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The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: Zydalc on October 12, 2019, 03:05:06 PM

Title: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: Zydalc on October 12, 2019, 03:05:06 PM
As much the title says, does anyone have any ideas how to reboot Castlevania?

Fore example, I think Migami Games's "Wallachia Reign of Dracula" might be shaping up to be a nice template for a Castlevania reboot which I would ditch IGA's story completely and I would simply merge the historical Vlad Tepes with the original character from Bram Stoker's Novel as in he's the same character described in the novel while ditching the 1924 play high collar cape and tuxedo to make way of having him clad in all black well kinda like this:

(click to show/hide)

As in Dracula from Bram Stoker's novel got his vampirism from black magic and alchemy from the scholomance where he might have been more likely the Tenth Scholar who was chosen by the Devil to ride the Dragon (well hence his name) and control the elements as well.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: piscesdreams on October 13, 2019, 10:38:20 AM
After seeing how they nailed the atmosphere of the original games, I'd give it to the Smash Bros Ultimate developers.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: X on October 13, 2019, 11:37:22 AM
Quote
As in Dracula from Bram Stoker's novel got his vampirism from black magic and alchemy from the scholomance where he might have been more likely the Tenth Scholar who was chosen by the Devil to ride the Dragon (well hence his name) and control the elements as well.

Dracula got his name because his Father Vlad II was a member of the Order of the Dragon 'Dracul'. Dracula means Son of the Dragon. And that's putting aside the Church propaganda spin; Son of the Devil. But that would still be interesting for Dracula's character in CV none-the-less  ;)

In terms of Castlevania I'd bring the series back to basics: Classicvania style. None of the gimmicks we saw in the IGAvanias. And no mention of any of the IGAvania games, characters, elements, etc. either. I would wipe the slate clean and start anew (this includes all the Japanese influences as well since CV is European-themed). The play-style of Super Castlevania 4 would be a good entry point for a reboot (8 directional attacking and whip swinging). And while I wouldn't have a game of it, there would be a cut-scene prologue telling us how Dracula came to be the king of Vampires from the once mortal warrior/autocrat of Wallachia; Vlad III. Of how he was assassinated during a battle and would later-on rise from his grave as the Vampire King leaving behind an empty grave. Kinda like it is in real life though the vampire bit isn't there, again, in real life.
The Belmonts would still have their supernatural abilities via the mystical properties of their bloodline. Only they can use the whip as was the case even before the IGA games. It would not be strictly males wielding the vampirekiller as it was with the IGA games. And the whip itself would not be an instrument of alchemical concoction but rather a divine holy relic that the Belmont family had been blessed with. I'd also bring back the hammer horror campy Halloween feel to the series as that was what it started with.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: Zydalc on October 13, 2019, 02:35:53 PM
Dracula got his name because his Father Vlad II was a member of the Order of the Dragon 'Dracul'. Dracula means Son of the Dragon. And that's putting aside the Church propaganda spin; Son of the Devil. But that would still be interesting for Dracula's character in CV none-the-less  ;)

And while I wouldn't have a game of it, there would be a cut-scene prologue telling us how Dracula came to be the king of Vampires from the once mortal warrior/autocrat of Wallachia; Vlad III. Of how he was assassinated during a battle and would later-on rise from his grave as the Vampire King leaving behind an empty grave. Kinda like it is in real life though the vampire bit isn't there, again, in real life.

Well I also knew about Dracula's actual name origins but I was pointing out that the 10th scholar of the Scholomance that the Devil collects as his due also fits his name since he's been taught to ride the Dragon as well hence becoming Solomonari.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholomance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomonari

I guess it's possible that he may have been killed by a Belmont during when Dracula was mortal as Vlad III but he has a risen from the dead as a Extremely Powerful Vampire due to the black magic and alchemy he learned at the scholomance and now envisions that Vampires "deserve to be the dominant race of the earth" hence he envisions where a Vampire Nobility/Aristocracy rule the world and Human Mortals as a whole reduced to no more than "commoners" or cattle.
 
Of course keep in mind this is also the same character from Bram Stoker's novel of course but I'm trying to figure how Death and Castlevania comes out of this especially I like the idea of a sentient castle tied to Dracula's power and able to command legions of Demons and I'm trying to find how Death or Azazel the Angel of Death comes to his side as well.

