WHAT IF: there was a new Castlevania game?

[The Nikanoru]

Probably had a few threads on this already, but with IGA's departure from Konami, the development of Bloodstained, and Konami's recent ... incarnation ... of Castlevania, it really looks as if the nails are being driven into the coffin of the Castlevania franchise. It's too bad - the series had a long history and there was never really a game that 'ended' the series (For those unfamiliar with the entire spread of Castlevania games or the Castlevania back history, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania or http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Castlevania_Wiki).

However, there are many holes in the Castlevania mythology that have always piqued my interest. Some of them include:

• The 300 years between Leon Belmont and Trevor Belmont
• How Mathias Conqvist built his power prior to Castlevania III
• How the Vampire Killer changed form or grew in power over the years
• What happened to Richter Belmont to make him give up the Vampire Killer
• Whatever happened to the Belmont family between 1792 and 1999?
• How John Morris acquired the Vampire Killer
• How Julius Belmont acquired the Vampire Killer
• The Demon Castle War of 1999
• Alucard's ultimate fate
• Whatever happened to the Danasty / Schneider / Graves / Renard / Gandolfi / Belnades families?

 

Personally, I would like to see them finish the series by building a game around a young Julius Belmont about to engage in the Demon Castle War. More than enough epic G V E in that scenario alone to bring the series to a proper close.

But what do you think? WHAT IF one more Castlevania game was released? Would you like to see the series wrapped up? Would you rather they picked a thread in the timeline to follow? Or maybe a super-Sci-Fi futuristic Castlevania game?

[Chernabogue]

Yes.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

I'm a lifelong fan of the franchise as well, but in all honesty, I'd rather Konami let the series die. I have absolutely no faith in them anymore - I think the series will live in on in games like Bloodstained. Just as Dark Souls has already inspired imitators. 

That being said, IF there was a new game, I'd want it to be an actual Symphony Of The Night sequel or even an HD remake with more balanced gameplay. In terms of a sequel, I think a game where you can play as both Alucard and Maria, maybe even swap between them in real time, with Order of Ecclesia style exploration would be amazing. There was definitely potential for the adventure to continue beyond Dracula's castle. 

As for a remake, I'd settle with it because even though it's possibly my all-time favourite game, the game was way too easy once you powered Alucard up. I know that part of the thrill was that opening sequence where you run through the castle halls and every enemy, no matter how big, you just cut them down in one swing but it's still too easy once you get your mojo back. Also, over the last 15 years I've played through that game more times than I can remember and it seems like every time I play I find some secret I didn't know existed. If they remade it, they could add even more stuff to find and explore.

[The Nikanoru]

On 7/6/2016 at 0:48 PM, AngelCityOutlaw said:

I'm a lifelong fan of the franchise as well, but in all honesty, I'd rather Konami let the series die. I have absolutely no faith in them anymore - I think the series will live in on in games like Bloodstained. Just as Dark Souls has already inspired imitators. 

That being said, IF their was a new game, I'd want it to be an actual Symphony Of The Night sequel or even an HD remake with more balanced gameplay. In terms of a sequel, I think a game where you can play as both Alucard and Maria, maybe even swap between them in real time, with Order of Ecclesia style exploration would be amazing. There was definitely potential for the adventure to continue beyond Dracula's castle. 

As for a remake, I'd settle with it because even though it's possibly my all-time favourite game, the game was way too easy once you powered Alucard up. I know that part of the thrill was that opening sequence where you run through the castle halls and every enemy, no matter how big, you just cut them down in one swing but it's still too easy once you get your mojo back. Also, over the last 15 years I've played through that game more times than I can remember and it seems like every time I play I find some secret I didn't know existed. If they remade it, they could add even more stuff to find and explore.

You know, I played SotN very late in my gaming career ... at least, that's what I'd like to call it ... but I cut my teeth on Castlevania IV and Dracula X, and SotN wasn't so different in terms of controls. I have to agree that the Metriodvania gameplay still stands out as some of the best I've played. I still need to play a Castlevania game every so often to scratch that itch.

