As much as I love Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, there's so much that I'd change about it in a patch. I wouldn't change the base game play a whole lot, as I like its new approach to the Castlevania-style game play that I already know and love. It's excellent for playing for short periods of time, yet you can also find yourself getting lost in it for hours on end. While I'd certainly adjust the balance on the characters, I can't go too far into detail with that right now, as I don't feel that I've experienced enough of the game's later offerings to know just how broken some (as opposed to all) characters eventually become. 
 
First off, I'd add a sixth playable character at no cost. Really, I'm fine with paid DLC for a game like this, but releasing a six-player game with only five playable characters (even though most people play as Alucard or Soma, anyway) was a really dumb move. Based on my own personal preference, I'd make Maria Renard the sixth character, since she'd potentially play far differently from the existing characters as any other candidate. I'd base her play style in HD on how she played in the Saturn version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, albeit with some tweaks to make her a tad more faithful to her Rondo counterpart. 
 
Next, I'd tweak the team creation options, allowing the person starting the team to choose whether or not to allow duplicate characters on a team, as well as to enable a shuffle mode that would randomly assign each of the six players to a different character at the start of each level. Furthermore, upon creating a team, there'd be a means of adding a team title, as well as a description, each of which could be used to specify whether the team's primary objective is leveling, looting, etc. 
 
I'd also give players far more freedom in configuring their controls, namely by allowing them to use bumpers or triggers as modifier keys for spell-casting. Also, players could customize their controls to mimic past Castlevania games. For example, rather than pressing RT to open a chest, you could press Up on the d-pad. 
 
I'm sure that I'll come up with other ideas as I play the game more, but - in the meantime - I'm curious: What would you change if you could patch HD?

As much as I love Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, there's so much that I'd change about it in a patch. I wouldn't change the base game play a whole lot, as I like its new approach to the Castlevania-style game play that I already know and love. It's excellent for playing for short periods of time, yet you can also find yourself getting lost in it for hours on end. While I'd certainly adjust the balance on the characters, I can't go too far into detail with that right now, as I don't feel that I've experienced enough of the game's later offerings to know just how broken some (as opposed to all) characters eventually become. 
 
First off, I'd add a sixth playable character at no cost. Really, I'm fine with paid DLC for a game like this, but releasing a six-player game with only five playable characters (even though most people play as Alucard or Soma, anyway) was a really dumb move. Based on my own personal preference, I'd make Maria Renard the sixth character, since she'd potentially play far differently from the existing characters as any other candidate. I'd base her play style in HD on how she played in the Saturn version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, albeit with some tweaks to make her a tad more faithful to her Rondo counterpart. 
 
Next, I'd tweak the team creation options, allowing the person starting the team to choose whether or not to allow duplicate characters on a team, as well as to enable a shuffle mode that would randomly assign each of the six players to a different character at the start of each level. Furthermore, upon creating a team, there'd be a means of adding a team title, as well as a description, each of which could be used to specify whether the team's primary objective is leveling, looting, etc. 
 
I'd also give players far more freedom in configuring their controls, namely by allowing them to use bumpers or triggers as modifier keys for spell-casting. Also, players could customize their controls to mimic past Castlevania games. For example, rather than pressing RT to open a chest, you could press Up on the d-pad. 
 
I'm sure that I'll come up with other ideas as I play the game more, but - in the meantime - I'm curious: What would you change if you could patch HD?

Adding in the ability to select the Level and difficulty for a multiplayer games while waiting for the room to fill would be helpful.  Also sometimes while looking for a quick match the game glitches and does not allow you to back out by pressing B and doesn't pop up with the "Unable to join team" message.
 
And I agree with you that the DLC should be fairly cheap if it's "sold" separately.  I would say 80 to 160 MS points per Character or level. 
 
Also maybe a patch so when opening a chest you don't just get armor and weapons for the character your playing, but maybe mix in stuff for the other characters weapons wise.  I would love to play other characters online, but am still trying to get Shanoa's 2 weapon upgrades so almost all of the times I play online I play as her, hoping that those weapons drop.  Really can't find any clues for easier ways to get that stuff.

The game needs more levels.  6 levels is not enough.

" Adding in the ability to select the Level and difficulty for a multiplayer games while waiting for the room to fill would be helpful.  Also sometimes while looking for a quick match the game glitches and does not allow you to back out by pressing B and doesn't pop up with the "Unable to join team" message. 
 
And I agree with you that the DLC should be fairly cheap if it's "sold" separately.  I would say 80 to 160 MS points per Character or level. 
 
