★★★★★ F2P hellscape , Legion bugged
Sun Oct 24 2021 Cause007Book 4 boss is bugged or something. I’ve got Alucard at 40,000 strength and I’m only doing 80 damage to the boss… I beat him with Belmont with no big issues, but Al is doing a tiny fraction of the damage.
So another reviewer says you get 1000% more rewards for perfecting a level than when this was F2P elsewhere. It is still not enough to be called a premium game. Drop rates of rare and legendary gear are horrible. Now on book 4 i have only won 4 pieces of legendary gear from summons… 48 stages perfected= 4 legendary… for 5 characters. Horrible. However the worst part is leveling up weapons and characters. Your 5 characters each equip 4 weapons and 5 pieces of gear: 5x(4+5)= 45 gear you need to constantly upgrade to stay up with the difficulty requirement. This was fine up through Book 4, where the level req. is suddenly much higher than even my strongest ally. The weapon trial awards at this level are horribly inadequate; I have to play them about 8-9 time to max out (lvl 15-35) ONE gear piece… and I’ve got 9 per character. So, I stop my adventure here where the Grind to level up has become unbearable. It is too bad, too, because the gameplay looks great and plays well. It would have been better if they ripped out all of the F2P loot boxes and just given us balanced gameplay without the grind.
★★★★★ We need a PC port!
Mon Sep 20 2021 prezp00nageThis is the only mobile game I have ever taken the time to review. As an avid Castlevania fan, it has been many years since I have had so much excitement for the series. This game is amazingly well put together, and remarkably has a canon story. With controller support already implemented, this game deserves a PC port like Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links. No Castlevania fan should miss out on this game. It is not your average mobile title, while there are daily login bonuses and a little bit of gotcha game devices, it looks like everything in the game can be obtained through gameplay, and there is no time limit to how much you can play other than daily trials missions. It’s great to see characters throughout the timeline interact with each other and the gameplay is great. The touchscreen controls work about as good as you can make touchscreen controls, but there is complete controller support worked into the game. Overall, this game honestly is a masterpiece. The only shame is that this game is only available on mobile, and more specifically, only the apple arcade. I would pay money ($10-20) for a PC port of this game with update support. I’m talking to you, Konami!!! Between the success Super Smash Brothers, Netflix, and the new Getsu Fuuma game, you know that the people want more Castlevania! A PC/Switch port of this game is the next step!
★★★★★ Reminiscent of a Castlevania Game
Thu Feb 20 2025 Ascher972A lot of things in this game scream (Iga-style) Castlevania, something they clearly lean into, but Grimoire honestly suffers from the comparison in almost every way. If you are unable to play SotN or any of the gba or DS Castlevania games, this is a fair substitute. Otherwise, you’ll probably have more fun revisiting any of those games no matter how much time your spent with them prior. My understanding is that Grimoire also had a lot of gatcha and play to play/win elements previously. While the latter was removed, there are still a lot of random pulls and daily junk to do. That might be a plus for some, but I think most prefer a more traditional gaming experience. It’s also pretty grindy. That’s not really unusual in the genre (metroidvania), but you’d be a god in most games in the same time it takes you to grind for rolls for one of the 5 playable characters in Grimoire. I did play a lot of it, and finished the main playthrough (there’s also a hard mode). I’m still missing one achievement, but it’s been months and I haven’t found the motivation to pick the game back up. If I do, I’ll likely just do that and then put it away forever.
