Support NeoGAF

[Patrick Klepek]

while everyone's oogling over the reggie interviews flooding the sites, most people probably missed the great interview 1UP did with koji igarashi (aka "iga") of castelvania fame. i dunno, it's nice to see an interview that doesn't ask the creator to spell out the new features of his games, and instead tries to see wtf is going on in his head. some interesting comments.

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3138794&did=1

I am looking back to Symphony of the Night when developing this game, but as you know 2D and 3D games are so different so I can't really say Curse of Darkness is a 3D version of Symphony of the Night.

IGA: Well, one thing that makes it difficult is that the two screens have quite a big gap between them. That makes it hard for most gamers to view both screens a once. So with the two screens split we decided to focus the action on the bottom screen.

 

[C- Warrior]

NG and DMC1/3 literally ate Castlevania and shitted it out.

Castlevania in 3D is a joke, it just can't compare to the better known action titles that are out.

 

[novery]

I also made a point to ask about the new anime look of the DS Castlevania after the mini-controversy that brewed on GAF. And looks like Ferricide was right! The anime look is for teh kiddies.

IGA: Yes, we contracted the character art to an animation company in Japan. The reason being that Ayumi Kojima is a very busy lady and I wanted her to focus on the art for Curse of Darkness on PS2. Basically, I was afraid to ask her for additional help. (laughs) And from my perspective, the Castlevania demographic and the user base of Game Boy Advance doesn't match. The games may be geared for an older audience. So with that in mind we decided to do this game on Nintendo DS using character art that could appeal to everyone. I'm hoping to catch a younger audience with the DS Castlevania this time around. And of course Ayumi Kojima is a terrific artist, but I think her art is best suited for an older audience.

More here: http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=3&cId=3138794

 

[SantaC]

1UP: By looking to please fans, do you find yourself being held back from creating the games you really want to create?

IGA: I find with 3D games right now that everybody is focusing on graphics and the actual gameplay is not progressing very much. We're going backwards in a way. As a game lover, I have lots of ideas on how to do a unique 3D game. Maybe doing something by experimenting with the hardware and making a game that looks and plays like a retro one, but one that is presented in 3D.

I agree with this man.

 

[jett]

MAN, the camera angle in CoD looks extremely FUCKED UP. They should just go back to the way it was in LoI. Also, the game look ugly as sin.

 

[Mejilan]

True, but MAN am I hoping it's good. And yes, as much as I had optimism for LoI before it came out, I hated it after it came out.

I only hope, though I doubt, that Iga learned his shit in the interim. Nanobreaker sucked, right?

*sighs*

At least we still have AoS2. I have no doubts about how that's gonna turn out. There was a marked improvement from HoD to AoS, and AoS is probably my favorite of the SotN style of CV.

 

[SantaC]

Some new Castlevania DS pics.

http://www.1up.com/media?id=1585867&type=lg

http://www.1up.com/media?id=1592485&type=lg

the 2nd one shows how the new soul system will work. Interesting.

 

[Red Scarlet]

If he's the guy that was interviewed on the Castlevania Chronicles CD, I'm still mad at him for not going through with a Rondo of Blood port to the PS1.

 

[SantaC]

Oh yeah I mirrored this pic from 1up.com since it seems you couldn't get it to work with an IMG tag.

Looks interesting.

 

[Mejilan]

I think he wanted to, but the CV Chron game sold terribly, so he was shot down from the powers that be at Konami.

Edit - Regarding pic #2, very cool.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Bah. I bought it, and the game makes me feint on level 2. He can just mail me a copy.

Wasn't Chronicles a very limited release (like 20,000 total)?

 

[Drakken]

Thanks for pointing out the new pics, SantaCruzer. Pic #2 is nice.

 

[Mrbob]

When IGA and crew can produce a competent 3D game, I'll listen to his viewpoints on how 3D games are aging.

Pretty much the masters of 2D though.

 

[disabledHeliocentric]

This new DS one looks hot. But I'm afraid the whole Metroidvania thing in 3d has been done in some form or another by at least half a dozen other games most of them doing it better than Lament. And now hearing the bad things about nanobreaker I'm really unsure what the deal is here. I mean, maybe they should just let Capcom and Tecmo make these kind of games and focus on 2d and other franchises. Because if you'd go as far as to count games with survival horror aspects or elements of stealth as in some way Metroidvania like, then the list of games that better IGA's 3d efforts is really quite long.
I kinda wish I had a DS to play the 2d one.

 

[SantaC]

I kinda wish I had a DS to play the 2d one.

It's not out for another 6 months or so.

 

[radios shipping overview]

I also have to think about not only the hardcore fans, but the female Castlevania players. They are a small portion of the fan base, but that's part of the reason why I wanted to integrate an experience point system into Curse of Darkness -- to allow female gamers to enjoy powering up their characters.

No stereotypes here! No, sir! When I feel like complaining about the neutered difficulty in modern CV, I guess I get to blame all those female gamers! *stab*

 

[DjangoReinhardt]

IGA: I find with 3D games right now that everybody is focusing on graphics and the actual gameplay is not progressing very much. We're going backwards in a way. As a game lover, I have lots of ideas on how to do a unique 3D game. Maybe doing something by experimenting with the hardware and making a game that looks and plays like a retro one, but one that is presented in 3D.

Like the 2.5D game fans have been demanding for 7 years now?

The problem with Castlevania is Iga, pure and simple. The portable games have been stagnant design-wise, save the superficial magic and weapon systems, since CotM and LoI was exact type of shallow mess he critiques here. Get him off Castlevania and maybe the gameplay can progress.

 

[SantaC]

while I think AoS is a great game, I always liked CotM better. It had a more mysterious feeling to it, and who can forget the music in the catacombs?

CotM = Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe
HoD = Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
AoS = Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo

 

[Mejilan]

AoS <==> CotM >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> HoD

Which one I prefer (between AoS and CotM) varies depending on my mood, both were so awesome.

 

[Kumiko Nikaido]

IGA: "I find with 3D games right now that everybody is focusing on graphics and the actual gameplay is not progressing very much."

Ok, so why the hell did you make Nano Breaker?

 

[Dujour]

I think (hope?) that's what he learned after nanobreaker.

 

[ksinghsf]

I guess I'll post this here... According to magicbox, Konami has recently registered two new names : Castlevania: Seal of Dark Curse, and Castlevania: Moon Cross. Guess these will be the names of the upcoming DS and PS2 games, though not sure which is for which.

 

[AndoCalrissian]

Lose the outline around Soma, for God's sake!

 

[Shaheed79]

Your not sure which is for which? Your joking right?

 

[ksinghsf]

Your not sure which is for which? Your joking right?

Oh duh, I'm stupid. Well then, at least we finally know the name of the DS Castlevania.