...and the real Castlevania game Konami failed to mention at E3 2009.
What the hell happened to THIS game?
This trailer was presented by Koji Igarashi last year at the Tokyo Game Show. The trailer shows us a few things.
1. Alucard, star of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, is apparently in the game.
2. The game is to be released Xbox360 and PS3. (This could mean XBLA/PSN)
3. This is a CG cinematic. No confirmation of whether this game is 3d or 2d can be confirmed.
4. This is NOT the same game as Lords of Shadow, the MercurySteam developed game shown at E3 this year.
No mention of this game was made at E3 2009. I foresee two possible scenarios why:
1. This game was a 3d Castlevania game that was canceled in favor of slapping the Castlevania name on the MecurySteam IP, Lords of Shadow. This could have been a decision made by Konami after terrible reception of the shitty Wii fighting game, Castlevania: Judgement.
2. This is a 2d Castlevania game still slated to be released for PS3/360 or possibly on the download services. If this is the case, then there is a chance it could simply be a remake of Symphony of the Night.
Lords of Shadow is NOT a real Castlevania game.
1. This was presented as a new IP developed by MercurySteam, the shitty devs behind Jericho, last year. Here is the trailer WITHOUT "Castlevania" or "Kojima Productions" attatched to it:
2. No mention of Koji Igarashi was made at the E3 2009 Konami press conference. The recent Lords of Shadow trailer absolutely did not contain the music of Michiru Yamane. And the art work in the trailer was most assuredly not that of Ayami Kojima. This has been the core team behind the Castlevania games since Symphony of the Night way back on the original Playstation. Team Igarashi is one of the most respected dev teams in the industry, and I seriously doubt Konami would have taken them off Castlevania completely.
What does this mean?
Best Scenario: They are still working on, and will eventually release, a full 2d HD sequel to Symphony of the Night on PS3 and Xbox 360. This will be a 60 dollar game that I, and many others, will happily fork over the cash for. This is what hardcore Castlevania fans want the most.
Another Awesome Scenario: A full HD remake of SotN for retail disc release. This is great too, but I would rather have a new game.
Less Awesome Scenario: Sequel or remake, the game is made for PSN/XBLA. This is the likely option, but the one that will definitely piss me off. I don't want Castlevania treated as some budget franchise that belongs on the download serviced just because the game is in 2d. If Muramasa: The Demon Blade can be released as a full retail game, there is no reason a 2d Castlevania shouldn't as well.
Shitty Scenario: Igarashi disappears off the face of the planet like Yasumi Matsuno.
Boner Scenario: Team Igarashi has taken a temporary break from Castlevania to go work on the new Zone of the Enders game.
Discuss!
Brad
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13 comments:
There was probably just no mention of the TGS game because E3 is a gorram joke nowadays. Wait for TGS this year.
I think it's unfair to base the quality of a game on such unfair criteria. The trailer (which includes gameplay) looks great. There's been no hands on play to confirm how good the game is nor how bad it is.
There's the issue of Mercury Steam developing it,a studio with 2 games to their name. "Scrapland" which from what I understand got good reviews,and "Jericho". So pretty much one bad game to their name,which somehow qualifies them as a 'shitty developer'.
Then there's the fact Igarashi isn't involved. Well...he's screwed the pooch handling 3-D Castlevania games so far. You wanna compare the shitty level design of "Curse Of Darkness" to that of "Jericho"? Lol.
Showing Alucard in the teaser doesn't guarantee it will be related to "Symphony Of The Night" in any way. All we got was a snippet of a cutscene.
Also,"Lords Of Shadow" may have started out as an original IP,but it doesn't mean they cant change a few things around and have it look,feel,and play like a Castlevania game. "Devil May Cry" was originally supposed to be "Resident Evil 2".
+1 for using gorram in everyday talk. I think a sequel for one of the most beloved games of all time in SOTN would be a huge announcement at E3 and would be fought over exclusivity so I am going to have to rule that out. A remake of SOTN is highly unlikely because there are sooo many other games that should be remade before SOTN, which IMO still holds its own. (Remake OOT!!)
Im sad to say I think your shitty scenario is going to come true...or is the closest to the truth.
Correction, "Devil May Cry" was originally supposed to be "Resident Evil 4".
Whoops. You're right. But still...the point stands.
Igarashi's 3d outings were not by any means, bad games. Poorly timed yes.
Lament and Curse were just overshadowed by other games at the time, DMC and God of War. At the very least the 3d Castlevanias on PS2 had their own fucking identities. Curse especially.
Igarashi just had a small team and an even smaller budget. There is no reason he shouldn't be working on a new CV.
Imagaine if an IGA game had the support from Kojima/Studios.
This is true. Given the proper resources,Igarashi's team could make a classic Castlevania game as they've done on numerous occassions. Why Konami isn't reeling him in,and what his new Castlevania game (if it's even being developed anymore) has in store remains a mystery.
All we have to go on right now is a really good looking trailer for a game being developed by a studio with not enough material to it's name to have built a solid reputation.
