JBoc924Today’s piece may pale in comparison lengthwise, somewhat, to my previous entries but bear with me. My left eye is giving me issues and I’m finding it hard to type for extended periods of time. Thinking about the absence of Castlevania Harmony of Despair DLC isn’t help the situation…Where is it? I mean, we already know what the first batch includes so, what’s the hold up? Let’s take some time off this agonizing period of waiting to get some background info on what to expect from the first wave of DLC.
The first set of DLC includes a brand new chapter: Beauty, Desire, Situation Dire. Two new characters are also a part of this wave: Julius Belmont and Maria Renard. Artwork was released for a third character, Yoko Belnades, but it’s not sure if she’s part of the initial batch of DLC.
The new DLC chapter is inspired, and composed of rooms from Castlvania Portrait of Ruin, more specifically: The Sandy Grave. This is evident from the major egyptian theme present in this stage. The end-boss for this stage is said to be Egyptian Pharaohess Astarte. When we’ll be able to slay our way through this stage is anyone’s guess.
Julius Belmont makes his HD debut with a great amount of abilities that will bring players back to the days of Super Castlevania IV. For starters, a little bit of background should be given for such an important figure in the Castlevania timeline.
Julius is the latest in the Belmont line of Vampire Killers. He was featured in two games prior to his, eventual, appearance in Harmony of Despair. Those games were Aria of Sorrow and it’s follow-up Dawn of Sorrow, both of which took place in the distant future when compared to the rest of the timeline. What’s most note-worthy about Julius is the fact that he was the Belmont to finally put a permanent end to Dracula in what is known as the Demon Castle Wars. This occurred in 1999, when this momentous event will finally take form as an entry in the franchise is highly anticipated by fans But for now, let’s be happy we’ll be getting Julius in HD.
Julius comes to HD with a great amount of abilities that, as aforementioned, will feel familiar to fans. He is able to whip in multiple directions as well as use his whip to swing across platforms, just like his ancestor Simon was able to in the SNES classic. All of this will prove to be quite convenient in combat and in exploration of the game’s stages. The swinging mechanic is akin to that of Shanoa’s ‘slingshot’ ability that allows her to grapple to Magnes orbs and get herself conveniently to higher ground where other’s can’t. Julius will also use his whip to grapple onto this Magnes orbs to initiate his swinging mechanic.
Julius’ entry into the HD roster will grant players to choose from two whip-weilding characters. A safe assumption would be that his sub-weapons are able to level up, just like Jonathan’s.
Next up is Maria Renard, in her young version last seen in Portrait of Ruin’s Richter mode, but originally featured in Rondo of Blood, and it’s remake found in Dracula X Chronicles.
Maria is one of the few prominent heroines in the male-driven Castlevania franchise. And she’s no slouch when it comes to combat, utilizing forms of wild-life as weapons to take down Dracula’s minions. In her original appearance in Castlevanai canon, she was one of the girls Richter rescues on his quest to find his girlfriend Anette and vanish Dracula and his hordes of monsters. She also happened to be Annete’s sister, making the ties much more personal with Richter, and of course enticing him to take good care of her. She is then seen, older, in Symphony of the Night alongside Alucard in their quest to find Richter and uncover what his connection to the things transpiring in the castle were.
There’s no doubt that Maria will join the part with her animal-throwing move-set intact. Maybe a leveling up system will be used to make her different attacks stronger, attacks which pretty much serve as sub-weapons the likes of Julius’ and Jonathan’ albeit in animal form.
Lastly, we have Yoko Belnades, member of the Belnades clan which makes her a descendant of Castlevania III’s Sypha Belnades who fought alongside Trevor Belmont in their fight to take down Dracula. She is a witch and likewise, uses spells as her primary form of attack, though she does have a staff to deal out close-quarters damage. Having her in HD, whether she’s part of the initial DLC or not, will serve as a great alternative to people who love using magic in the game but maybe are growing tired of Shanoa, or quite simply just completely leveled up all her spells. Regardless, her inclusion will be a welcome one.
There are a lot more character that Konami can consider putting in Harmony of Despair, but seeing as how this first batch of DLC is taking quite some time to get here, we might as well not hold our breath for our favorite characters to finally make the cut. And here I was thinking that a 2D sprite of Gabriel Belmont will be available to people who pre-order Lords of Shadow on 360…Patience is a virtue I guess.