They DID do Nocturne of Moonlight as a sequel ... sort of ... but it certainly isn't a game, nor do I think it would translate well into a game. So, a game of Alucard and Maria exploring the world outside of Dracula's Castle? Definitely a blank page, but where would they go if there's no Castle? Maybe something along the lines of Simon's Quest?

An HD SotN remaster, eh? They could make the game a true masterpiece ... but there are a few issues to work out. The level system was just a tad unbalanced here and there, wasn't it? (ie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPMdp8HGajk) Also, would you keep it the traditional 2D (or 2.5D like MoF) platform dungeon-crawl action, or action-adventure 3D like LoS? I'm still a fan of the 2D platformer and it would help to preserve that 'original feel' if it was kept similar, but I REALLY ENJOYED the 3D aspects of LoS, and the open world concept of the second game was awesome, just poorly executed. I think it could be excellent either way, but There seems to be quite the debate about which style is 'more Castlevania.' What do you think?

[lazygecko]

Reboot

Base it much more heavily on the classic horror movie homage the original Castlevania was founded on. Maybe give it an old film style presentation and feel, which they've already played around with like the faux film reel effect in Castlevania 3, and sort of like what The House of the Dead games do.

3D action is fine, but it should be designed in a way that makes it slow and very methodical in its pacing like the original, as opposed to typical modern character action games like God of War or Bayonetta. I think slowing games down on purpose has a value that is getting more and more underappreciated. Progression-wise, I'd be fine with something inbetween Dark Souls and the Metroidvanias. Maybe even take some cues directly from classic survival horror.

Soundtrack should be Mellotron-infused Italian schlock horror rock in the vein of Goblin. Anima Morte is a good modern example, and doesn't really stray too far from established Castlevania music either.

[BardicKnowledge]

For what it's worth, it is strongly hinted that Richter's demonic possession by Shaft is what motivates him to give up the Vampire Killer.  He doesn't need it anymore after Alucard has done the job for him, and is ashamed ingame that they came to blows.

I would be interested to hear how Julius Belmont reclaims the whip from Jonathan Morris, though that's likely part of a 1999 story (Morris would be 73 years old then).

[The Nikanoru]

3 hours ago, BardicKnowledge said:

For what it's worth, it is strongly hinted that Richter's demonic possession by Shaft is what motivates him to give up the Vampire Killer.  He doesn't need it anymore after Alucard has done the job for him, and is ashamed ingame that they came to blows.

Yes, I've heard this as well, but Nocturne of Moonlight doesn't portray this particular line of thinking very effectively, does it? He seemed perfectly content with himself and the Vampire Killer when I heard it...

[AngelCityOutlaw]

You guys are reading way too deep into an incredibly simplistic plot and characters that only serve to justify the events of the game.  

For me, if there were a sequel, I don't personally care about developing characters at all. Just give me an excuse to continue kicking ass through a well designed, gothic playground as Alucard/Maria/Richter with a bitchin' soundtrack to boot.

 

[RoeTaKa]

If there was one more Castlevania game...the safe bet for me would be another game like Order of Ecclesia but Bloodstained could be that craving. I would love to see a 3D Castlevania done right, that is at its most faithful. I enjoyed Lament of Innocence when it came out but its level design was just bad, may as well have been procedurally generated. I tried Curse of Darkness about a year ago and I thought it was alright but the level design was killing it for me again, didn't even finish it. I always stick up for Lords of Shadow 1 as being a really good game with great music, it just isn't Castlevania...there's definitely elements that evoke the series and I really appreciate those though. Lords of Shadow 2 was a real missed opportunity, but damnit the soundtrack is awesome.

