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What happened to Castlevania?

by GH Staff

In lieu of the recently released Castlevania: Lord of Shadows 2, we will take a look at a formerly top franchise that is now falling off. Konami had turned its attention to a new trilogy in 2010 as it tried to change things up with new characters and a different style of gameplay. This resulted in mundane games and confusing content. Lords of Shadows 2 has not received very welcoming reviews, and even though the battle system was praised, the story and the lack of exploration has given this game an identity crisis. The game expanded its locations by adding a city, rather than focusing on the castle, which affected the typical environment and overall atmosphere that the franchise is accustomed to. As much as the combat was praised, combat has never been the focus of Castlevania games. Sometimes change is good, but sometimes roots need to be reverted to.

The original Lord of Shadows was immediately deemed as a God of War clone.While not necessarily a bad thing, one would think the idea would be to offer something different from the competition. Ironically, the 2D part of the trilogy, Castlevania: Mirror of Fate for the Nintendo 3DS (and now on the PlayStation Network) was a fantastic effort in terms of gameplay and generating that classic Castlevania atmosphere. The music in Mirror of Fate rivals that of the legendary Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The main issue with Mirror of Fate was its linear design, as exploration was limited. Players could eventually play with three different characters, one of which being Alucard from SOTN. There were some 3D elements to the game, and those elements were done correctly. The most important thing to note about Mirror of Fate is its emphasis on traditional Castlevania, something that Lord of Shadows 1 & 2 have completely neglected.

Mirror of Fate on the 3DS (and now PSN) was a good throwback to old Castlevanias. It was 2D and created an excellent atmosphere with a top notch soundtrack.

Mirror of Fate on the 3DS (and now PSN) was a good throwback to old Castlevanias. It was 2D and created an excellent atmosphere with a top notch soundtrack.

Some games just do not transition well to 3D. Zelda and Mario are exceptions (Mario still suffered some issues with Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine). Nintendo realized a classic-style Mario would be a good idea, and reverting back to that concept has clearly paid off. Sonic, on the other hand, has clearly struggled. Sure, Sonic Adventure was fun, but plagued camera angles and the focus on speed have been lost. Sonic Generations came out a few years ago, and the classic action was excellent. A clear nostalgia effect kicked in, as the classic portion of the game was fantastic. Now Sega is going back to 3D, and more of the same failing result will likely be the case. Newer generation kids were never able to experience classic Sonic and appreciate the blistering speed at the time. Another game that, arguably, did not do a good job moving to 3D was Metroid. While it was not a 3D action game, it became a first person shooter. When Other M was released on Wii, that combined 3D action and FPS gameplay, but ultimately the game suffered from the 3D action portion.

This leaves us with Castlevania. The last, great major console release was fifteen years ago with Symphony of the Night. It is almost to the point that you wish Konami had gone out on top with that game and never released another. The Nintendo 64 releases were the first foray into 3D action, and those games suffered from camera problems and outright boredom. The direction Konami took from there led Castlevania to the PlayStation 2. These games were fully 3D and much improved from the Nintendo 64 versions. These games still did not capture the essence that was Castlevania. These titles on PS2 came out as being repetitive, as they reverted to using the whip as a weapon. These games were nothing to write home about, which at this point left the series in limbo until the announcement of Lord of Shadows years later.

Symphony of the Night was the peak of Castlevania games. The perfect atmosphere, difficulty, gameplay design, and most importantly enemies.

Symphony of the Night was the peak of Castlevania games. The perfect atmosphere, difficulty, gameplay design, and most importantly enemies.

While all of this was happening after SOTN, it seems the bulk of what made Castlevania so good went the way of the portable system. The Gameboy Advance carried some excellent titles that were derivatives of SOTN. CastlevaniaHarmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow were excellent titles that still used different weapons and had a direct setup taken from SOTN. The only thing that hurt these titles was the lack of an astounding music soundtrack, no thanks in part to the hardware it was on. The Nintendo DS saw more titles as well, but by this point the whole concept was recycled over and over again. The PSP would also get Castlevania: Dracula X, a longtime Japanese release that never made it to the USA.

You might be too young to remember (there is pity involved), but Castlevania was not too far behind Mario and Metroid in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The original Castlevania and Castlevania 3 (we won’t speak of Castlevania 2) were legendary titles that carried Konami through the 8-bit days. Castlevania used to be Konami’s flagship (besides Ninja Turtles) long before Metal Gear was popular. Super Castlevania 4 blew away Super Nintendo owners with its control and difficulty. Everything that the series had built to this point culminated with the Super Nintendo version. Not to mention, the Sega Genesis got its own release with Castlevania: Bloodlines, which allowed players to choose two different characters. This game felt much more like the original Castlevania’s on NES.

Where does Konami go with the franchise now? The series clearly needs a reboot. While the concept of playing as Dracula is neat, it isn’t Castlevania. You hunt Dracula. There is no stealth involved, and who cares about combos? IT’S NOT GOD OF WAR! Would remaking Symphony of the Night be a good idea? Doubtful, as that would anger a lot of fans, but possibly releasing something that revisits the enemies and environment from that era would be a good start. If Konami has the ideas that have proven to work, it should focus on them. The same could be said for other franchises such as Resident Evil. Konami needs to find a way to salvage this franchise, and it needs to take as much time as needed in doing so before it’s too late.