Topic: Your Ideal CV Game

[darkwzrd4]

If you were in charge of the CV series and were going to make a new CV game, how would you design it.  For example, I would make a 3D game with elements of LoI/CoD and OoE.  It would have the graphics of camera view of LoI/CoD, but the map and areas would work similar to OoE.  In other words, if you want to get to an area certain area pretty far in the game from one of the beginning areas, it normally takes a fairly big chunk of time to do so (in CoD anyway).  That is way I would use the map function for OoE.  Each area would have at least one entrance/exit that you from/to the world map.  This way you don't spend so much time back tracking.  Plus, I would have at least a couple of warp rooms (at least one near one of the entrance points) to save even more time when traveling through areas already explored.

As for the story, I would do the opposite of IGA's way.  I would look at the existing timeline of the series and develop the games story from there.  Well, I would already have some ideas for the story, but unlike IGA, I would edit my games story to fit the existing time line so that I don't create any new plot holes.  And to be honest, that is the best way to develop the storyline for a new game in an already existing timeline.

So, how would you guys to it?

[Munchy]

I'd want a game with CV4's whipping that's actually challenging. Seeing this on the DS using both screens ala Contra 4 would be awesome.

Also, a Metroid-styled one with much better room/area design would be in order. Repeating backgrounds I could understand, but copying and pasting entire rooms is inexcusable.

[darkwzrd4]

I'd want a game with CV4's whipping that's actually challenging. Seeing this on the DS using both screens ala Contra 4 would be awesome.

Also, a Metroid-styled one with much better room/area design would be in order. Repeating backgrounds I could understand, but copying and pasting entire rooms is inexcusable.

I agree.

[Kale]

A cross between Ninja Gaiden and DMC. Take that however you want it.

[Mobius]

I already discussed this some time ago on the old forums, and even then only so far as my personal safegaurds would permit my open sharing of ideas for an original CV title. (I've become a bit cautious since Midway games happened to rip off several ideas I shared over Mortal Kombat -themed message boards back in the late 90's that found their way into later MK titles Deadly Alliance and Deception.) So, that said, here's a quick recap of my original CV millenium concept...

Set immediately after the conclusion of the Demon Castle Wars (which are revealed to have lasted more than a few years), my ideal contribution to the series centers around a covert plot to restore the demon castle. It would be the first outing rooted in a modern setting and be divided into two halves. First half would revolve around an investigation by a brand new protagonist -- totally unrelated to any past heroes or villains AND female to boot -- into the reappearance of CastleVania and the whereabouts of an unknown present-day Belmont descendent (hey, Julius is in a coma at this point - gotta have a backup plan). Long story short, all four playable characters assembled as the mystery unfolds find they have each have their own distinctive reasons for joining together in hopes of uncovering the secrets of the castle and its return to the living earth. And, of course, unmasking who is behind all of this in the first place. Progressing through a quaint Romanian town each character takes a different path through seemingly normal locations like a public park, an old theater, a condemned hostel, a fog-bound riverfront, the town cemetery and cathedral, a water-processing plant, and even the local clock tower (yay!) in a trek to reach the mountains where somewhere hidden away is the castle of legend.

Second half of the game is just a straight-up old school romp through a M A S S I V E recreation of Dracula's castle that has been restored from the ground up, and is revealed to be spiritually linked to the true castle on the shadow plane, which means the joint will soon become the actual honest-to-goodness CastleVania unless our heroes can somehow reverse the flow of evil energies from within, destroy the super-structure outright, and take down the lunatic who has engineered this ungodly mess so he can't ever try it again. All the classic major bosses have been restored through genetic cloning, so they're back with some major enhancements for your palm-sweating pleasure. There is a time limit for the first time in years (a la CV 1, CV III and, to a lesser extent, the N 64 outings). Night time affects the strength and abilities of your enemies (as in CV II and the N 64 titles). Oh yeah, and depending on who you've picked the difficulty and fun factor tend to fluctuate because each character has their own set of talents and disciplines which sets him or her apart. Each also has a distinctive perspective on how the overall story unfolds. Sure fire recipe for a fun time, right?

Shikashi... ('However' in Engrish)

Even if you do manage to solve the mysteries of the demon castle and halt the resurrection of its master (well it couldn't be a proper CV game without Dracula now could it?), the final test would be yet to come. - The means through which the lord of all darkness would have been brought back would still be out there; hidden throughout the town locales you visited. These artifacts would need to be recovered, taken into the true castle within the realm of chaos, and disposed of properly. At this point in the game past locations and even the castle itself would be fully explorable so players could properly backtrack and uncover new areas that were once inaccesable.

