JBoc924It seems like just yesterday we were witnessing the overload of awesome that was Nintendo’s E3 2010 press conference, complemented by strong showings all throughout by the many publishers and developers who were in attendance. Now, we’re less than a week away from this year’s E3 and it’s already shaping up to surpass last year’s spectacle. And what better way to kick off the E3 festivities than by tuning in to Konami’s first annual pre-E3 show tomorrow, taking place in notable cities around the globe. An event which I feel we’ll be getting some neat Castlevania revelations from. So, what ‘vania content could we actually see get announced tomorrow? Time to speculate!
Now, before we get into the actual act of speculating potential ‘vania announcements, it’s worth noting that this classic franchise will be seeing its 25th anniversary later this year. So, yeah, I strongly believe that Konami definitely has something up their sleeves to celebrate the milestone. Back when the series reached its 20th anniversary 5 years ago, we received a very lovely bonus with Portrait of Ruin that gave us a neat artbook, a handy timeline and an awesome soundtrack (and, of course, a branded DS game case and stylus). So, what will Konami have in store for the series’ 25th?
Nintendo will soon be launching, in time for their E3 press conference, the eShop service for the Nintendo 3DS. What this service will do is enable owners to download games for their glasses-free 3D handheld. Among the line-up of titles will be a selection called 3D Classics, which will entail classic NES/SNES titles revitalized with 3D support. Joining the ranks of such classics like the original Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda, which have been confirmed be re-released with 3D support, is the original Castlevania in all it’s 8-bit glory. But, if we’re already getting a 3D-ready version of this classic game, how can a full-blown remake be forthcoming?
Yeah, yeah, I know. We’ve already received faithful re-imaginings of this NES classic by way of Castlevania Chronicles and Super Castlevania IV. But what if Konami is prepping a full-blown 3D enabled 2.5D remake for the 3DS akin to the treatment Rondo of Blood got with The Dracula X Chronicles. Such a move would make perfect sense, especially since, as aforementioned, the series’ 25th anniversary is coming up this year. What better way to celebrate it than by going back to the game that started it all and giving it a full remake for the 3DS. But why 3DS? Well, I think Konami should pay respect to the system Castlevania was conceived on and with their strong support for Nintendo’s handheld platforms in the past, this should seem all the more likely. And we already know that Iga has 3DS dev-kits in his possession, so that makes this notion even more possible.
I recently composed a feature talking about how it’s time for a true sequel to Symphony of the Night, and back in 2008 we all thought one was actually making its way to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. That notion spawned from the teaser trailer Iga brought with him to TGS 2008. The video showed ‘vania fans the return of Alucard in what definitely seemed to be a follow-up to the much revered Playstation classic. It’s been three years since then and we haven’t heard anything about this game, which, of course, has led to the belief that it’s been completely canned. Could Konami whip this back out in time for E3?
For all we know, this game could still potentially be deep into development for its originally intended platforms or perhaps for the Wii successor. This sprouts an interesting predicament, though. MercurySteam has already been tasked to take care of the franchise’s 3D action-adventure exploits on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 , despite their first offering, Lords of Shadow, being a game set in an alternate timeline, so where does that leave Iga and his team? I do believe that this, or perhaps any other 3D console title Iga has planned, could co-exist with what MercurySteam is doing with Gabriel Belmont and their version of the franchise’s mythos. It’ll make series diehards happy, although it may be cause confusion among the not-so initiated, having the main timeline and the alternate one running simultaneously. And plus, who wouldn’t be happy to witness Alucard return to grace gaming?
Ah yes, Julius Belmont. The last, chronologically-speaking, member of the celebrated Belmont clan of vampire hunters. He played substantial roles, even serving as a playable character in his own dedicated mode, in both Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow for the GBA and its sequel Dawn of Sorrow for the Nintendo DS. He was also a DLC character in the XBLA-exclusive, possibly heading to PSN, Harmony of Despair. So, what makes him such a prominent and downright awesome Belmont? Well, for starters, he succeeded in, along with as of yet unnamed allies (most likely Alucard and a Belnades descendant), finally putting an end to Dracula. Which then led to Soma Cruz but that’s another story.
The events in which Julius and his allies put an end to the Prince of Darkness have come to be known as the Demon Castle War or quite simply: 1999. That year is quite important to ‘vania fans and just the mere mention of it plants seeds of excitement waiting to blossom upon an announcement of an actual game taking place in that pivotal year. Mere mentions is really all we’ve actually been getting in regards to that part of the series’ lore throughout various entries in the franchise, the most notable ones being the aforementioned Sorrow games. But when will Iga and company finally give us the ’99 game we’ve all been dying to play? And on what platform? Knowing Iga and his support for Nintendo’s handheld platforms, one would be wise to include the 3DS in the list of contenders, but this story arc has enough potential and downright anticipation to be a console release as well. Another question is whether it should be 2D or 3D? But most importantly, will this game every come to fruition? I sure hope so, and who knows, maybe next week at E3 or tomorrow at Konami’s Pre-E3 show we’ll get that announcement we’ve all been dreaming of. Or maybe not…
Here’s a big one: Castlevania 5. Yeah, I’m aware of Vampire’s Kiss but I think we’re long overdue for a full-fledged, numerical, sequel to the series. And what better time to release such a game than for the series’ 25th anniversary, paying respect to the storied history of the franchise while at the same time giving us the next main entry. What system should this land on? And once again, since this question is quite important to fans, 2D or 3D?
