Wow, Ben is doing the VO! That's cool. Feel more like EZA, each of you having a personal touch with your personality, and help differentiate don't skips from reviews. Good idea
As a fan that just joined this year, I really do love Jones' smooth radio voice, but for these split off series like Don't skip and Game Sleuth specifically, I feel that the writers should read their writing.
The past few days I've been playing through the Requiem version of this, it's crazy to see the roots of SOTN. I had no idea the art style used in SOTN, and pretty much every 2D Castlevania onward, first appeared in Rondo. Playing as Maria also demonstrates how agile Castlevania would become. Game is amazing, 10/10.
Not to undermine Jones's stellar job with EZA VOs, but I really loved it being voiced by Ben himself. I think it made the video so much more personal! Also, bought it on PS4 for SotN, but will definetely try Rondo after watching this Don't Skip. Though I'm a bit intimidated by the difficulty...
Oh RoB is a gem. A masterpiece sadly overlooked. I'm almost jealous you get to play this for the first time, and witness history in the making. You'll recognize alot of the characters that appear later in SoN, so you'll have a better appreciation. As for tips on difficulty... Keep whipping, keep moving. Like Gretzky said "skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been" ...erm... ya just basically keep pushing through with momentum, time your jumps, and plan ahead with your whip attacks. This game is less about knee-jerk responds, and more about tactical responds. If i can defeat Dracula, so can you :)
2:08 I'm very glad this point was brought up, because there are TWO main changes to this game when compared to the previous sidescrolling Castlevanias that enforce this: 1. There is no Time limit in this game. Essentially you are free to play the game at your own pace and are not going to feel the pressure of beating a level under a restriction. If you need time to analyze a situation of a room or spend an extra minute carefully defeating one enemy without taking a hit, go for it. More power to you. 2. If you carried a sub weapon and picked up a new one, the previous sub weapon goes on the floor instead of disappearing. This allows for you to carefully choose which sub weapon you feel is best in the current situation, and allows for you to approach it in different ways. These two changes give enough lee way to make this Castlevania difficult, because you're not supposed to blitz though it. Patient and strategic plays are the way to go.
Shout out to Ben! I really enjoyed that you made this Don't Skip more personal. I like how you guys put in the effect to show off a game you like and enjoy. I myself have never played a Castlevania game and thanks to watching this and you streaming Symphony of the night. But i now own both thanks to ps store and enjoying the games a lot. So thank you Ben L&R
Ben! So great to hear you voice this one. I hope this leads to other Allies providing their own voices in the future. I love Jones, but this felt more personal.
Was playing this game for the fourth time through right before I saw this! Thanks for bringing attention to one of my favorite games, and the VO and script were excellent!
Glad to see Rondo highlighted in this. I just played it in the last week for the first time and loved it. Also playing Symphony of the Night for the first time, Rondo solidified my love of classic Castlevania, and now I get why the Metroidvania style is so beloved. Both games were great to go through finally.
Hey there Ben, here from the podcast. I really appreciated that it was your voice and not Brandon's here. The Easy Allies are nine unique minds, you don't all think alike, but when reviews or Don't Skips are done in Brandon's voice with the authoritative "We" being used it can seem like what's being said is how all of you think, when that is of course impossible. One need look no further than Last Guardian to discover how different the Allies really are. Anyway, I know this particular game was relevant because it was part of a recent re-release, but I also REALLY appreciate those Don't Skips that feature games not with present relevance. And I haven't forgotten about The Silver Case, I'm still intrigued because of your Don't Skip of it and intend to play the game someday.
Just saw that you wanted feedback on this. I liked it! It's nice to hear you voicing your own words instead of have them spoken through Jones. This video feels more personal than the other dont skips.
Ben doing voice over! :O That's so different, but I like it. Most of the Allies have great voice over voices actually. Sure, Jones will always be the best in doing it and the most iconic, but I think it works fine for people like Ben, Kyle or Ian as well.
