Of all the spooky monsters that get the spotlight during Halloween, my favorite is by far vampires. Since the modern vampire was codified as a mix of taboo sexual desire, horrific gore, and sharp social commentary these creatures of the night have made a name for themselves in film, books, and—of course—video games. At the top of the video game vampire hierarchy is none other than Castlevania, the long-running action game series from Konami. Castlevania makes for the perfect Halloween game and now is the best time to grab the series thanks to a big sale on Steam ending on October 25.
The absolute best deal during the sale is the Castlevania Collections Bundle. As the name suggests, this bundle is a collection of three different Castlevania compilations which comprise a total of 17 games from across the series’ nearly four decade history. You can get it for just $31.57, which is a little over half off its usual price tag. While there are a lot of games to choose from in these collections, I’d start with the best of the best: Aria of Sorrow, Dracula X, or Super Castlevania IV (sorry, Symphony of the Night isn’t on Steam yet). These will all give you a taste of that classic 2D side scrolling action adventure that helped give birth to an entire genre of gaming.
Here is a more exhaustive list of the deals you can take advantage of during the Castlevania sale:
A hidden gem you want to be sure to drop in your cart is the first Lords of Shadow game. Lords of Shadow served as a reinvention for the series when it was released in 2010. It was still an action-adventure game, sure, but the 3D environments made the mechanics lean towards God of War-style hack-n-slash gameplay and away from the Metroidvania action-platforming that the series helped pioneer. While not as beloved as its 2D siblings, Lords of Shadow has some fascinating story swings that will still floor you if you don’t know them ahead of time. Its sequels aren’t much to write home about though.
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