currently @saratrantoul header by danaglover [Header ID: An edited Valentine’s day, one side card, a grayscale image of an animal skull, surrounded by flowers and vines, the image itself in the shape of a heart. The other side reads in a gothic font, “will you rot with me?” End ID] [Icon ID: Soma Cruz from Castlevania, set against a genderfluid pride flag. It is a shot from about the torso up, and he is holding out a sword, while there is a bat flying near his other hand. End ID] [Desktop theme header ID: An image of a darkened forest path with a spectral image of a girl with long, dark hair in a white dress, with text that reads “a recurring childhood nightmare,” End ID]
hi! this is mori/requiem, fka sage, will, remy, sydney, etc. this blog is no longer active—i remade my blog @saratrantoul
هذه المدونة مغلقة، يرجى إرسال جمع التبرعات إلى @saratrantoul حتى أتمكن من مشاركتها
list of some of my former blog urls under the cut, in case you’ve had trouble keeping up
anyone who is still following me on this blog is more than welcome to follow me to my current blog! if youd rather break the mutual, that’s also fine! i just got tired of running an at-the-time 10 year old blog, and wanted to start fresh. this blog will be left up as an archive, but i won’t be posting anything to it anymore.
ive had a lot of urls but i dont rlly… like, agree with a lot of the opinions and posts i posted a lot about on those honestly 💀 if y’all need more of them to know Who I Am / Why I Am On Your Dash feel free to send an ask requesting the rest
[Image ID: a screenshot from an instagram post by an account called "them".
the picture shows people celebrating and waving pride flags. the central person is wearing a top that says "my body not yours".
the picture has text overlayed: "Cuba Will Now Allow Trans People to Change Gender Markers Without Bottom Surgery, by Samantha Riedel"
the caption reads: Huge news from Cuba! The country's National Assembly of People's Power (NAPP) approved a law last week allowing trans Cubans to self-declare their gender on official documents and update their identification cards without providing proof of genital surgery." /end ID.]
remaking this post bc its losing traction. its very urgent. i need $20 more to be able to help my brother get his insulin. hes been out since yesterday. please help us!!
Gaza was burning under relentless bombardment with every kind of weapon. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed within hours.
We were forced to flee our place of residence in the north, and we spent the night on the street until — with great difficulty — we found a car to take us to the south at a heavy price. We carried with us fear, exhaustion, hunger, and suffering, yet still no real safety.
📌 Today, for the first time, a UN investigative committee has officially confirmed that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. This is not just a report — it is a testimony to the death, displacement, and destruction we endure every single day.
We are living this genocide moment by moment… our lives are hanging by a thread.
Please, help us survive. Your donation could save my family from hunger and homelessness. 🙏🇵🇸
👉 Share, comment, and reblog so our voices are not silenced.
Vetted:
(#167 on the verified fundraiser list by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi).
I was approached by @ibrahim-family to post this comic he sent me for him. it’s not done by me, but by an artist that wants to be anonymous and gave him permission to post it.
Help Ibrahim’s family escape the Gaza war
€2,315 out of €20,000 goal
Ibrahim is only fifteen years old and trying to survive a genocide. I will reiterate what i’ve said on other fundraiser posts:
A child should never have to beg for help for his family online. He should be in school. He should be playing video games or hanging out with his friends. This is one of the many things this genocide has taken from him and many other children his age. A childhood. Ibrahim says his dreams are to seek asylum abroad with his family and developing his scientific and technical skills.
Please help Ibrahim’s family survive and give him a chance to go to school and have the future he dreams of 🙏🏼 every child deserves a chance, he has his whole life in front of him, don’t let that be taken from him.
Like every family in Gaza, they lack basic necessities like food and water, your donations can help them stay alive in this horrible situation.
