Castlevania series

[Insanecyclone]

Why hasn't there been a new one recently? Are they done "experimenting" with the series or what? I know lords of shadows 2 is the the works, but that's all I know.

Personally I want another old school Super Castlevania 4 style game again. The SOTN formula was great for awhile...now it's boring doing the same thing again. Rebirth on the Wii store is pretty damn fun, just want a sequel to it.



Haven't seen a Castlevania discussion in a while.

[Ragns]

[Tricen]

[Deathbringer]

[Kaisha]

I could go for a 'retro' new release like Super C4 Toss in faked mode7 effects for bonus points.

I kinda wore myself out on the Metroidvania setup courtesy of the DS releases, although they were excellent all around. Something that goes back to the simple routes would be dandy. Shit, that reminds me also, I never beat Castlevania X on my PSP yet.

Anyone here that's played the PS2 Castles? Only did a bit of Lament of Innocence here but I recalled my time with it being good other than some camera hang-ups.

[Kaylia]

Screw the remixes, nostalgia is even stronger with this one for me


This track and MM2's willy castle were the shit back then. I could listen to them all day long.

[Oravis]

[The Blackrose]

The problem with Castlevania is they have practically wrote themselves into a corner. They established the Belmont origins (Lament of Innocence), covered a breadth of the Dracula fights, then made the Belmonts disappear thanks to the results of Symphony of the Night. And then when Dracula/Belmonts come back, they come back for the "final battle." The only content they've had since is people inserted into the Belmont/Dracula back-and-forth (Portrait of Ruin, Order of Ecclesia, Curse of Darkness). And that is also finite.

The series effectively wrote Dracula and Belmonts out of a job.

Lords of Shadow is the only thing they have going for them now, because it is a full reboot.

[Laude]

Not gonna lie, haven't played much of this series. I liked 4 on the SNES though.

[Metah]

I must be the only person in the world who doesn't like Super Castlevania IV.

Lord of Shadow was also not that impressive to me. I like the SotN/OoE type games instead, those were amazing

[Charismatic]

This is why I love kajet.

[Kaisha]

The series effectively wrote Dracula and Belmonts out of a job.

Lords of Shadow is the only thing they have going for them now, because it is a full reboot.

Nothing stopping them from just creating more Castlevanias based on the series' tropes as they already had another dev try with the 'reboot'. Not all of it has to be canonically connected.

Did Castlevania64 even fit into the grand scheme of things? I quite enjoyed that way the fuck back, but can't remember jack about the story, and the game itself probably aged horrifically also.

[Xno Kappa]

Lords of Shadows 2: Belmonts in New York.

[Odesseiron]

I must be the only person in the world who doesn't like Super Castlevania IV.

Lord of Shadow was also not that impressive to me. I like the SotN/OoE type games instead, those were amazing

Nope, I can't stand SCIV. Nice to see finally someone agrees with me.

I loved LoS however.

[Insanecyclone]

[Caiyuo]

Lords of Shadows 2: Belmonts in New York.

shit like I wouldn't play that

[Kaylia]

Nothing stopping them from just creating more Castlevanias based on the series' tropes as they already had another dev try with the 'reboot'. Not all of it has to be canonically connected.

Did Castlevania64 even fit into the grand scheme of things? I quite enjoyed that way the fuck back, but can't remember jack about the story, and the game itself probably aged horrifically also.

I never understood why that game received so much hate, I liked it a lot. The garden maze was scary as shit when I played it for the first time.

Sure, the control wasn't very good, and it was glitchy, but it was the case for most game back thené

[Metah]

Nope, I can't stand SCIV. Nice to see finally someone agrees with me.

I loved LoS however.

LoS gameplay was like God of War but done... less good I guess? In my opinion.

I can't say anything for the story cause I got the Japanese version of the game and it turned out to be way too hard for me to understand some portions of it.

[arus2001]

Part of me prefers the Metroidvania style of the games over the 3D, but that isn't to say a good 3D game could be awesome. Simplifying the games back to the I-IV would be a step backward, I think, as it risks neutering the usefulness of items you acquire and placating the "GOTTA FIND EVERYTHING!" some people have going for them. Perhaps the biggest fault I'd wager against the M-types is the world doesn't really evolve as you both grow stronger and get closer to new boss baddies. Instead, you get mirror flips of the same areas with maybe some stronger/new foes, but there's little feeling you're encroaching on a fight with Death other than maybe a clock tower or him swooping in to annoy you.

Chronologically, yeah, they've pretty much fucked themselves over. Story went from something like "Dracula revives every 100 years!" to "Some person/cult/thing is trying to do it sooner!" and Dracula as an evil presence has almost become comedic since he's been totally absent from most of the games until the near-end, maybe getting a line or two, then vanquished. Ecclesia was perhaps the freshest approach since, instead of Drac predominantly looming in the horizon, we're instead led to believe that you're trying to act independently of needing Belmonts and finding the power to kill him on your own. Of course, we pretty much learn preacher man is basically Shaft 2.0, but up to that point, it's more of (wo)man vs. mythological that I think the series as a whole could better from if, instead of some beast being plain fodder, you could somehow mold a story around it and create a conflict between the unknown/things that go bump in the night.

Maybe in a weird way, I'm pining more for a Castlevania in the RPG sense. Yes, we already have stats and EXP in some of them, but character development has largely been shallow or non-existent. Teaming up with others is rare, or just an outright gimmick for a plot development. I guess you could say LoS got close to this, but it was still largely a one man show with Gabriel and some hyped creatures we're led to believe super bad-ass had a tendency to go down with little more than a whimper (at least on normal difficulties). I would like it to be dark and try to avoid camp (Like the Shadow Hearts series progressively fell into), but I'm never against some well-placed humor.

[Lucavi]

Give me a PS3-era 2D Symphony of the Night and I'm sold.