Wow, it's kinda sad, because I think we are going the Shitty Scenario.
i'm in the middle of playing SOTN and i love, i love, i love it.
i'm a huge castlevania fan and i'm hoping for a sequel for SOTN, no matter if its in 2D or 3D. i just want alucard back and the same, genuius character developing system as in SOTN.
a remake wouldn't make much sense, since the psp version is (in my opinion) already sort of a remake.
lords of shadows looks good and might potential, to be a really good game. BUT as far is can judge, it is NOT a castlevania game. as long as there are no informations, about dracula and the castle, this guy could be a belmont, but why the hell is he searching for some masks, to revive someone...
i'm not quite sure, what i have to think about all that. i mean, they have patrick stewart...
anyways, i want a real castlevania game, with dracula, maybe alucard, developed by igarashi (maybe together with kojima, which would mean the greatest thing, since the big bang) that won't be released on an handheld console.
Whatever the scenario, I just want a decent Castlevania game to come out. The last few I've played were so...blah.
I know that Castlevania is your beloved franchise, I feel that my main issue with Lords of Shadow is that it doesn't really stand out as a Castlevania game, it looks like it would have been better of being titled something completely different, it feels like the Castlevania name was kind of slapped on.
That being said, things that I can note from the Lords of Shadow trailer are high production values, great voice acting and gorgeous environments. I feel it could be a decent hack n' slash with a solid story and good voice acting, though this is not what you want from a Castlevania game, understandably.
I don't however feel like a real Castlevania game has to be 2D, I think that previous Igarashi 3D Castlevanias did have the exploration aspect done decently, but not the way I wanted it. To me Castlevania feels more like it's about looking around, exploring, finding something and going "Woah, remember that other place, this will help me get there". This doesn't have to be done in 2D in order to work, but pulling it off in a 3D game is no doubt considerably harder.
This leads to another stand-out issue I have with Lords of Shadow is that it looks fairly linear though I may be wrong, then there's obviously the fact that the monster design is quite generic and doesn't resemble previous Castlevania monsters. That being said I must say that I like the design of the main character more than that of Leon or Hector from Lament and Curse. I also get the feeling that the voice acting and dialog may be more solid. Both Lament and Curse had terrible dialog and voice acting, this doesn't have to do with the transition from Japanese writing to NA. They were just bad. Part of Castlevania's offbeat charm by this point I suppose.
I have to agree with you in your statement that Lords of Shadow does not look like a real Castlevania game, that being said, it looks like a solid hack n' slash adventure game, one that will probably be linear.
I feel that if you keep hoping that Castlevania gets solid 2D treatment, you'll be disappointed. I personally would rather see a very well made 3D Castlevania, one that pulls of the exploration aspect in the right way, has a good story and solid voice acting, this would move the franchise forward. I don't want Castlevania to become some shitty DS/XBLA/PSN store franchise but I feel that a full price retail 2D Castlevania would not sell here in the west, only among hardcore fans.
-How was the first contact you had with Konami?
I will tell you the truth, we had plans with Codemasters, not Konami, but Codemaster didn't satisfy us. Since the beggining, three years ago, KONAMI GAVE US THE POSIBILITY TO MAKE THEIR NEXT GEN CASTLEVANIA; when the time passed, we ended our project with Codemasters (Clive Barcher's Jericho)and ended our relationship as well. We were a little expectant to new proposals; these arrived, but we weren't satisfied, so, we kicked the wheel and went with Konami. Now, one and half year after that, I can say it was the right choice. No doubt about it.
- There are rumours that said that this project wasn't a Castlevania at the beginning. Can you clarify that?
It was a Castlevania since the zero day. But we wanted the world to be ecpectant, so, we revealed it part by part, slowly; Konami also wanted to see how the product was going and if it deserved to have the "Castlevania" tittle. When we sent them the first demo, they didn't doubt about that.
They knew that this would be the newCastlevania, but they made the decision, not to anounce it until E3; it was right, the bomb was huge.
We beg people to not doubt about the fact that Mercurysteam had a Castlevania in its plans since we wrote the first letter in a white sheet.
-How involved is Hideo Kojima?
I wanted to say this before, this Castlevania is entirely made by Mercurysteam, not Kojima. Kojima is our business partner. He's bringing his experience and Kojima Production's experience to us; we want to help us in every aspect, everything we ask, they have a solution for that.
He has his opinion, he tell us what he thinks about it, but always in a very respectful manner.
I must to say, out relationship with Konami is great, in every level. We are making a Castlevania for them, but they are respecting our work and creativity avnd in a very incredible way, we hadn't seen it until now; than includes Kojima and his team. We are very proud because when this game hits the charts, everybody will know that it's special, very special and Mercurysteam is developing it.
All the material that you will see there is our work; we talk too much with Konami, we exchange our ideas ideas, but the final choice is always a mutual agreement, it's always in that way.
-It's hard to make a game with such important franchise?
No, it's not. It's a big weight but we are carrying it with joy and responsability.
- Can you tell us something about this new Castlevania?
I think we are doing a big favor to you if I don't say anything. THis game will be a great surprise, and we ar going to mantaint that sense of surprise. We want the people to come to this Castlevania like if they were kids, ready to live new experiences, obviously, with old smells, and honorifing the (old) saga and what it represents.
We are being very respectful with it, but at the same time it's a full level reborn.
I think, you must ti be open minded, ready to absorb every shade, every ideam the playability, the Story, the narrative work, the characters, the music... Lords of Shadows is an incredibly rich game; I want to ask the fans, live it as it was the first time, I'm sure, you won't be dissapointed, we are working for you.
-How much are you keeping the old shades of the saga?
It keeps it as much as we considered it was good and neccesary enough, as much it deserves it. Like Hideo said, it is a true reborn.
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