Castlevania Judgment
Encyclopedia
Initial reaction to the announcement that the game would be a fighting game was received by some with shock and skepticism. IGN
's initial viewing of the pre-E3 build of the game made their reviewers conclude the game had promise. However, a point harshly criticised by an editor of gaming website Kombo.com was Takeshi Obata
's character design; Obata's work was perceived as derivative and inadequate, as the characters looked more similar to those from Obata's work on Death Note
than their previous appearances in the Castlevania series.
After being shown at the 2008 edition of the Tokyo Game Show
, the game received generally harsh criticism. Kotaku
editor Luke Plunkett wrote a long hands-on article about the game. He reported "I walked away from the show feeling bad. Bad for Castlevania fans, at least" and "There is just nothing right about this game. Nothing." Game designer Koji Igarashi
had complaints about the control scheme, reporting that "There's also the issue of the Wii controller. It's difficult to do those sorts of precise movements when you're waving something around." He otherwise objected that the initial reaction to Judgment was "unfair."
The reception of Judgment was mixed to negative, holding a total rating of 49% on Metacritic
. Gaming website 1UP.com
rated the game a D-. In addition to criticism about the art direction, 1UP also noted some things that they said disregarded established fighting conventions. This included complaints about the "disorientating" camera control. According to the review Konami had described the game as "Versus Action" which is said by the reviewer to be "an amalgamation that fuses action-game mechanics with a fighter" and then goes on to call the term "the bastard son of neologism". IGN called Judgment a "deep, fun fighter", praising the variety of characters, style and design, while criticizing the camera and lack of control customization possibilities. IGN also nominated it for Best Fighting Game of 2008 for the Wii, but it lost the award to Super Smash Bros. Brawl
. Nintendo Power
rated the game a 7.0/10, stating that "In spite of being radically different from its action-adventure predecessors, however, Castlevania Judgement is actually pretty fun", praising its presentation, accessibility, and remixed music, while criticising the implementation of sub-weapons, the control scheme, and the character designs, calling them "questionable". In contrast, X-Play gave the game 1/5, claiming it to be enormously unbalanced and having an awful control scheme, as well as "bastardizing established Castlevania designs". There was also much criticisim leveled at the game's handling of the Castlevania characters and their backstories and the alterations these characters underwent in Judgement. Maria's character and story in particular were frequently highlighted as an especially egregious example of mishandling a classic character, as the incarnation of her character in Judgement is inexplicably made to be overly obsessed with both her lack of chest and the large breasts of some of the other characters, staring longingly at them and marveling at their size, with her desire to grow her own big breasts and the need to make others appreciate theirs seeming to be her primary role in the game's story. GameSpy
gave the game 1.5/5, praising the game for its unlockables and its online mode, while criticizing the game for unbalanced characters and irritating camera. Gamespot
gave the game a 3/10 score stating "The abhorrent camera, dreadful art, and cumbersome controls are for masochistic applicants only; fans of the franchise, fighting, or fun will find nothing of value in this sloppy cash-in." Following its later release in Japan, the game was a financial bomb, having only sold 3,700 units.
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's initial viewing of the pre-E3 build of the game made their reviewers conclude the game had promise. However, a point harshly criticised by an editor of gaming website Kombo.com was Takeshi Obata
Takeshi Obata
is a Japanese manga artist. He works as the artist in collaboration with a writer. He has also mentored several manga artists, including Kentaro Yabuki of Black Cat fame, Nobuhiro Watsuki of Rurouni Kenshin and Busou Renkin, and Yusuke Murata of Eyeshield 21.He originally became noticed in 1985...
's character design; Obata's work was perceived as derivative and inadequate, as the characters looked more similar to those from Obata's work on Death Note
Death Note
is a manga created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. The main character is Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the "Death Note", dropped on Earth by a god of death, or a shinigami, named Ryuk...
than their previous appearances in the Castlevania series.
After being shown at the 2008 edition of the Tokyo Game Show
Tokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
, the game received generally harsh criticism. Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
editor Luke Plunkett wrote a long hands-on article about the game. He reported "I walked away from the show feeling bad. Bad for Castlevania fans, at least" and "There is just nothing right about this game. Nothing." Game designer Koji Igarashi
Koji Igarashi
, also known simply by the nickname IGA, is a Konami employee and one of the producers of the Castlevania video game series. He is best known as the assistant director of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, his first major involvement in the Castlevania series , also known simply by the nickname...
had complaints about the control scheme, reporting that "There's also the issue of the Wii controller. It's difficult to do those sorts of precise movements when you're waving something around." He otherwise objected that the initial reaction to Judgment was "unfair."
The reception of Judgment was mixed to negative, holding a total rating of 49% on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. Gaming website 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
rated the game a D-. In addition to criticism about the art direction, 1UP also noted some things that they said disregarded established fighting conventions. This included complaints about the "disorientating" camera control. According to the review Konami had described the game as "Versus Action" which is said by the reviewer to be "an amalgamation that fuses action-game mechanics with a fighter" and then goes on to call the term "the bastard son of neologism". IGN called Judgment a "deep, fun fighter", praising the variety of characters, style and design, while criticizing the camera and lack of control customization possibilities. IGN also nominated it for Best Fighting Game of 2008 for the Wii, but it lost the award to Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBB or simply as Brawl, is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by an ad hoc development team consisting of Sora, Game Arts and staff from other developers, and published by...
. Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
rated the game a 7.0/10, stating that "In spite of being radically different from its action-adventure predecessors, however, Castlevania Judgement is actually pretty fun", praising its presentation, accessibility, and remixed music, while criticising the implementation of sub-weapons, the control scheme, and the character designs, calling them "questionable". In contrast, X-Play gave the game 1/5, claiming it to be enormously unbalanced and having an awful control scheme, as well as "bastardizing established Castlevania designs". There was also much criticisim leveled at the game's handling of the Castlevania characters and their backstories and the alterations these characters underwent in Judgement. Maria's character and story in particular were frequently highlighted as an especially egregious example of mishandling a classic character, as the incarnation of her character in Judgement is inexplicably made to be overly obsessed with both her lack of chest and the large breasts of some of the other characters, staring longingly at them and marveling at their size, with her desire to grow her own big breasts and the need to make others appreciate theirs seeming to be her primary role in the game's story. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
gave the game 1.5/5, praising the game for its unlockables and its online mode, while criticizing the game for unbalanced characters and irritating camera. Gamespot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
gave the game a 3/10 score stating "The abhorrent camera, dreadful art, and cumbersome controls are for masochistic applicants only; fans of the franchise, fighting, or fun will find nothing of value in this sloppy cash-in." Following its later release in Japan, the game was a financial bomb, having only sold 3,700 units.