Bloodstained RotN : Kouji IGA's new "Castlevania" game.

[Exidna]

Good for him, but the art is definitely not my style.

I agree - though it is only a concept right now, so it may be subject to change.
It's disappointing that Ayami Kojima is tied up with other projects too, as I would have gone for the art book tier if she was working on it.

Still, gameplay is what matters most.

[iconoclast]

I only skimmed the kickstarter, but Unreal Engine 4, 2.5D, and a crafting system are already a bit of a turnoff. The game might still look nice if they can do something like Guilty Gear Xrd, though. Ehh, I'm sure I'll get it anyway as long as it doesn't look awful. I played through the new Strider ffs.

[KAI]

Inti Creates <3

[BulletMagnet]

Seems it's already past its initial goal...tempted to back, but I am curious about how a "physical" Steam version would work.

[Fudoh]

installation from disc, activation through steam ? Isn't this how almost any physical PC release works these days ?

[Necronopticous]

Insta-backed. You guys are seriously hesitating?

[BazookaBen]

I only skimmed the kickstarter, but Unreal Engine 4, 2.5D, and a crafting system are already a bit of a turnoff. The game might still look nice if they can do something like Guilty Gear Xrd, though. Ehh, I'm sure I'll get it anyway as long as it doesn't look awful. I played through the new Strider ffs.

On the KS page they mention budget constraints being the main factor making the go 2.5d instead of full hand drawn 2D. So that makes me think we shouldn't expect anything along the lines of GG Xrd.

[Squire Grooktook]

My one hope for this game above all else:

Dear Iga, please let us attack while moving on the ground. No more of that bunny hop action pls.

[Pretas]

Inti Creates <3

Lost all faith in them after Gunvolt (and Gal*Gun, probably the worst Japanese-made arcade gun shooting game since Death Crimson). It's obvious they're disorganized and hapless without Capcom's backing, and it's not too much to expect that IGA will also be flailing ineffectually without Father Konami watching over his shoulder. Inti also proved with Rockman ZX that they have no idea how to make an engaging "metroidvania." While the two ZX games were enjoyable enough, it was only in spite of their semi-non linear structure, not because of it.

Insta-backed. You guys are seriously hesitating?

You guys are seriously backing? After Mighty No. 9 was such a scam and a letdown? Fool me twice, shame on me.

At least there's a better chance of the graphics being passable with this one; they're using Unreal 4, which is why there won't be a Wii U version. The mockup doesn't look promising, though.

[Squire Grooktook]

Inti Creates <3

Lost all faith in them after Gunvolt

I didn't like Gunvolt at first, but as it turns out, only because I was playing it wrong. Game is a solid score chase. Level design still needs work, but it's not like Mega Man Zero 1 wasn't bland as fuck design wise compared to its sequel.

Because I mean, it was. I find it seriously hard to believe that the same people who made Zero 2-4 also made Zero 1. Holy shit. Level design was almost completely garbage until the end game, and even then the last stage shit the bed on two previous excellent ones.

Iterative design is important.

Even if this game is awful as you seem to think it will be though, it'll still probably be better than Zero 1 imho.

Inti also proved with Rockman ZX that they have no idea how to make an engaging "metroidvania." While the two ZX games were enjoyable enough, it was only in spite of their semi-non linear structure, not because of it.

Advent was a massive improvement over the original in terms of game structure. It's the same problem with Zero 1, Zx, Gunvolt. They needed a sequel or two to refine the concept. I'd look forward to a Gunvolt 2 or a third metroidvania from them (aka this) for sure. If they improve those concepts half as much as they improved the Zero games after 1, than we have a winner.

And on top of that, they still have Iga supervising, and all of the DS Metroidvania's were solid. So I doubt we'll have a disaster again like the first Zx. Don't know where you're getting that Konami somehow gave him super powers to design decent Metroidvania's. Sounds like baseless conjecture.

PS: One could also argue that the design issue with ZX were caused by them trying to come to a compromise between Mega Man X's play style (selectable bosses, acquiring new weapons from them, insane mobility from the beginning, etc.) and the more typical CV/Metroid style Metroidvania. Here, there's nothing to figure out on that front: All they have to do is copy the CV Metroidvania formula. Should result in a less confused and convoluted game.

