Taking a look at the month that was October 2011 at Vast Sea of Games.

Good day, gentle people, good day! Hope you had a wonderful Halloween and got lots and lots of candy! I didn’t go out, but I did enjoy a quiet night at home… watching scary movies I had no business watching in the first place (Hostel II, I’m lookin’ at you). But I digress. It’s the first day of November, which means it’s time to look at the month that was October here at VSOG!

As you may know, I wanted to devote the entire month to Castlevania (one of my all-time favourite series) as a way of celebrating its’ 25th Anniversary. Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan, as I really wanted to do more Castlevania-themed Features. On the plus side, I think I spent more time playing games this month than I had in quite a while. I’m almost done with Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (review coming in the next few days!) and just reached Chapter 3 of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I still have 3 other Castlevania games in the queue, and I plan to play through those next: no point in saving them for next year, right? All in all, it’s a trade-off I can live with, me thinks.

Of course, I didn’t just have Castlevania on the brain. Other stuff happened during October, too!

News and Features:

• Prepare for Vita Drop  – We’ve known for months the release date for the PlayStation Vita in Japan, and only got a vague “early 2012″ launch date for the rest of us. Then Sony finally gave us an official date, announcing it’ll be available in late February 2012. Just in time for my birthday (thank you, Sony!)
• Support From High Up – Nothing will get fans more excited about their cause than to hear that that they have the support of one of their heroes. When Keiji Inafune left Capcom, seemed like there was no one left to champion Mega Man Legends 3, and the game got the axe. Fans rallied to create a Facebook Community Page hoping to get the project (which was supposed to be a collaborative effort between the developers and the fans) back in development. Inafune caught wind of the grassroots campaign, and wrote in his blog that he fully supports them and hopes that they succeed. It’s a shame that Capcom didn’t just let him and his new company complete the game.
• The Soul Still Burns! – What started as trying to decipher a blurry phone photo turned into fanboys going totally giddy, as Namco Bandai announced that Ezio from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed will be the Guest Character in the upcoming fighting game, SoulCalibur V. And it is glorious.
• Bloodlines and Timelines – The only full-length Feature I manged to dish out in October explores the long history of the Castlevania series and points out some of the more interesting factoids. What a wonderful night for a curse!

FANDEMONIUM!

• Speedruns and Longplays: Speed Demons abound this month, all focusing on Castlevania. Check out these runs for Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (NES), Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA), Super Castlevania IV (SNES), Castlevania 64 (N64), and Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (Wii).
• ReMixes: Had to throw in at least one ReMix at least! Check this one out from ReMixer elzfernomusic and his ReMix for Castlevania: Bloodlines.

Reviews

• Costume Quest (PS3; Xbox 360; PC) – This is a cute downloadable game for PS3 and Xbox 360 about a group of kids trying to save Halloween from monsters. With kick ass costumes.
• Backlogging It! Review: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA) – Taking place 50 years after Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, Juste Belmont charges into Castlevania trying to find his missing friend. And it’s pretty good.
• Backlogging It! Review: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA) – We’ve now jumped into the future with this one! In 2035, teenager Soma Cruz mysteriously winds up in Drac’s Castle that’s been sealed in a solar eclipse. So now, he’s trying to find a way out. And I gotta say, this is a fantastic game.

It’s hard to believe we’re in November already. Time certainly does fly! It’s gonna be a crazy month, not only in terms of big releases, but of the deals that await later on in the month (you crazy Americans and your Black Friday deals). Either way, things are lookin’ great, and I can’t wait to share it all with you guys!

Until next time, peeps!

About Mineeva

Hiya! Sonji "Mineeva" Goodman here. I'm a knitter, crocheter, lover of cheesecake and sushi. Been playing video games since the age of 5 and haven't looked back. Currently working on mastering Japanese and figuring out how many licks it takes to get to the centre of a Tootsie pop. You can follow me on Twitter at @vsog_mineeva, the Vast Sea of Games Facebook Page and on deviantArt.