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The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: SiFi270 on December 08, 2012, 08:53:44 AM

Title: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: SiFi270 on December 08, 2012, 08:53:44 AM
Here, list things that you think should've been done in a Castlevania game, or should have been done better.

Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: crisis on December 08, 2012, 09:03:22 AM
HOHOHO i wish they would make a game or 2 set 100 years after Lament of Innocence
for the DXC Symphony port they should've not only included the Saturn areas/enemies, but IMPROVED them so it jives with the rest of the game
A game set in 1897
Port Akumajo Dracula:The Arcade for the PSMove
"Castlevania Adventure Chronicles"
Custom character mode in Judgment
"Classic NES series" CVII & III for GBA
Gave IGA & team a little more time to fix all the mistakes in CoD
Gave the team behind the N64 games a little more time to fix those mistakes
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: A-Yty on December 08, 2012, 09:14:34 AM
Curse of Darkness had so much more potential for a more interesting story. For starters, there's the parallel between Drac and Hector. That dialogue before the final battle could have had so much more depth. Two men who lost their wives because of the ignorance of humans. Instead, it boils down to a brief mention of Hector as a traitor. You could chalk it up to Drac's inconsistent personality resulting from his deaths messing with his head, but he has a clear memory whenever he meets someone personally significant to him (like Al).

And the game itself wouldn't have needed much to be at least "ok". But things like the slouching speed of Hector drag it down.

And yeah, I wouldn't mind a sequel to LoI, either.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: knightmere on December 08, 2012, 10:03:12 AM
I think Portrait of Ruin was definitely a missed opportunity. Konami could done much more with linking the game to Bloodlines in regards to the story. Eric Lecarde should have been an unlockable character, not Richter... and certainly NOT Maria.   The Partner System was not used to it's potential. Jonathan was way more useful in combat than Charlotte, making her seem like an afterthought for much of the game. I get that she was supposed to be more Magic oriented, but most of her spells seemed weak.  This made the Partner System seem more like a chore to me, due to the lack of balance between them. 
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Neobelmont on December 08, 2012, 10:08:29 AM
This is odd, but commercials. We know this series is excellent, but konami never really put money into them at all to get the word out.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: knightmere on December 08, 2012, 10:14:08 AM
Only Metal Gear and DDR get the big marketing dollars from Konami.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Neobelmont on December 08, 2012, 10:17:55 AM
Only Metal Gear and DDR get the big marketing dollars from Konami.

And they wonder why castlevania does make any money also  you forgot yu-gi-oh!
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Sumac on December 08, 2012, 10:41:26 AM
Quote
Gave the team behind the N64 games a little more time to fix those mistakes
More like give them some time to finish game in the first place.
-
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Successor The Cruel on December 08, 2012, 11:12:37 AM
Kind of a small thing, but it makes me scratch my head when DXC plays the track Former Room instead of Poison Mind when the player battles the CV1 bosses in a gauntlet before Shaft. That is just incredibly dumb, especially since Rondo of Blood -- which gets it right -- is there to use as a template. It's like the devs didn't know the significance behind playing Poison Mind at that part.

Also, it's oft mentioned around the fanbase, but I think that Maxim Kischine should have been the final boss in Harmony of Dissonance, and that Dracula Wraith should have been completely omitted. First of all, the Maxim battle is significantly better. Second, it would have been more memorable to not fight Dracula at the end. Third, it would have given the game much more depth if the canon story was that Maxim died battling Juste. I'm sure these changes would give Gamefaqs-style retards ammunition to hate on HoD, with such petty things as 'Juste never battled Dracula,' and 'Juste couldn't save his friend,' but screw that stuff. I'm more for whatever makes for a more profound experience than having cookie-cutter situations with Superman characters. Other things would have to be worked out, like what the result would be for collecting Dracula's Remains, but I'm sure those things wouldn't prove a problem with some creative brain-storming.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Phoenix7786 on December 08, 2012, 11:32:17 AM
They KIND OF did what you wanted for Maxim for
(click to show/hide)

As for my missed opportunity, look at how many times we have multiple allies present in a game yet there has never really been a true co-op game unless you count HoDesp. With how much they're willing to throw in Richter-modes (like Albus, Julius, and Maxim), why not just make it a co-op since it's non-canonical? Just restrict players to the same life-bar and screen if you have to (or don't want to program separate life-bars and split-screen).
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: GuyStarwind on December 08, 2012, 12:32:28 PM
While I know a lot of people really love it I felt OoE could have used more in the area of travel. What do I mean you ask? I originally thought OoE was going to be like Simon's Quest with multiple towns to visit and walking everywhere by foot. Like if you wanted to get to town c but you were in town x you would have to walk back to those locations rather than touch your screen and warp to them. It's not a huge problem but I wish they would've done it this was. I felt the one town and merely warping to locations was poorly done.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: shelverton. on December 08, 2012, 12:53:18 PM
While I know a lot of people really love it I felt OoE could have used more in the area of travel. What do I mean you ask? I originally thought OoE was going to be like Simon's Quest with multiple towns to visit and walking everywhere by foot. Like if you wanted to get to town c but you were in town x you would have to walk back to those locations rather than touch your screen and warp to them. It's not a huge problem but I wish they would've done it this was. I felt the one town and merely warping to locations was poorly done.