Of course as for Carmilla I'm thinking of also using the same character exactly as she's portrayed from the book in contrary in her In Name Only renditions of her character from the series but I would rather not have her antagonistic but rather I would have it that the entire Karnstein Bloodline are Vampires as well which means either the Mother from the carriage wreck from the beginning of the book or Carmilla's father Count Karnstein could serve as better antagonists.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: The Puritan on October 13, 2019, 05:18:32 PM
I'm in the back-to-basics camp too: return to the pre-IGA era-- Castlevania's very foundations--- and start fresh from there. But after playing Grimoire of Souls, I wouldn't mind them simultaneously continuing the original timeline. Or... would it be too confusing/unwieldy to have more than one continuity going?

About combat: I've noticed the mainline Belmonts are always confined to wielding the Vampire Killer, so I'd like a future 3-D title to be more like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden. The whip can be the default all-around weapon, but as the game goes on, let the player find a small handful (about 4-6) of named unique weapons to tackle different enemies and situations.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: X on October 13, 2019, 09:17:58 PM
Quote
About combat: I've noticed the mainline Belmonts are always confined to wielding the Vampire Killer, so I'd like a future 3-D title to be more like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden. The whip can be the default all-around weapon, but as the game goes on, let the player find a small handful (about 4-6) of named unique weapons to tackle different enemies and situations.

Well CV does have its sub-weapons: Axe, Boomerang/Cross, Holy water, Dagger, Stopwatch. These could be expanded to fill the role of more prominent secondary weapons like we saw in Ninja Gaiden. And maybe they could be upgradable too like it was in CV64/LoD.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: Zydalc on October 14, 2019, 09:10:47 AM
Of course another thing too is go to a similar route like the Bloodstained games like for example the first game in the series is done in a SNES style which is getting to point A to point B with a Belmont which they meet other characters along the way to recruit like in Dracula's Curse or Curse of the Moon and of course the sequel though is a full blown metrovania done in the same engine as Ritual of the Night starring a Vampire protagonist who can't use the Belmont sub-weapons like the Crosses, Holy Water due to her being susceptible to it but she can use Vampiric raw powers though and magic/spells pretty much.

And of course unlike Curse of the Moon/Ritual of the Night or any IGAvanias though, it'll instead have the same gothic horror atmosphere as Super Castlevania 4, the Lecarde Chronicles and of course the recent Blasphemous game. Anyways the reason why I've picked the SNES like graphics for the first game is because I don't think NES style can capture gothic horror atmosphere.

Of course the characters themselves and the artstyle would be less anime and more realistic approach that is.

Of course also because I've also longed for a game where you play as a Vampire where you face mortal vampire hunters along the way using Holy weapons against you like throwing Holy Water at you or using crosses and such especially villagers fearing you of course.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: Aceearly1993 on October 14, 2019, 05:42:51 PM
I wouldn't mind mixing the game engine of Touhou Luna Nights with play style and art design of Lecarde Chronicles (1), Castlevania Chronicles, Castlevania Rebirth, etc. in 9~10 stages stage-based structure for main game with several hidden dungeons/scenario unlocked upon finished the main game. Also wouldn't mind seeing "FM Synthesizer-like" music return to its rightful throne like it once did in Castlevania Rebirth.

Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: VladOfWallachia on October 15, 2019, 07:04:19 AM
I would begin with SCIV as a starting point. My reasons being that SCIV is my favorite game in the series, a sequel in its style has never been made, and the formula has room for iteration and improvement.

For improvements on the formula, I would focus first on restoring the difficulty balance of the game while retaining the free form controls.

The dark, gothic horror atmosphere of the Castlevania games has always been a huge part of its appeal for me, so I would ensure to keep a fitting atmosphere throughout.

I would keep the Stoker Dracula as the primary villain, but I would mix his character with the historical Dracula. I think the world that Vlad Tepes lived in makes for a great origin story setting for the Stoker Dracula. Dracula was a brilliant man, who mastered every discipline he attempted to conquer, and was considered a master alchemist. What drove him down the path to Scholomance? This is what I would want to see as a long time fan of the legendary character.

I would also like to play as Dracula! The iconic lord of the vampire himself, give him a lead playable role in one of the games. I would love to play through a set of dangerous trials within Scholomance that test the worthiness of an aspiring vampire lord candidate.

