Another DS Castlevania on the way

Vexorg · Post by **Vexorg** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 12:39 am

http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/10/int ... iga-t.html

No official announcement yet, but in this interview with Koji Igarashi, he states that a new DS Castlevania game is under development.

Fighter17 · Post by **Fighter17** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:06 am

Yawns.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:06 am

Too late. He already said something about a new DS Castlevania during E3. The only remarkable thing about the article is that the "Castlevania on Wii" question wasn't asked.

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:31 am

Hopefully, they won't screw this one up like the last one.

jp · Post by jp » Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:14 am

I hope they continue Soma Cruz's plot.

shinsage · Post by **shinsage** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:17 am

Julius 1999 for the love of god

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:52 am

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:Too late. He already said something about a new DS Castlevania during E3. The only remarkable thing about the article is that the "Castlevania on Wii" question wasn't asked.

The most remarkable thing about the article is that IGA does think a lot about why exactly Belmonts do whip candles.

D · Post by D » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:02 am

Call me mad, but isn't it time for a non-3D Castlevania on a non-handheld system?

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:15 am

D wrote:Call me mad, but isn't it time for a non-3D Castlevania on a non-handheld system?

IGA was asked that. You'd think that with XBLA, PS Store and the upcoming Wii store, you'd have the perfect environment to sell a 2D Castlevania on a home console. But the truth is, doing a 2D Castlevania properly is expensive, so you'd have to retail at full price. And there's also an issue with resolutions: doing a 2D game on the current gen would mean to do it with hi-res quality a la Guilty Gear. It takes a lot of work from pixel artists, and it's taxing on the hardware.

In short, 2D Castlevania is still bound to handhelds for the time being, imho.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:04 am

Turrican wrote: In short, 2D Castlevania is still bound to handhelds for the time being, imho.

Fine with me, bring them on.

POR had its share of problems, mainly in the level design (a basic room that leads to another basic room, with two basic rooms upstairs), but it still was one of the most enjoyable videogames I´ve played recently.

But SOTN and Rondo on the PSP is first. The irony is that while people were getting sick of recycled enemies in POR, I saw them the first time there, so I hope SOTN won´t get spoiled for me if I see all those enemies again.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:20 am

MathU wrote:Hopefully, they won't screw this one up like the last one.

PoR was the best handheld CV so far!

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:30 am

One word: Flamewhip.

RGC · Post by **RGC** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:42 am

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:59 pm

Portrait of Ruin was practically a rushed beta release. The game has loads of content, but it's a cake-walk. They lazily tried to solved this problem by throwing in a ton of tacked-on extra modes and level challenges. Half the portrait areas (40% of the game) are copy-paste mirror images of earlier ones. Finally, the bosses are just plain dull and badly designed. They tried to mask this one by making hits do considerably more damage to the character in this Castlevania.

Frankly, the game could have been CONSIDERABLY better than Dawn of Sorrow—in fact, best Metroid-style Castlevania to date—if they hadn't spent so much development time trying to please everyone with content instead of refining the game. One of the game's few saving graces is that weapon and item balance is superb in this one.

To me, it feels like Igarashi did the right thing by letting KCEK work on another game (the team behind Circle of the Moon, arguably the best balanced Metroid-style Castlevania), but his signature flashiness hindered their work. Well, I hope this arrogant sexist redeems himself with the next one.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:50 pm

MathU wrote:Portrait of Ruin was practically a rushed beta release. The game has loads of content, but it's a cake-walk. They lazily tried to solved this problem by throwing in a ton of tacked-on extra modes and level challenges. Half the portrait areas (40% of the game) are copy-paste mirror images of earlier ones. Finally, the bosses are just plain dull and badly designed. They tried to mask this one by making hits do considerably more damage to the character in this Castlevania.

I don't see how the alternate portrait areas are any different from the mirror castles in previous games. I found them to be more inspired than some of the previous ones like the one in HoD. They at least add new obstacles or have different enemies.

I doubt the "tacked on" modes were due to the game being rushed. Most of the recent non-linear Castlevanias have had something similar. I didn't find the bosses to be badly designed, especially not Brauner or Dracula.

Frankly, the game could have been CONSIDERABLY better than Dawn of Sorrow—in fact, best Metroid-style Castlevania to date—if they hadn't spent so much development time trying to please everyone with content instead of refining the game. One of the game's few saving graces is that weapon and item balance is superb in this one.