PPS: Holding some garbage light gun shooter against them is like holding an early mobile game against Ikeda and Cave. Lots of our favorite developers have made garbage shovelware. To quote the old developer mantra "let us make many, many shitty games, and then perhaps we'll make a few good games as a result".

You guys are seriously backing? After Mighty No. 9 was such a scam and a letdown? Fool me twice, shame on me.

How do you know MN9 was a scam? Like I said, friends who have had hands on time with the game have told me that by now it has shaped up to be a perfectly solid platformer and nothing it wasn't advertised to be. Keiji's money gobbling is hilarious, and I'm not a big fan of Mega Man anyway, but at the end of the day it looks like their turning out the product they promised.

I'll back, even though I'm not a huge fan of Mega Man or Metroidvania styled titles. I prefer the excitement of the arcade style gauntlet, but if this game delivers a few fun bosses, smooth controls, and a nice Michiru Yamane ost with gothic visuals, I'll be happy. Decent diversion from hardcore shmupping action.

[BrianC]

wow. Already funded with all the initial stretch goals met (new ones have since been added, cheat codes and local co-op).

[Austin]

I backed it. Can't say I'm the biggest fan of the art style, but I'll have to wait and see it in action. That, and as someone's already said, it may be too early to tell, it could change (or become more refined) since the project delivery is at least two years away.

I think SOTN is special for many reasons, but one of the primary elements that can't be discounted is its grandeur. I enjoyed every CV game on DS & GBA, and elements of them can be considered improvements - but none match the visual class of Symphony's 32-bit graphical lustre. I know we're talking handhelds versus console display, but the fact remains, SOTN is beautiful through and through: every inch of it rendered in pure 2D wonder.

I couldn't have said it better myself. SOTN is work of art to me and there's a sense of grandeur even nearly 20 years after its release. I thoroughly enjoy the others but don't get that feeling from them.

[copy-paster]

Inti Creates <3

Forget about Inti, they gets busy developing Mighty No.9 now

[Drum]

I don't think I agree with the challenging aspect. Yes, the bosses will @&$& you up in the DS games, but the reversed castle in SOTN will do exactly the same if you're not careful (can't say the same for the DS games).

Symphony is a trifle compared to any of the DS games, especially Ecclesia. The reversed castle isn't harder than Hell in DoS or the castle in Ecclesia. That is a strange-ass opinion, chum.

Speed running, differing weapons to try, bugs and glitches to exploit, etc., etc., there's just so much more to do in this game from any angle than there is in subsequent games.

You cannot be srs. Compared to Dawn and its soul system, Symphony has waaaaaaaaaaaay fewer toys to play with.


Skykid has it right - SotN really is a special game, but you better restrict your arguments to intangibles like 'grandeur' or you are going to get walloped in an internet bunfight.

[trap15]

"probably the worst Japanese-made arcade gun shooting game since Death Crimson"
"some garbage light gun shooter"

Have you dorks even played it? Gal*gun is actually super legit.

[Squire Grooktook]

"probably the worst Japanese-made arcade gun shooting game since Death Crimson"
"some garbage light gun shooter"

Have you dorks even played it? Gal*gun is actually super legit.

I'm sorry, I took Pretas word for it. In retrospect that was an awful idea. Will never ever do that again.

Inti Creates <3

Forget about Inti, they gets busy developing Mighty No.9 now

Did you read the kickstarter page? Their the ones developing this.

I don't think I agree with the challenging aspect. Yes, the bosses will @&$& you up in the DS games, but the reversed castle in SOTN will do exactly the same if you're not careful (can't say the same for the DS games).

Symphony is a trifle compared to any of the DS games, especially Ecclesia. The reversed castle isn't harder than Hell in DoS or the castle in Ecclesia. That is a strange-ass opinion, chum.

Speed running, differing weapons to try, bugs and glitches to exploit, etc., etc., there's just so much more to do in this game from any angle than there is in subsequent games.

You cannot be srs. Compared to Dawn and its soul system, Symphony has waaaaaaaaaaaay fewer toys to play with.


