Castlevania ~ Order of Ecclesia Anticipation Thread

Cromarty · Post by **Cromarty** » Fri May 23, 2008 1:30 am

^I hear there's a translation patch for OiF. Dunno about Origins, haven't really looked.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Fri May 23, 2008 1:33 am

oh lol. That's what happen when I post at 3:00am.

There's a fan translation you can find if you Google around.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Wed May 28, 2008 5:48 am

Nintendo Powa scans (taken from the dungeon):

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i179/ ... 1742PM.jpg
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i179/ ... 1801PM.jpg
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i179/ ... 2051PM.jpg
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i179/ ... 2111PM.jpg
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i179/ ... 2157PM.jpg

Looks nice, but so did PoR with its "selected" promotional material. I'm keeping my hopes down since the main character has amnesia.

Summary (from Gfaqs):

- Game takes place in mid 1800s when Belmont went missing
- All people unsuccessful at combating Dracula until Ecclesia formed
- Shanoa is the main character - first time a female stars
- Shanoa can use Glyphs (have many abilities) - source of Shanoa’s power
- “No real weapons in this game” - Glyphs used for every attack with MP
- Glyphs can change form: Ex - turn into a sword
- Glyphs located in environments, found when enemies dropped them, and other ways
- New layer of strategy due to glyph MP consumption with glyphs
- MP refills quickly when not attacking
- Can create combos
- Glyph Union special attack: Huge sword travels across the screen, constant barrage of knife hits -requires hearts
- Glyphs can be used in other ways: Ex - Produce magnetic field and cling to metal rods
- Barlowe part of Order of Ecclesia - gives tips and teaches you about your abilities at the beginning
- Albus also part of the Ecclesia group - Takes Dominus at the start of the game(the best Glyph weapon against the Dracula) - Shanoa loses her memory + power)
- World map utilized
- More than 20 locales in the game, Shanoa travels to find Dominus
- Save statues, teleport rooms return
- Side quests given by rescued villagers - villager data available in menui
- Game looks more mature, somber, painted than other games on the DS
- Michiru Yamane handling sound again
- No returning characters except for Dracula
- Returning from previous versions: Leveling-up, dodging (L/R buttons), select button to switch between map and stats, hard difficulty setting, multiple endings, Wi-Fi support
- Wi-Fi: New item interface: you can have your own shop, vs. competition considers items used and damaged received to determine winner
- Other features NP can’t talk about

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Wed May 28, 2008 5:55 am

those illust aren't Kojima's.

But I like 1800. Guns. Balthier. Victorian style.

Many thanks and I sincerely hope that the game will please everyone who's waiting for it!

edit: oh, and that ivy background at page 42? GORGEOUS.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Wed May 28, 2008 6:04 am

Balthier. LoL. That was my first reaction.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Wed May 28, 2008 6:18 am

The whole XIX century is a delicate point for the saga. Ideally, Iga should give a nod to the gaiden events, or maybe he'll choose to discard them once and for all (Nathan, Cornell, Schneider & Co.).

I'd like if he'll keep the good habit of linking Belmont's fate with Bram Stoker's novel, something that has been done since MD VK.

Considering it's an action series where the plot is completely optional, Iga has been quite consistent as scenario writer. He's a much better scenario writer than game designer imho. Anyway, I liked how he made use of the Vampire Killer myth, Eric and stuff in the last one. So I'm fairly optimistic that we'll finally get a good clue as why the Belmonts disappeared during XIX century.

Also, Shanoa looks a lot more confident than hero-in-training Jonathan. That should make some people happy.

EDIT: page 39 Iga explains why the choice of a female lead - it involves monster's skirts fetish. I love japanese developers.

at page 40 it's mentioned that Glyph Unions don't consume MPs but rather hearts - that means Shanoa has MPs AND hearts, like Alucard / Juste, and unlike recent heroes. Cool.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Wed May 28, 2008 7:01 am

Turrican wrote:maybe he'll choose to discard them once and for all (Nathan, Cornell, Schneider & Co.).

Gee, I wonder what he'd do...

Turrican wrote:it involves monster's skirts fetish. I love japanese developers.

O:

Who's the monster? Iga?

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Wed May 28, 2008 7:09 am

I'm cautiously optimistic regarding the ingame artwork.

The ivy background looks great indeed and there's also hope in the trees on page 40, especially if you compare them to the badly cropped mess from the Forest of Doom/Dark Academy stages in PoR.

I'm not entirely convinced, though. The screenshot in the upper left corner of page 42 sets off my alarm, as it shows the same scanned-in "quality" as the caves of brownish brown in PoR.

