10 replies to this topic

[toptenmaterial]

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME NEW CASTLEVANIA!?!

So I did a google news search of "Castlevania", and supposedly there are two new titles coming out. The first is a sequel to Lords of Shadow, and is rumored to be available on the Vita and upcoming Wii U. The second is a platformer for the 3DS, which was described as a platformer with two playable charecters and a co-op mode. I'm not sure if this refers to simultanious New SMB type co-op, or weird Portrait of Ruin co-op.

I am very excited for some new Castlevania handheld titles, as these are long overdue. Metroidvania seems to fit in with Nintendo portable like a fish to water. I'm not too sure how I feel about the LoS 2 game for Vita; my gut tells me that it will end up being a lot like the 360 release, visually stunning but not much of a game. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a platformer on the Vita either. Anyone who has played Rayman Origins can attest to the the Vita's platforming chops.

Comment and speculate away!

[Austin]

I'm definitely excited about the 3DS game (I was contemplating selling my 3DS, but with news of this I will gladly be holding onto it). I just hope it isn't like Portrait of Ruin. I enjoyed that game, but I definitely could have done without the dual-character system. The game was completely designed around this and you basically had to play with both characters out at once if you wanted to make any kind of progress without it getting ridiculously repetitive. It wasn't so bad once I got used to that, but I want the option of being able to fly solo like in Dawn of Sorrow or Order of Ecclesia.

As far as Lords of Shadow 2, I did enjoy the first one, but I felt it wasn't a Castlevania game. Not at all. The only similarities to the old games were in naming conventions, and that's basically it. There was also a small part where a familiar Castlevania tune plays (that was in the music box section), but that's just a very tiny portion in the grand scheme of things. Also, I felt there were way too many puzzles, and the game went on for far too long for its own good. Still, a good game, but hardly a Castlevania game. I will probably check out the sequel but I'm not holding my breath in terms of it being more Castlevania-like than the last one.

[xg4bx]

i'd love a metroid-vania on the 360/ps3 with lush 2d art

[StanJr]

Castlevania for a Nintendo console? Get out of here.

[pce_collector]

I might try the 3DS one. To me, 2D is the way Castlevania should be.

[MagitekAngel]

Okay, after 3 Metroidvanias on GBA and another 3 on DS... alright.
Metroidvania was a great idea and I continue to enjoy them, but the games do feel a little played out. I say give the form a proper send-off with an HD console-based edition that makes us feel like its SOTN all over again.

And it should be set in 1999. The fans here ought to know what that would entail.

[theloon]

Castlevania 64 is where the "3D" versions should have stopped. Unfortunately, they've been churning out 3d sequels for so long some peeps think that's what a 'vania is.

[MagitekAngel]

You could sort of say that Castlevania has become a lot like Sega's Shining series over the years, in that it experiments with adapting the gameplay mechanics of popular contemorary series. When Shining in the Darkness came out, it aped the first-person dungeon crawl style that was all the rage in the late 80's and early 90's. The Shining Force games were basically Fire Emblem. Shining Wisdom was a lot like Zelda. It goes on.

Castlevania started off as a pretty standard platformer. Toward the late 90's it started borrowing liberally from, obviously, Metroid. Lords of Shadow on the other hand is a lot more like God of War.

[Austin]

MagitekAngel, on Thu May 24, 2012 4:06 PM, said:

Castlevania started off as a pretty standard platformer. Toward the late 90's it started borrowing liberally from, obviously, Metroid. Lords of Shadow on the other hand is a lot more like God of War.

To go along with that, Lament of Innocence was a lot like Devil May Cry in some ways (as many action games of the time were trying to be).

[Emehr]

I wish they'd go back to the classic Castlevania formula and add what was great about Castlevania 3:

- action/platformer
- secondary characters (but only if you meet them)
- branching paths (which may mean giving up having the option of using certain characters)
- one special item at a time (this is important, having an inventory makes you just "collect it all" while having only one special item means making the big decisions on what to keep and what to cut)
- main weapon gets demoted when you die

Even something like Castlevania Bloodlines would be great. It's classic Castlevania action with great visual effects. They've pretty much run the "Metroidvania" (or Castleroid, as I call it) formula into the ground. Not sure if I could get excited about another one. And if it's a 3D Castlevania, count me out. Castlevania 64 didn't exactly win me over and all the reviews of subsequent 3D games have been lukewarm at best.

[toptenmaterial]

MagitekAngel, on Thu May 24, 2012 4:06 PM, said:

You could sort of say that Castlevania has become a lot like Sega's Shining series over the years, in that it experiments with adapting the gameplay mechanics of popular contemorary series. When Shining in the Darkness came out, it aped the first-person dungeon crawl style that was all the rage in the late 80's and early 90's. The Shining Force games were basically Fire Emblem. Shining Wisdom was a lot like Zelda. It goes on.

Castlevania started off as a pretty standard platformer. Toward the late 90's it started borrowing liberally from, obviously, Metroid. Lords of Shadow on the other hand is a lot more like God of War.

I think that you are right, at least in the respect that the series borrowed from other tried-and-true games. However, I give SotN and it's GBA/DS successors a lot of credit for pushing platforming when 3D was all the rage.