Also maybe a patch so when opening a chest you don't just get armor and weapons for the character your playing, but maybe mix in stuff for the other characters weapons wise.  I would love to play other characters online, but am still trying to get Shanoa's 2 weapon upgrades so almost all of the times I play online I play as her, hoping that those weapons drop.  Really can't find any clues for easier ways to get that stuff. "

" upgraded graphics. Looks atrocious on a 20" lcd and it must be agonizing on larger, crisper screens. "

" The game needs more levels.  6 levels is not enough. "

Ah, I forgot this in my original post, but I think that it'd be awesome if there was a color editor for each character. I'm appalled at how horrible some of the color schemes look on certain characters. Soma looks like he could've been in a GameBoy (not Advance, the original) game. And it looks like they just threw in random colors for poor Alucard.

Soma looks like he could've been in a GameBoy (not Advance, the original) game. And it looks like they just threw in random colors for poor Alucard."  

Randomly generated maps.

A better game. ZING!

"Furthermore, I doubt that this game would work as well with high-definition sprites, simply because I doubt that current-gen consoles would have the memory for it. Seriously, the reason that this game runs as well as it does is because of the horrible sprites. Given how much slowdown can accompany killing a Treant, I wouldn't want to see high-definition sprites in this game."

" Sorry for being a dick :) - You mean the GameBoy color, Right? ;) "

" Randomly generated maps. "

" A better game. ZING! "

" ... I honestly can't tell if you're serious. "

"@Three0neFive said:

" ... I honestly can't tell if you're serious. "

I'm completely serious. Consider the load times and the minor performance issues with the graphics in their current state. Imagine that with assets that'd likely consume at least ten or twenty times the amount of memory. Not good. I honestly wouldn't mind another game in the style of SotN for consoles, complete with high-resolution sprites. Thing is, I wouldn't expect that zoom feature to be included in a current-gen console game of that caliber. "

" I haven't actually played it, but if the slowdown is as bad as you say it is, it's because the game is incredibly poorly coded, not because the 360 can't handle it. I know full well how outdated the 360's hardware is, but  you're really underestimating the thing. "

-more frequent rare item drops, it can be BS going through chapter 5 and 6 over 20 or more times and you keep getting stupid robes I just 9 of
-update the store, what's the use in all that money if my gear's better than the entire store
-more glyphs for Shanoa. Charlotte's got 22 spells, Soma's got lots of souls to use. Shanoa? 3 weapons and 4 glyphs when in Ecclesia she had bows, hammers, swords, axes and the works.

"  releasing a six-player game with only five playable characters ...was a really dumb move" 
 
Why does this matter? It's not an arcade game where everyone is forced to choose a different character. Theres ALWAYS at least 2 people playing the same character in EVERY game anyway. This is just another hollow reason people find to pick on this game. 

" upgraded graphics. Looks atrocious on a 20" lcd and it must be agonizing on larger, crisper screens. "

"@LunarAura said:

" upgraded graphics. Looks atrocious on a 20" lcd and it must be agonizing on larger, crisper screens. "

Oh yeah. All new graphics. In a patch. That's realistic! Keep usin the old noggin ;) And again, why are you playing a retro themed game if you're gonna whine about 16 bit graphics? Because you're another fanboy intent on picking this game apart no matter what? Yes, that's why.   I play it in 1080p (without a stick up my ass) and I think it looks fine for what it is. Maybe you should go back to playing whatever big budget flashy graphics mainstream crap I'm sure was making you happy before?
 

Because this guy actually deserves a full-assed response... 
 
@kevinski said:

"
@LunarAura said:

" upgraded graphics. Looks atrocious on a 20" lcd and it must be agonizing on larger, crisper screens. "

I'm playing on a 37" LCD, and it looks fine to me. Sure, it's pixelated, but I'm no strange to pixelated graphics. Furthermore, I doubt that this game would work as well with high-definition sprites, simply because I doubt that current-gen consoles would have the memory for it. Seriously, the reason that this game runs as well as it does is because of the horrible sprites. Given how much slowdown can accompany killing a Treant, I wouldn't want to see high-definition sprites in this game. Let's save that for the next SotN-style game that doesn't feature the crazy zoom feature. :P
 "

" That's a valid point. Come to think of it, the graphics are a good tradeoff for the "crazy zoom feature". Maybe if Castlevania HD was deemed a success, that zoom feature could be implemented in a way where the low-res models is zoomed out and as it zooms in, the high res sprites come into play. The graphics only stick out like a sore thumb because the gameplay is pretty tight and playing it on an Xbox 360 and that Castlevania isn't exactly an indie title, I expected better graphics. "

I think "most" of your points are valid, the graphics are what they are. agreed on the point about shanoa (weapon/spell wise), but i wish that they had a few other game modes, the level editor was an interesting point, make it like super smash bros for the wii where the best one gets set up online and everyone can download it. Maybe even a boss run mode as well.
other than that i think its a pretty good game, but then again i like grinding for hours XD