I couldn't agree more. I guess Konami intended to make travelling easier, but having the stages interconnected like in Simon's Quest would've helped making the world feel more like a... well, world.

They could've put "warp rooms" here and there to make backtracking a bit faster, but I wish we at least had the opportunity to explore the land on foot. Also, some of the indoor areas could've been gates/doors in the backgrund where you press "up" to enter - just like how you enter mansions in Simon's Quest. It would've been a great homage.

And finally - WHY didn't they put "Silence of Daylight" as the background music in the village? Talk about missed opportunity right there.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: thernz on December 08, 2012, 01:01:16 PM
The level design was also just atrocious. If they ever make another Castlevania in the style of those games, they should really avoid making linear levels. In both OoE and PoR, it just seemed incompetent.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Johnny Alucard on December 08, 2012, 01:08:42 PM
Slogra and Gaibon not being a boss fight in Portrait of Ruin stands out to me.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Zetheraxza on December 08, 2012, 01:21:32 PM
I thought of a Multiplayer Castlevania a LONG time ago before HoD. AND THEY DID EVERYTHING WRONG! Instead of that 1 room level bullshit, they could have made it as "to each as his own camera" gameplay. Even the Co-op, because I bought it for PS3, Why not just make a split screen? I hated that my friend couldn't explore his side because the camera zoomed out more when we were further. This game could've been alot better. IGA doesn't even know shit about PS3/XBOX360's capabilities. They're using 16-bit graphics and only using this game for online purposes in which you'll need to be careful on the use of RAM/Memory/FPS, but it could've been ALOT more. There was no real emphasis in the gameplay. Multiplayer Castlevania was a dream come true, but was not the way I was expecting it.

Castlevania Online (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTTGkHvfLqw#)

This is fan-made movie about Castlevania being multiplayer, but something like this would've been great and would have been awesome if they let you design custom palettes for your char's hair, coat, pants, boots, undershirt, cape, skin, etc.

Multiplayer Castlevania had GREAT potential, but this wasn't that great. I know IGA suffers budget cuts but still, the game could've not been a one room dungeon hunt. Sure, level based was a good thing for the sake of RAM, but I hated the one ROOM and massively zoomed out Camera for both Single and Co-op. And even the zoomed in Camera wasn't that native of SotN, SCVIV, and the DS games. And access to main menu would've been much better.

Now, for the sake of multiplayer, A Castlevania MMORPG would've been awesome and none of that crafting, weaponsmithing and trades crap. ONLY TO THE MINIMUM. Something like what OoE did, but a bit more less. These sorts of things made me hate MMO's and only slow down your sense of fun. I remember when I used to play 'RuneScape' 6-8 years ago, Out of those 2 hours, I spent only 15-30 minutes of that game because that was what the game was about! COMBAT! Not, "Selling Lobsters, 250G each!" for the rest of that time because I wanted to buy a particular gear so I could PvP or do a certain quest. These things waste your time and I don't want this in my Multiplayer CV. What I really would like is a 3D gameplay. Something like how I imagined LoS to be, an open world with Vast environments. The whole game would be about Combat, not much of Best Equipment or stats, but how well do you play? There would be different sorts of Classes, Vampire Hunter (Belmonts), Witch/Wizard (Belnades), Beast Hunter (Maria), Knights/Paladins (Alucard/Soma) and Glyph Masters (Shanoa). Each classes would be balanced out and would gain more skills as they level up. They would have something special to them that the others wouldn't have. There would be a lot of environments, forests, churches, mansions and of course, CASTLES! Dracula is there in the game... But you never fight him, because it's an MMO... If it ends, it's done. But alas, Dracula has his own sets of Monsters such as, Zombies, Ghouls, and whole sets of monsters that would be in the game. Some NPC enemies would be neutral too such as Goblins, trolls and such. But Dracula would also have his team of Acolytes, there would be Dark Knights/Dark Paladins, Necromancers, Assassins, Beast Dominator and Black Pagan. Two Teams. Both would be appealing as hell. There would be world score and challanges such as PvP to give stats about the best players. MMO's shouldn't make you feel that you're wasting time on your precious life just to play the real game because of the shitty economy and repetitive quests. Just play the game! Fight Monsters, Level UP! Dungeons! Find People! THAT'S IT! Fuck the town and shops! Only for the sakes of quests, these things should be available. Keep Item drops and farming to it's basic and minimum. Enjoy the game as it's meant to be.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: DarkPrinceAlucard on December 08, 2012, 02:52:52 PM
Curse of Darkness had so much more potential for a more interesting story. For starters, there's the parallel between Drac and Hector. That dialogue before the final battle could have had so much more depth. Two men who lost their wives because of the ignorance of humans. Instead, it boils down to a brief mention of Hector as a traitor. You could chalk it up to Drac's inconsistent personality resulting from his deaths messing with his head, but he has a clear memory whenever he meets someone personally significant to him (like Al).

