Do you like or dislike Castlevania II: Simon's Quest?

[Uzumaki Goku]

The AVGN pretty much made it a thing to hate on this game and he definitely has his reasons for not liking the game.

But when I played it, yeah, it definitely had all those annoying tendencies "It is a horrible night to have a curse" gets REALLY annoying and the bosses are ridiculously easy compared to the first game.

But it was actually pretty innovative for its time and it was a bit of a precursor for Symphony of the Night.

So, I kinda appreciate it for what it was. (though getting the best ending... I don't think I can do without a password)

 

[Ashes of Dreams]

I appreciate what it was going for.
But I never really want to play it again.

 

[PolskiGamer17]

The game even with retranslations and whatnot is still a super tedious game to play, even with a guide

 

[Bizkit Krueger]

simon's quest rules

looks great, fantastic soundtrack, strong atmosphere. bold ass weird experiment that mostly works

 

[mrbogus]

Dislike other than the music.

 

[Dogui]

It's a game full of interesting ideas, its influence on nowadays gaming seems to be really understated, but had to deal with Nes limitations since it wasn't as simple as its more popular brothers.

Played it first time in like 2020 and had a blast, though having internet access is certainly a plus for the enjoyment of a game where most in house npcs are hidden in walls. No way i would bother with this without help lol

 

[spman2099]

OP, can I get a greatly respect, yet never want to play option in that poll? I revisit Simon's Quest every once in a while, and I am always struck by how cool it is, while also being dismayed by how little I enjoy playing it.

 

[spman2099]

Goddammit... stupid double post.

 

[N1corex]

both there are aspects I like and aspects I dont.

 

[steviestar3]

I respect the ambition and creativity but it's terrible

 

[sunkcostfallacy]

Love it. Really cool if you approach it with an adventure game mindset. Feels almost like a Dark Souls game, at the risk of invoking an overused trope. The magic of discovering esoteric pathways is pretty exciting.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

I liked way back then. Haven't touched it since.

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

OP, can I get a greatly respect, yet never want to play option in that poll? I revisit Simon's Quest every once in a while, and I am always struck by how cool it is, while also being dismayed by how little I enjoy playing it.

Click to shrink...

I don't know, it's pretty close in the poll.

 

[Qikz]

Compared to 1, 3 and 4 I don't really like it. It's still good though.

 

[Jedi2016]

Played the shit out of it when I was a kid. I didn't have an NES, but one of my buddies did, and whenever I spent the night as his place, we'd stay up until the wee hours of the morning playing that game.

 

[senj]

In a lot of ways it was just way way way ahead of its time

 

[Shin Kojima]

I'm very nostalgic for it but I haven't cleared it since I was a kid. I keep meaning to go back one day.

 

[Anth0ny]

AVGN rightly shit on certain aspects and it's really funny but overall I think the game is still fun.

The music does a lot of heavy lifting. GOAT tier shit right here:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6xpEV-W60I

 

[Stath]

I wanted to beat it without a guide and I couldn't. Maybe I'll try it again with mods or a walkthrough, but it really left a sour taste in my mouth. The structure, day and night system, and rpg elements were intriguing, but I was not impressed at all with a whole host of other things like the area layouts, platforming, and enemies. I love classic Castlevania games, but this one felt really rough.

 

[Cbrun44]

Loved it as a kid. I think what I liked the most was the atmosphere, not necessarily the gameplay. Not so much anymore. It's really not very good as a whole.

 

[FTF]

Dislike other than the music.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, was going to say this as well.

 

[demi]

If it wasnt so confusing with its awful translation it would have been looked on more better

I recently played it with a guide and I think it definitely was one of those "ahead of its time" games

 

[mudron]

I've always loved all the NES Castlevanias, but much in the same way I wish Nintendo would publish a redesigned pixel remake of Zelda II, I wish Konami would put out a ROMhacked version of Castlevania II that just rewrites the villagers' dialogue to at least make *some* of their tips helpful.

 

[03-AALIYAH]

I liked the idea, but disliked the implementation.

Missed opportunity for a great game, as side-scrolling action/adventure games was one of my favorite genre on the NES. Loved Battle of Olympus for ex.

 

[AgeEighty]

It's a good game. If the main complaint against it is that it's too hard to beat without a guide, guess what? Lots of NES games were like that, because guides were always available in print or in the box or in Nintendo Power.

 

[Lowblood]

Actually replayed it a few months ago and renewed some appreciation for it. It plays well and can still be a lot of fun.

For all the talk of it being obtuse, it's amazing how much information about where to go/what to do is actually found within the game itself, they're just either obfuscated by the translation, or you have the game's huge collection of hints that...are hidden themselves. A better translation and even SNES-era levels of UI/UX (like, any sort of map or radar/indicators for treasures) would have been a massive upgrade.