I am really glad Ben voiced his own writing. It adds a personal touch that is normally lacking when Jones voices everything. I still like listening to Jones, but it wouldn't hurt to dial it back a little.
I largely missed out on the Castlevania series, and I've been really curious about checking out some of the games after watching the second season of the Netflix show. After watching a bit of the series gameplay, I've realized how much of a spiritual successor Dark Souls is to it. I looooove the soulsborne games (my first reaction to S2 of the show was to create a Belmont type character with the whip cane in Bloodborne) but now that these games are on PS4 I need to check them out!
No offense to Brandon at all but it was very fresh hearing Ben doing the VO. Like Ben said in the podcast, it's great having this Dont Skip be personal. Going forward I hope to see Dont Skips more often and more personal. Each video can rotate to a different person with their own pick of the game along with the responsibilities of the VO, writing & editing work. Thumbs up Ben!
Ben, great pick! I grabbed this collection recently and. . Rondo is amazing, and I haven't played it in over a decade. One of the first things I remembered was unlocking Maria. Who is fun to replay levels with. Though forgetting food points is a crutch I need to amend. Super CastleVania IV is my favorite of the classic CV games. Yet because of the level select (backtracking), and two characters, Rondo of Blood is a strong game to recommend in the franchise. It's also just a great port, sounds in the DS4 controller are pretty cool. Though would have liked the option to go full screen, we can expand the image, but not stretch. I just don't like black or custom boarders :(
Little fun fact (or maybe useless knowledge?): The german voice you hear in the beginning is the same guy they chose to do the voice of dracula in the german dub of the Castlevania animated series ;) Klaus Dieter Klebsch is his name, and he is one of my all time favourite voice actors. He also does the voices for Dr. House, Marik from Yugioh, Skeletor (He-Man 2002) and Thanos in the Marvel Movies.
I've hoped Easy Allies would expand their VO for a long time and really think this is a good way forward. Of course, noone does VO like Brandon, but I find it strange when he says someone else's words, as if the original intent is filtered through him. Looking forward to hopefully getting more VO direct from the reviewers.
We always need Jones on VO for reviews, announcements, sponsors etc... Best in the Biz. However I am far from against having the other Allies voice more personal pieces like this more often than they do currently. Great work Ben!
Maybe some mixed VO between Jones and whoever attended the hands on events on EZA's Preview vids. Again this is no slight on Jones at all, and i'm sure he'd be happy to offload some of his already massive workload :)
It took konami 14 Years to give us the game which is a remake for the PSP. It includes the original and the redubbed version of Symphony of the Night, but has to be unlocked by playing though the main game to find them.
Im up for other Allies expanding to doing VOs in the future. IMO i think Jones doing all narration was a gametrailers thing, EZA has outgrown beyond that.. I would like for future reviews to be VO by whomever wrote the review, it will add a personal touch to it on another note* i miss quirky intro beat of dont skip
Don't get me wrong, I love Jones voice ever sense the GT era but hearing Ben do do a VO is kind of refreshing. Maybe each of the Allies should get more voice time. Maybe this might take some of the stress off Jones too.
I wish this came out for Switch. Seems like the perfect game to play on the go in small bursts. I can't really see myself wanting to play this on my tv, tbh.
Ben: I've always really loved Don't Skips, but I think at a certain point they became reviews without a score for games that were either not finished or were old. I sometimes reacted to myself "Why didn't you just finish it or give it a score?" I think this is exactly what needs to happen to differentiate this from a review. I love the Jones voiceover, but to me your VO signals that this is something different, something less formal and more like what it should be, a don't skip :)
Great work, Ben! Just one thing I noticed regarding your VO: In some ways, your intonation in this video seems to (deliberately or not) mimic Brandon's "review voice" (especially regarding stresses and pauses). Not sure whether this is on purpose or not - but I actually just wanted to encourage you to really go for your more regular, "own" tone of voice (as, for instance, in Frame Trap). Might make videos like this even better!