★★★★★ Actually not bad
Sat Dec 04 2021 JubblyJibblyNot bad at all and I LOVE that they actually want you to put a bit of effort in to unlock things rather than pay to play, gives a better sense of connection to the game. Sometimes the rolls dont make sense like doing a 10x summon with not even a purple but for instance like today I got 2x 5 star weapons on a 10x summon. The special mission is kinda weird like I can't progress till I claim 10 logic bonuses, minor but to me just weird considering it took only 6 days to beat whats currently playable and get 3 skulls on every mission. I cant wait to see whats next the story is good and feels just like a better version of the original in terms of combat, weapon/element types, enemies and bosses/mini bosses, overall a good way to get into the castelvania series if you're unfamiliar and a good way to pass time. It will definitely feel weird and confusing at first how things work but after awhile trust me you'll be 1 shotting common enemies and 5 shotting bosses in no time. In 6 days already 38k overall equip level with alucard and rank 27. Would recommend
★★★★★ Something Old and Something New
Sat Sep 18 2021 RPG WarriorLet me start by saying that I’m writing this review as a counterpoint to the other reviews already posted (writing reviews before actually playing the game, misrepresenting the actual gameplay, making assessments before getting past the tutorial). If you are a fan of 2d side scrollers AND a fan of Castlevania games on the Gameboy Advanced, you will love this game. If you didn’t care for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, then you probably won’t enjoy much here. The familiar gameplay is here, with the added replay value of playing as different characters from the Castlevania legacy. Add to this the flexibility of trying different weapons and armor, along with the mission system and you get a gaming experience that is perfectly tuned to the controller-less mobile experience (using a controller is totally worth it). If this is your first “Castlevania”, you will definitely want to play all the classics. When you finish this game, spend the money on SOTN.
★★★★★ Ugh pay/timer wall?
Thu Sep 23 2021 ninsideGame started great and you plays well on Apple TV. There is occasional missed jump input on a controller but it is good most of the time. There is a huge amount of currencies and upgrades which is overwhelming. But you in theory can look past it. After you get to book four you get a huge increase in the equipment requirement. Like double the power you have to beat the previous boss. This is pretty much a pay wall that they brought into Apple Arcade. Apple Arcade mission is to get rid of thing like that. Why do you do it? Let people finish the game and enjoy the story. You gotta learn a different way to hook people in instead of just asking them to play levels over and over again. Game even has the skip mechanics but then you have to wait till next day. A good game ruined by free to play mechanics.
Dear Apple please pay attention to the games you are bringing in. Game looks good on the surface and then uncovers it’s true face later. I was praising Apple Arcade to my friends, saying this is a place for good games not that are not ruined by free to play mechanics. Place where game developers can create games and not addictions. And look where are we now :(
★★★★★ WOW
Sun Oct 17 2021 Ashiem666Where to start. First off it holds true to the Castlevania spirit only in its art work, beyond that what a shame this game is. Everything about this game is to satisfy the “mobile” spirit of gaming. Castlevania in its core has always been 2D side scrolling action at its best and while some have failed to live up to that spirit some have failed miserably, but if you’re going to use Alucard from symphony of the night as your star role, your game better live up to that standard. This game does not. The progressive stage select system interrupts the core essence of Castlevania making it feel more like a mobile game than an actual video game. The fact that is even has “in game purchases” completely ruins the spirit of the game and makes it feel more like a cash grab for a company that has already consumed billions of dollars off of this franchise. Graphics are fantastic and the music really takes me back to those old glory days of side scrolling action at its very best! But this game in its core betrays everything I feel about Castlevania and I for one will not give this “game” anymore of my time or effort. As a wise VH once said “Die monster! You don’t belong in this world!”
★★★★★ A grindy gatcha
Sun Sep 26 2021 rj yjThe intro cutscenes and the music were pretty good. Aside from that I’m struggling to find positives. I went into the game with an fresh mind, as I don’t have much experience with this genre. However I expected some aspects of exploration and a strong plot driven narrative to immerse me into the world. Unfortunately expectation and reality are two different things. What really astonished me is that it’s a gatcha game. They use in game crystals for micro transactions instead of money for summoning 1-5 star weapons. No comments about the rng but this style does not fit a game like this that’s being marketed as an arcade game!! It’s a shame the game turns out to be a button mash with just some levels to clear. Grind, collect resources, power up weapons rinse and repeat. That’s the generic formula here. Which brings us to the topic of level design and enemy design———simply underwhelming. All in all the game is a grind and a gatcha. I believe the essence and the experience of Castlevania is lost. I can generously hash out a 2 stars . This game belongs in the main App Store with “in app purchase” games not on the arcade.
![Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls [4K60, Apple TV 4K (2nd generation) Gameplay] - YouTube](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ygWKxnsCBNs/hqdefault.jpg)
