Topic: I knew it! Castlevania: Lords of Shadow!(SPOILERS HERE, PLZ USE THE SPOILER TAG)

[A n t r a x x]

In Reply To #266

BTW thx for the sig compliment

I wear that badge proudly lol.

[PFG9000]

The trailer looks pretty fantastic.  It does its job, that is, it makes me want to buy the game.

But I agree that it doesn't really look CV-ish.  The series has needed either a return to form, or a new direction entirely (especially for the 3D games), for years now.  So it's not necessarily a bad thing that this is a big departure from what we've gotten used to.  We can always play the existing games, so it's not like we're losing anything if this is an un-CVish CV.  I'm kinda on the fence with the "Is LoS really CV-looking?" thing.

[Munchy]

I just hope the game doesn't turn into another generic fantasy-ish game like WoW or Final Fantasy or something. We have enough games with goddamned orcs and elves and pixies already.

[UnManuel]

Here's my conspiracy theory about the whole deal.

The story begins with (yep, you guessed) Castlevania Judgment:

http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=70182

An underseller is very shameful from a japanese perspective, and IGA has more than once in his resume:

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/587/587953p1.html

Enter Mercurysteam. I like to imagine these guys as no-nonsense game developers who also happen to be Castlevania fanboys. Maybe they found a successful, immediately obvious way to make Castlevania 3D and presented it to Konami. In this scenario, Konami has in one hand a soon-to-be certified Castlevania bomber, and in the other a promising alternative, given the proper budget and exposure.

There's a chance the Alucard game don't even exist. I mean, by the time the Alucard trailer was released Judgment wasn't even out, that implies in a certain moment IGA was involved in THREE game development cycles at once, counting OoE. Now add the Medal (I know, this one is cheap) and Arcade games, probably from other development teams. Now add Lords of Shadow, already a masked Castlevania game (no pun intended) by that time... So, how much love (and money) have Konami to power 6 Castlevania IP projects involving the production of custom arcade cabinets, two next-gen Castlevanias and Patrick Stewart??

Back to subject, IGA (already aware of LoS development and defensive because of the harsh reception in Judgment's showings) could have rushed a trailer with Ayami Kojima's Alucard slapped on it in order to keep fans close to him and his team (and at least with me, it worked.. for a time).

A real game or an act of jealousy? Time will tell. But my guess is that IGA will not develop Castlevania for consoles anymore. Konami is obviously betting high this time, so far they are involving Kojima Productions to blatantly get enough media exposure, which is not necessary a bad thing (Kojima, as a Konami veteran, just Knows what Castlevania is all about).

Why IGA was missing at LoS unveiling? Why his name is completely out of the picture, even as an advisor, so far? I think the man has mixed feelings about all of this, because Konami surgically removed Castlevania from him. He probably will continue producing/directing handheld Castlevanias for the young DSi, but console 'vanias? Not a chance.

[A n t r a x x]

Yeah I hope they'll find it in their hearts to give us more undead and creepy enemies to drool over in the next trailer.

[Reinhart77]

well, Kojima made his big announcement to the general gaming community.

[Lumas]

I found this at http://e3.gamespot.com/story/6210520/new-castlevania-ps3-pc-mgs-rising-revealed-at-konami-event-live

its a step by step of what happened during the konami conference to shed some light on happened there since i haven't been able to find any video of it.

As you can tell the crowd gets really excited when it is revealed to be a Castlevania title.

[Lumas]

Also I found out that the official Konami site has been changed to showcase the CV:LoS title http://www.konami.com/games/mask/

http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/dracula/ this site still remains up but hasn't been updated since april when they announced CV:Arcade.

[DragonSlayr81]

In Reply To #269

That's what I mean. They were calling this game(before we knew it as a Castlevania game) a dark fairy tale. Just hope the really fantastic mystical glades are kept to a minimum. I LOVE the look of the town area at night. THAT looks very CV-ish! But yeah, keep it in good ole Transylvania! It would feel strange if they say something like, "Now, this one takes place in a fantasy world of Scorsia, where dark wizards threaten the land, and the nations of Faltana and Maveroy are at war for the crystal of life!". Y'know, if I wanted THAT kinda thing, that's what countless RPGs are for!

[A n t r a x x]

Actually what he said is that he puts the blame of the bad reception of the PS2 CVs on himself.

It's entirely possible then that he also agreed to remove himself from the development on the 3D side, especially once he heard Kojima would head it.

I don't see IGA as a cunning, bitter egomaniac that wouldn't allow other people's say on things.

[Gunlord]

Hmm...please forgive me for this, but may I be pardoned if I were to add in some thoughts that were a bit more serious than usual from me on this topic?

While Kojima is certainly a high-profile name, keep in mind that much of his fame derives primarily from the Metal Gear series. His other games--such as Snatcher, Zone of the Enders, and Boktai--are very good, in my estimation, but have never gotten the amount of sales MGS has. Thus, I do wonder if this new Castlevania game he's heading will be less than the smash hit Konami may be expecting...perhaps it'll be another Boktai or ZoE, i.e not a huge seller. u_u

[Lumas]

Actually what he said is that he puts the blame of the bad reception of the PS2 CVs on himself.

It's entirely possible then that he also agreed to remove himself from the development on the 3D side, especially once he heard Kojima would head it.

I don't see IGA as a cunning, bitter egomaniac that wouldn't allow other people's say on things.

[Reinhart77]

I'm enjoying my little fantasy about Iga in two months time

[Lumas]

according to IGN

The main character is named Gabriel and he's out to slay some orcs and giant spiders. Gameplay footage reminded us of God of War. Kojima described Lords of Shadows as a new start for Castlevania and it isn't connected to any other Castlevania games. This will be the first game in the franchise Kojima has worked on. It's being developed by a studio called Mercurystream but Kojima Productions is lending a hand.

So far this title we have nothing to do with the previous games making it a side story to IGA's main storyline.

[DragonSlayr81]

In a way, it would make sense that IGA's still doing something within the CV franchise. I mean, who else is going to do 2D DS CV games? I love IGA's 2D games, and 2D CV games should never die out.

There's a part of me that thinks IGA's letting Kojima and co go ahead with their project to see everything they do right, then mimick it for HIS 3D CV game. He obviously can't do it alone with out a template as a guide, and Lords of Shadow seems to be perfect in that case.