Oh Ben Moore... blessed is the who dost thou spread the good word of the most epic of castelvanias... RONDO of BLOOD! Seriously, the rich kid who had the trubographix16, is my hood in the 90s, really brought out a rare form of jealousy from me. Cause ya see, i was a SNES kid! And while i still think that it was the best console of all time, it did not have a great port of the best Castelvania experience of all time. I mean, i love SoN, but this is where it all started. Yall dont get SoN without RoB, particalry a certain scene that you may have heard "what is a man? But a miserable pile of sercrets" LOL!And it holds a very special place in my heart, along with early 90s anime such as ninja scroll. Just pure, unadulterated badassery! Just like Ben said, Not to take anything from SoN and all its Metroidvania glory... but many fans, including myself, consider this the definitive castlevania experience. The pure joy of simply marching forward, slaying all in your path with your whip; with super-tight platforming, all to the tune of konamis classic vampire tracks in its prime in CD quality sound (Hey! it was the 90s man). You start of the game with perhaps the best, and my favorite track, requiem. Listen to that angelic chorus echo throughout the night, as you tear through some of the most fearsome boss battles in 2D history. Yes! That includes fighting spiderman/batman in shinobi's revenge, LOL! You guys hit the nail on the head with this "dont skip"! You covered all the highlights, including that epic boss battle with death at the games onset. So ill spoil n more. Now all i have to do to spread the good word, is simply link to this masterfully crafted love letter. Thank you allies! Happy Hunting!
Wow, Ben is doing the VO! That's cool. Feel more like EZA, each of you having a personal touch with your personality, and help differentiate don't skips from reviews. Good idea
totally agree
Yeah let Jones voice rest for just a second. All allies would do a good job to voice smaller things like this
As a fan that just joined this year, I really do love Jones' smooth radio voice, but for these split off series like Don't skip and Game Sleuth specifically, I feel that the writers should read their writing.
This is 1000% what Don't Skip needs to differentiate itself from reviews. Really great.
I'd love multiple allies to voice their 'dont skips' as well, this is a super good idea.
The past few days I've been playing through the Requiem version of this, it's crazy to see the roots of SOTN. I had no idea the art style used in SOTN, and pretty much every 2D Castlevania onward, first appeared in Rondo. Playing as Maria also demonstrates how agile Castlevania would become. Game is amazing, 10/10.
Not to undermine Jones's stellar job with EZA VOs, but I really loved it being voiced by Ben himself. I think it made the video so much more personal!
Also, bought it on PS4 for SotN, but will definetely try Rondo after watching this Don't Skip. Though I'm a bit intimidated by the difficulty...
Oh RoB is a gem. A masterpiece sadly overlooked. I'm almost jealous you get to play this for the first time, and witness history in the making. You'll recognize alot of the characters that appear later in SoN, so you'll have a better appreciation.
As for tips on difficulty...
Keep whipping, keep moving. Like Gretzky said "skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been" ...erm... ya just basically keep pushing through with momentum, time your jumps, and plan ahead with your whip attacks. This game is less about knee-jerk responds, and more about tactical responds. If i can defeat Dracula, so can you :)
we gotta beat it for that plat, i refuse to let Rondo diminish bragging about my SotN skills
Playing as Maria makes it about 60% easier in my opinion.
Ben this was great! Can't wait to see more videos edited and voiced by you!
I have wanted personal VO for these for ages and it's as great as I expected - thanks Ben!
2:08
I'm very glad this point was brought up, because there are TWO main changes to this game when compared to the previous sidescrolling Castlevanias that enforce this:
1. There is no Time limit in this game. Essentially you are free to play the game at your own pace and are not going to feel the pressure of beating a level under a restriction. If you need time to analyze a situation of a room or spend an extra minute carefully defeating one enemy without taking a hit, go for it. More power to you.
2. If you carried a sub weapon and picked up a new one, the previous sub weapon goes on the floor instead of disappearing. This allows for you to carefully choose which sub weapon you feel is best in the current situation, and allows for you to approach it in different ways.
These two changes give enough lee way to make this Castlevania difficult, because you're not supposed to blitz though it. Patient and strategic plays are the way to go.
