Castlevania Netflix

[DekuNut]

The Castlevania Netflix show released today. Four episodes, a little under 25 minutes each. What do you guys think of it?

I just finished it, and enjoyed it. I admit to knowing little about the series (I've only ever played the NES original), but the exposition is done well, the action is good, the animation is pretty great, and it really feels how you'd expect a Castlevania show to feel. Got a little ridiculous during the earlier part of the last episode, but not enough to really take me out of it.
What do you guys think?

EDIT: Also, warning, much gore. Much blood, much guts, and much ball-kicks.

 

[Spirit]

Only had time to watch the two episodes so far.

Im a big Castlevania fan but never talk about it because no one else seems to like it.

Anyway.

Episode 1

A little less than what i expected from a Castlevania show and Warren Ellis, i understand CV never had much exposition so its nice to see Dracula be given a reason to be pissed off but it felt rather cliche... was hoping for a smarter script but nevermind we're here to have fun.

I did have fun and Dracula's rage was cool... i hope the way this first episode ended is a sign of how the show will continue.


TLDR-
The beginning felt like a standard and cliche tragic period piece love story...

The ending felt like Castlevania.



Episode 2

This is more like it. Warren was always better with characters than rigid plot. Trevor Belmont is a hoot and voiced very well. I like that he has a smart mouth but doesnt come off like a douche. I like his design too.

The gore comes and goes but when it comes its pretty graphic and pops up in flashes (that dude's eye!) So it doesnt outstay its welcome which is a good move.

"I hope you all bleed out... of your arses!"

Hahaha

Keep this up Castlevania, its what i wanted from the first episode.

 

[Kylo Ken]

Thoroughly disappointed. Doubt they played even one ****ing game. Probably googled character names and pictures. One of the first lines is "What, did you bring Silver, Holy Crosses, and Garlic, thinking they'd hurt me?" YES, THEY ****ING DO, DUMBASS. THEY'RE USED IN THE GAME...A LOT. LIKE A ****TON. Also, silver? Really? Since when are vampires weak to silver? Werewolves are weak to silver.

Anyway, the Catholic church murder his wife cause they think she's a witch. He gets mad about it and declares to kill all of humanity.

Never really played Lords of Shadow series. After all, they're considered to be the Other M of the Castlevania series, so maybe I'm missing some things.

I also didn't finish all 4 episodes. Watched the 1st, made it halfway through the second, then skipped to the end of episode 4. Show wasn't very captivating.

Perhaps my critique is flawed. But from what I seen, it's not very good. Plot sucks, characters suck, animation is actually really good, especially the fights. So at least there's that.

Overall: Throughly disappointing. 5/5 IGN

 

[Djinn]

I'm kind of getting a "too little too late" kind of vibe from this. Castlevania would have been huge...at about any point before 2005 or so when the series was still a major mainstream thing. But these days it is just another old game franchise that more people know about, than know from playing.

 

[DekuNut]

Thoroughly disappointed. Doubt they played even one ****ing game. Probably googled character names and pictures. One of the first lines is "What, did you bring Silver, Holy Crosses, and Garlic, thinking they'd hurt me?" YES, THEY ****ING DO, DUMBASS. THEY'RE USED IN THE GAME...A LOT. LIKE A ****TON. Also, silver? Really? Since when are vampires weak to silver? Werewolves are weak to silver.

Anyway, the Catholic church murder his wife cause they think she's a witch. He gets mad about it and declares to kill all of humanity.

Never really played Lords of Shadow series. After all, they're considered to be the Other M of the Castlevania series, so maybe I'm missing some things.

I also didn't finish all 4 episodes. Watched the 1st, made it halfway through the second, then skipped to the end of episode 4. Show wasn't very captivating.

Perhaps my critique is flawed. But from what I seen, it's not very good. Plot sucks, characters suck, animation is actually really good, especially the fights. So at least there's that.

Overall: Throughly disappointing. 5/5 IGN

In episode 3, they use holy water and salt on demons. And vampires are definitley weak to silver in mythology, just like werewolves. It's the whole "silver is holy" BS like with holly and the sun

 

[Spirit]

Thoroughly disappointed. Doubt they played even one ****ing game. Probably googled character names and pictures. One of the first lines is "What, did you bring Silver, Holy Crosses, and Garlic, thinking they'd hurt me?" YES, THEY ****ING DO, DUMBASS. THEY'RE USED IN THE GAME...A LOT. LIKE A ****TON. Also, silver? Really? Since when are vampires weak to silver? Werewolves are weak to silver.

Anyway, the Catholic church murder his wife cause they think she's a witch. He gets mad about it and declares to kill all of humanity.

Never really played Lords of Shadow series. After all, they're considered to be the Other M of the Castlevania series, so maybe I'm missing some things.

I also didn't finish all 4 episodes. Watched the 1st, made it halfway through the second, then skipped to the end of episode 4. Show wasn't very captivating.

Perhaps my critique is flawed. But from what I seen, it's not very good. Plot sucks, characters suck, animation is actually really good, especially the fights. So at least there's that.

Overall: Throughly disappointing. 5/5 IGN

Silver hurts vampires in a lot of things, where've you been?

This series is supposedly based on Castlevania 3. Not one i've played so i cant say how close it is to the source material though probably not very.

The first ep is rigid and cliche as hell and by contrast the second is much better but if you dont like Trevor's character i can see why you'd not make it through. I need to watch eps 3&4.

Also youre not missing out having not played the Lords of Shadow trilogy. Theyre nowhere near Other M bad. Theyre more like shoddy God of War clones.

People were butt-hurt with the Lords games because theyre a new continuity.

However, if youre a Metroid fan. The guys making Samus Returns (Mercury Steam) are the guys who made the 3ds Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate game. Might be a good indicator on how Samus Returns will feel to play.


