How Would You Pull Off a Castlevania RPG?

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

What system would you use for a game set in the Castlevania universe, and how would you make use of that system? I mean the first 2D game in specific, and the franchise in general.

Remember that the first game was rewarding because it required the player to evaluate every situation before charging in. It was simple, but strategic, intelligent, and difficult.

[Craft (Cheese)]

And most of the difficulty came from the controls being clunky and unresponsive in general. Put the same level design into a modern game where the controls are smooth and tactile and the game becomes significantly easier.

I don't know if this is something you'd want to simulate or not, though.

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

And most of the difficulty came from the controls being clunky and unresponsive in general. Put the same level design into a modern game where the controls are smooth and tactile and the game becomes significantly easier.

I don't know if this is something you'd want to simulate or not, though.

I would sort of simulate this by giving the characters limited fire power, and low hit points. To succeed, they would have to be careful with resources, and would have to use their environment to their advantage. Planning and strategy would be rewarded, and mindlessly charging forth would be punished.

[Craft (Cheese)]

How would you feel about using a setup like this: D&D 3.5, human-only, commoners-only, level 1, standard array, no feats, no templates, no nothing. Just 10 gp worth of starting equipment and your wits.

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

I was thinking more NWoD with late medieval tech, or 1st level D&D Next.

[Dsurion]

Actually, I had an idea to try a game with Mutants & Masterminds 2e and large amounts of Minions. I tried a game once with 3.5 D&D and it didn't work so well.

[Totally Guy]

Sound like something old school to me.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess perhaps? Conservative play, player wits, expected frequent death, it's horror against folks that don't know they're really the victims...

[Grod_The_Giant]

Actually, I had an idea to try a game with Mutants & Masterminds 2e and large amounts of Minions. I tried a game once with 3.5 D&D and it didn't work so well.

While I highly recommend M&M for to anyone who'll listen, it works best with cinematic play. Not so much tactical, difficult combat.

[Terraoblivion]

...Find an AD&D 1e retroclone and play I6: Ravenloft?

Really, Ravenloft and Castlevania hits a lot of the same feel and atmosphere, so it seems pretty close.

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

Ravenloft would definitely be a good resource. I would say that the major thematic difference between the Castlevania and Ravenloft settings is that the former is more high-magic. Both are similar enough, however, that content could be swapped between them very easily.

[Sylvos330]

An E6 3.5 game may work well, starting out would be tough but higher levels would only be challenged by bosses. This fits how the gameplay got for me in the early games.

[Seharvepernfan]

I toyed around with an E6 Castlevania-ish campaign last year. I came up with a simple little setting, and a few of the "boss" monsters.

For what you want, E6 works perfectly, assuming that all the really tough fights are higher than CR 6.

[Zeful]

And most of the difficulty came from the controls being clunky and unresponsive in general. Put the same level design into a modern game where the controls are smooth and tactile and the game becomes significantly easier.

I don't know if this is something you'd want to simulate or not, though.

See Super Castlevania for the SNES
But the delay on the whip and the lack of air-control during your jump arcs was actually intentionally added, so they compounded that by making enemies hit hard, spawned enemies in the places that you would be going if you weren't paying attention or rushing, and often made the game require memorization (and thus repetition) and exacting play to get through as much as possible.

[LibraryOgre]

New Hackmaster does this quite well, IMO, as does Castles and Crusades (not as well, but more simply).