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

[Lumas]

there's just something in the tone of what they're saying that screams "Iga is history!"

[Saner]

I don;t always agree with Kojima's decisions but his name and reputation can allow Konami to give him as much support, money and marketing as he wants to make the game as good as he wants.

http://kotaku.com/5278059/whip-it-with-this-castlevania-lord-of-shadow-trailer

http://kotaku.com/5278005/castlevania-lords-of-shadow-screenshots-will-whip-you-in-your-face

so Gabriel is on a quest for a mask to revive his wife.
It's pretty original for a Castlevania story.

[jimmay17]

I'm late to the party here, but I'll crash it nonetheless. My impressions:

Likes-graphics finally look moderately impressive (hasn't happened in any incarnation for Castlevania since SoTN on the playstation)
-The environs look suitably moody
-The voice acting is impressive, Picard and Begbie!!
-Konami is clearly excited about this, and see it as a chance to finally bring the series into the mainstream.
-We finally have a non-androgynous, non-waifelike protagonist

Dislikes-Enemies appear to be cookie-cutter, numerous and uniform, not good
-The battling gameplay looks identical to God of War, which I grew bored with by the second game.
-The forested, viny area looks a little too bright and fantasy like for a Castlevania game.
-Too many werewolves
-No sign of candles, platforming, or anything else than exactly screams "Castlevania."

I'll graciously concede all these impressions, both positive and negative, are based on extremely limited information. Flash cuts in a trailer don't allow someone to get a clear picture of how a game feels or plays, but its all we have to go on right now. Overall I'm reserving judgment, but the overwhelming similarity to God of War is troubling.

[Reinhart77]

the idea of the game being about Carmilla brings shivers down my spine.  cool!  i wouldn't mind seeing them really flesh out a different Dracula minion in each game until we face off against Dracula himself.

The original Castlevania started out as a homage to classic horror films.  This almost seems to be a homage to modern day epic gothic and fantasy films.  Kinda interesting.

[A n t r a x x]

Lol. The concept of the story doesn't sound original at all. Man loses his loved one, searches for a legendary cursed artifact to bring her back, and, likely, becomes a minion of darkness in exchange.

But it's all that needs to be said at this point to keep us interested.

[Reinhart77]

well, none of the men in Castlevania who lost their loved ones tried to bring them back in any previous Castlevania games (Mathias/Elizabetha, Leon/Sarah, Rinaldo/wife, Hector/Rosalee, Dracula/Lisa).  they just got REALLY angry.  it's kinda creepy and new that this Gabriel is considering it.

[A n t r a x x]

I like the song that plays near the end of the trailer when they focus on the mask.

Moving and epic.

[Lumas]

I love how everyone is ignorantly assuming that Iga is completely out of the picture just because one game irrelevant to the main Castlevania timeline and series was announced. There's still the Alucard PS3/360 game in production that everyone seems to have forgotten about.

There's nothing to indicate this will replace the main series, without looking at it through anti-IGA rose-tinted glasses.

If by some chance it ends up in the main timeline, my guess would have to be somewhere between Lament and CVIII, with a Belmont or some unrelated figure fighting vampires equally unrelated to Dracula.

Not true Anthrax has made several replies about the Alucard and IGA's absence and there being no real indication that the Alucard game is off the table.

This is from my point of view but the tone (as Reihart77 mentioned earlier) that IGA could be history because again they stated Forget what you know about Castlevania so from that plus IGA not appearing (so far) at E3 it is a possibility that this could be the new Castlevania story. I also agree with you as far it being in the same timeline as Lament.

[Lumas]

well, none of the men in Castlevania who lost their loved ones tried to bring them back in any previous Castlevania games (Mathias/Elizabetha, Leon/Sarah, Rinaldo/wife, Hector/Rosalee, Dracula/Lisa).