Skykid has it right - SotN really is a special game, but you better restrict your arguments to intangibles like 'grandeur' or you are going to get walloped in an internet bunfight.

Agree on the first count but not quite the second. SOTN is really not challenging at all, unless you wander into one or two boss fights under leveled. But overall, it's not a hard game.

On the other hand, Dawn and Eclessia and all that have more meaningful toys to play with, but there's still a sense of SOTN have a huge amount of content even if not all of it is useful. All the secret weapon combos, special inputs for certain weapons, spells, etc. A lot more stuff feels hidden, and gives the game this aura of being packed with content, even if a lot of it is either throw away or over powered and game breaking.

[Austin]

I don't think I agree with the challenging aspect. Yes, the bosses will @&$& you up in the DS games, but the reversed castle in SOTN will do exactly the same if you're not careful (can't say the same for the DS games).

Symphony is a trifle compared to any of the DS games, especially Ecclesia. The reversed castle isn't harder than Hell in DoS or the castle in Ecclesia. That is a strange-ass opinion, chum.

We'll have to agree to disagree then. I never once found the environments in any of the DS Castlevania games threatening in the slightest, whereas areas of the upside-down castle in Symphony wrecked me quite quickly with one misstep (like the spike-tipped clamp objects near the middle of the castle). That's not taking Ecclesia's unlockable harder difficulty modes into consideration, but nor was my initial statement doing so.

On the other hand, Dawn and Eclessia and all that have more meaningful toys to play with, but there's still a sense of SOTN have a huge amount of content even if not all of it is useful. All the secret weapon combos, special inputs for certain weapons, spells, etc. A lot more stuff feels hidden, and gives the game this aura of being packed with content, even if a lot of it is either throw away or over powered and game breaking.

This is more or less what I was getting at. Useful or not, content is content, and more of it adds variety to subsequent experiences/revisits. I typically run through these games using a very minimal amount of it, but I can acknowledge the content is there for people that just want to screw around.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

I'll play this and probably enjoy it. But a more standard old style platformer would be way more refreshing. I got burned out on all the IGAvanias honestly. Order of Ecclesia was pretty great, though. I need to get back to that one.

I do kind of want that retail package for some reason.

[Turrican]

This place never changes I mean this in a good way, of course.

Anyway, some ten years ago I was here begging people to buy Castlevanias on DS, but the general consensus was that the games weren't worth any money because Iga was "recycling sprites", in some cases even from their PC Engine roots.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the whole Mercury Steam catastrophe was born out of that attitude.

Of course, time is a gentleman and now everyone easily see that the criticism of reusing sprites was like to criticize Michelangelo for making statues always in marble; and more importantly, the general consensus also cemented the fact, completely oblique then, that metroidvanias didn't climax with SoTN, at least certainly not on a gameplay/challenge factor basis.

After Mercury Steam passing, in a "Germany Year Zero" scenario or ruins, I come here and the attitude is the same: Iga "was only a producer" for the DS games (lol); Iga "won't be able to do much without Father Konami"... Who's this father Konami anyway, a Santa Claus figure or some mob boss who only strangled his teams by imposing limited resources and canceling projects...?

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

I remember liking Aria of Sorrow the best out of them. It just seemed to have a more fun layout than the rest of them. I remember it having really snappy controls too. The newer ones kind of get bogged down with the animation I think. But it's been quite a while since I've played these.

[system11]

The DS ones just felt cheap and workmanlike, and I honestly got sick and tired of the copypasta enemies - especially Skelerang. Fuck Skelerang.

I backed this immediately, nice to see that there's no handheld version, I'm simply tired of games I enjoy being gimped by a need to run on them, time for the full fat experience again. I can't even play handheld games anymore, everything sent to die there ceases to be a purchase option.

[Squire Grooktook]

I honestly feel the DS trilogy was by the far best. Controlled as smoothly as SOTN, had strong castle layouts, fantastic ost's, and much more challenging and creative boss fights (for the most part).

To be honest, I kind of hated Aria of Sorrow. Cool story twist and a few fun end game bosses was all I liked about it, otherwise I found the enemy's, bosses, and environments weak even by "rectangular rooms full of enemies"vania standards. OST was kind of disappointing too, only a few really memorable tracks.

