Introduction

It is 1830...
at an old Austrian castle.
From the worshipers of chaos,
rise the plea for the return
of the Lord of Darkness.

Welcome to Let's Play Castlevania: Circle of the Moon.

Released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advanced, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was possibly the strongest launch title for the little purple handheld. Following in Symphony of the Night's footsteps, CotM continued the highly successful and critically acclaimed formula of light-RPG elements and exploration, helping to cement the "Metroidvania" style and pave the way for two other Castlevania titles on the GBA. Along with this was the Dual Set-Up System, a neat gimmick of mixing and matching 20 collectible cards to use different magic effects, some insanely cool (looking at you Pluto/Blackdog) and others just plain shit. In short, the game is a fun but difficult title in the GBA's extensive library.

This is, for the most part, a standard run-through of CotM on Vampire Killer mode. In order to keep the game moving a decent clip, backtracking and menu screen shenanigans are cut in lieu of custom pop-ups detailing enemies and effects on Nathan's stats. All upgrades and DSS cards are collected and their respective effects showcased in video format.

Characters:

Nathan Graves: Our whip-wielding hero! Descendant of the famous Belmont clan and apprentice of Morris Baldwin, Nathan carries the Hunter's Whip, a Baldwin family relic. Doesn't take anybody's shit and is possibly the only guy that makes a leather vest look badass.

Hugh Baldwin: Son and star pupil of his father Morris Baldwin, Hugh's kind of a jerk. Extremely jealous of Nathan because he inherited the Hunter's Whip, Hugh is determined to save his father from Dracula without our help which can only lead to good things. We'll be meeting him around the castle every couple of bosses.

Morris Baldwin: Sealed Dracula with Nathan's parents 10 years ago in 1820. Despite his vampire-slaying experience, Morris's attack on Dracula's castle failed leaving him captured. Not cool.

Count Dracula: The blood-sucking immortal himself, the Lord of Darkness has been reawakened into the world. We don't know his plans quite yet; however, after easily defeating Morris Baldwin, Dracula promptly brushed aside Nathan and Hugh to be destroyed by the castle's monsters. This shit will not stand.

Camilla: Disciple of chaos, Camilla was the person who formed a cult and performed the ritual to awaken Dracula from his 100 year seal early. We won't know a lot about her or what her plans are until we delve much deeper into the grim castle.

DSS Cards:

These are the cards we've collected. There's 20 cards in the game, split between Action and Attribute, and grabbing them all is a pretty lengthy endeavor thanks to the extremely low drop rates of most enemies.

Action:

(Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Diana, Apollo, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto)

Attribute:

The Let's Play Archive

Castlevania Circle of the Moon

by BrightRoar

Introduction