It's the same type of content that was in previous non-linear Castlevanias. The main lack of refinement in PoR is the massive amount of glitches, some of which can force you to start a new game, not in putting the same type of extras that previous games used.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:05 pm

What? POR a cake-walk? They finally invent the MAX lvl.1 cap and people still complain? You'd have to go back all the way back to Circle to find a moderately challenging CV game. Nothing that came after it (HOD, AOS, DOS, COD, LOI, you name it) has a difficulty skill as finely honed as in POR.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:22 pm

People are just trying desperately to find some fault with PoR, when really the handheld Castlevanias have been getting progressively better with each episode. And yeah, what BrianC said.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:25 pm

Turrican wrote:MAX lvl.1 cap

Try that with the Axe Armor if you really hate yourself.

As for people demanding a 2D console Castlevania, what difference would that make other than the platform and the resolution? The DS games and the upcoming Rondo remake are perfect 2D goodness. I really wonder what problem some people have when it comes to handhelds. Yeah, you can´t play it on your big-ass HD screen, but other than that... It´s not like there are only monochrome Gameboy games coming out. Some people seem to have a negative opinion of handhelds as "inferior" systems, which might be right in terms of actual processor power, but playwise, Ridge Racer, Wipeout or Castlevania for instance don´t make a difference.

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:50 pm

CIT wrote:People are just trying desperately to find some fault with PoR, when really the handheld Castlevanias have been getting progressively better with each episode. And yeah, what BrianC said.

This is some truth, I have heard nothing but whining about how it isn't on the console, it isn't on the console, yet the handhelds are actually pretty damn good, if you actually take the time to play them. It's mainly PS3 and 360 fanboys from where I've been (IGN out of total boredom)

FredurikJurk wrote:One word: Flamewhip.

Huzzah!
----
Eventually it's going to get to the point where the DS will have ten Castlevanias. They will all have been played by many. Because unlike other franchises this one sells well on handhelds.

Turrican wrote:In short, 2D Castlevania is still bound to handhelds for the time being, imho.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:06 pm

PoR wasn't as good as the previous DS Castlevania (or Aria of Sorrow for that matter) but I still loved it. It is definitely high time to redraw some sprites for the more commonly used enemies though.

JBC · Post by **JBC** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:20 pm

Anybody get your Dracula X preorder 8-bit Simon Belmont figurine yet? I love this thing!

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:26 pm

I passed on the preorder this time around. The figure didn't appeal to me the way the cool preorder for PoR did. Post some pics of it and make me regret my decision.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:36 pm

LGB wrote:
FrederikJurk, not FredurikJurk wrote:One word: Flamewhip.
Huzzah!

I like the sound it does. "De-ROOSH"

Zeether · Post by **Zeether** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:44 pm

Better have more voice acting.

Also, more Gradius cameos.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:00 pm

I was really put off by how half-assedly PoR was put together. There are dozens of glitches, 70%+ of the sprites are pulled straight out of the old games, and let's not forget the last four portraits fiasco. It's going to be a 2 year hiatus until the next DS game, so they better do something that impresses me.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:02 pm

It's more likely that 1) they won't listen 2) you'll buy it anyway. Only to complain about it too.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:12 pm

False for #2. I ain't buying any mediocre Castlevanias anymore. I'll try that new game on my flash card before I pay a cent.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:18 pm

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:False for #2. I ain't buying any mediocre Castlevanias anymore. I'll try that new game on my flash card before I pay a cent.

In any case, I really prefer them to concentrate on other aspects like tight gameplay, good atmosphere, good scenario, interesting characters, instead of having the staff redrawing everything.

It's just like 1up's review - everyone complained SOTN dialogues were terrible, and now - Surprise! the new one isn't apparently any better. With the sprites is the same, the worst sprites in DOS were the newer ones.

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:44 pm

I can't handle too much metroidvania either. Symphony was awesome, and Aria felt just fresh enough with its soul stealing, but I can't stand to play much of the other games anymore. It's time to do a different style instead of playing is safe with all these clones.

It's strange though, I never get tired of the action platformers... the good ones, anyway. If I play Castlevania, Belmont's Revenge, Bloodlines, and Rondo in succession they'll each still feel like a unique game. I'm the same with Mega Man, and that series sticks to formula more than a preacher sticks to the Bible. I wonder if I have a higher tolerance for those repeat games because they're little "bites" of straight-forward action, of if it's just that their core gameplay's better.

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:49 pm

Turrican wrote:What? POR a cake-walk? They finally invent the MAX lvl.1 cap and people still complain?

MathU wrote:... it's a cake-walk. They lazily tried to solved this problem by throwing in a ton of tacked-on extra modes and level challenges.

I really don't appreciate cheap resorts at making games difficult. They should have made the base game more challenging.