Their goal is only 20,000 euro, this is very achievable. with 2,315 euro they are nearly a fourth of the way! they need 17,685 to reach their goal, and 7,685 to reach 50%
if only 10 people donate 25 euro each every day, they will be halfway to their goal in a month. I think we can do even better than that. your donation matters!
this fundraiser has been vetted by @gazavetters, as number 25 on their spreadsheet
Hello ... I would like you to help spread my new account. I previously lost my account, which I can no longer use due to the fraud I was exposed to while requesting to withdraw money from someone outside the country because we are not allowed to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and the difficulty of the Gofoundme website policy. All the money that was donated to me was returned and I can no longer benefit from it. This is the link to the deleted website (https://gofund.me/23f6654d).
I hope you will stop spreading this link and help spread my new campaign. I was not lucky, so I did it again with determination and not despair by creating another account. Perhaps luck will be on my side and I will be able to escape the pain and torment of the war that I and my family are living 💔 I ask you with all confidence to support my new account so that I can spread hope in myself and my family. This is the new link {https://gofund.me/e6a1e1e9}🌹
New month, new donation post. Sorry to still be at it everyone. Back in April I quit my abusive retail job (where I was routinely subject to sexual harassment and transphobic bullying by both customers and coworkers) to start doing food delivery with Uber Eats. It was going okay at first but now I’m just not getting enough deliveries to make it, I’m at best breaking even on the gas that I use to do said deliveries, most days. I’ve already sold off all of my physical copy video games, and most of my manga, comics, and DVD collections. I’m really struggling right now and any little bit helps. I’ve got to try to cover car expenses, groceries, therapy, and I’ve got a med refill coming up at the end of the month or so that’s unfortunately gonna be a bit pricey. I’m hoping to raise around $600 but literally any little bit at all helps. Thank you so much everyone, your generosity continues to astound me and help me to survive.
hi! this is mori/requiem, fka sage, will, remy, sydney, etc. this blog is no longer active—i remade my blog @saratrantoul
list of some of my former blog urls under the cut, in case you’ve had trouble keeping up
anyone who is still following me on this blog is more than welcome to follow me to my current blog! if youd rather break the mutual, that’s also fine! i just got tired of running an at-the-time 10 year old blog, and wanted to start fresh. this blog will be left up as an archive, but i won’t be posting anything to it anymore.
ive had a lot of urls but i dont rlly… like, agree with a lot of the opinions and posts i posted a lot about on those honestly 💀 if y’all need more of them to know Who I Am / Why I Am On Your Dash feel free to send an ask requesting the rest
GAZA NEEDS YOU. DON'T LOOK AWAY. YOU CAN SAVE LIVES. Below are some VETTED campaigns to support the people who have been experiencing an active genocide for almost a full year. DONATE DONATE DONATE. If you cannot, share widely.
(June 1)
Help Iyad and his family (@iyadsobhei) - Iyad is an elderly man who has been living in dire conditions with deteriorating health; he needs to evacuate with his wife and eight children. This fundraiser currently has NO FUNDS.
Help evacuate Hani's family (@skatehani) - A dear friend, and a Palestinian skater trying to evacuate 10 members of his family; he has lost his father to injustice. Less than halfway to his goal.
Help Husam and his family (@husamthaher) - Husam desperately needs to save himself, his wife, and 3 young children.
Ahmd needs urgent evacuation (@ahmd-iyd) - Ahmd has lost his livelihood to this genocide, and needs funds to help his family evacuate and rebuild their life.
Help Mahmoud Abu Hamam and his family (@ma7moudgaza) - A college student who desperately needs to evacuate to Egypt.
Help Iman’s family find safety (@imaneyad) - Iman has a family of 7 who need to find safety.
Help Mahmoud's family evacuate (@mahmoud0qassas) - Mahmoud and his family need to get to Egypt. His brother in law needs medical attention ASAP.
Support Ruba and Amal's family's urgent evacuation (@rubashaban @amalshabn) - Ruba and Amal's family are lacking the basic necessities of life; they have an elderly father who desperately needs to be evacuated for medical care.