I would make one game that's like a traditional Castlevania- you play as a vampire hunter that fights through the countryside and into Dracula's castle. But I would also make a game that takes place in Scholomance and you play as Dracula, so you can see the experience from the opposite point of view.

I would have a set of "regular" levels, but I would also create a lot of optional sub-levels that test some specific skill. Maybe you are forced to fight a buffed up version of a previous boss, or two of the previous boss at the same time, or perhaps you are given a short but difficult platforming obstacle course.

and I could go on forever...

I will be answering this question in the form of a playable demo soon.


Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: Zydalc on October 19, 2019, 12:04:19 AM
I would also like to play as Dracula! The iconic lord of the vampire himself, give him a lead playable role in one of the games. I would love to play through a set of dangerous trials within Scholomance that test the worthiness of an aspiring vampire lord candidate.

But I would also make a game that takes place in Scholomance and you play as Dracula, so you can see the experience from the opposite point of view.

I think that would rather work best as a flashback cutscene than a game than anything else.

Of course Dracula also happened to be 10th scholar that the Devil picked as his due of course to ride the Dragon and control the elements hence ironically fits his name.

Of course there's this comic coming out which serves as a nice prequel as well not to mention Matthias Corvinus what IGA's Castlevania Dracula is based on (Mathias Cronqvist) also enrolled at the scholomance as well.

https://www.comixology.com/Dracula-Son-of-the-Dragon-comiXology-Originals/digital-comic/812466 (https://www.comixology.com/Dracula-Son-of-the-Dragon-comiXology-Originals/digital-comic/812466)

https://dailydead.com/exclusive-comixology-originals-to-release-new-graphic-novel-dracula-son-of-the-dragon-on-october-23rd-check-out-new-preview-pages/ (https://dailydead.com/exclusive-comixology-originals-to-release-new-graphic-novel-dracula-son-of-the-dragon-on-october-23rd-check-out-new-preview-pages/)
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: X on October 19, 2019, 10:31:30 AM
Maybe they'll explain it in the book but I don't get why Matthias Corvinus was at that school. That, and he and Vlad did not become friends until during Vlad's six year imprisonment at Corvinus' castle. They should also mention the Bathory connection as that was near the end of Vlad's reign as well. The book looks interesting so I definitely want to see how it will all pan out.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: AlexCalvo on October 19, 2019, 08:49:01 PM
I would honestly like a minimalist 3D action game.  You are Simon Belmont come to slay Dracula.  No dialogue, no story beyond the absolute basics.  Just badass combat and platforming, all the staple monsters, and a kick ass Dracula fight at the end.  Also do it on the epic sword and sorcery art style of the classic game covers.

Now, I have ideas I would prefer, but they are less of a reboot and more reimagining/sequel to the original timeline.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: X on October 20, 2019, 10:19:06 AM
Quote
Now, I have ideas I would prefer, but they are less of a reboot and more reimagining/sequel to the original timeline.

That is what's known as a 'soft reboot'. It does its own thing but is still in some ways connected to the series. They did this with J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: VladOfWallachia on October 21, 2019, 06:56:25 AM
I think that would rather work best as a flashback cutscene than a game than anything else.

Of course Dracula also happened to be 10th scholar that the Devil picked as his due of course to ride the Dragon and control the elements hence ironically fits his name.

Of course there's this comic coming out which serves as a nice prequel as well not to mention Matthias Corvinus what IGA's Castlevania Dracula is based on (Mathias Cronqvist) also enrolled at the scholomance as well.

https://www.comixology.com/Dracula-Son-of-the-Dragon-comiXology-Originals/digital-comic/812466 (https://www.comixology.com/Dracula-Son-of-the-Dragon-comiXology-Originals/digital-comic/812466)

https://dailydead.com/exclusive-comixology-originals-to-release-new-graphic-novel-dracula-son-of-the-dragon-on-october-23rd-check-out-new-preview-pages/ (https://dailydead.com/exclusive-comixology-originals-to-release-new-graphic-novel-dracula-son-of-the-dragon-on-october-23rd-check-out-new-preview-pages/)

Thanks for informing me about that comic! I’m excited to read through it once it’s released.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: Foffy on October 22, 2019, 04:34:38 AM
The closest I can imagine is just making a Classicvania with a very simple story. I think they were already burned by the Lords of Shadow reboot, which despite having the best selling entry in the franchise, its two followups were some of the worst selling at release. Mirror of Fate might remain the worst selling Castlevania game ever released on a portable, and the sales for the series on such platforms was usually quite strong.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: KaZudra on November 10, 2019, 06:17:46 PM
Bram Stoker's Bizarre Adventure.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on November 15, 2019, 01:14:48 PM
First off: NEW TIMELINE.