Though i like that you mention youve heard Lords of Shadow are the Other M of CV since the guy responsible for Other M has now joined forces with them.

Also, even though you didnt like the anime, thank your stars that this didnt happen.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

So, I just watched all four available episodes on Netflix.

...I liked it a lot.

The last Castlevania game I played was Bloodlines on the Sega Genesis, so I don't have any experience with the series, but I think I'd enjoy the show even with more gaming experience. Watching the series and expecting it to be a one to one adaptation of a particular game is stupid.

The animation was nice, the voice acting good, and the action fun to watch. It reminded me of the Lady Death movie (just in case anyone else besides me remembers that film) with all the naturally occurring gore. Heck, the villainous Catholic church reminded me a great deal of Lady Death.

Heck, my only real complaint is the short length. Four great episodes, but moves are only made to engage Dracula at the very end of the show. Now I'm stuck waiting for the next couple of episodes to release.

 

[Spirit]

Episode 3
- Meh

Episode 4
- Meh

Episode 5
- oh... no episode 5...



Okay so this 4 ep run was a build up. Trevor is a cool character but nobody else is. The animation can be great and then can look cheap.

Uuuumm... nah i'm not gonna follow this. The second episode was by far the best which nothing happens in.

Just... nah.

 

[Castle]

So I liked it up until it ended 4 episodes in. WHAT??? Netflix, why even bother? You testing audience interest or something? Fair enough. But if they decided to go with it they're gonna have to do better than 4 episodes next time. Maybe six???

I'm not a Castlevania fan but I gotta admit the series does intrigue me. But since I know next to nothing about it I can't compare the show to the games. On its own though I thought the show was good enough. Not a big fan of the animation or art style but I do really dig the action sequences for some reason, especially the choppy animation somehow conveys movement in a really satisfying way.

The characters are all lame. Heck, the only one we really ever get enough face time with is Trever and I really liked his voice acting and delivery.

The world design didn't appear particularly compelling to me. If this is supposed to be a historical period, then there are some design aspects that jar me a bit. They need to go either historically authentic or full on fantasy land.

The bad guys are heinously one note. I'm sick of the religion = evil and bad guy church trope. It tends to be grossly biased and agenda driven, and I'm something of an atheist so that's saying something coming from me. Although I was glad when the demon in the last episode had the decency to explain why God isn't going to waste his omnipotence on a d-bag of such high caliber as evil bishop guy.

Also, to anyone who's played Witcher 3's Blood and Wine, the premise is awfully similar- just a heck of a lot simpler.

This story needs a helluva lot more going on. Not Netflix caliber writing here. Not a show for kids. What few Castlevania fans exist might not even appreciate this so I don't really know who this show is meant for.

 

[Spirit]

So I liked it up until it ended 4 episodes in. WHAT??? Netflix, why even bother? You testing audience interest or something? Fair enough. But if they decided to go with it they're gonna have to do better than 4 episodes next time. Maybe six???

I'm not a Castlevania fan but I gotta admit the series does intrigue me. But since I know next to nothing about it I can't compare the show to the games. On its own though I thought the show was good enough. Not a big fan of the animation or art style but I do really dig the action sequences for some reason, especially the choppy animation somehow conveys movement in a really satisfying way.

The characters are all lame. Heck, the only one we really ever get enough face time with is Trever and I really liked his voice acting and delivery.

The world design didn't appear particularly compelling to me. If this is supposed to be a historical period, then there are some design aspects that jar me a bit. They need to go either historically authentic or full on fantasy land.

The bad guys are heinously one note. I'm sick of the religion = evil and bad guy church trope. It tends to be grossly biased and agenda driven, and I'm something of an atheist so that's saying something coming from me. Although I was glad when the demon in the last episode had the decency to explain why God isn't going to waste his omnipotence on a d-bag of such high caliber as evil bishop guy.

Also, to anyone who's played Witcher 3's Blood and Wine, the premise is awfully similar- just a heck of a lot simpler.

This story needs a helluva lot more going on. Not Netflix caliber writing here. Not a show for kids. What few Castlevania fans exist might not even appreciate this so I don't really know who this show is meant for.

Send me a PM if you like if you want CV game info.

 

[Mido]

I got the chance to watch the miniseries on Monday which preceded a somewhat length conversation about the wonders of Castlevania with another user (not naming names, as the old tradition goes). I thought it was okay. Simply okay.

I was somewhat shocked to see some of the harsher reviews in this thread if only because the series is so short at this point that I don't think there's much to say about it. There's promise for sure as far as I can gather. Animation is great, and the characters, while one-note and most forgettable, do have some standout faces (Namely Trevor and Alucard). The real hook for me in my experience was the action. Because of this series (so far's) short length, there wasn't much depth to gather from the other elements. The simple story lets the action unfold cohesively and overall provides a solid, if unspectacular go-round.

The bad guys are heinously one note. I'm sick of the religion = evil and bad guy church trope. It tends to be grossly biased and agenda driven, and I'm something of an atheist so that's saying something coming from me. Although I was glad when the demon in the last episode had the decency to explain why God isn't going to waste his omnipotence on a d-bag of such high caliber as evil bishop guy.

For whatever reason, The Church's role didn't bother me too much. Perhaps it's because the story elements were as simple as they were which didn't give me much time to invest in the priests' villainous roles. Nevertheless, I see your point completely, especially if the villains were to be more complex. I agree with you about the demon-bishop interaction completely. It was a neat scene. On the topic of villains as a whole, I think Dracula will end up all right. Simple motivations with enough beef to them for a simple story? I'll buy it. Of course, the payoff to all this depends of what the series has up its sleeve for the rest of the episodes.