Great work by Ben for the editing and voice over
Great work Ben! Love the personal touch of doing your own VO on this. Still my favorite Castlevania game.
Ben did a great job on the VO. I do think that when Brandon does the VO it sounds more professional. Brandon has absolutely mastered the art of VO
Wow Ben your great at VO! Amazing stuff!
Shout out to Ben! I really enjoyed that you made this Don't Skip more personal. I like how you guys put in the effect to show off a game you like and enjoy. I myself have never played a Castlevania game and thanks to watching this and you streaming Symphony of the night. But i now own both thanks to ps store and enjoying the games a lot. So thank you Ben L&R
While I’ve never played a Castlevania game, I love the Bloody Tears track in Rondo.
I'm really impressed by how these sprites look
Ben! So great to hear you voice this one. I hope this leads to other Allies providing their own voices in the future. I love Jones, but this felt more personal.
Keep doing Dont Skips in this format! It kicks ass man!
Great work Ben. Its great you do the VO
Fantastic work at the VO helm Ben! Great Don't Skip for a great game as well, congrats!
Great editing, writing, and VO, Ben! A great "Don't Skip!"
Was playing this game for the fourth time through right before I saw this! Thanks for bringing attention to one of my favorite games, and the VO and script were excellent!
Glad to see Rondo highlighted in this. I just played it in the last week for the first time and loved it. Also playing Symphony of the Night for the first time, Rondo solidified my love of classic Castlevania, and now I get why the Metroidvania style is so beloved. Both games were great to go through finally.
Good job ben. We all love you!
Great stuff, Ben. Really good VO job. ♥
Love you doing the VO Ben. I think you should continue this style. It'll only get better.
Hey there Ben, here from the podcast.
I really appreciated that it was your voice and not Brandon's here. The Easy Allies are nine unique minds, you don't all think alike, but when reviews or Don't Skips are done in Brandon's voice with the authoritative "We" being used it can seem like what's being said is how all of you think, when that is of course impossible. One need look no further than Last Guardian to discover how different the Allies really are.
Anyway, I know this particular game was relevant because it was part of a recent re-release, but I also REALLY appreciate those Don't Skips that feature games not with present relevance.
And I haven't forgotten about The Silver Case, I'm still intrigued because of your Don't Skip of it and intend to play the game someday.
Kudos, Ben! I think using Don't Skip as a playground for the Allies to create content from top to bottom is a great idea, and you've set the standard.
Well done Ben!!! Excellent work!
Just saw that you wanted feedback on this. I liked it! It's nice to hear you voicing your own words instead of have them spoken through Jones. This video feels more personal than the other dont skips.
Ben doing voice over! :O That's so different, but I like it. Most of the Allies have great voice over voices actually. Sure, Jones will always be the best in doing it and the most iconic, but I think it works fine for people like Ben, Kyle or Ian as well.
Oooh I hope we start hearing more Allies doing VO for videos! Makes them more personal ❤️
I like the new format. Keep speaking from the heart.
Great job, Ben! More of these please - I will not skip!
Great job Ben!
I'm assuming this will be for Don't Skips or for who ever is willing to do it.
I really enjoy the more personal take to these videos!
I am really glad Ben voiced his own writing. It adds a personal touch that is normally lacking when Jones voices everything. I still like listening to Jones, but it wouldn't hurt to dial it back a little.
Yes! More VO by the Allies who wrote them. I love Brandon, but hearing the voice of the reviewer is simply the best! Well done, Ben!
Awesome job on this Ben! And I totally agree, Rondo is definitely a "don't skip"!
Great work as always Jones
Ben is an absolute unit.
"A small unit"
I largely missed out on the Castlevania series, and I've been really curious about checking out some of the games after watching the second season of the Netflix show. After watching a bit of the series gameplay, I've realized how much of a spiritual successor Dark Souls is to it.
I looooove the soulsborne games (my first reaction to S2 of the show was to create a Belmont type character with the whip cane in Bloodborne) but now that these games are on PS4 I need to check them out!
