Topic: A serious question for a hardcore fan site

[Morning star]

First things first.. As a new guy i risk asking something that's been talked to death. If this topic has been gone over already, i ask for a pardon in advance.

So here is my question.

Everybody knows that SOTN was a turning point for the future of Castlevania games. Would you choose to go back in time and rob the world of the masterpiece that was SOTN if it meant that the style of play and storyline would have remained the same for a longer period of time? Or are you happy with the direction these games went in and you wouldn't change a thing?

I ask this because the games released after the conclusion of the snes era started to leave a bad taste in my mouth. N64 and on.. Don't get me wrong, curse of darkness was great, but it didn't feel like a castlevania game for me and LOI was a bit weak. I have no experience with anything past PS2. Also never played anything past the Gameboy Advance.

[Abnormal Freak]

SOTN is one of the best in the series, so no. If it hadn't been made, I highly doubt there'd have been any new entries in the old style. In some ways it seems SOTN prolonged the life of the series, here in the States at least (and part of the reason IGA made it that way is because of poor sales and waning interest in Japan).

[Morning star]

Yep and that's the other thing.. I always had this question in my mind, but was always afraid that the answer would have ended up being exactly what you just said. The death of the franchise.

[Shiroi Koumori]

I agree with Freak.

Plus my 2 cents.
I knew the existence of Castlevania since the Famicom days watching my dad play, but SOTN was the main reason I was hooked into Castlevania (along with lots of female fans who didn't cared about the series until that point). And I actually liked the metroidvania format.
Thus, I won't go back in time.

[shelverton.]

I don't think SotN is to "blame" for what followed it. The N64 games could've possibly happened anyway, even if SotN had never happened. The GBA/DS games, on the other hand, were built on the SotN formula, so those may not have been made. I loved the SotN clones though so I wouldn't go back and chsnge anything. I think Castlevania was always gonna change sooner or later. And yes; Maybe the series would've been dead by now if it hadn't been for SotN. But out of all the games that followed it, it only directly influenced maybe half of them? Dunno. Lost count.

[Morning star]

I don't think SotN is to "blame" for what followed it. The N64 games could've possibly happened anyway, even if SotN had never happened.

True story. The move to 3D was coming anyway.

 

I agree with Freak.

Plus my 2 cents.
I knew the existence of Castlevania since the Famicom days watching my dad play, but SOTN was the main reason I was hooked into Castlevania (along with lots of female fans who didn't cared about the series until that point). And I actually liked the metroidvania format.
Thus, I won't go back in time.

I actually found this very interesting. Mostly because i found this to be true as well. The female fan base did seem to grow MUCH larger after the release of this game. I was never sure why though. My girlfriend liked it. Her friends seemed to like it. Even my sister liked this game and she is not a big gamer.

[Shiroi Koumori]

I actually found this very interesting. Mostly because i found this to be true as well. The female fan base did seem to grow MUCH larger after the release of this game. I was never sure why though. My girlfriend liked it. Her friends seemed to like it. Even my sister liked this game and she is not a big gamer.

Hmmm... I could think of big 2 reasons.
1) ALUCARD! Ayami Kojima's drawings (of brooding emo pretty boys) have big time appeal for females.
2) The game is easy.

[Morning star]

Hmmm... I could think of big 2 reasons.
1) ALUCARD! Ayami Kojima's drawings (of brooding emo pretty boys) have big time appeal for females.
2) The game is easy.

The game is easy, no argument there. But.. are we sure Alucard is a guy? I think i need the Crocodile Dundee crotch check on that one

No, i know what your saying, but i still don't understand it. Oh well, at least he didn't sparkle, lmao!

Edit: Just wanted to make sure you know that i am just joking around. New forum and all. It's better to be safe and all that 

[Dremn]

As much as I love the classic games, SotN was a necessity to happen. It breathed new life into the franchise and kept it going for much longer than Konami might have intended. I have the feeling Castlevania would have been one of those franchises that would have been dead after the SNES/Genesis era.