The other big issue with it is how few boss fights there are. Quite easy to trivialize them as well.

 

[FallenGrace]

I respect what it was doing. Like it was quite ahead of its time.

I actively hate it though.

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

It's a good game. If the main complaint against it is that it's too hard to beat without a guide, guess what? Lots of NES games were like that, because guides were always available in print or in the box or in Nintendo Power.

Click to shrink...

And also to combat rentals. (or that's why games were so hard)

 

[TaySan]

I respect it for what it tried to do, but i don't want to play it today like the original

 

[Wil Grieve]

I played it for the first time a couple months ago.

I liked it. I could see its roots in many other games that I enjoy much more.

But without a guide? Fuck that.

 

[Doggg]

I really liked it, even if I had no idea what I was doing much of the time. I liked the atmosphere and sense of discovery and mystery. Plus Simon Belmont in armor on the cover is just plain cool.

 

[Deleted member 36578]

Likes: The music. The flame whip.

Dislikes: Everything else.

 

[platypotamus]

My favorite of the Castlevanias probably, though there were some stellar ones later on on handheld that maybe dethroned it but I don't remember as well.

 

[Rydeen]

I played through it entirely for the first time this past October. The "open world" and levelling mechanics were fine, if a bit half-baked, but the lack of any real challenge in the mansions (They're basically just large rooms with enemies pacing back and forth, no real set pieces or challenges like normal Castlevania levels), bosses being total nothingburgers, and the final castle having literally nothing in it made the whole game feel unfinished. It would be great if Konami funded a decent remake that kept what made Castlevania II work and re-worked everything else, but I highly doubt that's ever happening at this point.

 

[mopinks]

I always liked it in theory but actually playing it sucks ass

 

[tim1138]

As a kid it was honestly my favorite of the NES trilogy.

 

[DC5remy]

It truly was impossible without a guide. Not sure what they were thinking with the weird places you kneel and shit.

 

[L Thammy]

I like how people assumed the game was mistranslated for a long time and then when they finally looked into the original translation it turned out that the game is sincerely nonsense.

 

[fiendcode]

Incredible soundtrack, nice visuals and an interesting design. Almost felt more like a sequel to MSX Vampire Killer.

 

[Ruu]

As a kid I liked it but I never played it a ton. Playing it recently and its TERRIBLE. I could argue it's the worst Castelvania. I'd honestly play Castlevania 64 first. Simon's Quest is an important game that lead to a lot better games down the road but its not finished. The game is very obviously rushed out before they were done making it.

 

[skeezx]

the proto-igavania. ambitious yet deeply flawed game.

 

[OrakioRob]

Played and beat it a couple of months ago. For all I heard about the game, I had zero issues.

I'm the kind of guy that hits every block in search of secrets in Castlevania games, so I found all the clues I needed and never needed a guide. And what is the deal with the curse? I haven't watched the AVGN video.

Please notice I played this on the Castlevania Collection (Xbox), not sure if the game was updated in any way.

 

[Zippedpinhead]

I like it, but it also is the only castlevania I did NOT own as a child. I ended up getting it during high school after picking up circle of the moon and SOTN

 

[RUFF BEEST]

I played a hack called Simon's Redaction that has faster rendering text with a way better translation, among other QoL improvements. Highly recommend.

Games - Hacking - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - Redacted

AVGN is right about how weird it is, but that was really down to the translation being so bad the clues made no sense. That's exactly what this fixes. The goal is to make it playable without needing a guide. I swear it works! It's really a quality game when played as intended.

 

[Beanbeany]

I played the fixed hack and I thought it was awesome. Never actually played the original.

 

[CJCW?]

I can appreciate how ambitious it was for its time, especially as a sequel to a well-received game that was much more straightforward, but it's honestly just annoying to try and actually play today. It's always the one I skip if I feel like going back to the pre SOTN era games.

 

[Firemind]

It's the birth of modern Metroidvanias and should be given recognition for that at least.

It's a good game. If the main complaint against it is that it's too hard to beat without a guide, guess what? Lots of NES games were like that, because guides were always available in print or in the box or in Nintendo Power.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I wonder what people in this thread think of Zelda 2. That game is similarly convoluted with invisible enemies and hidden entrances/towns. Simon's Quest has its own roadblocks, but it was common practice back then to rely on Nintendo Power or friends who relayed that information. It's a different time when the Internet didn't exist.

 

[LaneDS]

Would probably not enjoy it all today but loved it as a kid for its mystery, its music, and its tone. Was a neat game to try to figure out with friends.

 

[Oreiller]

It's fine. It has flaws for sure but it's a good time.

 

[zashga]

Never actually played it. I like the concept and feel like it eventually contributed to Castlevania moving in the direction it did circa SOTN, but I won't vote in this poll.