[Oralox]

Wasn't there an interview with Iga, a short time after the Alucard trailer was shown, and he was upset because he didn't want to show it in the first place? Of course, this is just speculation, but maybe Konami forced him to make the trailer, after forcing him to step down from the series, just to show something of Castlevania.

Hmm...I'd like to read that if someone can find it.

[Danial]

that is awesome

my wallet is surely going to hurt when this game comes out, considering the special editions and such Kojima likes to put out.

[DingusBelmondo]

 Hello! For my first post, I would like to not sound negative, but it seems as if a great majority of the comments show a sense of skepticism. Of course this is to be expected, it threatens something very familiar and important to all of us. But we have had around 25 amazing games, some holding a place in video game history. And now presented to us is a peek at a fantastic looking game and an epic new take on the series. The developers can be trusted, the production seems solid, and a lot is obviously put in the game. From the pictures on the website, we can see that (in the forest environment) the game is not all flat, and uses platforming and whip swinging (the church). What we don't know yet, is anything about the story or connection to the series. It was only announced today. Give the game a chance, it looks interesting to say the least. It has lots of development to go through before it's complete, and in my opinion, looks like it could be the most incredible thing to ever happen to Castlevania.

[Giz]

Not true Anthrax has made several replies about the Alucard and IGA's absence and there being no real indication that the Alucard game is off the table.

After I posted. I might add the reverse is also true. There is no immediate evidence to point in either direction right now; that it was cancelled or that it's still in production. However - seeing as last we knew it was still in production (the TGS '08 trailer), and we have not seen or heard anything to indicate otherwise, it can reasonably be assumed that it still is. And no, Lords of Shadow is not evidence.

This is from my point of view but the tone (as Reihart77 mentioned earlier) that IGA could be history because again they stated Forget what you know about Castlevania so from that plus IGA not appearing (so far) at E3 it is a possibility that this could be the new Castlevania story.

"Forget what you know about Castlevania"...Because this game is very different. As we can already tell. That is literally all it's saying. Everything about it, from Kojima's involvement to its production being handled by MercurySteam seems to indicate that it is more of a Gaiden then anything, either seperate from or a part of (in an inconsequential way) the main timeline.

[Reinhart77]

as a person who finds playing action-adventure games that are not Castlevania an utter waste of my time, this is exciting.

[Lumas]

A agree with LordofShadows we really need to give this a chance everything IGA has put out has been good but not great especially in the 3D field. We need something fresh and new to the CV series and this game could not knoly be a breakthrough, given the funding and all the people working on it, but bring new fans to the series.

After I posted. I might add the reverse is also true. There is no immediate evidence to point in either direction right now; that it was cancelled or that it's still in production. However - seeing as last we knew it was still in production (the TGS '08 trailer), and we have not seen or heard anything to indicate otherwise, it can reasonably be assumed that it still is. And no, Lords of Shadow is not evidence.
"Forget what you know about Castlevania"...Because this game is very different. As we can already tell. That is literally all it's saying. Everything about it, from Kojima's involvement to its production being handled by MercurySteam seems to indicate that it is more of a Gaiden then anything, either seperate from or a part of (in an inconsequential way) the main timeline.

I also managed to find this quote from Kojima

"In order to be more [globally] appealing in the years to come... we thought that this project should be done this way," said Kojima. He called MercurySteam "top class in the world" as developers, and says his role is "to support them, help them to give birth to this Castlevania."

Nearly every Castlevania title in the past has been produced by the iconic Koji "IGA" Igarashi, who was conspicuously absent from the announcement. His name was not mentioned, so it appears he is not involved in Lords of Shadow.-Gamesutra

He stated "to be more (Globally) appealing in the years to come" not direct confirmation that mercurysteam has taken over but I hope this brings us one step closer to the truth behind IGA's absence from the game.

Also giz given the team that is working on it and the funding I doubt Konami would do for a side story. They seem to be very excited about this game and since at the end of the trailer said Reborn there is still evidence that this could be more then a side story. Maybe a departure from IGA's story but not a side story.