And the game itself wouldn't have needed much to be at least "ok". But things like the slouching speed of Hector drag it down.



pretty much everything here^^^

I really liked the gameplay and story of Curse of Darkness. The whole "Devil Forgemaster" thing was a nice little edition to the series and hearing that their power once was said to rival Deaths gave you something to work towards when starting out as a weak devil forgemaster.

The story also introduced a unique plot element with Saint Germain and Time Travelers in the CV universe and the little dialogue between him and Death where he says "I will keep returning, until the day you finally surrender" was some epic forshadowing of a eventual confrontation between the time traveler organization that Saint Germain belongs to and Death.

Another thing I liked was that the game brought back the ability to get multiple types of weapons and items like in Symphony and Aria which was great.

The Devil Forging was also pretty neat.

But the game suffered heavily by having a complete and utter lack of platforming and not so diverse areas that felt the same. And this severe flaw in the game was only made worse by making Hector soooooooo freaken slow and not giving him some magic ability or relic to make him run faster through the very large areas.

So when I think of CV games with "Missed Opportunities" I can't help but think of this game that could have been so much better.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: DragonSlayr81 on December 08, 2012, 05:45:54 PM
- CV2: Make villagers less useless and hints less vague. Also, feature a different boss in each mansion.

- LoI: Story was fine, but level design could've been less flat.

- CoD: Story could've been deeper, and Alucard, Sypha and Grant should've at least appeared(or made some sort of cameo, like the speculation that we were going to see Alucard asleep in coffin in his catacombs). Areas were too big. Mostly each area should've been cut into two smaller areas, and each of those areas should've had their own bosses(or a mini-boss at the end of each first area). Dracula's Castle should've been broken up into multiple areas, each with their own boss. All areas should've had better level design with good platforming(ESPECIALLY Enemaos Machine Tower).

- DoS: Cut out the bullshit "cute" crap(She's got me under her finger). Nix the anime designs(and I'm awayre RoB was anime too, but it was GOOD anime, from a time when anime WAS good, call me biased or what, I don't care ;)). Should've been a dark story where Soma comes to the conclusion that he can't escape his dark fate(no happy endings). Either that, or they should've just made Julius the main character(Julius encountering a cult of Dracula sympathizers or Olrox allies).

- PoR: Last 4 painting should've been original levels, not the first 4 paintings tweaked. Similar thing regarding the anime look(should've gotten Kojima to do the designs). Also, the characters and story should've been better(Brauner should've look like something completely original instead of Graf Orlok with a monocle). Jonathan was your typical "Yankee" Japanese stereotype, and Charlotte the "cute childhood friend" who's always scolding him. Urgh! And yes, John Morris and Eric Lecarde would've been WAY more fitting secret characters than Richter and Maria.

- OoE: Should've went more in depth with WHAT happened to the Belmont clan(and I mean, give us the effing story, not just some "Oh, we are all descendants!" thing.

- LoS: Where to start? More CV-feel other than the Bernhard Castle. More traditional platforming, less shimming, climbing and teetering. In the Titan battles, no SotC enemie climbing, just a more traditional boss battle, but of a difference scale. Little to no QTEs. More classic enemies returning, and more classic songs returning. Less ambience and epic score, more a mixture of different styles.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: muteKi on December 08, 2012, 06:40:06 PM
- OoE: Should've went more in depth with WHAT happened to the Belmont clan(and I mean, give us the effing story, not just some "Oh, we are all descendants!" thing.

Pet theory: After Richter gets possessed, the Belmonts don't hold on to the VK any more and go into hiding of sorts specifically because of what happened in SotN; they can't dare risk having another strong vampire killer wind up in the service of Dracula*. Everything would go to hell. I dont think there has been a single game starring a Belmont -- one that's considered canon, at least -- chronologically between SotN and Aria.

Speaking of which (and getting back more on topic) I kinda want to see a Castlevania game about the prologue to Aria of Sorrow with Julius with the whole war thing going on, ideally more in the style of Chronicles than SOTN, just because the story seems to call for a much tougher and perhaps a bit more linear game. But with the MercurySteam stuff that seems unlikely to happen.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: beingthehero on December 08, 2012, 08:31:56 PM
They missed an opportunity to use that 2D Leon Belmont sprite from PoR for another game. After seeing it for the first time I was 80% certain the next DS game would feature him.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Kamirine on December 08, 2012, 08:38:59 PM
-Castlevania 64...just, all of it. The game really had a lot of potential that got squandered, it would have been nice to see what it would have turned out to be had they actually gotten a chance to finish and tweak it properly.

-PoR: The stages/portrait setting in general: the first part (or first portraits) I think should have been more like Bloodlines, with the players making their way to Dracula's castle and going to different countries and destinations, then the last four stages could have been the castle and the portraits. I can't agree more that John and Eric should have been the unlockable player mode over Ritcher and Maria.

