Board 8 > Simon/Richter in Smash and Alucard in Legends. Which Castlevanias are must plays

(+) Yeah! (+)

Outside the ever so loved Symphony of the Night?

There doesn't appear to be any major Castlevania compilations so I'd have to buy most of them separatley.

I know there's both the classical Castlevania games which are more like Mega Man in that they're linear but very hard platformers. While Metroidvanias are more exploration based like Metroid obviously.

I'm interested in both but probably more into the classical style.
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all gba/ds ones

except for maybe harmony of dissonance
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This is my personal breakdown

Essential:

Castlevania (Aged incredibly well for NES, short, very hard but not unfair like CVIII)
Rondo of Blood (best version of the classicvania formula)
Symphony (is Symphony)
Aria of Sorrow OR Order of Ecclesia (either is a great way of showing where the Igavania formula evolved to)
Netflix (It's just good to watch. Well acted, well animated, got me invested in a lot of the characters)

Recommended:

Bloodlines (Damn great classic-style)
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (not Castlevania, but is Castlevania. Antiquates III)
Whatever You Didn't Pick Out of Aria or Ecclesia
Portrait of Ruin (A great evolution of Bloodlines' dynamic)

Follow-Ups:

Super Castlevania IV (Antiquated by time, easier than the rest of the series. Was really impressive when it came out, but the design isn't stellar)
Dawn of Sorrow (Direct follow-up to Aria, would definitely do if you like Aria)
Lords of Shadow (It's not a great God of War game, but it's good)

And then just pursue the rest by what's interesting.
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Vouching hard for Kamek's list, those are some great picks. Playing the essentials he suggested will give you easily the best the series has to offer from its various styles and tones.

I'll add that the Netflix show is an adaptation of Castlevania 3's story, which follows Trevor Belmont, an ancestor of Simon Belmont (who you play as in Castlevania 1.)
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every mainline console CV barring the 3D or N64 ones. 3D ones aren't terrible but they arent like the rest either. The only exception is Lords of Shadow. It's great.

All GBA/DS ones are great but some have not aged well like Circle of the Moon.

SOTN is the standard pretty much for the best CV game of all time.
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Kamekguy posted...

This is my personal breakdown

Essential:

Castlevania (Aged incredibly well for NES, short, very hard but not unfair like CVIII)
Rondo of Blood (best version of the classicvania formula)
Symphony (is Symphony)
Aria of Sorrow OR Order of Ecclesia (either is a great way of showing where the Igavania formula evolved to)
Netflix (It's just good to watch. Well acted, well animated, got me invested in a lot of the characters)

Recommended:

Bloodlines (Damn great classic-style)
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (not Castlevania, but is Castlevania. Antiquates III)
Whatever You Didn't Pick Out of Aria or Ecclesia
Portrait of Ruin (A great evolution of Bloodlines' dynamic)

Follow-Ups:

Super Castlevania IV (Antiquated by time, easier than the rest of the series. Was really impressive when it came out, but the design isn't stellar)
Dawn of Sorrow (Direct follow-up to Aria, would definitely do if you like Aria)
Lords of Shadow (It's not a great God of War game, but it's good)

And then just pursue the rest by what's interesting.

Yep, this is pretty spot on. I'd also add Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth if you have a Wii you're willing to mod (because you can't buy eShop games anymore) and Castlevania Harmony of Despair if you have some friends willing to play with you. Those are fun little oddities, often overlooked by series fans.
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