to-explain-castlevania-judgement-hate
  30. "IGN Wii: Best Fighting Game 2008". IGN.com. 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  31. Dyer, Mitch (9 December 2008). "Castlevania Judgment Review".
  32. Comments: 0, rawmeatcowboy. "Castlevania Judgment bombs in Japan". GoNintendo.
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