-OoE: Whoever mentioned the Simion's Quest idea. That.

-The second playthrough in particular: I think they should take a page out of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, or rather: make the playthrough experience different, from stages to bosses, even if it is shorter then the main playthrough.  If the unlockable character had a special role/thing to do in the story, maybe go to different places/fight different bosses they would have experienced via their story, or something.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Phoenix7786 on December 09, 2012, 09:14:37 AM
Seriously, after playing Super Mario 64 and Zelda 64, there was no reason Castlevania 64 should have been as bad as it was. Hell they even took a 2nd shot at it with LoD, and that STILL didn't fix all the issues. I'm very grateful they at least gave us a controllable camera and 2 extra characters (including one with his own story to it), as well as new stages. But damn they had a chance to really redeem the game and just missed their chance.

You mentioned giving 2nd playthroughs more meat, and I couldn't agree more. We've seen stuff like  DoS' Julius Mode (and to a MUCH lesser extent Sisters Mode) jury-rig a quick story in, but I'd love to see it done as LoD did it. Not counting the armored knight's segment (in case someone doesn't want that spoiler), Cornell, Reinhardt, and Carrie all have their own plots with some unique areas and bosses, even though they are still very similar to the Richter-mode premise.

And like you said, why not make the Richter-mode character a Gaiden-esque segment, explaining what that character was up to throughout the game (if the plot allowed for it of course)? Why not show what Julis was up to in Aos? Granted he has amnesia for a good junk of it, but still show what he was up to. In DoS especially, there was lots of room to show a Gaiden segment (although I am VERY pleased with how they did his mode in DoS). Julius is on his own for a good chunk of the story, as we see him do stuff like enter the castle alone, fight with Dario, and investigating the barrier. How do we know he didn't encounter unique bosses or have a confrontation with Celia or something?. In Ecclesia, why not show what Albus was doing to further his own research into Dominus?
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Successor The Cruel on December 09, 2012, 09:35:18 AM
Everything DragonSlayr said o___ob
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: darkwzrd4 on December 09, 2012, 01:09:47 PM
- CV2: Make villagers less useless and hints less vague. Also, feature a different boss in each mansion.

- LoI: Story was fine, but level design could've been less flat.

- CoD: Story could've been deeper, and Alucard, Sypha and Grant should've at least appeared(or made some sort of cameo, like the speculation that we were going to see Alucard asleep in coffin in his catacombs). Areas were too big. Mostly each area should've been cut into two smaller areas, and each of those areas should've had their own bosses(or a mini-boss at the end of each first area). Dracula's Castle should've been broken up into multiple areas, each with their own boss. All areas should've had better level design with good platforming(ESPECIALLY Enemaos Machine Tower).

- DoS: Cut out the bullshit "cute" crap(She's got me under her finger). Nix the anime designs(and I'm awayre RoB was anime too, but it was GOOD anime, from a time when anime WAS good, call me biased or what, I don't care ;)). Should've been a dark story where Soma comes to the conclusion that he can't escape his dark fate(no happy endings). Either that, or they should've just made Julius the main character(Julius encountering a cult of Dracula sympathizers or Olrox allies).

- PoR: Last 4 painting should've been original levels, not the first 4 paintings tweaked. Similar thing regarding the anime look(should've gotten Kojima to do the designs). Also, the characters and story should've been better(Brauner should've look like something completely original instead of Graf Orlok with a monocle). Jonathan was your typical "Yankee" Japanese stereotype, and Charlotte the "cute childhood friend" who's always scolding him. Urgh! And yes, John Morris and Eric Lecarde would've been WAY more fitting secret characters than Richter and Maria.

- OoE: Should've went more in depth with WHAT happened to the Belmont clan(and I mean, give us the effing story, not just some "Oh, we are all descendants!" thing.

- LoS: Where to start? More CV-feel other than the Bernhard Castle. More traditional platforming, less shimming, climbing and teetering. In the Titan battles, no SotC enemie climbing, just a more traditional boss battle, but of a difference scale. Little to no QTEs. More classic enemies returning, and more classic songs returning. Less ambience and epic score, more a mixture of different styles.
All great points.  I agree with them all.  And, here's my two cents to add to them:
LoI: Should have had more areas and bosses (the game was too short)
CoD: Nix St. Germain. Have Alucard still be awake helping Trevor investigate the Curse.  Alucard should be the one trying to talk Hector out of revenge.  The first fight between Hector and Trevor should end with Alucard breaking it up and telling Trevor that Issac is the one they should be after.  Grant should be in the clock tower and under the power of the curse and comes to his senses when beaten at which point he says something like "ah man! Not again." (sort of a comedy relief). I have no idea of how Sypha would show up.
PoR: Yes, John and Eric should have been there instead of Richter and Maria. Charlotte should have been equally as powerful as Jonathon instead of an after thought.
LoS: Should have been its own series without the CV name and name drops.  Good series, just not really CVish.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: SiFi270 on December 09, 2012, 03:18:58 PM
I think there should be at least one game where you fight Carmilla in her humanoid form before she transforms into the skull/mask/whatever thing.