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Wed May 28, 2008 7:23 am

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:- “No real weapons in this game” - Glyphs used for every attack with MP

That's just weird. And it's probably going to make people use up MP twice as fast.. heh.

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:11 am

That actually reminds me of CotM, where all attacks except the basic whip were done using DSS card combinations.

The new art is indeed good. Ayame did great drawn artwork, but when accustomed to handheld screens' tiny resolution, all the male characters looked like a bastardised version of Leonardo DiCaprio (if like males, at all).

FatalError · Post by **FatalError** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:04 pm

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:Nintendo Powa scans (taken from the dungeon):
- Shanoa is the main character - first time a female stars

To correct Nintendo Power (or whomever said it), Shanoa is the second lead female character in a Castlevania. Sonia Belmont (from Castlevania Legends for the Gameboy) is the first (even though it isn't considered canon). I consider Charlotte Aulin more of a "partner" more than a main character.

I also want to take this opportunity to mention that Shanoa is hot. Sorry, I have a thing for the thigh-highs (Sonia and Charlotte are also relevant to my intrests).

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:13 pm

*shrugs* I'd consider Carrie and Charlotte to be almost as much the main character as Reinhardt and Jonathan. But it doesn't really matter.

You know, when the screens for OoE were first leaked, I thought they were fakes and that Shanoa was probably ripped from some Japanese sex game.

I bet that whoever the unlockable character is will be male. I just hope it's not Richter... again.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:23 pm

I bet it's Balthier. That'd be even manlier than Maxim.

escadrille · Post by **escadrille** » Thu May 29, 2008 12:22 am

I enjoy the SotN rehashes because I really liked that game, but I think we can all agree there hasn't been anything esepcially creative added to any of them. Just the odd gimmick here and there.

Basically the 2D Castlevania series is now the Madden series.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Fri May 30, 2008 3:01 pm

Trailer's up

The new stuff looks great. The old stuff looks somewhat out of place. It looks quite good.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:32 pm

Very stylish intro.

I love some of the graphical touches like enemies casting huge shadows, and I really look forward to fighting that crab boss.

But the Shanoa sprite looks a bit weird to me, especially the stabbing pose (as seen in the second screenshot). I guess we´ll never see a sprite as good as Alucard again...

Anyways - giant multi-segment skeletons and skullspiders? Count me in.
NOW IS THE TIME OF YOUR DEMISE!

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:46 pm

Ha, an English trailer on the JP site? Anyway, mechanics look like the same old and either they're warning us about vast reused sprites, planning on surprising us, or just haven't gotten around to adding all the new enemies yet. New boss fights look inspiring. I really like the artwork and even the VA too. Well, I'm happy in any case since any 2D CV game is much, much better than no 2D CV game at all (poor Rockman...).

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Fri May 30, 2008 4:19 pm

Count Dracula looks like a dork...

Most multi-part enemies look quite stiff but the crab like creature looks good, because it has more moving parts.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Fri May 30, 2008 4:43 pm

Ganelon wrote:Ha, an English trailer on the JP site? Anyway, mechanics look like the same old and either they're warning us about vast reused sprites, planning on surprising us, or just haven't gotten around to adding all the new enemies yet. New boss fights look inspiring. I really like the artwork and even the VA too. Well, I'm happy in any case since any 2D CV game is much, much better than no 2D CV game at all (poor Rockman...).

It explicitly says that the trailer is from their event in America (Konami Gamer's day earlier this month), so you can forgive them.

What 'bout Mega Man? I'm sure they're cooking a new one now. Just wait 'til the press release from the Captivate (formerly known as Capcom Gamers' Day) event.

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Fri May 30, 2008 4:52 pm

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:The new stuff looks great. The old stuff looks somewhat out of place. It looks quite good.

I agree. Now they only have to make the gameplay match the visuals and deliver a product that's not glitch-infested.

Cromarty · Post by **Cromarty** » Fri May 30, 2008 7:01 pm

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:What 'bout Mega Man? I'm sure they're cooking a new one now. Just wait 'til the press release from the Captivate (formerly known as Capcom Gamers' Day) event.

I'm hoping for a followup to ZXA given the cliffhanger ending, rather than another Star Force thing.
Whatever will they call it, though?

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Fri May 30, 2008 7:31 pm

^^^Be patient, I am sure Capcom has a sequel to Advent in the works. New trailer looks great btw.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Fri May 30, 2008 9:36 pm

Same thing, bigger size (or just blown up)

I think that's as much of the game as I'll see. They've already spoiled like half a dozen bosses and levels. I'll keep you guys updated with new material, but I won't look at it myself.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:10 am

7 min gameplay vid

Seems like Konami is listening to Turrican! A Skeleton is a Skeleton according to Turrican. Now, Konami is trying to tell us that a save point is a save point and a church background is a church background so no need to make anything new for that stuff. Phew Konami is like saving the pennies.