Help Omar evacuate (@omarsobhi) - Omar is a 20 year old Palestinian student who wants to save himself and his family from this genocide.
Support Fahmi and his family (@fahmiakkila) - Fahmi's life has been turned completely upside down, and he now finds himself responsible to save his parents, sisters, & brothers - 7 members.
Save a displaced Gazan Family (@ranibra) - Rania is married with five children, her husband needs medical care. She is now responsible to save her children. Help them evacuate.
Save little Yusuf and his family (@ahmednabubake) - Yusuf is in an intensive care unit fighting for his life in Gaza; he needs urgent evacuation alongside his family.
Save a family trapped in Gaza (@mohamedalanqer) - Mohammed Alanqar and his family are living in fear, urgently needing financial assistance to escape to a safer environment.
Help Gazan children survive (@aymanayyad81) - Fadi Ayyad, an 18-year-old from Gaza seeks the funds to help his family survive these gruesome conditions.
Save Tawfik and his family (@tawfikwaleef) - Tawfik is an engineer from Gaza who urgently needs to escape Gaza with his family.
Help Tahseen and his family (@tahseenmush) - Tahseen and his family are from northern Gaza and need urgent help to survive this genocide.
Don't ignore this list—your support is URGENTLY needed. Each fundraiser here is an opportunity to help, and it has been made easy for you to find these fundraisers. You can easily save lives. Pick at least one to support. Once again, your donation can save lives. If you can't donate, please share these campaigns.
FIND MORE CAMPAIGNS HERE
إذا انت من غزة و بدك إضافتك إلى القائمة التالية - اضغط هنا
now more than ever, please vet gofundmes before you donate.
copy and paste descriptions into google to see if there are scam accounts reusing the same story, check to see if there are any images/updates on the fund with faces. go to the original blog, check if the post asking for help is only an hour old, or even less than that. refrain from donating if all it links to is a PayPal account, without any further confirmation of identity.
it’s horrible to say but it’s never been a better time for scam artists to exploit your generosity, when things seem so dire, and I’ve donated to campaigns before only to realise later that the entire story was stolen from an actual family in need. due diligence might take a few more minutes out of your day but at least you won’t be sending money to an opportunistic scumbag.
for campaigns on tumblr:
please check out @/el-shab-hussein's list of verified fundraisers here on tumblr and also @/nabulsi. they both do incredible work at vetting campaigns.
there is also this spreadsheet made by @/nabulsi and @/el-shab-hussein.
Fundraiser List
Vetted Gaza Fundraiser List,This list was researched and created by @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi on tumblr. It is not co
other places to find vetted fundraisers are the operation olive branch spreadsheet and also gazafunds.
hi! this is mori/requiem, fka sage, will, remy, sydney, etc. this blog is no longer active—i remade my blog @saratrantoul
list of some of my former blog urls under the cut, in case you’ve had trouble keeping up
anyone who is still following me on this blog is more than welcome to follow me to my current blog! if youd rather break the mutual, that’s also fine! i just got tired of running an at-the-time 10 year old blog, and wanted to start fresh. this blog will be left up as an archive, but i won’t be posting anything to it anymore.
ive had a lot of urls but i dont rlly… like, agree with a lot of the opinions and posts i posted a lot about on those honestly 💀 if y’all need more of them to know Who I Am / Why I Am On Your Dash feel free to send an ask requesting the rest
hey guys! its that time a year where people start rbing my marina post again, and id just like to let anyone new here know nobody’s here anymore! ive moved to @saratrantoul if youre looking to follow! this blog is only up as an archive
Just premising this with the fact that Aaron Bushnells self immolation was felt by all palestinians in Palestine and in the diaspora because the idea that someone so deeply upset by what he saw happening to Palestinians at the "hands of their colonizers" decided to self immolate in front of the israeli embassy was a shocking act of solidarity. And that being said this extraordinary act of revolutionary suicide is exactly how you should perceive palestinian resistance who go out and battle one of the most funded armies in the world just so one day palestinians can be free of this occupation and colonial oppressor. Our resistance are not "crazy fundamentalists" they are occupied people who have bore the scars the occupation gives them and woke up and said they will not take the chains binding them anymore. Right of arms is the right of any anti colonial movement and we can't imagine the level of faith they must have in a future free palestine to battle million dollar tanks and drones and soldiers equipped with the latest weaponry
I apologize to the people of Gaza if my appearance anywhere has stolen the spotlight from the massacres and ethnic cleansing that take place there. I apologize to the people of my city. No one knows except you how harsh it is that we live in longing and regret for our small city, which no matter how much we’re wronged in it, we still love.