Or better yet, maybe she could transform into that cat thing from the original book!
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Harrycombs on December 09, 2012, 05:59:35 PM
Kind of a small thing, but it makes me scratch my head when DXC plays the track Former Room instead of Poison Mind when the player battles the CV1 bosses in a gauntlet before Shaft. That is just incredibly dumb, especially since Rondo of Blood -- which gets it right -- is there to use as a template. It's like the devs didn't know the significance behind playing Poison Mind at that part.

That always did annoy me. Its one of the very few things I disliked about DXC.

Portrait of Ruin was filled with missed opportunities. Charlotte was poorly implemented, the Richter/Maria mode made little sense to include, and the Sisters mode could have been really interesting but was poorly implemented. Its especially a shame after how fantastic the Julius mode was in Dawn.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: SiFi270 on December 18, 2012, 07:55:52 AM
I think Galamoth should have been the boss of Chapter 8 in Harmony of Despair.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: crisis on December 18, 2012, 08:05:06 AM
hohoho fighting Menace in DoS should've utilized both screens
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: GuyStarwind on December 18, 2012, 11:50:51 AM
They should have used a slow maybe classy version of vampire killer when Leon makes the vampire killer whip. I believe in DXC when you rescue one of the girls it plays some sort slow easy going version of vampire killer that I think could work.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Successor The Cruel on December 18, 2012, 08:35:59 PM
Portrait of Ruin could have utilized the World War 2 backdrop much better. Have a cold, methodical, reserved, and all-business SS character named Josef investigating the castle, who is at odds with an impassioned, and rugged American agent with a five o'clock shadow named Jim Campbell who has somewhat of a footloose demeanor even though he takes his duties seriously, The dynamic could be somewhat like how Graham and Yoko and St. Germain and Zead were enemies.

EDIT:
Also, somehow manage a boss fight against Josef while he's within a German Tiger tank. He should also have some secret highly advanced Nazi weapons for fighting on foot.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: X on December 18, 2012, 10:41:59 PM
Quote
Also, somehow manage a boss fight against Josef while he's within a German Tiger tank.

*Chuckle* I believe you mean Panther Tank as in the Nazi Panzer division. But I get what you're saying. Pretty much everything said here I am in agreement with. So many missed opportunities... But then of course there are some opportunities that should have been missed so as not to mess up the series anymore then it already is. But that's a topic for a different thread  :)
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Successor The Cruel on December 18, 2012, 11:34:47 PM
Quote
*Chuckle* I believe you mean Panther Tank as in the Nazi Panzer division.

Nah dude. I know my war stuff:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_I (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_I)
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: DragonSlayr81 on December 19, 2012, 01:44:50 AM
Portrait of Ruin could have utilized the World War 2 backdrop much better. Have a cold, methodical, reserved, and all-business SS character named Josef investigating the castle, who is at odds with an impassioned, and rugged American agent with a five o'clock shadow named Jim Campbell who has somewhat of a footloose demeanor even though he takes his duties seriously, The dynamic could be somewhat like how Graham and Yoko and St. Germain and Zead were enemies.

EDIT:
Also, somehow manage a boss fight against Josef while he's within a German Tiger tank. He should also have some secret highly advanced Nazi weapons for fighting on foot.
While I would've loved a more WWII/Hitler occult connection, the idea I did do a rough draft of in my own story(I don't know if you guys remember my origin story regarding Graf Orlok being a knight who goes against his king after his family is left to die of the plague, I called the story "Mitternacht"). There was various entries in it(pretty much modeled after CV, as you have various lineages battling Orlok and his minions throughout history). My WWII entry(which was written as a response to PoR's falling short) featured, oddly enough, a character by the name of Jesse Campbell, a pilot flying a group of soldiers to Romania after word that one of Hitler's occult divisions, Dämmerung, is in the area. He discovers that Dämmerung(a team that consists of Friedrich Ganz, the cold ruthless leader; Lillian Mueller, hailing from a lineage of mystics that once had ties to Orlok centuries ago; Hans Schiller, unholy scientist nicknamed the "Totenkopf" and said to be one of Mengele's mentors; and Kurt Hauser, a young sociopath who is also a brilliant strategist), is setting their sights on Mitternacht, castle of Graf Orlok, in hopes of tapping into his dark power to aid the Third Reich's cause. In that little story, Jesse teams up with a female companion, Elise Bertrand(a young, swordwielding French mystic sent by the church to stop Dämmerung and a potential resurrection of Graf Orlok).
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: X on December 19, 2012, 09:59:22 AM
Quote
Nah dude. I know my war stuff:

Now I feel owned  :P  And embarrassed  :-[  Yeah I've net heard of the Tiger tank till now. It's always been the Panther that is mentioned in documentaries. Thanks for the info  ;)
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Successor The Cruel on December 19, 2012, 02:35:10 PM
*shrug*

I guess we all make misjudgments and mistakes from time to time.

