Duke Reivier's Grand Game Emporium

 Last time, I showed off  some screenshots  from my recent project for Aria of Sorrow. This post continues in that fashion. I'm nearly done with the first part of the castle, the next part should be interesting as I'll have to deal with the interiors and their cold yet regal nature. Here's hoping it goes well!

 Ever since I played Harmony of Dissonance, I always wondered what a moody and hellish version of Aria of Sorrow's castle would look like, ala Castle B of the former game. JonataGuitar's excellent recolor mod for AoS inspired me to work on this idea. It took quite a lot of practice, and opinions from others, but I'm happy with what I've got so far. Screenshots below: Let me know what you think! As for the next post of A Long Look at To the Moon: it's coming soon. Stay tuned!

 With Aria of Sorrow's Top Floor covered, it's time to look at Master's Keep from Portrait of Ruin. Relevant Information Master's Keep is not the end of Portrait of Ruin - merely the halfway point of the game. The player has neither high jump nor flight unlocked at this point. While it's not explicitly stated, they are led to believe that there's atleast one more confrontation before Brauner, the big bad villain of this game. There are also enough hints that the player needs to accomplish something special to truly win.  The First Floor The first view of the level is quite impressive, with the elaborate statue in the background immediately standing out. The combination of drab marble and tinted wood with frescoes works pretty well, adding to the personality of the room. The first room has fairly little resistance, with one succubus patrolling a fairly pointless floor and another succubus poorly guarding the teleporter. The room offers two exits. The bottom merel...

Recently while playing through Portrait of Ruin, it occurred to me that the level design was noticeably worse than Aria of Sorrow. Not only were there significantly more rooms feeling like "straight lines", but there was also significantly more repetition in the design, not even counting the four dark portraits towards the end. This got me thinking about what makes Aria of Sorrow's level design so good. I decided that a comparison between two thematically similar levels would help illustrate my case. Top Floor In the SOTN inspired Castlevanias, the Top Floor is an area of much importance. It is usually(but not always) a late game area, and often has important plot points occur, either to determine the player's ending or introduce significant twists to the story. As such, it is safe to presume the designers put a ton of effort into it. I'll start by first looking at what makes Aria's Top Floor work, and then compare it to Portrait of Ruin's equivalent, the ...