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

[Dark Nemesis]

how long have you guys been playin games again? Dont you realize you can never trust ANY release date unless its expressly stated by a the company themselves

True true 

[shelverton.]

There are soooo many games I want to play this year - both upcoming, brand new and old ones -  I honesty don't mind if LoS comes out in october or even december.
Heavy Rain... Yakuza 3... FFXIII... GoW3... and lots of old stuff too that's been collecting dust on my shelves. First of all I'm going through Persona 3 and 4 which is WELL overdue... (Not that any of this has anything to do with LoS.)

[CastlevaniaX]

Expect the scans to be uploaded very soon. our friend " chang_1910 " is going to ask his/her sister who lives in Spain to buy the magazine and scan LOS pages.

http://twitter.com/chang_1910

Good luck chang_1910

Yousef

[Ahasverus]

There's a lot of spanish people in the hispanic forum Castlemaniacs, so expect the scans soon, and you can be sure that I will be there to translate the article

[shelverton.]

I don't expect too much new info, but it would be nice to see some new screens at least. In some ways, we already know what we need to know about this game. Too much info/spoilers aren't that hot. I do want to hear some in-game music though.

[CastleDan]

I found word on some site that the article basically says --- Castlevania was the inspiration to god of war not the other way around.

Its about 75 percent done, you can play the game all the way through but they are polishing it up.

Also the game will be Konami's head honcho at E3 2010 which takes place in june.. So I guess thats when we get our new trailer.

[Ahasverus]

Whaat?? 75%? Wasn't at 75% at September? I don't think it's that early. It that's how it is, we'll find, likely (and luckily) an October-December release date 

[crisis]

Castlevania was the inspiration to god of war not the other way around.

Hmm...

[Ahasverus]

That was what Cox said in the interview of the famous "spanish magazine". He said something about Kratos, so harsh, that the pulishers had to censor it I wanto to read the interview NOW!
Now, about the 75%... I mean, Agoust 2009-Feb 2010, only 15% done? WTH were they doing all this time? 
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/101/1016655p1.html
It says it clearly, 60% at ag 2009, and it has been a while since then  :

[CastlevaniaX]

Scans will be uploaded very soon guys. expect them today.

Yousef

[CastlevaniaX]

And here we go,





Ahasverus , or whoever you are , you know what you should do 

Yousef

[R.Deckard]

I was looking for information about castlevania order of eclessia and I saw this post with information in Spanish that you request for translation. I am Spanish, so I will try to translate it the best I can; if you detect any mistake for my part in the use of your language, please let me note and I will try to correct it. Let´s go:

Scan 1.

“The story of how a remake became the best castlevania in history”
One man enters in a castle and fights whit his whip against creatures for saving his girl from the fangs of Dracula. We can add anything we want for building a story of vampires bigger than anything ever told, but in essence this is a CASTLEVANIA. “We are not making God of War. We are not making Devil May Cry…, we love these games and we admire them, but when Castlevania Lord of Shadows will be released, people are going to see clearly that this is not the same kind of game” says Dave Cox, the head of Konami´s title. “It´s darker, we use more the atmosphere. Yes, we have action, but we have also quieter areas because the game has a platform component enormous, many puzzles and a shaking storyline”, he says.
Game producer says, almost whispering, that Castlevania LOS was going to be a remake of the original Castlevania: ”we sat down and decided that it was going to be a remake of the original Castlevania. The main character was going to be Simon Belmont and the concept was to rebuild the story of the first game. But we saw that this had already been made in Super Castlevania IV . We thought there is none sense in making something already done”. And the proposal was to rerelease the saga from its essence.
“Super Castlevania IV is my Bible” Cox says. “If you remember it, you used the chain to hold on things, to swing, to jump…that´s the basic concept” the platforms were the base on those games in which we went from corridor to corridor inside vampirical castles. “We have played  all the games preceding Super Castlevania IV and we have asked ourselves what  had those games for loving them so much” and that platform and “hack and slash” concepts have become the epicenter of Konami´s new creature. “The idea was to rebuild the hack´n slash classics of the 8 and 16 bits era, but in three dimensions”.