I try as much as possible to be your loyal son. One of you, who only represents himself [and not other groups]. Someone who is trying to convey an image that truly represents you. An image that should have been conveyed a long time ago. We are not numbers.
I try to avoid the spotlight except for what serves Gaza in particular and Palestine in general. Media interviews, interviews with prominent figures, perhaps just to succeed in achieving something tangible for our people, I hope.
I am one of you, a young man from the destroyed city. I did not ask for fame. I did not ask to be in the limelight. I did not ask for war. I'm haunted by the feeling that made me leave, the heartbreak, and the survivor's guilt. If I knew that by staying in Gaza I would have made a difference, I would not have left you. No one moves, and the scenes continue to be repeated.
We have all lost, we have lost a lot, and we have been left alone, alone!
And remember that I am one from you and one for you.”
alright, finally remaking this now that i have the energy to <3
thank you, again, to the two lovely mutuals who asked me this, it legitimately means so much to me to see people interested in this
so, first of all, this is only gonna cover the games. i’ll touch base on some of the manga, but i won’t be getting into the radio drama, captain n, or the animated netflix shows
what is castlevania?
castlevania is a series of games spanning back to 1986. the latest game was released in 2020, but the last mainline STORY game was released in 2008
castlevania is a series following the belmont family, a storied clan spanning over 900 years—from 1094 to 2036, as well as their friends, allies, and others, as they set out to defeat dracula and his allies time and time again. it’s tonally fun, silly, but also has very profound moments that will shake you to your core, as well as characters and themes that are fun to dissect and discuss
it has GREAT music, really fun, usually 8-bit graphics
what sort of gameplay can i expect?
most of the games, excluding the lords of shadow games, have a 2-hour runtime, and only one difficulty mode. they can be split into 3 genres:
side-scrolling platformers (*)
metroidvanias (**) (note: these also have multiple endings in every iteration unless otherwise specified)
and action-adventure (***)
the exceptions to this are legacy of darkness and castlevania 64, both of which are in stages like the side scrollers, and remain as platformers, but are in 3D, and castlevania: judgement, which is a 3D fighting game.
i’ll also try to label the games, with canon games (green) dubiously-canon games (orange), non-canon games (red), remakes (blue), and ensemble games (purple). i will also label the game packs (pink)
if anyone has issues with color text, let me know and i’ll send you a version of this post clear of it!
any warnings for the games?
theyre pretty lighthearted, so nothing major, but there ARE a few warnings
there is quite a bit of casual misogyny, fridging, damsel-in-distress, etc. women and their pain are constantly used to fuel the pain of the men in the games
there is some casual anti-semitism that comes with a lot of vampire media, but, saving portrait of ruin, it’s typically not horrible. that said, golems are used as an enemy type not infrequently.
christianity in the games is treated as the like, pinnacle of everything that is Pure And Good
there is also some weird racist connotations in the overall emphasis the games have on the importance of bloodlines, the concept of the primogenitor, etc
there is also occasional blood and gore, but this is not common
possession is a not-uncommon occurrence
most of these tend to be kinda background points in the games, not really CENTRAL, but i felt they were still worth mentioning.
without any further ado, let’s get into it!
how many games are there, anyways?