Personally, I’m pushing for a 2D sequel but I’m not oblivious to the fact that that may be a risky move for Konami, from a business standpoint, unless, of course, they go digital with it akin to Capcom and their recent retro Mega Man sequels. And speaking of which, Iga stated back around the time when the Wii brawler Castlevania Judgement was about to launch that we was keeping a close eye on Capcom and what they were doing with Mega Man 9. He stated how if that game sold well and was met with strong critical praise, he’d consider taking a similar approach for Castlevania. Now here we are, with Mega Man 9 and 10 seeing successful launches both critically and commercially across all its compatible digital platforms. So, how about that Castlevania 8-bit/16-bit sequel, Konami? I’m personally going for 16-bit especially because it’ll differentiate Konami from Capcom in terms of these retro revivals, and hell, it may lead to Capcom revitalizing Mega Man X upon the potential success of a potential 16-bit Castlevania 5. Funny how the world works.
This announcement is very possible, especially due to recent reports which indicate that the game is already being set for release on the Playstation 3. The question here is, how will Konami exactly handle this Harmony of Despair PS3 port? Will they release the base game free of any of the additional post-launch DLC or will they opt to release a ‘complete’ version of the game including all the extra content? Either way, it’s nice to spread the co-op ‘vania love to PS3 owners.
For those uninitiated, Harmony of Despair is a 2D multiplayer-oriented Castlevania game in which players are able to fight their way through multiple maps as one of the members of an all-star roster. Series favorites like Alucard and Simon Belmont are present, the latter of which was made available via DLC in his glorious 8-bit form. DLC wasn’t just restricted to Simon, though. Harmony of Despair was met with very strong support post-launch, though the pricing of the DLC, along with dreadful delays, wasn’t exactly met with open-arm responses at first. In the end, fans had a meaty ‘vania experience to plow through, whether alone or with up to 5 other friends via Xbox Live. Don’t let the major complaints regarding the game’s re-used assets from the DS entries keep you from downloading the game. Now, it’s time for PS3 owners to whip it good online.
This one would be quite a predictable move for Konami to make, especially when taking the series’ upcoming anniversary into consideration. The series has spanned multiple consoles since its conception and it would quite nice to have a multiplatform collection disc released compiling the classic 8-bit and 16-bit games. If released on the Xbox 360 and/or Playstation 3, trophies and achievements would be present, obviously, adding even more replay value to these timeless classics.
But a potential comiplation disc could possibly include a different set of games, though including the aforementioned pixelated ones would be more sensible due to the anniversary. We could possibly see, the ever so popular, HD collection released for the series, entailing both Castlevania: Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness. This release could possibly be digital, taking a page off Capcom’s book with their Resident Evil Revival Selection in the ‘States. Then we can also have a potential handheld collection, compiling all the GBA and DS ‘metroidvania’ entries, for the 3DS. Regardless of which route Konami decides to go with a potential compilation release, it’s sure to have something to appeal to all the ‘vaniacs.
Now here’s an interesting one. Lords of Shadow still hasn’t received its final piece of DLC, ‘Resurrection’, but that doesn’t stop us from already wanting a sequel from the talented team over at MercurySteam. While it may be a tad too soon for full-blown exposure of a sequel, we may end up getting a small tease fo what’s to come in MercurySteam’s next chapter in their ‘vania opus. And what more, Kojima is prepping a trailer for E3, that can be seen on his Twitter page, which may or may not be related to Castlevania at all. We can’t rule it out right away, though.
So, what if Konami does in fact reveal a forthcoming sequel to Lords of Shadow, how will it actually be? Lords of Shadow’s epilogue, while downright amazing, left many puzzled over the future of this new alternate ‘vania universe. Will a sequel put us in the role of Dracula himself as we’re tasked to once again take on Satan? Or will this new series of games gradually build up to the events depicted in the much-talked about epilogue? We can’t really say at this point in time, but perhaps ‘Resurrection’ (when it finally releases) will help shed some light on the matter. Playing as Dracula is an enticing, albeit nontraditional, notion, though. For nearly 25 years gamers have been experiencing the war between the Belmonts (and other vampire hunters) and Dracula from the former’s perspective, so letting fans and the uninitiated alike play as Dracula (which is something Lords of Shadow and Aria/Dawn of Sorrow already technically do) would provide quite a spin to the overall mythos of the series. I mean, for a series that’s so devoted to the Prince of Darkness, it’s about time we finally get to see his character depicted on a level where he’s not just the end-boss in the games. Kudos, MercurySteam.
That wraps up my Castlevania E3 predictions. Obviously, one shouldn’t be expecting all of these to be announced, but I’m pretty confident at least one of these potential games will be made real. Konami’s pre-E3 show will be kicking off soon so we won’t have to wait long for a potential ‘vania announcement. What do you guys think? Which of these games would you want to see get announced?
