Announcing Daily Dracula X

This newsletter has been pretty quiet for a while, and you might be wondering what’s going on. One: the puppy I mentioned to subscribers a month ago has entered his rebellious teens. Two: this project.

What?

Daily Dracula X is a full, detailed play-through of the PC Engine classic Dracula X (Castlevania): Rondo Of Blood, featuring context and commentary. It will be sent out in the form of daily posts on Substack over the course of a few weeks.

Why?

When I heard about the Dracula Daily project that’s gotten a cult following lately, I couldn’t help but think “Daily Dracula X, more like,” because that’s the way my brain is wired.

This intrusive thought would not leave me alone, and soon I thought that “Daily Dracula X”, whatever it was, was exactly the kind of thing that I should do. By the time I realized what it entailed, I was already too deep in to stop, and here we are today.

The other reason is that Rondo Of Blood is a game that gets brought up and talked up a lot due to its rarity and collectible status, but is for that reason very seldom actually played. Its design represents a very important transitional stepping stone between the classic Castlevania series and its reinvention in also-classic Symphony of the Night; the very beginning of a big change.

How?

Inspired by Daily Dracula in this respect as well, I am going to be sending out a post a day. Each level post will contain a video playthrough of the stage (provided a certain popular video host doesn’t delete them) as well as commentary and strategy for each individual room. I’m trying to get these down to a digestible size, but they average about 800 words.

How much?

Rondo Of Blood is a big game. Its stages branch off into alternate paths, and those paths branch off into new stages. There are 13 stages in total, and I’m going to be covering all of them, including alternate paths. There are also a few introductory posts that’ll offer commentary and context.

So we should hit something like 20 posts. And they’re long. I’ve been working really hard on this. Nobody ever ask me to do anything like this again. Oh my god.

Due to the sheer size of this, I’m going to stick mostly to the first of the two playable characters, Richter Belmont. However— don’t worry, fans— we’ll be talking about Maria Renard as well.

Akumajo Dracula Peke is in, too.

When?

As I write this, I am by my estimation half-way through the project, about to cross the hump and also about to move into the really difficult levels. I haven’t set a date yet, but expect Daily Dracula X to start in mid to late June. I will give ample warning on Twitter when the time has come, but it’s really best you subscribe to the newsletter now so you can just kick back and enjoy.

And now I need to get back to the project. Look forward to it!