there are 20 mainline games, with an additional 4 of dubious canonicity, 5 AU games, 4 remasters/remakes, 3 ensemble games, including a fighting game and a co-op game, an arcade game, a puzzle game, 4 pachinko games, and a medal game, all of which adds up to a total of 43 games. this list will focus on everything except the medal/pachinko games, the arcade game, and the puzzle game.
the games, in order of release order, are as follows:
castlevania*, castlevania ii: simon’s quest*, castlevania iii: dracula’s curse*, castlevania: the adventure*, castlevania ii: belmont’s revenge*, rondo of blood*, bloodlines*, symphony of the night**, harmony of dissonance**, aria of sorrow**, lament of innocence***, dawn of sorrow**, curse of darkness***, portrait of ruin**, order of ecclesia**
castlevania 64, legacy of darkness, circle of the moon**, order of shadows*
super castlevania 4*, castlevania: legends*, lords of shadow***, lords of shadow: mirror of fate*, lords of shadow 2***
castlevania chronicles* (remaster of castlevania and castlevania ii), dracula x* (remake of rondo), dracula x chronicles* (remaster of rondo), castlevania: rebirth* (remake of castlevania: the adventure)
castlevania judgement, harmony of despair**, grimoire of souls*
i’m in the process of writing spoiler-free reviews of each game, including my opinions, any trigger warnings, and what platforms everything is playable on, if you want a more clear idea of my opinions on each individual game
which game(s) would you recommend starting with?
rondo of blood* is a great place to start! it’s henerally the first recommendation i have for where to start in castlevania; it features one of the three most well-known belmonts, richter, as he fulfils his calling as a belmont to defeat dracula, as he is resurrected once again. it and its direct sequel, symphony of the night**, are widely agreed to be among the best games of their genres. it’s not incredibly hard, like most of the castlevania games of its genre are, it has a save function (also unlike most of those games), and very interesting characters.
rondo was originally only playable on pc rom, which makes it more difficult to emulate by itself afaict. it’s available on ps4 and ps5 in the castlevania: requiem 2-pack, along with symphony of the night. its remake, dracula x, is available with the castlevania advance pack, however i HIGHLY recommend against playing this one over rondo. there is also a remaster of the game, dracula x chronicles, which is playable on the psp or an emulator, and after you make it about halfway through the game to level 4, a copy of rondo can be found in a secret location somewhere in the map before you defeat the boss and progress to level 5, allowing you to play rondo itself. that said, as far as i can tell, as a remaster, dxc is pretty faithful to the original rondo, so should you decide to complete that one instead of or before playing rondo, that also works!
the first castlevania* is also a good place to start, though it is, in my experience, more difficult, which is why i recommend rondo first. while it CAN be emulated, the original game does not have a save function—meaning that, should you JUST emulate the original game, youd need to play the whole thing in one sitting or lose all progress, so i’d instead recommend either buying the anniversary pack—which ports in an external save option—where available (steam, switch, x-box, playstation), or pirating/emulating the games themselves. i can’t speak for switch, x-box, or playstation, but at the very least, if you plan to buy it on steam, wait until it goes on sale—its normal price is $20, but its frequently on sale for about $4.
castlevania iii: dracula’s curse* isn’t a bad starting place either, so long as you understand that a lot of the information you’re given about alucard is going to be retconned in the future. other than that, it’s a great starting place, it establishes a lot about the world, sets up some very important characters, etc. that said, it is both difficult, and has the same issue as the first castlevania game, in that there is not a built-in save function.
aria of sorrow** is also a game i see frequently recommended as a starting game for the series, but i personally would recommend to wait on it until a bit later, that way you understand a lot more of the conflict, and WHY certain plot developments are as important as they are.
so, we know what you WOULD recommend to start with. which games do you recommend waiting on until later?