EDIT:
Also, that's a pretty cool synopsis, Dragonslayr.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: beingthehero on December 19, 2012, 03:05:29 PM
I've actually wondered about that too, sensei, but I always thought people would call it a Wolfenstein rip-off. On the other hand, they could release Return of Castle Wolfenstein today, slap 'Castlevania' as the title and call it a reboot. *shrug*

I think there were just three references to WWII within PoR: a German iron helmet, the grenade subweapon (starts as an American M4 and fully upgraded into a german stick hand grenade), and the petrified American soldiers in medusa's boss room. That was quite a waste given the enemies from Bloodlines.

I always thought for PoR, they should have modeled Jonathan Morris after the Indiana Jones' expy from Almana no Kiseki:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPKf4-k-TDo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPKf4-k-TDo)

Have Jonathan's subweapons be the subweapons from Almana (the dagger and boomerang even there), and have the vampire killer function like the grappling hook in Almana. It would've made for the most ideal crossover.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: SiFi270 on December 20, 2012, 06:38:17 AM
Almana no Kiseki

Holy crap thank you for introducing me to this.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Squalid Pumpkin on December 24, 2012, 03:37:08 PM
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Vampire Killer on December 24, 2012, 10:37:22 PM
Missed opportunities? Well, this one time I could've had a three way with these two hot chicks and....oh wait, you mean in reference to Cv games? Nevermind then.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: SiFi270 on December 25, 2012, 03:48:55 AM
I've thought about it some more, and I've decided that Simon should have had access to all CV2 subweapons in Harmony of Despair. The Holy Water could start out working the way it does in Simon's Quest, then in Castlevania 1, then like the Mystic Flame.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Hypocrates on December 27, 2012, 05:23:44 PM
I've always been really disappointed in the complete lack of dialogue between Death and Soma in both AoS and DoS.

Especially given the relationship between Death and Dracula, there should have been something
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: beingthehero on January 05, 2013, 02:22:35 PM
I always liked how the bestiary in AoS was animated. I remember playing DoS for the first time and being disappointed that the enemies weren't animated in the bestiary.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: crisis on January 05, 2013, 03:02:13 PM
On the contrary; the complete lack of a beastiary in Harmony of Dissonance is a huge missed opportunity (and there's even TEXTBOX SPACE there, but it's just blank. almost as if they just plum forgot or ran out of time to write up any descriptions  :-\)
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Pfil on January 19, 2013, 12:52:56 AM
I always thought that not releasing a complete version of SotN was a shame.
I still want to play as Saturn Maria in the 2 secret levels.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: mig3 on April 29, 2013, 11:52:47 AM
To play with sonia belmont on castlevania legends later games ...
I was told that konami does not like this character.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: X on April 29, 2013, 06:01:19 PM
Quote
To play with sonia belmont on castlevania legends later games ...
I was told that konami does not like this character.

IGA even less from what I've read about the issue with Legends.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: darkwzrd4 on April 29, 2013, 07:35:59 PM
I've always been really disappointed in the complete lack of dialogue between Death and Soma in both AoS and DoS.

Especially given the relationship between Death and Dracula, there should have been something.
I agree.

In AoS, after he is beaten, Death should have commented on the power that Soma has acquired up to that point and fled only to show up on your way to where you fight Julius saying something like: "so, I was right. You are the one." at which point Soma could have said: "yes, but I don't want to be. I'm going to put a stop to it." The rest of the game would be the same.

In DoS, Death should not have been a boss fight. He actually should have showed up multiple times each time trying to convince Soma into taking in the darkness and also possibly trying to drive a wedge between Soma and the others (especially Arikado) by saying that they are keeping secrets from him and that they will betray him in the end.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Reinhart77 on April 29, 2013, 07:55:34 PM
I'm a little sour that you can only play Laura in one little area in Lords of Shadow. 
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: crisis on April 29, 2013, 08:20:25 PM
Another missed opportunity was porting Akumajo Dracula: The Arcade to home consoles (specifically, the PS Move). I'm dying to play this at least once. I mean, what was the point in pouring so much funds & effort in this project if Konami never intended to distribute it worldwide?
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Donvermicelli on April 30, 2013, 02:51:03 AM
hmm where to start:

n64 vania's: Time to finish the game, better camera, Coller as a character, he was one of the more interesting characters the series had in a while IMO.

COTM: I dunno why but deaths seems like a completely pushed to the side character here, if I remember correctly he's stuffed away in a basement corner somewhere and he's (optional?), memory might be deceiving me but still, they could have done more with him. Also no extra character is a real miss here, imagine the fun of the throne room battle being swapped :O

AOS: like stated before: more interaction with Death, Julius mode with a tiny bit of story.

DOS: could easily have been one of the most memorable games had they: not reused alucard's sprite and actually made a 'new' alucard, what was mentioned before about Death's role in the game, left out the anime art, burning village/city stage as intro!

OOE: less linear stages, their concept was good but some were too one dimensional, adding more depths to these would have greatly improved the game. More info about Albus's quest.