Great work Ben!!!
Woah, Ben surprised me there. I was totally expecting Jones and boom. lol Cool vid :)
Ben its been a while brother! Miss the EP days! Jesus that show waa great and the rocket and ray guns awards you guys would vote on.
Wow what a surprise hearing Ben's voice on this! Keep em coming.
Hell yeah Ben! Great work.
Great Job Ben!!
Well done Ben! This is great
Just started this one first and its definitely a challenge fun though a real call back to childhood
No offense to Brandon at all but it was very fresh hearing Ben doing the VO. Like Ben said in the podcast, it's great having this Dont Skip be personal. Going forward I hope to see Dont Skips more often and more personal. Each video can rotate to a different person with their own pick of the game along with the responsibilities of the VO, writing & editing work. Thumbs up Ben!
The beautiful voice of Ben Moore wow my ears are blessed
Great job! Loved the video
Ben, great pick! I grabbed this collection recently and. . Rondo is amazing, and I haven't played it in over a decade. One of the first things I remembered was unlocking Maria. Who is fun to replay levels with. Though forgetting food points is a crutch I need to amend.
Super CastleVania IV is my favorite of the classic CV games. Yet because of the level select (backtracking), and two characters, Rondo of Blood is a strong game to recommend in the franchise. It's also just a great port, sounds in the DS4 controller are pretty cool. Though would have liked the option to go full screen, we can expand the image, but not stretch. I just don't like black or custom boarders :(
Rondo is one of the most underrated GOATS
Little fun fact (or maybe useless knowledge?): The german voice you hear in the beginning is the same guy they chose to do the voice of dracula in the german dub of the
Castlevania animated series ;) Klaus Dieter Klebsch is his name, and he is one of my all time favourite voice actors. He also does the voices for Dr. House, Marik from Yugioh,
Skeletor (He-Man 2002) and Thanos in the Marvel Movies.
Wow he gets around
Jones voice is the best in the biz but I really enjoyed hearing Ben's voice for this. Other allies should do more VO!
I've hoped Easy Allies would expand their VO for a long time and really think this is a good way forward.
Of course, noone does VO like Brandon, but I find it strange when he says someone else's words, as if the original intent is filtered through him. Looking forward to hopefully getting more VO direct from the reviewers.
@@EasyAllies Ah, thanks for clarifying. =D
We miss you Ben! Great choice of game for a Don’t Skip btw. This is a must play for all Castlevania fans.
Jones does a great Ben Moore impression
Good work Ben! 👍
Well crafted Don't Skip Ben Moore, you should be proud.
You did a great job on the VO Ben. You need a better mic, but still a great VO :)
Digging the voice over
I Love Ben's VO!!
I finished my first Classicvania (Super IV on SNES) on Halloween and now I'm hungry for more.
Loving the Ben VO.
Hey! It sounds like that guy that hosts Frame trap
He just does the VO on frame trap tho
We always need Jones on VO for reviews, announcements, sponsors etc... Best in the Biz.
However I am far from against having the other Allies voice more personal pieces like this more often than they do currently. Great work Ben!
Maybe some mixed VO between Jones and whoever attended the hands on events on EZA's Preview vids. Again this is no slight on Jones at all, and i'm sure he'd be happy to offload some of his already massive workload :)
One of the best Castlevania games ever made, if not the best classic Castlevania.
Always loved how the intro was never not in German.
Ayyyy Ben Moore VO I love it!
I agree 100% with everything said about this game, however I won't be playing this for ages... same release date as Red Dead 2....
Hell yeah, other allies doing VO for dont skip helps differenciate this from standard reviews
Not too shabby Ben!
editing and voiced by Ben Moore! Yes. Yes. Yeaaaaaas!
lol that VO in the intro is the voice of Dr. House in the German dub.
More Ben VO please! I've been missing it since his Japan adventure vids!
Very much a fan of other members of EZA doing voice work at least for stuff like this.