Thing in platforms in Uncharted 2 style, impossible jumps and an intense use of the whip for holding on things and going from one place to another. To that add a profound combat system-yes, God of War flavor- and a good dose of puzzles.---
(NOTE: I think some pages are lost because the scans goes from 11 to 14 pages and the sense of the text at the end and beginning of both pages respectively is not coincidence)



Scan 2

---Shown, Konami´s game appears as an action adventure with a hero facing enormous creatures, and that makes you think  they are creating “another” action game. “When we will approach the release date people will realize that the platforms has great importance  in our game, that puzzles are essential. The olds Castlevanias were all platforms games, and we took a good look at that”, says the producer.
“All begins with a main character whith a whip, but Castlevania was there before God of War appears, then, they were who have been inspired in Castlevania. God of War is very bombastic, full of action scenes and you feel like in the edge anytime. Our game is closer, more realistic, our protagonist does not says “I am going to crush you”, he has a mission and it is something credible”
Castlevania?, An Spanish developer?
As Dave Cox says, Enric Álvarez (Mercury Steam) appears in Konami Europe with a project, it was one of the first things Konami´s people in Europe saw working on a PS3. They show it to their Japanese bosses and, although they were impressed, they don´t have any references of the Spanish developer and decided don´t trust in the proposal. Mecury Steam worked in the developing of “Jericho“  after that but Dave and Enric didn´t lost contact, they exchange emails those years. “The opportunity appears when we have to create an internal video for the presentation of the new Castlevania project” says Cox. He phoned Enric and made him the proposal of making such video and he accepted. They made the video using the in-game engine they developed for the proposal to Konami Europe of the remake of the first Castlevania with Belmont as the main character. The chief director loved it (Note of the Translator: I think this is bad redacted as they didn´t say previously that the initial proposal of Mercury Steam to Konami Europe was to remake the original Castlevania)
There were then a hazy moment when no one trusted in making the remake, then some put on the table the possibility of creating a new Castlevania for giving fresh air to the series. The idea that the developing studio of the project were an studio outside of Japan, European an Spanish, frightened. “I think at the beginning people fear the idea of bringing Castlevania to a new direction. There were people who wanted to continue in the same direction.” Says Cox. Even considering the data which indicated a loose of importance of the series (in sales and popularity) in Japan, for Konami seemed easier don´t change nothing.
And GC-2008 came. Konami bosses didn’t trust in the new direction of the series yet and, in the last moment, the decided don´t announce the game as an new title in the Castlevania franchise and they named it as “Lord of Shadows” waiting to see reception of the new title. “We have a guy in armor and a chain as a weapon…I thought that people were going to say it was a Castlevania. Many people thought it. After that we receive a phone call from one of the Japanese bosses, he told us: “Can you show what  are you working in?”. After a few days, Dave Cox flew to Japan with a copy of the game, a  video and a presentation. In the meeting was Kojima and the rest of the directors. He showed them the game and let them impressed. “When we got out Kojima came to me and he said me: “I want to help you with this, Dave”. From that moment Konami decided that the project deserved the risk and they betted for the new direction in the series” Dave Cox says.
The rest is secret. Nothing has been shown and it seems that E3-2010 is one of the key moments for Konami this year. Two trailers, some screenshots  and some other little details is all that Konami let us know of the enormous mosaic of this gothic stained glass window were are facing.
We know Gabriel seeks for blood. There will be castles. And enormous blood-thirsty creatures. Atmosphere will soak our bones. Music will change our mood and will soak our heart with its sad drizzle. We will have to go over stages brandishing our whip. It moves us. We love to think that we are about to face a Castlevania like “Simon´s Quest” or “Belmont´s Revenge”. We love to think that blood of Castlevania come back to be pure.

END OF THE TRANSLATION OF THE MAIN ARTICLE.

LITTLE WHITE BOX IN THE SECOND SCAN.
“Advices of a AAA expert”.
Kojima is the chief, but his role is as a mentor
As complicated it could seem, the role of Kojima in the creative process of LOS is crucial for turning an excellent game into an essential game. Dave Cox, game producer, tells us  “Kojima is the boss and I inform him directly. I tell him anything related with the game. But he works more as an adviser in creativity questions , his role is giving us support in technical issues, marketing, gameplay issues, press relations..,etc. Hideo Kojima has been in Spain  (and it is expected he will come back before the end of the development of the game) for supervising the creation from inside the Spanish team. His idea is to advise as a mentor of the title and help  not saying  “you have to do this” but saying “this is great, but if you do it this way it may be greater”. It is known that even people from Kojima´s team has come to Spain for helping in the creating of  Gabriel´s facial animations.

END TRANSLATION

That´s all, the best way I could do  it. Please let me know any correction needed.
 

 

[Ahasverus]

You... you... STOLE MY JOB HERE!!! 

Haha kidding, thanks you very very much, we really appreciatte it

[DragonSlayr81]

Whoa, so that brunette chick is Marie? She is a looker!

[CastlevaniaX]

Thanks R.Deckard. I don't know what we will do without your help ( staring at Ahasverus  )

Yousef