Topic: Castlevania Dream Team

[thernz]

Pick team members from previous Castlevanias or anywhere I guess if you can't think of anyone and bring them together to form what you believe would be
THE ULTIMATE TEAMI'm just picking people who worked on previous Castlevanias, but I guess you could be free to pick whoever you want.

Director: Koji Igarashi
Well, he only directed one game, and it was SoTN. From what I read, Toru Hagihara actually got promoted and moved on from the project, and IGA got the reins, hence his title of assistant director (he wasn't credited director out of respect for Hagihara's seniority, apparently). In any case, it was IGA who decided to take a more exploration approach to the franchise as well as getting Ayami Kojima to reinvent its image. Considering all that, it'd be interesting to see another title actually helmed by them rather than shuffling around as almost a PR guy as producer.
I personally found that my least favorite DS titles were actually by the same director (DoS and PoR), so that leans more toward my belief that IGA has relatively little influence in any case.

Character Programmer: The SoTN programmers
SoTN was the only exploration Vania that I thought had a very weighty system for the player, at least compared to the loose and free-ness of AoS and titles after it (Curry the Kid). I really liked that. HoD had a bit of that weight too, but the jump was strange in its lack of speed. In HoD's case, I thought it actually complimented the game, giving Juste a more rigid feel like a Classicvania without being too unforgiving for the environment context. However, the height of the jump bugged me with in conjunction with this.
But yeah, I like SoTN's more. Alucard still had this light tinge to him, but it was unique to him, rather than the total lack of inertia in the AoS+ titles. It was a great feeling, soaring through the castle with that agile yet not loose control. You knew you weren't just human, and it kicked ass.

Enemy Programmer/Design: SoTN and HoD programmers/designers for basic enemies, the DS programmers for the bosses
I thought the HoD enemies were decently aggressive, especially the lizardmen. In AoS, they kinda became slower, I believe and that trend seemed to continue onto the DS saga. On the other hand, it wasn't until the DS saga, that the exploration titles finally got a wealth of good bosses, excluding the rare occasion like Julius in AoS.
I also thought the original HoD enemies were some of the more imaginative ones. Spriggan and Melty Zombies~ It also has the best Red Skeleton.
And SoTN, yeah. SoTN was especially memorable with  its enemies. It also had the best enemy placement.

Menu Design: Ko-G
He worked on CoTM and OoE's menus. And well, OoE's really just the best menu Castlevania got for its 2D titles. It's pretty, it's not clunky. It's good. Adding on, I'm a bit curious about his background work. I mean, CoTM's was fairly boring, but I thought the ones in OoE were decent enough, at least the Clock Tower. Not sure what he did though so.

Background Design: SoTN and HoD designers
The only shared member between the two is actually Shinichiro Shimamura, but I thought that Castlevania had some of its more interesting backgrounds in these two titles. HoD was especially quirky in a lot of ways while SoTN was artistically crafted from colors to composition.

Level Design: Super Castlevania IV and SoTN designers
I thought SCVIV was superb in not being lean, which is well, perfect for an exploration title. The game had some really great level design that conveyed the natural environments. There was a lot of texture in the layouts as well. They were also able to extend beyond tech demo and actually make those parts feel relatively cohesive with its whole, it also didn't depend on them. On the other hand, I think SoTN had the best level design out of all the exploration titles. AoS might have been the leanest, but because of that, it lacked all the extra nooks. SoTN was the best balance of both, and every area was distinctive in its layout. Every area was memorable for me.

Music: Masanori Adachi, Taro Kudou, Soshiro Hokkai
Adachi and Kudou were the composers of Super Castlevania IV. That should really be enough to say! I loved the jazzy undertones and atmospheric work they put into the music. I would actually hope for more pieces like Forest of Monsters and the Waterfall rather than Clockwork Mansion. I thought the instrumentation was superb as well, but SNES always had this melancholic tinge to it, kinda sorta. I picked Hokkai because I see a lot of potential in him. He made some fantastic complex dissonant compositions in HoD, and in AoS, he pretty much made all the best songs.

Sound Effects: Takeshi Iwakiri
I think the only time sound effects actually had any sort of effect on Castlevania was with CoTM. The echoing of the sound effects just built a great layer of atmosphere. I-I'm not really sure if in whatever dream game they create that it would be appropriate here but yeah.