LOS: less flat enemies, was it just me or did it feel like every section of the game had like 2/3 enemies and after you finished they vanished? had they mixed them more and made better use of them it would have been less repetitive fighting the same enemies over and over until they became extinct.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: GuyStarwind on April 30, 2013, 10:37:31 AM
I mentioned this in another topic but I think it works here too. I think LoI would have been better if they played vampire killer as the background music while the vampire killer is being made. It would start off slow and then build up he says "I will not let any more suffer your fate" or whatever he says. I also think developing more character development between Leon and Mathias would have really helped... especially in the end of the game.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Shiroi Koumori on May 01, 2013, 12:35:48 AM
I mentioned this in another topic but I think it works here too. I think LoI would have been better if they played vampire killer as the background music while the vampire killer is being made. It would start off slow and then build up he says "I will not let any more suffer your fate" or whatever he says. I also think developing more character development between Leon and Mathias would have really helped... especially in the end of the game.

I think that is why they have released a cellphone manga in Japan. But sadly no one has a copy of it.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Pfil on May 01, 2013, 02:49:08 AM
I know I'm exposing myself to some -1 here, but I really don't care for Vampire Killer (or Bloody Tears, or Simon's Theme) to be on a game.
I can even say that I'm tired of hearing that tunes.

Every time I hear Vampire Killer, be it in an official or a fan game, I think "Ugh... again...".

To put it with an example...

I am (as with lots of other bands and genres) a Beatles fan. It's like when I tell it to someone and they go "Yeah, Hey Jude!".
And I think "Yeah... there's so much more to The Beatles than just that song, or the few you must know".
In reality, I usually find the lesser known tracks to be my favourites.
I think overexposure ends up killing it for me.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Dark Nemesis on May 01, 2013, 04:46:48 AM
Quote
I am (as with lots of other bands and genres) a Beatles fan.

http://www.videoman.gr/10818 (http://www.videoman.gr/10818)
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Pfil on May 01, 2013, 05:16:39 AM
http://www.videoman.gr/10818 (http://www.videoman.gr/10818)
Hahahaha!!!!
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: son_the_vampire on May 01, 2013, 12:39:07 PM
Someone explain why Jonathan doesn't say "No Problem" in HoD. I mean isn't that his favorite reply?
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Pfil on May 01, 2013, 05:33:01 PM
They took away his catchphrase to add "Do you like what you see?" to Charlotte.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: The Belmont Pizza on May 04, 2013, 03:45:58 PM
I say, after the Super castlevania 4 release, every castlevania games in series are miss opportunities because they lack of eight directions whip. I know some of you will say we don't need them or even say it make game broken! Just saying.

In COD, on the level of Abandoned Castle, I was hoping this castle is the very same castle from the castlevania 3 but it not!
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Phoenix7786 on May 04, 2013, 05:10:34 PM
I say, after the Super castlevania 4 release, every castlevania games in series are miss opportunities because they lack of eight directions whip. I know some of you will say we don't need it

Hey there and welcome to the forums! For your personal safety after a statement like that I'm giving you a free
(http://stokereport.com/files/flame%20shield.jpg)

In all honesty the 8-way whipping has always been an interesting and debated topic over the years. Some people find the increased control is an illuminating experience while others feel it devalues many of the sub-weapon ("I can whip diiagonally why would I need an axe now...").
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: VladCT on May 04, 2013, 05:28:15 PM
I'm personally okay with 8-way whipping...as long as the whip's reach isn't too far. :P
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Phoenix7786 on May 04, 2013, 06:18:32 PM
That's how I've always seen it too. Plus the Cross and Holy Water still function well within the confines of 8-way.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: darkwzrd4 on May 04, 2013, 06:48:34 PM
Hey there and welcome to the forums! For your personal safety after a statement like that I'm giving you a free
(http://stokereport.com/files/flame%20shield.jpg)

In all honesty the 8-way whipping has always been an interesting and debated topic over the years. Some people find the increased control is an illuminating experience while others feel it devalues many of the sub-weapon ("I can whip diiagonally why would I need an axe now...").
I'm personally okay with 8-way whipping...as long as the whip's reach isn't too far. :P
I recently replayed SCV4 and I've noticed something: even with the second upgrade to the whip, the axe still has a longer reach diagonally and the cross/boomerang still has the farthest reach horizontally. So, even though the whip gets very long after the second upgrade, there are still thinks that it can't reach that some of the subweapons can. The axe is still the best "anti-aircraft" weapon.