That's about it. Other than that, at least one additional hidden character to play, all new designs for existing baddies to compliment the newcomers, and not so many useless weapons and items that players will find their inventories looking ridiculously bloated yet again. As for the presentation itself, well. . . Let's just say it would be best showcased as a side-scrolling platformer with fully realized 3D backdrops, and the human(oid) characters done up as digitized actors captured in front of green screen. Call me wacky, but the potential of added realism just gives a new edge to the CV universe in my warped POV. Music would have to be epic too since this is, in many ways, a loving tribute to the overall series as much as a stand alone chapter in the continuity. Cutscenes would be kept to a minimum with only major turning points in the story interrupted by fully-scripted moments, and most dialogue would be exchanged in-game.

Oh yeah. And Alucard would be in it. - And no, it wouldn't be a shitty role.  

[X]

My ideal game would contain all these:

#1. Back to the old-school, side-scrolling action style of play.

#2. Whiping in all 8 directions.

#3. Lots of interesting and unique levels.

#4. An involved story line that is represented through cut-scenes, etc. (But a story that does NOT mess the the currently established Konami timeline. not the IGA timeline).

#5. Definitly have a female Belmont for the lead cast.

#6. Bring back the lone hero as was portrayed in most of the old CV games prior to SotN.

#7. Have both rope climbing and stair climbing in the same game.

#8. introduce new and inovative methods of play just for variety perposes.

And above all else...

#9. Make a game that's fun to play and not one that will have you throwing your controller across the room, at the TV screen or making you swear and curse until you're arrested for noise pollution. 

-X

[uzo]

#9. Make a game that's fun to play and not one that will have you throwing your controller across the room, at the TV screen or making you swear and curse until you're arrested for noise pollution.  

#1. Back to the old-school, side-scrolling action style of play.

OBJECTION!

There is clearly a contradiction here. It just wouldn't be Castlevania then.

[X]

Wow! I think we've just had our first Pheonix Wright moment!   

But you shouldn't have to worry about difficulty there UZO, after all that's what the difficulty settings are for. 

-X

[Reinhart77]

i have no "ideal" CV game.  i just hope they keep making games and that each game is somewhat different from the previous ones, but that new games continue the legacy of older games in its different forms.

that being said, the 2D game I am "waiting" for and hope they make is one that would utilize a "party system".  instead of having one character who can equip and use just about anything, make it about "collecting" many, many different characters cast in the molds of previously seen adventurers with many different specializations.  and then just switch characters instead of switching inventory items when you need a different skill set.  i guess it's like Dracula's Curse or Julius Mode in DoS, but I want a fully fleshed out system comperable to the level of variety found in modern metroidvanias.  maybe that would take too much work on the animator's part, but i guess i would settle for a variety of palette swaps if i had to.  i think the Battle of 1999 game where we know Julius had help from several other warriors would make the ideal setting for such a game.

[Felix]

a) 2D Style of play.

b) Choose your path, like CVIII.

c) Multi Directional Whipping^tm

d) 2 char., like The New Generation

e) Uncontrolled Jumps

f) LOTS of pixel-perfect platforming, like Adventure...

g) Familiars  , which give you different weapons and spells

[Kale]

If you're going 2d, should be super awesomely high definition graphics. and ridiculous amount of frames for every movement for every possible situation. Walking up stairs, walking up a hill, walking up a not so steep hill, walking up a steeper hill, climbing up a very steep hill >.>

[shelverton.]

I would probably rip off Zelda: Twilight Princess a bit, but only in terms of the gaming world layout. I want one big cohesive 3D world with forests, graveyards, MANSIONS, little towns here and there... and then Dracula's Castle visable in the horizon. The game would have more straight forward action than our typical Zelda, but it would progress in a similar way, where you needed certain abilities to get to new places. There could be some puzzles here and there to mix things up. I am not the greatest Zelda fan ever, but I really like the level design in the 3D games. It's not just corridor after corridor - there's an actual WORLD to explore. And yes, I know I'm describing Simon's Quest in 3D.

[X]

For some unknown reason... I can actually picture that and I'm not a hugh fan of classic games in 3D.

-X

[Abnormal Freak]

Lots and lots of boobies.

[Dark Nemesis]

Lots and lots of boobies.