Misc:
Shinichiro Shimamura was a prominent member of HoD and LoI. He was also a designer for SoTN. Considering he was chief design for LoI and in Background and Demo Graphics for HoD, he's been a part of the more interesting environments I liked in Castlevania. I thought LoI had its fair share of pretty rooms, just oft repeated, a lot of them had some subtle details I enjoyed.
Takeda Takeshi was the director of HoD and LoI. I really loved the depth of LoI's combat, especially because of how subtle it was.
I'd love to see him in a design role.

There are other roles, of course, like Map Programming and etc, but I don't really feel the need to assign preference there. I can't really find much difference. I guess PoR and OoE had more function, but I am imagining this game to take place in a single "map" if anything, even with the external areas designed by SCVIV people. I've also been reluctant to include older team members because of uncertainty. Out of the NES Vanias, I enjoyed CVI the most, but it was mainly for level design. And that level design was perfect for a linear title, but not the exploration title I am imagining being done by this team. I see something that's far more exploration-based, with level design being on how interesting the places are to navigate and not strictly difficulty, even if it's by rough flooring.

As for Scenario, I can't save I really liked any stories. I mean SoTN had charm because of dialogue. I thought HoD had a neat quirk dealing with the two castles and how it really was a sort of sidestory, less so than even OoE probably. The arguably best stories in the exploration titles were LoI and AoS. I see it more an issue of story telling rather than story content, and none of the Castlevanias have really evolved that, not even Lords, to make it more seemingly cohesive yet not disruptive with the rest of the game. But then, I guess Alan Moore, because he's a great writer at making things lean and concise. He gives neither too much or too little. Perfect for a Castlevania story. Plus, I mean, it's not like his work is all PESSIMISTIC like Watchmen. He's actually done other stuff!

also ayami kojima for art lol

My overall vision for this team is that they'd mesh together an evolution to the exploration titles. Not exactly sure how to imagine it really. I picked designers and I can't really predict what they would design in such a team.

[X]

I think that Treasure (from back in the day) would be the CV dream team, if only to produce another mind-blowing title like SCV4.

-X

[Koutei]

Dream Team
Family computer disk system Akumajo Dracula develop team

[Flame]

You know what artist wasnt half bad when it comes to castlevania?

Kazuko Fujihara, from Circle of the Moon. Its almost like he tried to sort of emulate Koijima's character style.

[A-Yty]

Script: However wrote Silent Hill 2.

Edit: Hiroyuki Owaku.

[Joachim]

these are all really boring replies.

[crisis]

these are all really boring replies.

Great contribution, mr. kettle!


I think it'd be neat if Inticreates (the team behind the Megaman Zero/ZX games) took a shot at a CV game, with IGA as director. All the members that were responsible for putting Symphony together should be brought back (although they're probably working for a slew of different companies nowadays), along with key members from Treasure. I don't know who Konami picked to handle Dracula X Chronicles, but I'd be fine if they weren't involved (not to bash DXC or anything, phenomenal game).

From my understanding MercurySteam did wonders with the equipment they had to work with. I think they'd be more than capable of pulling off a spectacular PSP title, while IGA & his cohorts handle the 3DS. With the rumored PSP2 around the corner, I think it'd be a great opportunity for them to make some side-stories in the LoS timeline (plus it'd give me a reason to buy it!). I like how IGA added the director (or was it producer?) of CotM to his team, the more people contributing to the experience the better.

I'm not sure I'd like Hideo Kojima to be involved in the Castlevania series. He has his hands full with the Metal Gear saga & perhaps he can revive Zone of the Enders before he focuses on CV. I know that he & IGA are good friends, so I'm kinda surprised he's never had a hand in a CV game before LoS.

If Ayami Kojima is unavailable because she's drawing Grant, Sypha, etc. for Harmony of Despair, then they should reenlist MASAKI for artwork design. Or perhaps, a collaborative effort between the two would be sweet although I have no idea how that could work out in the long run.

Oh yeah and that Kamiya guy should revive that Akumajo Dracula ps360 project & make it the craziest zaniest game he could conceive!! 

[uzo]

these are all really boring replies.

Yeah, just like these boring replies. You're the expert on them it seems.

[Joachim]

You're the expert on them it seems.

Oh, come now. Don't be so humble; i'm no better at it than you are.

I really don't have too much to say on the matter, though; I agree with Thernz, although I would the map designer of HoD into the game as I felt that had one of the more interesting layouts, as far as the entirety of the map is concerned. Maybe not necessarily the best level design when we examine it on an individual level, but the way the areas fit together to form a labyrinthian whole in HoD interests me. If we could merge that labyrinthian take with the level design of SCIV and add some of the charm of SoTN, I feel the results would be astounding.

