@Lumi Agree to disagree. You can't say on one Hanford canon to LOI but on the other hand something that sticks out like dogs balls is simply "a nod". We're not talking about some obscure Easter egg which you need to duck or break walls for, it's in plain sight.
Re: HC doesn't take place in any specific year, so it could potentially fit anywhere in a universe where there isn't already a Simon.
References don't always have to make canonical sense and there is no mandate that they should.
For instance, in Lords of Shadow 2 Revelations, Alucard can encounter a statue of Slogra (also featured during the opening of the modern day section in the main campaign). Like you say, it's not
some obscure Easter egg which you need to duck or break walls for, it's in plain sight.
It's smack dab THERE. It couldn't be any more right there unless it were a boss fight.
Slogra is not in any way canon in the Lords of Shadow games, yet, here's a giant reference to him, captured in digital stone. He's there
solely to be noticed. A fan who has no idea who Slogra is will just go "oh that's neat" and get on with their lives (if they notice it at all), but a more knowledgable fan will pull a Fonz and greet their old friend.
Eeeeey Slogs! How's the hatchlin's?This is the exact same principle I think this Simon Belmont nod operates on.
Also, owing to Haunted Castle's status as a adaptation/remake arcade port made when the only games in the series were Castlevania and Simon's Quest, I think we would be more than safe to assume it takes place in the same period unless something like a screen grab turns up that demonstrably shows it to take place in a different era.
Really though, and this is where I get off my high horse a bit, neither one of us can actually be conclusively right: even my argument is predicated on how Simon Belmont's adventures have been timed in timelines that share precious little in common with this history. And when we start reaching into the history of other universes to justify history in another, we're really just grasping at straws in a hypercosmic way. If you want to construct a headcanon, by all means, do it. Enjoy that headcanon. Nobody said it has to be correct to be fun.
If you REALLY want Simon Belmont to have adventured in 1650 or whenever and have directly failed in his quest, go right ahead. Order of Shadows doesn't take place in any timeline -- it's fanfiction. So go and make more fanfiction, because it's not like Konami is going to beat any of us to the punch there. This particular setting is super ripe for that sort of stuff.
Just please acknowledge that's what it is: with some generous headcanon-only adjustments and essentially no backing evidence, what you or I have is just a theory. A GAAAME THEO--
you know what, I think you get the idea.In conclusion, I reiterate:
In the end, why reference other games?
Because they can and we appreciate it when they do.