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1. Christi Junior (christijunior@detroitriotcity.com)'s status on Monday, 18-Mar-2024 09:39:16 JST Christi Junior

   in reply to
   4/4
   
   Clearly, Castlevania 64 is a game with a strong vision of Good VS Evil. However, it’s well worth noting that these kinds of stories also often prove better at coming up with memorable, morally complex characters than amoral, nihilistic stories with no room for true Good. It’s “Childish” stories presenting Black and White morality that have given us the likes of Anakin Skywalker and Gollum after all. I’ve already mentioned Rosa, who could serve as another good example of this type of morally multifaceted character, but perhaps an even better character to highlight is Renon the Demon Salesman.
   
   Renon is most assuredly NOT a good soul, but he is a pragmatic one – as he says, one needs gold even in hell these days, and selling items to the heroes traveling to Dracula’s castle is a surprisingly lucrative business opportunity. His healing items are VERY helpful, arguably even necessary to survive the adventure, and by finding his demon scrolls you can summon him instantly.
   
   Now, this certainly *seems* like a good deal for the both of you – you get the items you need, while Renon gets his gold - however, the game acknowledges that He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon. If you spend too much gold at Renon’s shop, he will near the end of the game show up and ask you an uncomfortable question – did you take the time to read what was actually written in his demon scrolls? Not that it would have done you much good anyway - it was written in ancient demon script, impossible for humans to read, and reveals that by paying 30, 000 gold coins to Renon for his, you’ve given up your soul to Satan, and Renon has now come to collect your soul! A boss battle follows, and while killing Renon does apparently break the contract and prevent your soul from being claimed, it’s a stark reminder that demons will never leave well enough alone, and can not to be trusted.
   
   Really, Castlevania 64 is just full of great themes, messages and insightful little touches, all of them feeling organic and appropriate for the game’s story and context. I guess some people might still object to certain aspects, like Good Vampires existing and possibly being redeemed (I personally disagree – surely all of us should be rooting for Bobby Fischer’s soul, despite how vile Jews in general are?), or Carrie being a heroic Witch (note however the contrast that Actrise represents, and her repeated attempts to recruit Carrie to the dark side – clearly magic, while not inherently evil, is dangerous to dabble with, and can easily lead to human souls being corrupted).
   
   Me, I think this game represents something close to the Peak of what I’m thinking of when talking about “Based Morality”. It’s an easy +3 in my eyes, and if you’re more concerned about Christian moral messaging than politics or race realism, you could even argue for a +4 score. This is a game where God is real, good and actively intervenes in the affairs of man, where the final destination of your immortal soul is of urgent, existential importance, and where Good and Evil at their purest do battle, with Good prevailing for all the right reasons. It achieves all this while also telling multiple compelling, character-driven vampire stories that demonstrate how moral clarity make ethical dilemmas and morally ambiguous characters more, rather than less compelling. Say what you want about this games’s camera and platforming sections, in terms of moral content Castlevania 64 deserves to be recognized as a landmark Castlevania entry.