I also wouldn't mind seeing Katsuya Terada do the art/design, although I wouldn't really say that's a preference, and I can't say if I would prefer it over Ayami Kojima.

[X]

Ah Joachim, you may want to fix that link. I can highlight it, but it won't click to activate.

-X

[Flame]

I also wouldn't mind seeing http://parkablogs.com/node/1929 do the art/design, although I wouldn't really say that's a preference, and I can't say if I would prefer it over Ayami Kojima.

"Terada Katsuya"

Wow, I definitely think so.

[Munchy]

Hoo jeez, I'm not in any position to assemble a design team. I'd just say IGA and give him a more imaginative team (not to mention a less strict deadline) this time around.

If it were a 3D game, I'd accept a guy who hates QTEs with as much near-maniacal fervor as I do. Say, Tomonobu Itagaki.

[Sindra]

Director(s): Koji Igarashi & George Kamitani
As much as I've bitched about IGA in the past and him being dried up of new ideas, I think he really does have the core ideals of the series in mind. I think bringing in someone with fresh ideas and perspective, so be guided by Igarashi, would do the series good. George Kamitani was the director for Muramasa and the art director for Odin Sphere and Grim Grimoire, and knows his way around 2D and 2.5D designs that Castlevania has done so well with in the past. I think if these two were able to hash something out, it'd be spectacular.

Writers: Team Ecclesia
I really liked the mind-screw they did with Order of Ecclesia's story. They made it a Castlevania without a Belmont, but made it work well. Imagine what they could do with a Belmont! They threw in a good amount of characters, and even the minor ones had their characterization fleshed out to so degree. The stuff they pulled with the plot was fresh but not overly complex that made you scratch your head. And the ending was heartbreaking, yet was still left open for some good future predictions. That's what makes a good story to me, and they did wonderfully.

Character Designer: Masaki Hirooka & Tatsuya Yoshikawa
Masaki did the character design for Order of Ecclesia and Tatsuya did the character designs for Devil May Cry 4. Take the gothic styling that Masaki did in OoE and mesh it together with character and enemy designs that Tatsuya did for DMC4, and I think you have a winning combo.

Level & Background Designers: Shinichiro Shimamura & Whoever Did Demon's Crest
Seriously, the level designs of Demon's Crest were spooky, dark and oeverall everything I think the Castle grounds of Dracula should be. Couple this with what Shimamura's done with past CV games, and I think it could come out interesting for a 2D title. (which, lets face it, is what 75% of us want anyway)

Music Director: Motoi Sakuraba
I can never say enough good things about Sakuraba's work - from the first time I heard it in Arcus Odyssey all the way to the Star Ocean and "Tales of" series, this guy is primo when it comes to knowing a good mix of catchy tunes and symphonic melodies. He's been doing his trade for over 20 years and has a shitload to his credit. Beyond the good work  people like Yamane and Yasuhiro Ichihashi have done for the recent series, I have full confidence in putting the task of Castlevania music in Sakuraba's hands.

[shelverton.]

Composer are probably standing in line to compose music for Castlevania. Given they actually like the style, that is... The other thread about music sounding like Castlevania music is proof that there are capable composers out there, that could pull off some great stuff if given the opportunity.

Personally, I would love to see the Metroid Prime team handle a 3D Metroidvania (Definitely not 1st person though, but with similar, intricate level design and map system). For soundtrack, I say bring the CotM composer back (Sotaru Tojima and Hiroshi Mitsuoka). The CotM soundtrack may be 80% remixes, but the original tracks (Proof of Blood, Fate to despair and Catacombs, etc) are among the best ever IMO.

[Hanniballistic]

Composer are probably standing in line to compose music for Castlevania. Given they actually like the style, that is... The other thread about music sounding like Castlevania music is proof that there are capable composers out there, that could pull off some great stuff if given the opportunity.

Personally, I would love to see the Metroid Prime team handle a 3D Metroidvania (Definitely not 1st person though, but with similar, intricate level design and map system). For soundtrack, I say bring the CotM composer back (Sotaru Tojima and Hiroshi Mitsuoka). The CotM soundtrack may be 80% remixes, but the original tracks (Proof of Blood, Fate to despair and Catacombs, etc) are among the best ever IMO.

And they did such a good job on those remixes too!  It's the one Castlevania soundtrack I come back to every time.  Most of them I have favorite tracks here and there, but there is something about the CotM soundtrack...