I love Jones voice, but Ben really did a good job!
So ben has started doing reviews now?
Kenny Kanerva is this a bit?
It took konami 14 Years to give us the game which is a remake for the PSP. It includes the original and the redubbed version of Symphony of the Night, but has to be unlocked by playing though the main game to find them.
Another great don't skip by Jones
Good stuff Ben!
More Ben VO please! Amazing job!
Good job Ben!
Im up for other Allies expanding to doing VOs in the future. IMO i think Jones doing all narration was a gametrailers thing, EZA has outgrown beyond that.. I would like for future reviews to be VO by whomever wrote the review, it will add a personal touch to it
on another note* i miss quirky intro beat of dont skip
The german voice actor from the beginning is also the german voice for Inspector Megure from Detective Conan (Case Closed). Extremely funny for me 😂
He also voiced Dracula in the Castlevania Netflix Series.
@@TheSorrel That's pretty cool
Don't get me wrong, I love Jones voice ever sense the GT era but hearing Ben do do a VO is kind of refreshing. Maybe each of the Allies should get more voice time. Maybe this might take some of the stress off Jones too.
Yes. YES.
No objections here Ben. Nice work.
Great job ben!!
So happy there's someone else doing VO, not bashing Jones but it was an area that was in need of diversity
I wish this came out for Switch. Seems like the perfect game to play on the go in small bursts. I can't really see myself wanting to play this on my tv, tbh.
5:40 "I cam here to beat some bad men, but I got caught"
Vampire killing is a silly whimsical thing to do.
Jones was too busy being a cowboy!
Ben: I've always really loved Don't Skips, but I think at a certain point they became reviews without a score for games that were either not finished or were old. I sometimes reacted to myself "Why didn't you just finish it or give it a score?"
I think this is exactly what needs to happen to differentiate this from a review. I love the Jones voiceover, but to me your VO signals that this is something different, something less formal and more like what it should be, a don't skip :)
Good job Ben
Castlevania 1, 3, 4, SotN, RoB.
Anything I should add to my playlist?
Castlevania Bloodlines
@@TonyGearSolid I concur
Ben VO. Sounds good man
Great work, Ben! Just one thing I noticed regarding your VO: In some ways, your intonation in this video seems to (deliberately or not) mimic Brandon's "review voice" (especially regarding stresses and pauses). Not sure whether this is on purpose or not - but I actually just wanted to encourage you to really go for your more regular, "own" tone of voice (as, for instance, in Frame Trap). Might make videos like this even better!
GOOD JOB BEN!
Oh Ben Moore... blessed is the who dost thou spread the good word of the most epic of castelvanias... RONDO of BLOOD!
Seriously, the rich kid who had the trubographix16, is my hood in the 90s, really brought out a rare form of jealousy from me. Cause ya see, i was a SNES kid! And while i still think that it was the best console of all time, it did not have a great port of the best Castelvania experience of all time. I mean, i love SoN, but this is where it all started. Yall dont get SoN without RoB, particalry a certain scene that you may have heard "what is a man? But a miserable pile of sercrets" LOL!And it holds a very special place in my heart, along with early 90s anime such as ninja scroll. Just pure, unadulterated badassery!
Just like Ben said, Not to take anything from SoN and all its Metroidvania glory... but many fans, including myself, consider this the definitive castlevania experience. The pure joy of simply marching forward, slaying all in your path with your whip; with super-tight platforming, all to the tune of konamis classic vampire tracks in its prime in CD quality sound (Hey! it was the 90s man). You start of the game with perhaps the best, and my favorite track, requiem. Listen to that angelic chorus echo throughout the night, as you tear through some of the most fearsome boss battles in 2D history. Yes! That includes fighting spiderman/batman in shinobi's revenge, LOL!
You guys hit the nail on the head with this "dont skip"! You covered all the highlights, including that epic boss battle with death at the games onset. So ill spoil n more. Now all i have to do to spread the good word, is simply link to this masterfully crafted love letter.
Thank you allies! Happy Hunting!