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The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: Nagumo on September 03, 2012, 02:02:18 PM

Title: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Nagumo on September 03, 2012, 02:02:18 PM
We know that there are certain games that were intented to be in their own continuities from the start such as Circle of the Moon, CV64/LoD, Order of Shadows etc., and there are also certain "retellings" of games that, according to IGA, don't take place in the main continuity either (Super Castlevania IV, Dracula XX among others). Lots of people treat Lords of Shadow like it's the first AU story in the series, but Castlevania has actually tons of little sub-continuities, each with their own versions of Dracula and the Belmonts!

I've been thinking about how interesting it would be if say, they would make another game in the same world of Circle of Moon. The world itself wasn't that special or unique, but don't really know much about that continuity, which would allow developers to come up with new, interesting story ideas, and build a new continuity from the ground up. They could give a new backstory to Dracula too, or decide to leave his origin completely mysterious. Likewise, a lot of things we take for granted in the main continuity could be omitted or altered to keep things interesting.

Of course you negative nancies would say: "Well, why bother using old continuities if you could create complete new ones, like LoS!". Well, they could still do that too of course, but sometimes putting limits on your creative freedom could lead to more interesting results. Another reason could be that, for example, if they would create games in a Castlevania IV centric continuity, they could perhaps recapture the feeling of that game's "world" in newer entries.

I'm probably really poor at explaining this, but I definitely think it would be an interesting route for the series to take. 
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Chernabogue on September 03, 2012, 02:12:33 PM
That's what they should do after the LoS saga: doing a game that completes one of the different existing timelines. Or, and not on the negative side, let another studio create a new one.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: PFG9000 on September 04, 2012, 03:06:48 AM
Another reason could be that, for example, if they would create games in a Castlevania IV centric continuity, they could perhaps recapture the feeling of that game's "world" in newer entries.
I think I might have misunderstood part of your post here, but it leads into a pretty cool idea.  All of the non-canon games could be united in a second, parallel canon.  There's plenty of room in the storyline to unite them, except I'm sure at least one of those games mentions the 100 year rule, and I'm sure they don't all line up in 100-year intervals, storyline-wise.  But it would be really interesting to tie them all together.  We'd end up with the classic CV timeline, the gaiden timeline, and the LoS timeline.

Somebody with more ambition than me should lay out all those games and see if they can even be connected, or if there would be obvious conflicts.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Lelygax on September 04, 2012, 03:33:48 AM
 If they are united in the same AU, they didnt conflict, since Trevor will not be the first to battle Dracula, Sonica can exist and be her mother. and no one knows what happened after or before CoTM and 64/LoD. We can even do the same thing that IGA made but better and instead of exclude histories, re-teel them in a way that fits. That is what a good writer with good imagination does.

 Lets say for example, what if they changed one simple thing: Trevor is the first Belmont to battle Dracula.
 So Sonia could be a ancestor of Leon, Trevor can be Sonia's son and the belmonts can be blood related with Alucard on this point on, that would even open more ground to explain why after Richter as been tainte by evil Belmonts will not touch the whip OR ignore this BS. IGA have been closing himself in a trap since he started to input Akumajou War reference in every fucking game and entered in the trap when said that the belmonts wont use the whip until 1999.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Nagumo on September 04, 2012, 04:44:50 AM
Somebody with more ambition than me should lay out all those games and see if they can even be connected, or if there would be obvious conflicts.

CotM is definitely stand-alone. There are probably ways you could tie it into the Belmont storyline, but I don't want to make connections unless they are explicitly stated. The Arcade is rather vague about the details of its storyline. All we know that Dracula suddenly appeared with his castle, and that a vampire hunter and his "holy whip", sets out to defeat him. It could be stand-alone, but it could also fit easily into a larger narrative. Games like Legends, Order of Shadows, Castlevania 64 etc., you could probably mesh together with no problems. Castlevania IV, Vampire Killer, or Haunted Castle could potentially fit it too, but you can pick only one, and the other two should have their own timelines formed around them.       
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Jorge D. Fuentes on September 04, 2012, 11:49:48 PM
I unified all the continuities in a big "Alternate Earths" timeline when Judgment came out.
It even included Castlevania Resurrection, as that game dealt with some Time Travel.

Then my hard drive crashed.  ARGH!
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: uzo on September 05, 2012, 11:12:10 AM
CRISIS ON INFINITE CASTLEVANIAS
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Munchy on September 05, 2012, 10:48:52 PM
They could give a new backstory to Dracula too, or decide to leave his origin completely mysterious.