first and foremost, the sequels. the following games are direct sequels to other games; the games listed immediately after rhem in parenthesis are their predecessors, the games which they are a sequel to. do not play the listed games until you’ve played the games immediately after them in parenthesis:
castlevania ii: simon’s quest* (castlevania*); dawn of sorrow** (aria of sorrow**); castlevania ii: belmont’s revenge* (castlevania: the adventure*); lords of shadow: mirror of fate* (lords of shadow***); lords of shadow 2*** (lords of shadow***, and optionally, lords of shadow: mirror of fate*)
the following will be formatted the same as the above, but they are indirect sequels. i would recommend playing their predecessor first, but you don’t have to.
curse of darkness*** (castlevania iii: dracula’s curse*); portrait of ruin** (castlevania: bloodlines*); symphony of the night** (rondo of blood*);
those are the MAJOR ones i’d recommend waiting on, however there’s still a few others that are a bit less strict/necessary to follow:
wait to play order of ecclesia**, circle of the moon**, legacy of darkness, castlevania 64, castlevania: bloodlines*, and portrait of ruin**, until after you’ve played rondo of blood* and symphony of the night**
wait to play lament of innocence*** and aria of sorrow** until after you’ve played castlevania iii: dracula’s curse*, rondo of blood*, and symphony of the night**, as well as generally feeling as though you’ve played enough games to understand dracula, and alucard, and the belmonts, specifically to understand their conflict with each other.
wait to play grimoire of souls* until you’ve played rondo of blood*, symphony of the night**, aria of sorrow**, portrait of ruin**, order of ecclesia**, castlevania iii: dracula’s curse*, and castlevania*
this is also just a silly little personal thought, but, even though dawn of sorrow** is a direct sequel to aria of sorrow**, i actually personally recommend playing lament of innocence*** in between the two, but you dont have to :)
if i don’t have the energy to play the whole series, what are the must-plays?
rondo of blood*, castlevania iii: dracula’s curse*, symphony of the night**, castlevania*, castlevania ii: simon’s quest*, harmony of dissonance**, curse of darkness***, order of ecclesia**, portrait of ruin**, and aria of sorrow**
in addition, i also personally recommend circle of the moon**, legacy of darkness, bloodlines*, lament of innocence***, dawn of sorrow**, and grimoire of souls*. i’ve also heard good things about castlevania: legends* and super castlevania iv*
please note there’s still a handful i haven’t yet played, so i may have additional recommendations once i finish the games :)
(and yes, this can also serve as a rough recommended play order)
is there anything you actively don’t recommend playing?
dracula x*—it’s a remake of rob that makes a lot of lore changes that are just, not my favorite at all. just play rondo of blood* or dracula x chronicles*
lords of shadow 2*** i only recommend if you enjoy stupid, campy shit, honestly. it’s fun, gameplay wise, but the story choices are—interesting. the lords of shadow series as a whole is, while fun, kinda iffy in terms of quality—MOST of lords of shadow*** is really good, and has some pretty decent story, even if there’s things i disagree with, and it has potential, but the ending reads like a fever dream; lords of shadow: mirror of fate* i actually really enjoyed, i thought it was a very interesting story and felt more consistent with the gameplay of the other castlevania games, while still offering a different experience with a new take on the characters we havent seen from castlevania before. but from what i’ve played of lords of shadow 2***, it feels like they missed the point of the mainline castlevania games. honestly, if you want to stick relatively close to the main castlevania story, i also wouldn’t recommend the series as a whole, as, while the other two au games, super castlevania iv* and castlevania: legends* still feel quite close to the gameplay and story of the original series, the lords of shadow series feels much more different, as it rewrites the core events that kick off the story, instead of just one or two characters, in addition to the gameplay being entirely different
if you don’t have anyone else to play with, i don’t recommend playing harmony of despair** unless you’re emulating or otherwise pirating it. there’s a ton of microtransactions to unlock—and this isn’t an exaggeration, this is almost exact—half of the characters and half of the maps.
where can i play the games?
there are a lot of ways to play the games, and as they’ve been released and rereleased and ported over the years, they’ve become available on more and more consoles, but i’ll try to leave a link for any emulator you might need.