The 3D Castlevania I want is pretty much Symphony of the Night, just done in 3D properly. I remember when the first Devil May Cry came out I would think to myself that if it wasn't split into missions then you have something of a decent castle location here with a metroidvania feel. It always baffled me why Konami could never at least do this. Now with games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne, I feel I want something similar in style but only taking influence - it needs to be Castlevania through and through. The story for me isn't a big deal as long as it serves the game well and gives good characters. I imagine entering a castle at night, it's very dark and it's thundering outside, some of the windows are open and the curtains are blowing in the wind, lightning is filling the room with light every now and then. There is no music, no enemies...you make some progress and get a feel for the game. Then something happens, maybe your first boss encounter or something and suddenly it brightens up, maybe all the candles suddenly light up and become active, the music kicks in with this glorious style of the old games, then suddenly you're able to explore so much more and you know this is the Castlevania you know done right. You start seeing classic enemies all gloriously modelled with their traditional attacks, maybe they have new AI patterns due to the game being 3D. Weak enemies try to mob you, large enemies vary their attack patterns. I mean...it is what it is isn't it lol, explaining the series as we know it.

And if it's the type of game to have a Hard Mode Level 1 cap, I'm all for that! I particularly liked OoE's enemy mixups for that, getting through the forest at the start of the game was really fun to figure out.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Basically, Devil May Cry gameplay meets Metroid Prime.

[The Nikanoru]

On ‎7‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 3:14 AM, AngelCityOutlaw said:

You guys are reading way too deep into an incredibly simplistic plot and characters that only serve to justify the events of the game.  

For me, if there were a sequel, I don't personally care about developing characters at all. Just give me an excuse to continue kicking ass through a well designed, gothic playground as Alucard/Maria/Richter with a bitchin' soundtrack to boot.

Yeah, I get that. It's not like the pre-SotN games had much in the way of plot structure - or (with the exception of LoS series) much afterwards, either - and let's face it, the gameplay is what keeps us coming back for more.

Still, a big part of it for me was the overall plot concept: legendary family battling ancient evil through the centuries. Admit it - you would probably not have the same love for the series if it was based on Care Bears and No-Heart.

On ‎7‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 8:23 AM, RoeTaKa said:

If there was one more Castlevania game...the safe bet for me would be another game like Order of Ecclesia but Bloodstained could be that craving. I would love to see a 3D Castlevania done right, that is at its most faithful. I enjoyed Lament of Innocence when it came out but its level design was just bad, may as well have been procedurally generated. I tried Curse of Darkness about a year ago and I thought it was alright but the level design was killing it for me again, didn't even finish it. I always stick up for Lords of Shadow 1 as being a really good game with great music, it just isn't Castlevania...there's definitely elements that evoke the series and I really appreciate those though. Lords of Shadow 2 was a real missed opportunity, but damnit the soundtrack is awesome.

The 3D Castlevania I want is pretty much Symphony of the Night, just done in 3D properly. I remember when the first Devil May Cry came out I would think to myself that if it wasn't split into missions then you have something of a decent castle location here with a metroidvania feel. It always baffled me why Konami could never at least do this. Now with games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne, I feel I want something similar in style but only taking influence - it needs to be Castlevania through and through. The story for me isn't a big deal as long as it serves the game well and gives good characters. I imagine entering a castle at night, it's very dark and it's thundering outside, some of the windows are open and the curtains are blowing in the wind, lightning is filling the room with light every now and then. There is no music, no enemies...you make some progress and get a feel for the game. Then something happens, maybe your first boss encounter or something and suddenly it brightens up, maybe all the candles suddenly light up and become active, the music kicks in with this glorious style of the old games, then suddenly you're able to explore so much more and you know this is the Castlevania you know done right. You start seeing classic enemies all gloriously modelled with their traditional attacks, maybe they have new AI patterns due to the game being 3D. Weak enemies try to mob you, large enemies vary their attack patterns. I mean...it is what it is isn't it lol, explaining the series as we know it.

And if it's the type of game to have a Hard Mode Level 1 cap, I'm all for that! I particularly liked OoE's enemy mixups for that, getting through the forest at the start of the game was really fun to figure out.

In the words of Chernabogue: Yes.