In order to sell the new canon as something unconnected with what came before, there'd be only a few familiar faces from the old: there must always be a Dracula, and there must always be a Simon Belmont. The second game would probably be a competent and not-lazy-DeviantArt-fanfiction rendition of Castlevania Legends to serve as the origin story and update Sonia Belmont's character into one notable for reasons other than "being a chick" and "being non-canon". Her son would be called Trevor, but he doesn't get his own game, and his only role is that of Simon's ancestor in lore. Alucard is not in this timeline at all. One of the games would be titled Resurrection with a plot that echoes the major beats of what the original game would have had, but make it less goofy and more Mary Shelley: Victor Belmont refuses to take up his legacy, prompting the Church to do arcane rituals to summon back Sonia Belmont to mentor him back to the hero he's meant to be.

I'd probably stick with the Metroidvania style, featuring the fluid Igavania movement system, but with Lords of Shadow's flashy combos and Mirror of Fate's emphasis on blocks, counters, and dodges. No reason to fix what ain't broke, right?

Have a plan for at the very least six games, each one starring a different Belmont running from Sonia's tale (moved to 1477 to coincide with the real Vlad Tepes' historical death). That gives us three reimagined Belmonts (two of which were never prominent to begin with and are therefore RIPE for reinvention) and three new ones, and the fans would simultaneously get assurances that --heh-- the sun ain't going down on the franchise here thanks to that long term plan.

There'd be a lot less emphasis on having a definitive canon, with Dracula in particular being portrayed in broad strokes and his origins being given several contradictory theories over the course of the games with none confirmed, leaving it to players to decide on what they think happened. The Belmonts would have a much more clear-cut history though.

The art direction and character design would be done with an eye for historical accuracy, being both historically and regionally appropriate (this is one thing that has always pissed me off about the series thus far), and the environmental and monster design would take visual cues from Dark Souls and Bloodborne.

The games would be fairly easy by default for accessibility by all skill levels, but also feature adjustable difficulty that could take things up to a truly punishing level, with AI becoming more aggressive and more inclined to use group tactics against the player at higher difficulties.

The climactic game would take place in 1977, partially to give the saga a span of exactly 500 years (more than enough time to play around with), but mostly just so I can drop silly references to the rather (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_A.D._1972) ignoble (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Rites_of_Dracula) three (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_7_Golden_Vampires) final Hammer Horror Dracula films. It would also finish on a definitive ending with no possibility for future stories past that point in history. After all, every great story needs a beginning, a middle, and an end.

There would definitely be a few references to Lords of Shadow and the old Classic timeline, but nothing substantial enough to encourage people to try to link the new with the old. Most would be pretty obscure references for lore hounds. Much more common and more easily found would be references to other works of Vampire fiction such as The Horla (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77999.The_Horla), Good Lady Ducayne (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/271695.Good_Lady_Ducayne), Carmilla, Varney the Vampire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varney_the_Vampire), The Night Stalker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Stalker_(1972_film)), Dark Shadows, and others would be in abundance. Probably a few anachronistic Buffy references as well because why the hell not.

Basically, Castlevania as a celebration of everything that the series has been so far, and a celebration of vampire fiction as a whole.

I can't think of something more appropriate to do as a rebooted series.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: Zydalc on November 19, 2019, 07:48:29 PM
There would definitely be a few references to Lords of Shadow and the old Classic timeline, but nothing substantial enough to encourage people to try to link the new with the old. Most would be pretty obscure references for lore hounds. Much more common and more easily found would be references to other works of Vampire fiction such as The Horla (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77999.The_Horla), Good Lady Ducayne (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/271695.Good_Lady_Ducayne), Carmilla, Varney the Vampire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varney_the_Vampire), The Night Stalker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Stalker_(1972_film)), Dark Shadows, and others would be in abundance. Probably a few anachronistic Buffy references as well because why the hell not.

