A longplay of the remake of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, done in one sitting. I traversed all stages (didn't traverse all paths though) and played only as Richter Belmont (except at the end after beating the game). The game is upscaled to 720p HD via emulation.
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is a PlayStation Portable title that is often overlooked and underappreciated by many. The remake is excellent and it brought the previously unseen in the west classic Castlevania game to modern, at the time, platforms and audience. There are quite a lot of changes in the remake compared to the original game, such as redesigns of characters and some finer gameplay adjustments. However, the remake remains mostly faithful to the original, and only improves and expands upon that game with some new content and better level designs. There are various collectibles in stages, and as a bonus, the remake also features both the original game and it's sequel, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, as secret unlockables found within the game itself.
The story follows a similar approach as other "classicvania" games, with the Belmont protagonist setting off on a journey to Castlevania to slay Dracula, a powerful and seemingly immortal vampire who resurrects every century in various attempts at destroying all of humanity. Being part of the ledendary Belmont clan, which was renown for it's powerful vampire hunters that would always stop Dracula from rising up and taking over, Richter Belmont possess the clan's heirloom hunter whip - the Vampire Killer.
Shaft, the dark priest, performs the demonic pact and resurrects Count Dracula. Together, they send off an army of undead monsters and demons from Dracula's castle to a nearby town. Just when Richter arrives to the burning town, his beloved, Annette, is kidnapped by Shaft. Richter follows them through one of the paths to the castle. During his invasion on the castle, Richter rescues the imprisoned maidens, including Maria Renard, a powerful young girl with extraordinary powers, and Annette. Richter reaches Dracula at the top floor of the castle and faces off against him in an epic battle, destroying the great vampire in the proccess. Fulfilling his destiny as a Belmont, Richter leaves the crumbling castle and safely returns home with the maidens he rescued.
Through the course of the game, the plot doesn't thicken much, but for a game in the "classicvania" genre of Castlevania, it is quite impressive that it can tell a simple, yet great story through cutscenes and the interactions between the characters. The story features different endings and cutscenes depending on which maidens you've saved, and characters such as Maria and Annette have different dialogue depending on who you saved first. By saving the first two maidens you obtain special powers from them, which let you destroy certain barriers and enemies so that you could reach Annette in the end, who is hidden in a deceptive trap set up against Richter that is hard to solve at first if you are not aware of it.
The game is classic styled with basic level after level progression structure and bosses at the end of each level. It is also a hard game, and I personally died quite a lot of times even from some of the more trivial stuff. However, unlike other classic Castlevania games, RoB and DXC have main and alternative levels, as well as forks between them. There are many ways to play this game since you can swap between the main and alt paths at the end of every level that has them. Where you go depends on... well, where you go. There are different endings to most levels and they even feature unique bosses you can take on. These levels end after Stage 5, with the game going into a linear path as you approach the end of the game.
Each stage has unique designs, atmosphere and music, just like most Castlevania games. But one of the game's main strengths is the control it offers. Richter controls almost like no other Belmont does, with jumps being generous and easy to make, and staircase climbing being fully controllable. The whip and sub-weapon controls are also well implemented, with attacks delivering fast and strong. In addition to vastly improved controls, Richter also has item crashes, which offer themselves as powerful attacks you can use in a pinch. Maria Renard has her own moves - she can slide, roll, run faster and perform a double jump, but she also takes double damage as a penalty for great mobility and offense. She also has unique sub-weapons, complete with unique item crashes.
DXC is easily the best "classicvania", even if it's not a metroidvania. DXC lives on through the ports of the two games it included on modern platforms, like the Casltevania Requiem collection on PS4 and the mobile release of SotN. Alas, the remake itself is stuck on the PSP. What a shame... It's too bad it's not on more platforms.
Game: Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (2007)
Emulator used: PPSSPP v1.11.3