DailyVania: Breakdown of the new ‘Reverie’ screens

Welcome to DailyVania, a daily feature exclusively here at Rely on Horror. DailyVania is your daily dose of Castlevania. You can expect editorials, news reactions, character history, videos, and much more! If there’s anything specific you want covered from the Castlevania franchise please shoot me an email at jbocanegra@relyonhorror.com. We do value our fans and their respective opinions, so you could expect to even have your opinions featured sometimes! Hopefully you all enjoy this feature.

Let’s dissect the latest Reverie screens

Along with an official announcement regarding when to expect Reverie, which is at the end of this month, Konami also sent out new screens of the upcoming 2-chapter DLC. These screens range from actual in-game scenes to artwork, and we’re going to dissect each of them. So, let’s begin!

 

Here we have an awesome shot of Laura. What’s immediately apparent is the very nicely detailed face! It’s probably just me but it looks like her character model has received a good amount of polishing, something which can be carried over to the rest of the models in this DLC. Perhaps this is why it’s been taking so long to come out. What’s also obviously apparent is the fact that she seems to be using a special move of sorts. Possibly at Gabriel judging by the pic’s caption. Gabriel is probably unsure of how much he can trust Laura and decides to try something funny.

It’s also worth noting that this seems to be a brand new location in the castle, which is to be expected since we’ve been promised that. The big gate in the back doens’t seem like it was something we passed on our initial journey. This image could also give us a glimpse as to what moves we’ll be able to utilize when we play as Laura, as was confirmed.

 

Here we have a return to the room that encloses the Vampire Wargame. The caption of this picture suggests that this whole time the alter in that room had some significance. This will possibly initiate a puzzle having to do with the remaining pieces on the board. Positioning them in spots that will activate “something”. My guess is that the board will open up to reveal a passage to the depths of the castle. We’ll see, though. It’s also worth noting how it seems to be really bright outside which then leads to all the grim reapers being in this stage, which were missing from this castle in the main quest. Thus leading to the reapers replacing the vampires who obviously can’t dwell in sunlight.

 

As one of our readers pointed out, this may be a still from the upcoming trailer which might utilize the game’s beautiful artwork and intertwine it with in-game footage. Or maybe it’s just an image signifying what we will see in the actual game. There’s two thoughts I have on this pic. The first one is that it probably takes place at the end of the game (before the after credits scene) due to the color tone of the background matching that of the final scenes before the climactic battle with Satan. Another theory is that this takes place within the depths of the castle where Gabriel is falling ever so deeply into darkness. Regardless, you can tell there’s forces at work within Gabriel despite this being just a piece of artwork. I mean, they must have released this for a reason right?

 

Here we have the teaser image that was released via Dave Cox’s twitter. According to the same post, this was part of a teaser trailer that he was currently editing for the upcoming DLC, which also makes the notion of having this trailer be part in-game footage and part stylized artwork all the more believable. But anyway, this image presents a very iconic pose for Gabriel Belmont. Channeling the intro scenes where Simon Belmont also stands tall facing the huge castle which houses all sorts of evil. This will definitely be in one of Reverie’s opening scenes and coupled with Araujo’s amazing score, this can be quite a memorable one. Very poster-worthy.

 

From one castle to the next!…Sort of. Essentially this is the same castle, but as we know, this haunted structure is constantly changing it’s formation judging by the fact that a map could never be made for wanderers to traverse its confines, as mentioned in-game. This scene will definitely have to do with the notorious time machine we’ve seen. Not only will Gabriel be learning more about the founders of the Brotherhood of Light pre-ascension, but now this suggests that we’ll be visiting the castle back when it was owned by Doctor Friedrich Von Frankenstein and when the Bernhard family resided in it. Then of course Carmilla overthrew them and made the castle her own, keeping the doctor within the heart of it as a slave to torture. We may experience that very act for ourselves here and maybe even get to see how Carmilla brought the once innocent Laura into her influence.

 

Here we have yet another new section of the Vampire’s Castle. The underwater section seen here has what looks to be a new enemy. Please correct me if I’m wrong but those look like enemies lurking in the vast pool of water. Possibly even a re-imagining of the classic mermen enemies. This was the same theory I had when this image was first released via Castlevania’s facebook page and I’m still sticking by this theory. we also get to see Laura here as she waits for Gabriel to make it across the body of water to reach her. Perhaps before this change of scenery we’re above ground in some other new section of the castle, which ends up collapsing and sees the two “heroes” being separated (Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmare style). This could also be an area connected to the castle sewers from the end of Chapter 5.

 

Here we have the first meeting between Gabriel and Laura post-Carmilla’s demise. Obviously, Gabriel is going to question Laura as to why exactly she’s summoned him. This is where most likely we’re going to get the revelation relating to the big “unruly evil” that Carmilla has once been able to have kept in check. The art style here is amazing and I can almsot visualize how this may look like in the upcoming trailer.

 

Now this is where it gets even more interesting. We know Gabriel’s ultimate fate, whether he’s going to try to alter that with the time machine is another story though, so here we see the seeds of that transformation possibly be planted. Gabriel must end up getting his vampiric powers from somewhere right? Well it seems like he’s going to get it from Laura somehow. I’m still sticking with a theory I made before about Laura dying in Reverie. This will possibly lead to her power going into Gabriel, or something along those lines. This can also be a direct follow up scene to the one pictured above, where Laura gives Gabriel the lowdown and is now telling him what he needs to do in order to overcome the castle’s hidden evil. It’s possible that Carmilla, due to her being the Lord of the Vampires, was able to use such powers to keep this evil at rest. With her gone, Laura’s powers alone may not be enough to overcome what Carmilla was able to for so long. It may be up to Gabriel to absorb such powers in order to ultimately “save the day”.

 

Now we have the final image. ” Beyond lies your destiny” is the official caption for this picture and it’s quite telling. With the full moon cast ever so brightly behind him, this could be part of the intro scene where Gabriel arrives at the castle once more. Or it could be Laura telling him that his destiny lies ahead of him, due to Gabriel eventually taking reign of the castle when he becomes Dracula. Both prospects are interesting, and it’s only a matter of time before we find out for ourselves what this will transpire into.

So there you have it! Hopefully you all enjoy this article and make sure to stay tuned for even more Castlevania news as well as more installments of DailyVania throughout the week. Once again, if you have any queries or requests make sure to email me at jbocanegra@relyonhorror.com. Till next time.