9/5/07 - Castlevania: Order of Shadows

              

              

It's not so much that it's big news when Konami brings a series title to a new or relatively untested platform--it's that Konami had the gall to bring a new entry to mobile phones, a platform that you never associate with serious gaming, a genre Castlevania certainly inhabits. It's with the blessing of Koji Igarashi that lead game designer Tyrone Rodriguez and his staff take on the daunting challenge of bringing Castlevania: Order of Shadows to tech-challenged cell phones and finding a way to capture the spirit of recent standouts and release a worthy and more importantly "fun-to-play" (Koji advises) product.

In what should be a touchy subject to legacy sticklers, Order of Shadows, though featuring Belmont warriors, doesn't fit directly into the functioning storyline and is instead a "gaiden" or "side story" placed sometime during the 1600s. Furthermore, the random generator of fate has chosen Desmond Belmont and siblings Zoe and Dolores, his sisters, to battle against the forces of Count Dracula, whose scheme will no doubt implicate a twisted cast of supporting characters.

How it will all play out, in terms of quality and fan acceptance, is anyone's guess, but Konami was kind enough to supply a peek behind the curtain via a quick Flash demo that shows off the storyline and gameplay basics. Order of Shadows will see release September 18th of 2007.

2/1/07 - Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

    

    

    

Click on the image for a larger version

Begging, pleading, petitions, e-mailing campaigns--they were all fruitless until February 1st of 2007, when on "Konami Gamer Day" Koji Igarashi introduced Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the Playstation Portable. As the second entry into the Castlevania Chronicles sub-series, The Dracula X Chronicles is a remake of the famed Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, the PC-Engine: Turbo Duo title that saw only a Japanese release due to the failure of the system's western counterpart, the Turbo-Grafx 16. In contrast to the Akumajo Dracula X68000 remake, in which the designers simply bolstered the presentation through the manipulation of existing sprite-work, The Dracula X Chronicles is a true "remake," rebuilt from the ground up in 2.5D style--that is, a fully polygonal world as viewed from a two-dimension plane a la Contra: Shattered Soldier and New Super Mario Bros.

But not to worry, traditionalists: Included on the UMD (the game's media) is the original-version Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, which bore a superficial resemblance to the SNES' own Castlevania: Dracula X and used the enemy templates as borrowed by future titles like Symphony of the Night, Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. The PC-Engine classic is said to be unlockable, rewarded to those who play through the remade version.

As an extra bonus, the title will also include the Playstation classic (the aforementioned) Symphony of the Night, which by its rightful name, Akumajo Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku, completes the "Dracula X Chronicles." It will not like its Chi no Rondo companion feature any remade elements, but it's as a standalone a nice extra for those who might have missed the original. (There's nothing to suggest that Symphony will feature any of Sega-Saturn version enhancements.)

(All images are credited to 1Up.com, which also has featured a five-minute video of the remade Rondo in action.)

4/21/06- Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

    

Seen above are the first two official screenshots for Konami's upcoming Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, which will be the second series' title to find its way to the Nintendo DS. From best we can tell, its aesthetics certainly point to it following the lead of the past four handheld titles, with Dawn of Sorrow's influence most prevalent, and landing in the expected genre of adventure-RPG.

Here's a collage shot - click on the image for a larger version

Though, early details do confirm in part what I hoped a Dawn of Sorrow follow-up would entail: Building upon what transpired in the excellent "Julius Mode," you will control more than character at a time--in this case, the duo comprised of the whip-wielding Jonathan Morris, Jr., and the magic-using Charlotte Orlean. The game is set to a World War II backdrop, which places the game in a post-Bloodlines world. As you could guess by the the name, Portrait's Morris is the son of Bloodlines' John Morris (though the anime-style artwork doesn't paint the clearest of pictures). Familiar-summoning, afforded to both characters, will apparently play a big part in the game's design.

The heroes' challenge is to put a stop to the evil deeds of two vampire sisters, who are looking to resurrect the overworked Count Dracula. Most disturbingly, in terms of storyline, Koji and crew will use the war's very real consequence, "the deaths of thousands," as a subplot where the lost souls are seeking to escape limbo by rebuilding Dracula's castle and using its demonic properties in an as-of-yet-unexplained way. The two events will somehow tie together.

Videos from GameSpot: www.gamespot.com/ds/action/castlevaniaportraitofruin/
Videos from IGN: media.ds.ign.com/media/774/774649/vids_1.html

For this and more information, you can find out more on Portrait of Ruin in the latest issue of Nintendo Power. Thanks, also, to computerandvideogames.com.

1/24/05- Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

        

        

        

(Click on images for larger versions)

In following up the announcement of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow 2 (as previewed on this page below), Konami has finally confirmed the rumor of another title for the PS2. Yes--Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is in the works. While the title is expected to closely follow the blueprint laid forth by Lament of Innocence, it is said that Curse of Darkness will feature a new graphics engine, a new camera system, and a more nonlinear quest; also (as frequent contributor Carl notes) the project has seen a boost in staff, as people who worked on Silent Hill also show their wares here. However, don't expect the formula or the overall style of play to change.

The game's placement is set in 1479, three years after Trevor Belmont and his allies (Grant, Sypha and Alucard) confronted and destroyed the Count. The story: Though destroyed, Dracula's lingering curse has begun to take its toll, and people have begun to exhibit a more deviant nature amidst the darkness, be it mob violence, pestilence or through heresy. In order to escape from such a predicament, our main hero Hector--described as a "Devil Forgemaster who had once refined his skills under Dracula"--has fled the scene to find a more peaceful life. During this journey, he crosses paths with his old friend Isaac, another Devil Forgemaster, who reveals, mysteriously, that he's implicated Hector's wife in a deadly conspiracy. Isaac hurries home only to find that his home has been "morphed" by Dracula's dark magic, with there no sign of his wife. What will follow is Hector's revenge, but his course of action against Isaac and the forces of evil has yet to be explained.

Though, details confirm that Hector will command "innocent devils," in what I assume is this game's "system," that will afford him different powers, the most intriguing of which is the ability to fly (on a winged dragon, perhaps?). There are also rumors of an Alucard appearance, fresh off the first deadly encounter with his father. And other questions arise: Will Lament's excellent fighting system carry over? Will the sword-wielding Hector approach combat in the same fashion? Will we learn more about what happened to Mathias? And will they continue to employ watered-down Symphony elements, like Lament's useless RPG system? The answers are mere months away.

All images and information were supplied by the following sources: Carl "The Gargoyle," gamesarefun.com and jeux-france.com.

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