After LoS I feel like Konami has decided to make it an important tradition to reboot the franchise every decade or so.

[X]

Would I go back in time to stop SotN? No. It was a really good game for me and still is. SotN was a necessity for the series, but also a double-edged sword. The series was prolonged, however it quickly became stale due to the stylization of story-telling and reuse of Rondo graphics that also appeared in SotN. I do believe that CV64/LoD was going to happen with or without SotN's introduction to the gaming community. I also believe that the other two 3Dvanias (LoI + CoD) were influenced by CV64 to make better 3Dvanias, but did not spiritually succeed where CV64 had (same for LoS in that in that light). And as for the LoS trilogy, we'll just have to see what Konami can dish out before we can decide if it's better or worse.

No, i know what your saying, but i still don't understand it. Oh well, at least he didn't sparkle, lmao!

Diddo! Vampires do NOT f**king sparkle. I curse that terrible, horribly written novel series to the abyss forever! 

[Ahasverus]

SOTN is a masterpiece and there would not be Castlevania today without it.

[Ratty]

I love the Classicvania games and I think that line includes some of the greatest games ever made. But I also think SOTN is one of the best ever made even if it's not my personal favorite. I wouldn't want to rob the world (including future generations) of it. Plus I mostly enjoy the Metroidvanias that came after. Also as much as I like many of the Classicvanias the formula almost certainly would have gotten stale and the series would have died way earlier.

[Flame]

You have not missed much by not playing past the GBA. The DS games were a sharp decline in quality over the GBA games, in almost every way. Even some of the gimmicks felt forced and there solely to have a gimmick.

as for SoTN, it cannot be blamed for what happened after. So No, I'd say that SoTN should stay. in a theoretical time travel retcon though, I would have advised against moving to the GBA.

They should have stayed with the PS1 for a while longer, then jumped to the PS2.

I would point at Mega Man, which I often compare. It stuck to the 2D PS1 style for 2 more games past their PS1 debut, and then jumped to the PS2, where results got fudgy in a similar way to when CV first tried to do 3D. (difference being it wasn't REALLY Capcom's first 3D Mega Man game, though it WAS the first 3D attempt at the classic formula)

I think that had they stuck to the PS1, the production values would have been higher, and there might not have been nearly as much asset reuse.

I guess in general I'd just keep SoTN, but advise IGA AGAINST trying to make SoTN 2.0 and making lightning strike twice. Because in doing so, the franchise stagnated terribly.

[Shiroi Koumori]

The game is easy, no argument there. But.. are we sure Alucard is a guy? I think i need the Crocodile Dundee crotch check on that one

No, i know what your saying, but i still don't understand it. Oh well, at least he didn't sparkle, lmao!

Edit: Just wanted to make sure you know that i am just joking around. New forum and all. It's better to be safe and all that 

Ahahaha! No offense taken. 
If I am not mistaken Kojima was channeling the bishounen characters of shoujo manga from the 70s/80s era then adding her own definition of gothic flair.

True at least he doesn't sparkle. I agree with X in sending that novel series into the void.

[Morning star]

It seems like most people agree on this. The old games are great, but the series would have died without a new direction. As much of a die hard as i am, i do tend to agree. It's watching for new reproduction games and rom hacks for this guy. Classic 2D Castlevania games will never die as long as the original fans are around

You have not missed much by not playing past the GBA. The DS games were a sharp decline in quality over the GBA games, in almost every way. Even some of the gimmicks felt forced and there solely to have a gimmick.

Thank you for this information. With the way things were looking i figured this to be the case, but it's nice to hear somebody else confirm it.

Ahahaha! No offense taken. 
If I am not mistaken Kojima was channeling the bishounen characters of shoujo manga from the 70s/80s era then adding her own definition of gothic flair.

I'm going to take you at your word on that one, lol.   I have heard this manga thing talked about before, but i clearly missed the boat. I'm guessing this was a joke, but you managed to convince me. Hell, i dont know anything about it, lol.

And to all who cast the twilight series into the pit.. Solid work!!