Topic: Castlevania Puzzle Game 'Encore of the Night'- iPhone

[crisis]

They needed a Castlevania game on this platform and this is a valid approach.

The market wasn't screaming for a Castlevania-themed puzzle app, though. That Harmony of Despair thing I can kind of understand; I look at it as Konami expirimenting with a multiplayer approach. But this.. this is just completely random, & it really doesn't make any sense for Castlevania. They're better off porting a simplified version of an older title, like they did with DoS on cellphones. And I never played OoS so I can't comment on that. They could've just gave it a different title with unique characters, why lend the CV brand name to this genre? I just think it's entirely unnecessary.


Whatever, I'll buy it anyway, it'll probably cost $5-10 bucks. Gives me something to do at work.

[nsideus]

It's very difficult to get any unbranded game off the ground on the iPhone or any mobile platform.  For every successful unbranded game on the App Store, there's 50 that failed.  Most of the successful games are ports from another platform.  And while they could've done a port, it probably would've sucked. 

I understand where they were going, while Puzzle Quest is more like a traditional RPG (turn-based), this is more like an Action RPG (fast paced Puzzle Fighter style).  It appeals to a large audience, puzzle and puzzle rpg fans, and for a game that is $5-10 I'm sure they'll get plenty of sales from Castlevania fans who are on the fence about it. 

LoS is trying to open Castlevania up to a wider audience.  I think this game has the same purpose.

[Reinhart77]

well, its nice seeing the classic SotN equipment sprites look decent and not so pixelly.  i would enjoy trying to collect them all in a dinky game like this.  ha, i see the Alucart sword is the one being displayed.  wonder if you can get an Alucart status in this game?

is this the world's first puzzle combat game to feature a life meter??

would you be able to play the game on your computer without owning an iPod or iPhone on iTunes?  though i suppose without the touch interface, it probably wouldn't work so well on a computer.

[Bloodreign]

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/video/niconico/sm9819872

Reminds me of the Taisen Puzzle Dama games, Konami has made plenty of them including Twinbee and Tokimeki. They are still making them on PS 2 in Japan.

[Fahrenheit]

Oh great. The first Castlevania game on iPhone is a puzzle game, not an action/side scroller.

[narkolepsi]

I don't know if anyone has seen this already, but I just stumbled across this blog entry posted by the developer and programmer of this game on the Konami Touch website. Basically, he's addressing the question of "why a Castlevania puzzle RPG?" and elaborating on some of the features. Apparently exploring Dracula's castle entirely will take around 20 hours in this game.  He also says they're aiming for a release date of June 10...I find this interesting.

http://konami.com/touch/blog.html

[Nagumo]

20 hours? So this is going to be an all new adventure instead of yet another take an already excisting CV game? *fingers crossed*

[narkolepsi]

20 hours? So this is going to be an all new adventure instead of yet another take an already excisting CV game? *fingers crossed*

Well, if this passage proves to be correct...

Believe it or not the RPG system in this game is quite evolved, it isn't just a generic RPG system pasted on haphazardly (dare I mention Order of Shadows again?). It includes most of the elements you'll find in Symphony of the Night and its clones, as well as other RPG features that have not been seen in a Castlevania game before. Beyond the action and RPG elements, an important feature of Castlevania is the exploration. Believe me, this feature is in this game in its full glory. A full iteration of Dracula's Castle is included in this game. While most iPhone games give you a total of 10 minutes worth of gameplay, exploring the entire castle in Castlevania Puzzle will take a good 20 hours. Not to mention the multiple endings and other features that will have you wanting to explore it over and over again. Exploration, action, tons of items, multiple endings dozens of different enemies, Rondo of Blood sprites...sounds like a Castlevania game to me. Oh and about the sprites, many of them have been updated by our in-house artist, Emily Steigerwald. With only one artist, we couldn't possibly update them all, but I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised with what we've
accomplished.

...then it looks like this game is going to be something new, yet familiar all at once. I certainly wasn't expecting this level of depth from it, that's for sure.

[Reinhart77]

That was a fun read.  The internationalization of Castlevania is getting a bit crazy.  I feel like a dope contemplating what the cheapest way to get some kind of device that could play this game.

I wonder if something like Sisters Mode from PoR would work on an I Phone?

[Inccubus]

I commend Gutierrez for manning up to Order of Shadows being a piece of crap.
The concept is interesting if pulled off carefully.
I still think Konami is guilty of milking at a corporate level.
And, if not all the sprites are going to be redrawn at a higher resolution like Alucard then I'd rather they just keep the originals.
Not that I plan to ever own an iPhone with which to play this.

[angevil]

Thank for the link, it was interesting to read it. Very nice of Mr. Gutierrez to take the time to write about the development. I can′t wait to see the trailer! I will buy the game for sure on the launch day. I wonder what music will be in it. I hope we hear a lot of great classics from SotN as well as some other well known CV tunes. Another thing: I hope they will include the multitasking fast app switching, that is a feature of iPhone OS 4.0. It would be a big mistake not to include that.

I wish someone would reveal where the hell is Iga. I hope he is making that Castlevania 3DS game for Nintendo. Maybe we′ll find out at E3.

[thernz]

It does sound ambitious. But it's a puzzle game and the screenshots looked pretty terrible.
I just can't get hyped for it. Well, I also don't have a iPhone so I probably shouldn't anyway~

[Super Waffle]

Reaction prior to obnoxious egotistical "I'm better than everyone else and I'm developing the best thing ever" Gutierrez posting:  WHAT THE HELL A PUZZLE GAME WITH REUSED SPRITES WTF KONAMI YOU'RE KILLING THE FRANCHISE

Reaction after obnoxious egotistical "I'm better than everyone else and I'm developing the best thing ever" Gutierrez posting:  Hey, this looks awesome!


Ah, the impressionability of random internet nerds.

[angevil]

blah blah

Don′t you agree it′s very nice of Gutierrez to explain the game and what′s it about, why and how it is being made? He seems very enthusiastic and positive about it, so give it a chance! I welcome this game, puzzle games are great for mobiles and with CV elements I will probably enjoy it. I think every fan should purchase it to support Castlevania. Let Konami know we love our favorite game series.

[crisis]

prunyuu~