So, Castlevania 2—yeah, the NES one—starts with Simon Belmont realizing Dracula’s curse is slowly killing him. Classic Dracula move, right? Instead of just dying quietly, Simon has to put the guy back together by hunting down his scattered body parts across Transylvania. Not exactly a glamorous quest, but hey, vampire hunting never is.

You’ll wander through villages where people either give you cryptic hints or just straight-up refuse to talk until you kneel with a magic crystal (weird flex, but okay). The mansions hiding Dracula’s pieces are these eerie, maze-like places—Brahms Manor still gives me flashbacks. And the day/night cycle? One minute you’re strolling through a peaceful town, the next, zombies are popping out of the ground like it’s happy hour.

It’s janky in that old-school way—some translations are nonsense, and good luck figuring out what to do without a guide—but there’s something weirdly compelling about it. Maybe it’s the atmosphere, or maybe it’s just the satisfaction of finally beating that cheap werewolf boss after 20 tries. Either way, it’s a weird, messy, kinda brilliant sequel.