This is something I'd personally do if I were to make a Castlevania. So many games nowadays are focused around origin stories and all the little intricacies of every detail, but I like it when things are left in the dark, or when you only get hints, but no full picture.

Keiji Inafune used this sort of idea when fans asked him about a Serges/Wily connection in the Mega Man X games: "I always give them the same answer, 'He might be... he might not be.' (laughs) I think this is one of those things that is best left without an official comment. As creators, one of the fun things we get to do is plant seeds of imagination in our players and let them come to their own conclusions."

But yeah, Nagumo, I like your idea. If only because I'd like a 3rd Legend of Dracula game or another CV4 type game.

CRISIS ON INFINITE CASTLEVANIAS

Some day, we will run into the alternate universe of Castlevania where everyone are clowns.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Lelygax on September 05, 2012, 11:32:31 PM
Some day, we will run into the alternate universe of Castlevania where everyone are clowns.
They already did something like that in this universe, its called Portrait of Ruin.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Munchy on September 06, 2012, 05:25:21 AM
They already did something like that in this universe, its called Portrait of Ruin.

Oh you!

...Wait. You do get a pie for a weapon. And there's a level with circus rooms and music. Dear God, you may be more correct than I thought.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: VladCT on September 06, 2012, 05:41:40 AM
And guess who's weak to the Cream Pie.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on September 06, 2012, 09:21:04 AM
And guess who's weak to the Cream Pie.

Still the funniest kill ever. Also, the parodies practically write themselves.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Dracula9 on September 06, 2012, 07:34:43 PM
I've been thinking about how interesting it would be if say, they would make another game in the same world of Circle of Moon. The world itself wasn't that special or unique, but don't really know much about that continuity, which would allow developers to come up with new, interesting story ideas, and build a new continuity from the ground up. They could give a new backstory to Dracula too, or decide to leave his origin completely mysterious. Likewise, a lot of things we take for granted in the main continuity could be omitted or altered to keep things interesting.

I wouldn't mind seeing a prequel, honestly. I feel that Morris and whomever his allies were in that fight were severely lacking a backstory. It's almost like the DCW of the CotM continuity.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Lelygax on September 06, 2012, 08:27:11 PM
I never stopped to think about that but.... Why "Circle of the Moon"? Why this name? lol
Like, LoI makes sense, CoD makes sense too, the great majority have something in the game (being story or something else) that we look and say "oh, so thats why they choose this name", but in this case Im clueless.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: PFG9000 on September 06, 2012, 08:51:36 PM
I never stopped to think about that but.... Why "Circle of the Moon"? Why this name? lol
Like, LoI makes sense, CoD makes sense too, the great majority have something in the game (being story or something else) that we look and say "oh, so thats why they choose this name", but in this case Im clueless.
Wasn't Carmilla waiting for the moon to be full so that she could sacrifice Morris Baldwin, or something like that?  (Nevermind that it's clearly already a full moon in several of the background throughout the game.)
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Inccubus on September 07, 2012, 01:24:55 AM
Maybe it was supposed to foreshadow that whole sealing Castlevania in a total eclipse over Japan thing? Naaahhh, pro'lly not.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Lelygax on September 07, 2012, 01:23:06 PM
Lets remember that a eclipse ocurring in one place on Earth doesnt mean that it happening in the entire globe. Someone that understands this better could say to us how the positioninn of the sun and the moon will be in Romenia if a eclipse is ocurring in Japan, since I highly doubt that Castlevania will rise in Japan.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Tuxedo Mark on September 07, 2012, 03:46:51 PM
This idea of multiple continuities is kind of new to me. Prior to LoS, didn't Iga says there were two continuities: one in which all ofthe game happen and one in which only a few of them happen?
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Lelygax on September 07, 2012, 06:14:04 PM
This idea of multiple continuities is kind of new to me. Prior to LoS, didn't Iga says there were two continuities: one in which all ofthe game happen and one in which only a few of them happen?
If I remember right no, he said that these games doesnt are canon, but can exist in the mind of the fans or something like that.
Title: Re: Revisiting old continuities
Post by: Nagumo on September 08, 2012, 05:54:14 AM
This idea of multiple continuities is kind of new to me. Prior to LoS, didn't Iga says there were two continuities: one in which all ofthe game happen and one in which only a few of them happen?

IGA just said: "This and this game are alternate continuities", but he didn't say they all took place in the same one.