All sarcasm aside, there's plenty of new stuff in that vid, but so did the first area of PoR. Almost all new stuff in that area. We all know how the rest is, right?

kozo · Post by **kozo** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 4:00 am

I cried, tears of joy, watching that video.

*warm glowies*

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:42 am

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:7 min gameplay vid

Seems like Konami is listening to Turrican! A Skeleton is a Skeleton according to Turrican. Now, Konami is trying to tell us that a save point is a save point and a church background is a church background so no need to make anything new for that stuff. Phew Konami is like saving the pennies.

All sarcasm aside, there's plenty of new stuff in that vid, but so did the first area of PoR. Almost all new stuff in that area. We all know how the rest is, right?

PoR continued to be mostly new stuff. We all know the rest is bloody excellent. And look, for every recycled skeleton there are new kind of ghosts and the long forgotten horse heads which have been redrawn. Don't be delusional for something you know that can't happen... When was the last time that Iga's team drawn a Castlevania entirely from scratch? Harmony of Dissonance?

Thanks for the video. Shanoa's sprite looks good. The Magnet Glyph sounds like unnecessary gimmick and the Monastery isn't that hot, though.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:18 pm

Turrican wrote:The Magnet Glyph sounds like unnecessary gimmick and the Monastery isn't that hot, though.

The way it looks from that vid it´s just a really annoying way of "moving upwards". But maybe it gets more interesting when it´s used in bossfights...

The trailer was really sweet but this video was just plain boring. That the guy playing it sucked at the most basic movements didn´t help, either. But well, it´s a very early vid.

What is up with that map, though? Now you just choose the locations on a map? If this game ends up not having a real main castle either I´m going to be pissed. At least in PoR the paintings tried to cover the fact that it had different separated levels instead of one connected huge castle, but this is just lazy. The way the older Metrovanias had all its segments connected in one cleverly designed castle gave them all a very particular feeling, knowing that you are moving inside a gigantic structure was brilliant. A bunch of random levels selected by a map screen throws that out the window.

I mean, that circus and desert levels in PoR were cheesy enough. Maybe we´ll get a jungle stage this time.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Thu Jun 26, 2008 5:05 pm

Turrican wrote:
UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:7 min gameplay vid

Seems like Konami is listening to Turrican! A Skeleton is a Skeleton according to Turrican. Now, Konami is trying to tell us that a save point is a save point and a church background is a church background so no need to make anything new for that stuff. Phew Konami is like saving the pennies.

All sarcasm aside, there's plenty of new stuff in that vid, but so did the first area of PoR. Almost all new stuff in that area. We all know how the rest is, right?
PoR continued to be mostly new stuff. We all know the rest is bloody excellent. And look, for every recycled skeleton there are new kind of ghosts and the long forgotten horse heads which have been redrawn. Don't be delusional for something you know that can't happen... When was the last time that Iga's team drawn a Castlevania entirely from scratch? Harmony of Dissonance?

Can't believe you're saying with a straight face that for every recycled sprite in PoR there was a redraw one. Kinda makes me glad that I'm not a diehard fan.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 5:11 pm

I really need to play a Castlevania game properly sometime. I played 1 and 4 a bit, but I feel I'm missing something.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 5:28 pm

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote: Can't believe you're saying with a straight face that for every recycled sprite in PoR there was a redraw one. Kinda makes me glad that I'm not a diehard fan.

If it's not 50-50%, it will be 40-60, or even 30-70 in favor of recycled sprites. I actually didn't count them myself, although it would be easy with all the bestiary pages at hand.

Anyway, that wasn't exactly what I said - (that second phrase with horse heads is a comment on the Ecclesia video, not PoR of course) I said PoR was mostly new stuff, but I didn't limit myself to graphics, I was judging the game as a whole package. Entirely new soundtrack, for once. New heroes, some new mechanics, stuff like that.

With Ecclesia they seem to keep it fresh at least scenario-wise. By now even lurker among here know that I value that more than some bunch of new sprites, but hey... I'll be the first to concede that the level of furniture recycling in that video you posted was alarmingly high.

FrederikJurk wrote:The way the older Metrovanias had all its segments connected in one cleverly designed castle gave them all a very particular feeling, knowing that you are moving inside a gigantic structure was brilliant. A bunch of random levels selected by a map screen throws that out the window.

That's a map feature like the one they used in Curse of Darkness. Map, hub, huge castle - the most important thing is to see if these new locations will be interesting. Egypt was cheesy but I did appreciate the twisted circus theme.