first of all i recommend getting the anniversary collection, which includes castlevania*, castlevania ii*, castlevania iii*, super castlevania vi*, castlevania: the adventure*, castlevania ii: belmont’s revenge*, and bloodlines*. as aforementioned earlier, in most of those games there is no built-in save option. it’ll restart you on the block you left off if you die, yes, but it will not let you return if you close the game, you’ll have to start the entire game over. the anniversary collection ports in an external save function. you are going to want to save those games, because they are difficult. this pack can be bought on steam, and digitally on switch, x-box, and playstation. as aforementioned, it frequently goes on sale for about $4, but if you’d rather just pirate it it’s completely up to you.
the advance collection is also available in all 4 places, and includes circle of the moon**, aria of sorrow**, harmony of dissonance**, and dracula x*. it frequently goes on sale too, but only for $11. all of these games (potentially excluding dracula x?) already have savestates, and theyre all playable on gba (hence the name) so this pack isn’t nearly as important.
symphony of the night**, as the most widely beloved and played game, is available on its own digitally on x-box and playstation, and can also be played on mobile for about $3 or $4
harmony of despair** is available on xbox 360 and playstation 3, but only allows local multiplayer on playstation 3. the basegame itself is around $20, but as aforementioned if you want to unlock half the playable characters and half the map, EACH of those microtransactions is about $3. for 5 maps and 6 characters, thats about an additional $33. that said if you decide you want to play you can all add me :>
the lords of shadow*** series is available on steam, and digitally on x-box and playstation
here are all the emulators:
nes + snes (castlevania*, castlevania ii: simon’s quest*, castlevania iii: dracula’s curse*; super castlevania iv*, dracula x*)
gameboy (castlevania: the adventure*, castlevania ii: belmont’s revenge*, and legends*)
playstation (castlevania chronicles*)
nintendo64 (legacy of darkness, castlevania 64)
playstation portable (dracula x chronicles* + rondo of blood*)
sega genesis (bloodlines*)
sega saturn (symphony of the night* (special edition that is only playable on this console))
nintendo ds (dawn of sorrow**, portrait of ruin**, order of ecclesia**)
game boy advance (harmony of dissonance**, aria of sorrow**, circle of the moon**)
playstation 2 (lament of innocence***, curse of darkness***)
playstation 3 (harmony of despair**, lords of shadow***, lords of shadow: mirror of fate*, lords of shadow 2***)
vimm’s lair should have all the cd roms you need, and if necessary there should be youtube videos on how to set these all up with your emulators
please note that, of these, i have only used pcsx2 (ps2), ppsspp (psp), project n64 (n64), and dolphin (wii). i had trouble running the latter one, and project n64 i had trouble saving on, but that may just be an issue with my computer. i cannot speak to the quality of any of the others linked here
(also, reminder that if you have a ds, dsi, or jailbroken 2ds or 3ds, you should already be able to play or port in gba games on there for easier access)
order of shadows* is, as far as i’m aware, not playable unless you have a 20 year old windows phone. if you’re interested in it, i’d recommend finding a longplay of it on youtube—in fact, there’s longplays of most of the castlevania games available on youtube, if you’d rather watch than play
what about other games-related media?
there’s some art books, the scans are all shown here, including a few pages of prequel to sotn (though these are all in japanese—i’m pretty sure someone’s translated them, i’ll link the translations if i can)
there’s also a 2-issue curse of darkness manga. issue one here and issue two here
there’s a light novel that serves as a sequel to aria + dawn of sorrow. here’s a fan translation of that
the lament of innocence manga has been, unfortunately, COMPLETELY lost to time, as in, the original artists are the only people who MIGHT still have access to it. however, this is a released summary of each chapter, and this is a japanese fan’s liveblog of their reactions to the manga
this appears to be a non-canon au novel, or manga, that was translated by a fan
a lot of the booklets that came WITH the actual games, as well, have some information as well, if you can find them!
that should be all the info i have! let me know if anyone has any other questions, or if i forgot anything!
