Casltevania (NES)!! Omg i loved this game so much, but that shouldn't be surprising since The Adventure of Link is my fourth favorite TLOZ game ahdjfskl
I wanted to test the waters with the series early but plan to actually start my playthrough once I finish my Zelda journal which will be sometime this year. I also want to try a new journaling style with using fountain pen art but I'm still experimenting with pens and the style itself so don't expect spreads to look like this in the future lmao
The journal is from Copticore on Etsy!! I also made a post reviewing the journal (it's one of my favorites that I own ^-^)
Writing typed below!
Rating: 8.5
Played: Fa 2023
Port: Steam, Anniversary Edition
Language: English
Comments:
LOVE the music
hehe pot roast
really enjoying the gameplay
i have no idea why the chest spawned in stage 5
evil that I cannot set an item to a button and have to press up plus whip
it's always the damn flying enemies T^T
trying to understand the family tree/timeline
these environments fuck!!! T^T <3
I really like both of simon's designs
love the stained glass with medusa
i like how simon and the early belmonts have an iconic walk
(switched to energel due to dip ink bleed)
the pride of frankenstein sounds so cool
the grim reaper hallway is so long T_T_T
NOT THE MEDUSA HEADS T-T-T-T
DAMN THE HOLY WATER DESTROYED IGOR AND FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER
i forgot hearts are tied to items T_T
death is so hard T_T
really loved the video that went over the history of this game's speed runs
THE COGS ROOM IS SO COOL
oooo i like how similar the thunderbird and dracula boss fights are
omfg dracula's head in the floor
DRACULA'S DEMON FORM IS CRAZY LOOKING
i can't express enough how much i love the ost - I bought i vinyl of it ^^;
CHRISTOPHER BEE, BELO LUGOSI, BORIS KARLOFFICE, LOVE CHANEY JR... SCREAMING T^T <3<3
absolutely love this game so much
Summary:
To start: I am still figuring out a journaling style so all my early spreads will be a little rough. That being said, I love this game so soosossososo much. This is everything my little universal horror heart could ever want. I knew I'd enjoy the gameplay since I really loved the gameplay of TAOL but the monsters and level design and music just made me have even more fun than i was expecting. The game is very straight forward and nowhere near as cryptic as TAOL, both are very charming but at least you can play castlevania without a guide. The environment designs are unbelievably gorgeous. I would love to draw them someday. I really liked not only Simon but his mechanics. He has a slow, burly gait and wields a whip-- very different from Joust moving link with his sword (joust the game). It ensures you aim your whip properly as enemies have to maintain contact with the end of the whip. The boss fights were also diverse design and attack wise, it was nice trying to figure out new strategies. I loved so much about this game, I just gave it an 8.5 since there's no major story. However, I love that this game was a catalyst for the whole series plus anime adaptations. I am sooo excited to play more of the series, esp Super Castlevania IV!
I got this absolutely beautiful coffin shaped journal from Copticore on their Etsy and I am SO happy with it. Now that I'm only a few games away from finishing TLOZ, I wanted to turn my attention to Castlevania!! I really wanted a themed journal and not only did I find this coffin journal, but Copticore will also put gold foil letters on the cover if you request it! The journal even came with a bone pen and I’m so obsessed with writing with it. (CoptiCore even gave me a message saying they started watching Castlevania bc of my journal order which makes me so happy, love spreading the Castlevania agenda 🤧:)!!!).
The link to their etsy is here! Below I have a test page, a closeup at the lettering, and my thoughts on the journal (which are extremely positive this is genuinely one of my favorite journals I own).
The journal itself is phenomenal, genuinely one of my favorite journals I own. The outer cover is nice and sturdy and the gold foil is applied really well. You also get to customize the the interior cover color and binding color. The binding is fantastic, the journal was specifically designed so it can be laid flat to write on it and the binding on the pages is really well done (I’ve had previous journals where the binding tears the pages 😭😭 so very happy to see how intentional this binding is). Also because it’s made of thread binding and not glue, there’s no stress in whether or not the glue will break over time due to use (my Zelda journal has done this). The pages are also really nice. They’re very have a heavy weight and are smooth, they take all kind of media really well. The only thing I don’t recommend using are regular sharpies as they will bleed, but I don’t journal with regular sharpies so this is no issue. The sharpies are the only media to bleed out of the ones I tested, although I do recommend waiting for all media to completely dry before writing on the next page as I had some transferring (seen on the left side of my test page) but that was just my impatient fault 😅. Overall, an incredible journal and I highly recommend checking out their instagram and Etsy shop!! Tysm to CoptiCore this is such an amazing work of art!!
This journal will be such an experiment since I want to do a unique journaling style for Castlevania using fountain pens, but I’m excited to get into the games after such an incredible television experience!!