Basically, Castlevania as a celebration of everything that the series has been so far, and a celebration of vampire fiction as a whole.

I can't think of something more appropriate to do as a rebooted series.

Of course I would also throw in references from White Wolf's World of Darkness games like "Vampire: the Masquerade" and "Vampire: the Requiem" regarding the Gothic punk atmosphere (like Vampires in Leather Jackets in rainy darkened graffiti allyways and nightclubs to Vamps in Suits in their Ivory Towers thinking they lord the city below) and of course other references like Paul Feval's "Vampire City" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/VampireCity) if the city of Selene and the Vampire Otto Goetzi can be fitted somehow.

Although my biggest inspiration would be this web comic by Philip Rice/Spearhafoc called "Undeath (http://apexsociety.thecomicseries.com/comics/122/)" which is part of his Apex Society series of comics which is loosely based on Kim Newman's "Anno Dracula" which has Dracula recruiting Carmilla, Orlok, Ruthven, (although Clarimonde and Varney are opposite sides) to take over England or rather to finish where he left off in 1892.

Then again as for Carmilla, I would defiantly go to a anti-heroine route as in portraying her as similar to the now popular Web Series of course being that Leather Clad broody gay lesbian vampire that creampuffs know and love although she's first in Dracula's side but she slowly defects and turns against him at the end and of course possibly digging deeper into the Karnsteins as well which maybe presenting Count Karnstein based on the Hammer films (like Lust of a Vampire and Twins of Evil) as a antagonist whose one of Dracula's right hand men or lieutenants that is (since he may have a history with him or rather dealing with his Father during his Order of the Dragon days as a mortal when serving the Holy Roman Empire) and Carm's mother (whose name is Marcella Karnstein) from the Carriage wreck scene from the beginning of the book has leverage on Carmilla hence why she's on Dracula's side of things due to having no choice (and I would base Carm's mother to be similar to the Dean from the Web Series only except she's not the goddess Innanna but rather a Karnstein since the entire Karnstein noble family are vampires) and of course there's Matksa whose Carm's adoptive sister which they have a Lestat and Louis relationship dynamic between them well similar to how they're portrayed in the Web Series as well.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: X on November 20, 2019, 09:43:30 AM
Quote
I'd probably stick with the Metroidvania style, featuring the fluid Igavania movement system, but with Lords of Shadow's flashy combos and Mirror of Fate's emphasis on blocks, counters, and dodges. No reason to fix what ain't broke, right?

The sponge enemies made that system broke. They were too tough (life-gauge-wise) and the combat cross was too weak, even when you collected more power-ups for it :P  Combos could work but only if they're handled well. GoW I feel did the best job on that front. The combat in GoW felt satisfying and the enemies were taking reasonable hits to kill. It wasn't overly excessive. But in LoS killing enemies took too damned long; dragging out the gameplay far longer then it should've. There needs to be a balance when it comes to enemies/combat/attack combos and LoS didn't exactly have that going for it.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: Zydalc on November 20, 2019, 04:16:29 PM
Well for one thing I would like to see a SOTN style Metroidvania starring a Vampire protagonist while the Prequel and earlier games is a Belmont protagonist.

Since it's supposed to draw the line that games having Belmont protagonists tend to be harder since they're human while Vampire protagonists would be fun and smooth to play as signifying how powerful they actually are compared to human characters.

Basically the first game has a Belmont protagonist that has the standard "Point A to Point B" and plays and feels like Lecarde Chronicles 1 and Super Castlevania 4 regarding the atmosphere especially.

The Second game is a "Metroidvania" Simon's Quest like game starring a Belmont and plays like Lecarde Chronicles 2 with the difficulty that is.

The Third game is alot like Dracula's Curse and Bloodstained Curse of the Moon which has a Belmont going to point A to point B but you can recruit and switch between characters and the endings can vary depending if they survived or not.

And finally the "last" game is a SOTN/Ritual of the Night style metrodvania where we finally play as a Vampire as a protagonist making it a worth a wait with the previous titles.
Title: Re: How would you reboot Castlevania?
Post by: Super Waffle on November 22, 2019, 09:02:49 AM
Would Lucy Heartfilia work as a Castlevania character? She fights with a whip and stuff.