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

[Oralox]

In Reply To #389

Your email is good.

Also that was like back in 2005 or 06.

[Lumas]

That quote was from several years ago, though.

I know but everyone gets bored and tired of their jobs perhaps Konami offered this to him so he could finally take a break to simply become re inspired with the series and continue on with his Alucard game.

[Lumas]

Also it was done around march of 2007 two years ago which really doesn't matter. honestly if IGA did hand this off to MS and Kojima so he could take time to become re inspired to make his Alucard game good and actually make a successful 3D castlevania game then I dont see a problem with it.

[cecil-kain]

I wonder how this all went down behind closed doors.  The shakeup and big budget are both welcome, but I find myself wondering if those involved know and love the material as passionately as IGA.

For all we know this was thrown on Kojima's lap and he was like.  "uuuuhhhhhhh..."

[kevinski]

...but I find myself wondering if those involved know and love the material as passionately as IGA.

I, for one, won't be convinced until I see them all wearing fedoras and brandishing whips in public.

[justin312]

Hold on. Very few, myself included, have said we wanted 5 more Metroidvanias. Absolutely not. Change WAS needed--especially in the realm of 3D. However, the question remains: was shoehorning the independent "dark fairy-tale" that was Lords of Shadow into a Castlevania title really the best way to make a next-gen revival of the franchise? (In some ways, it seems like a white flag by Konami that they didn't even try to commission a studio to specifically make a big budget 3D Castlevania game. It makes it sound like they lost confidence in the franchise, and just went for convenience).

Are we sure this is how it really happened, that this was a separate game that has been "shoehorned" into the Castlevania series?  It looked to me like they were teasing Lords of Shadow as a Castlevania game several months ago, when they first put the launch site up.  There were several subtle hints that this was destined to be a Castlevania, and a few obvious ones.  Its entirely possible that this game was destined to be a Castlevania all along, but Konami just waited until E3 to announce this in order to make a big splash.

[jimmay17]

Are we sure this is how it really happened, that this was a separate game that has been "shoehorned" into the Castlevania series?

[Reinhart77]

we need a timeline of known events for both games.  anyone up for it?

[justin312]

Then again, if it was designed to be a Castlevania all along, then why introduce the un-named and presumed SoTN sequel? It seems like a lot of work to be a misdirection, and decoy games aren't exactly a staple of video game marketing. The whole thing begs more questions than it answered.

We really didn't have much information on that at all.  We didn't even know if that was planned to be a 3D game, or a 2D game.  All we knew was that it was planned for 360/PS3 and Alucard was in it.  That could be anything, honestly.  It could be a downloadable XBLA/PSN SotN sequel in the vein of a Bionic Commando Rearmed thats still being worked on, for all we know.

A little more outside the box, maybe Konami had both Mercury Steam and Iga's group working on a proposed 3D Castlevania, with the understanding that the team with better ideas and a better starting point would ultimately get Konami's full support and Kojima's backing to finish the game.  You haven't heard much of anything from Iga since April, so maybe thats when it was decided that Mercury Steam's version would be the new Castlevania.

I know, a lot of speculating, but so is the assumption that LoS was a standalone copycat that has been "shoehorned" into Castlevania halfway through its development.

[jimmay17]

I'll leave a detailed timeline to someone less lazy and/or sleepy, but the basic gist is this:

July, 2008-Lords of Shadow announced at E3 '08, highly similar in appearance to the Castlevania games, it features a long-haired, crucifix whip wielding protagonist clad in leather and armor, but the title is presented with no direct or stated connection to the vampire hunting game series.

October, 2008-Teaser trailer for unnamed Castlevania featuring Alucard shown at Tokyo Game Show, widely presumed to be a sequel to Symphony of the Night, and apparently being developed under long-time series producer Koji Igarashi

June 2009-New trailer released for what is now titled "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow" at E3 '09. No mention is made of the previously teased Alucard game whatsoever, and Igarashi is nowhere to be seen.

[Reinhart77]

oh, so the Alucard game was announced after LoS.  that's interesting.  i would love to conclude that it's something other than a 3D action game and that there's no reason for it to have been canceled in light of Castlevania:LoS

[UnManuel]

Hey, Gabriel is not using the whip against the giant spider in the trailer! Holy water, maybe?

[Saner]

if the character is a part of an Order of Knights that fight evil,

[RichterB]

Konami has taken down LordsofShadow.com, which used to have a trailer, images,  info, and a mailing list promising updates. There was also a blog somewhere, too. Anyway, all that is gone now. However, a fansite, LordsofShadow.net, has managed to archive some/most of the information on their website. First the timeline based on this fansite, IGN, and Kotaku:

1.) Fansite (Gamespot referenced this too):
In March 2008 Konami announced it would be partnering up with Madrid-based MercurySteam, developer of Clive Barker's Jericho, to work on a new high profile title that will

[Oralox]

In Reply To #404

WOW!!!
Outstanding!

I'd also like to point out that there is more artwork here
but they are wallpapers
http://lordsofshadow.net/gallery?g2_itemId=48