After Mercury Steam passing, in a "Germany Year Zero" scenario or ruins, I come here and the attitude is the same: Iga "was only a producer" for the DS games (lol)

Thinking it over, it's hard to really say how much impact design wise Iga had on the Metroidvania's under him. But the "rectangular rooms full of enemies" syndrome really never went away for the entire Igavania run.

[Turrican]

He fleshed out them. And while the DS ones are classics in their own way, I feel this project harkens back to a true neglected classic: the "other" portable gem: Dracula X Chronicles, which is 2.5D and outright excellent. Basically the only revamp made in the 2000 decade that retained the spirit of the old days.

[Pretas]

Nobuya Nakazato has a special thanks credit in Ecclesia; it's tempting to think that his input had an effect on the game being much tighter and more challenging than previous similar entries, as well as the inclusion of the Training Area. Anyway, the two PS2 IGAvanias are pretty much definitive proof that Koji is clueless about the fundamentals of great action-adventure games and possesses limited talent as a creative overseer, aside from obsessively curating the series' story canon. Even there, he's sometimes dropped the ball, as Curse of Darkness completely failed to exploit its status as a direct sequel to CVIII.

Chumming with some fawning gaijin hipsters and yes-men is exactly the worst place for IGA to be right now.

[Drachenherz]

Nobuya Nakazato has a special thanks credit in Ecclesia; it's tempting to think that his input had an effect on the game being much tighter and more challenging than previous similar entries, as well as the inclusion of the Training Area. Anyway, the two PS2 IGAvanias are pretty much definitive proof that Koji is clueless about the fundamentals of great action-adventure games and possesses limited talent as a creative overseer, aside from obsessively curating the series' story canon. Even there, he's sometimes dropped the ball, as Curse of Darkness completely failed to exploit its status as a direct sequel to CVIII.

Chumming with some fawning gaijin hipsters and yes-men is exactly the worst place for IGA to be right now.

Well, aren't we a ray of fucking sunshine?

[CStarFlare]

I'm surprised to see people regard the DS games as highly as they do. I have better memories of the GBA titles on a whole. I don't regret playing them in the least, but the DS is where the formula became tiresome in my eyes.

I'm interested in this, though the Ritual of the Night part of the title feels cheap, as if they don't have any interest in forging their own identity.

Also, who calls it Igavania? I understand they probably can't namedrop Nintendo trademarks in their promotional material, but it rubs the wrong way to see them present the term as common lingo.

[Ed Oscuro]

Fuck Skelerang.

I think that's something we can all agree on.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

The dash in Harmony of Dissonance was so cool. You could just zip around everywhere. I don't think he worked on Circle of The Moon did he? That one has a really different vibe.

[Skykid]

Nobuya Nakazato has a special thanks credit in Ecclesia; it's tempting to think that his input had an effect on the game being much tighter and more challenging than previous similar entries, as well as the inclusion of the Training Area. Anyway, the two PS2 IGAvanias are pretty much definitive proof that Koji is clueless about the fundamentals of great action-adventure games and possesses limited talent as a creative overseer, aside from obsessively curating the series' story canon. Even there, he's sometimes dropped the ball, as Curse of Darkness completely failed to exploit its status as a direct sequel to CVIII.

Chumming with some fawning gaijin hipsters and yes-men is exactly the worst place for IGA to be right now.

Well, aren't we a ray of fucking sunshine?

Surely the most devout video game speculator on the face of the earth. Just a shame speculation isn't based on fact.

[JBC]

18 years is a long time as a fan to be neglected & now my feelings about a SotN sequel/successor are very negative & resentful. I don't want to hope this will happen or believe it will be any good. I feel the same about Mighty no.9 & similar projects.

The portable games were great but I felt that being confined to a handheld was insulting to my favorite series & to it's fans. It's truly shameful that this style of Castlevania was never allowed to reach it's full potential on consoles. Now, the only way we can experience it is within the context of a completely separate fictional universe.

That said, I'll give it a chance if it releases but I don't expect to be thrilled. After all, it's not Castlevania.