Back on topic of missed opportunities, the sub-weapons in MoF were really lackluster. Especially the axe. It had no range and didn't have the iconic arching path. When Simon uses it, it reminds me of some weak, geeky boy in high school gym class trying to do a basketball free-throw. It doesn't get any distance and is useless. Makes you wonder why they even put in the game.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: DragonSlayr81 on May 04, 2013, 09:44:59 PM
That's how I've always seen it too. Plus the Cross and Holy Water still function well within the confines of 8-way.
Sometimes there's just something the whip cannot achieve, esepcially regarding "strength". Maybe have it where even at it's strongest, an overhead or upper diagonal whip strike just isn't as STRONG as, say, using an axe. And there's also those occassions where, maybe, an enemy's coming at you from above AND ahead, so you wanna get the two for one hit by tossing an axe above WHILE you are whipping ahead of you. Now, I don't know if there will be any more case like that in the series again, but DAMMIT, there SHOULD BE! ;D

As for missed opportunies, I still would've loved to know the reason behind the Anti-Soul Mysteries Lab. Is it what I think it is? Anti-Soul the same as "Anti-Life", like Walter had some undead alchemists toiling in those labs trying to dicipher the Anti-Life Equation? Also, what REALLY were the Undead Parasites, where did they come from and why do they resemble the final form of Chaos in AoS? Damn, I might be against the whole datalog thing in FFXIII, but something like in LoS, but for LoI or CoD which not only went in depth about enemies/bosses(not JUST the brief descrpition), but also the areas and history would've been kick ass! I mean, "House of the Sacred Remains"? Whose remains? The Bernhard family(Walter's parents and ancestors)? Who did the Undead Parasite creep up into there? Did Walter create the Forgotten One? Where were all the inhabitants of Cordova and Grant? What is the REAL significance of the Abandoned Castle, it's warp to the Infinite Corridor and the Belmont's? I mean, I still find it hilarious that the BELMONTS, to seal Dracula's Castle, had to go through this elaborate means of extra-dimensional shit, and even place Dullahan as a guardian(the BELMONTS placing DULLAHAN as a guardian, the same Dullahan that is a regular ENEMY of theirs).
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Phoenix7786 on May 04, 2013, 09:48:48 PM
Back on topic of missed opportunities, the sub-weapons in MoF were really lackluster. Especially the axe. It had no range and didn't have the iconic arching path. When Simon uses it, it reminds me of some weak, geeky boy in high school gym class trying to do a basketball free-throw. It doesn't get any distance and is useless. Makes you wonder why they even put in the game.

Yeah at least the bats and hourglasses were useful.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Shiroi Koumori on May 05, 2013, 02:39:17 AM
Yeah at least the bats and hourglasses were useful.

Well, personally, I did not find the subweapons in MoF useful except for further exploration (hourglass). I just whipped my way through the game.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Maedhros on May 05, 2013, 09:57:28 AM
Just like in Super Castlevania IV, the only game where I never use a subweapon.

Yeah... I don't really like 8 directional whiping.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: The Most Curious Thing on May 05, 2013, 04:54:28 PM
Playable Hammer as the equivalent to Grant in DOS. They clearly should've scrapped development on POR to add him in like they wanted to.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Neobelmont on May 05, 2013, 10:29:49 PM
Well, personally, I did not find the subweapons in MoF useful except for further exploration (hourglass). I just whipped my way through the game.

IMO Trevors sub weapons were pretty awesome the boomerang/ electric bomb are op.

A missed opportunity well cv for the dreamcast it looked like konami did learn from their mistakes from the n64 games but alas nothing...
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: The Belmont Pizza on May 06, 2013, 02:13:45 AM
Hey there and welcome to the forums! For your personal safety after a statement like that I'm giving you a free
(http://stokereport.com/files/flame%20shield.jpg)


I would like to say thank for the welcome. I been on this site quite long but hardly ever post in this forum.  :)
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Pfil on May 07, 2013, 12:22:01 PM
I really like 8-directional whip on SCVIV.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: KaZudra on May 08, 2013, 11:09:39 AM
no.1 missed opportunity - adding realistic whip tactics in any modern Castlevania game, using the handle as a club, Dis-arming your enemies, and my favorite one, whipping a skeleton and flinging it's head at another enemy
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: DragonSlayr81 on May 08, 2013, 09:27:21 PM
no.1 missed opportunity - adding realistic whip tactics in any modern Castlevania game, using the handle as a club, Dis-arming your enemies, and my favorite one, whipping a skeleton and flinging it's head at another enemy
More means of whip actions is always better. I always wanted to see more disarming enemies, whipping and snaring an enemy's foot and pulling it forward to trip them. Using the whip to tangle an enemy(like a skeleton or fleaman) and then flail them around at other enemies.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: Pfil on May 09, 2013, 11:42:40 AM
That sounds cool, but I don't know if that idea put in practice would be fun. Maybe it would be like MoF combat system.
I mean, I don't imagine that gameplay with a sprite-based game.
Though, if they ever manage to do it, it sure sounds like fun.
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: TheAcer on May 10, 2013, 12:50:45 AM
Heck, if MS would of scrapped the pitiful combo system and QTE finishers in MoF, and replaced them with the kind of whip utility you guys are talking about it could have been a really solid game (that and getting rid of the 99999 unnecessary checkpoints in platforming and boss fights).
Title: Re: Missed Opportunities in Castlevania games?
Post by: capo on May 12, 2013, 10:53:57 PM
On the topic of whip tactics, check out this clip. Not sure about the nunchuck part lol, but pretty neat.
TheApocalypsePost: Anthony De Longis Whip Technique Demonstration (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yORjKH85vlc#ws)