Topic: Castlevania Horror game??

[MeSako]

Hi there ppl.. This is my very first post here.

Anyhow, since Castlevania was started as a horror Game (at least I think it was), and have turned into an action series instead.
Not that I mind that, I totaly love the series and I love the mytos created with the games.

Now to my question, what would a horror survival game be like, really put horror in there with the monster haunting the lands.
That game could have course not star any Belmonts or anyone related to them.. but maybe star someone who is trying to escape the castle.. maybe.. I'm making up as I write here.

Any Ideas?
I for one would love it, if done right of course.. But what is "donr right"?

[Aridale]

I think it could be survival horror with a Belmont just as easily as it could be anyone else. The difference isnt the char your controllin its how the games designed. One of the first major changes would be the entire basis of the game. Not 2d side scrollin but full 3d and preferably first person. Harder to scare in 3rd person. Then it wouldnt focus so much on rooms full of enemies but enemies appearin suddenly after youve entered an area or as you start to leave it.

Focus more on individual fights not groups. This is one person vs the evil undead and demon filled army of THE vampire. They should be represented as such instead of just fodder for your xp bar on your way to the next item upgrade or max hp up

It should also make the player human or slightly above average not unstoppable powerhouse. If your fightin... pretty much anythin youd encounter in CV anyone without a bazooka would be lucky to survive at all much less win. I cant think of a single enemy from any CV that a normal person could handle on their own if it jumped up on em in RL. That should come across in the game

Im not sayin make the main char a wuss that dies in one hit every time but I thinkin of a drastically different combat system where you have to really FIGHT to survive

This is the CV Ive always wanted to make mself but ya know how that goes =/

[Reinhart77]

I've thought that it would be interesting to have an "escape from Castlevania" game or mode since Ico came out.  Playing Castlevania 64 or Legacy of Darkness with Carrie Fernandez is about as close to a survival horror game as we've seen, just because she seems so vulnerable and while she is powerful, her orbs are slow, giving plenty of time for a little "horror" to sink in.  But yeah, if they could crank that feeling up a notch, that would be a good change of pace.  I would like the game to have one character who tries to "get to Dracula" and another that tries to "escape from Dracula", though it might not work so well in the same game.

[Belmont Stakes]

I am not sure we would see such a game in the next few years at least not until the technology evolves once again. When we see a quality movie like presentation of a game (albiet game makers are very close) with a character whose actions and emotions we can control with precision then and only then will we have that kind of gaming experience. Otherwise all you have is another Resident Evil clone.  I like the survival/escape idea that would be interesting.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

First off, GOOD FIRST TOPIC.
Second, Welcome to the Forums.

You're talking making it as if someone is a caught passersby in the Castle, or a kidnapped person trying to escape (like the Rondo people or the Ecclesia people).  It would certainly make for an interesting game.

[James Belmont]

While it would be very cool to see a CV that emphasized horror, I'd rather it was an original game (perhaps even series if it were successful enough) that had the same roots in gothic horror, Hammer films, European folklore, etc, and went in a different, more terrifying direction with it. I don't think there's many games, especially these days, that tap into that "classic horror" genre and really run with it, and most games that do pay tribute to it aren't really horror-based at all.

[e105beta]

But then we don't get a badass Belmont whipping up badguys and curbstomping Dracula.

Maybe they could make a game about Solieyu Belmont:
"Alright, I'll show them! I'm going to be a great vampire hunter! OH GOD A ZOMBIE! AH, IT'S DRACULA! STAY AWAY!!! STAY AWAY!!! *lol mindcontrol*"

[MeSako]

Thanx for all the nice replys

As of the "probably never gona be made game", I was thinking that as the player, thats escaping the Castle, you would meet the hero/s (preferably a Belmont, and maybe help him with somthing every now and then. But as seen in every Castlevania game, The hero always leaves the ppl he meets, and so would it be here too. After a conversation with the hero, maybe help operate something to help the hero progress, you continue with your own goal, getting the heck away.
And it could very well be more than one hero.. as seen in Castlevania 3, there are four heroes.

I like this idea more and more.. but have no idea how this could be made.. heh..

[JR]

They could just make it fit the tone of What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse by The Black Dahlia Murder.

Actually, I think some psychological horror could work pretty well. I guess you could argue that Dracula doesn't need "mind games" since he has the real thing, but I think it could help build tension in a more horror-themed CV. I don't think psychological horror should trump actual horror in a CV game, but it could work in small doses.

[Ahasverus]

I don't think that a typically Cv story could be made well in a Sh game. I think that a spin off could be pretty good, but changing main parts, for example, a Belmont, or a Vampire Hunter doesn't fear darkness or creatures, a normal human does.
So, for example, we could take the world of a prisoner of Dracula, a normal soldier from 1999 for example, trying to escape the sacrifice, lurking not the main corridors but the unknown rooms of the castle, he sees the monsters as monsters, not as "preys", and the castle not as his playground but as his jail.
That kind of claustrophobic feeling could be translated very very good into a Castlevania Side story 

[MeSako]

I don't think that a typically Cv story could be made well in a Sh game. I think that a spin off could be pretty good, but changing main parts, for example, a Belmont, or a Vampire Hunter doesn't fear darkness or creatures, a normal human does.
So, for example, we could take the world of a prisoner of Dracula, a normal soldier from 1999 for example, trying to escape the sacrifice, lurking not the main corridors but the unknown rooms of the castle, he sees the monsters as monsters, not as "preys", and the castle not as his playground but as his jail.
That kind of claustrophobic feeling could be translated very very good into a Castlevania Side story 

Thats kinda what I thought of from start