Topic: The worst idea Castlevania's ever actually had?

[TheouAegis]

Magic Knight Rayearth: Three girls are transported to a mystical realm and given magical powers. They can summon the battle armor Rayearth as well. They set out to save a priestess supposedly being held captive. They fight her captor, only to learn that the priestess wasn't being held against her will but was trying to free herself from her enslavement to the rest of the world. So the three girls are forced to kill the priestess, which leads to a civil war in the mystical kingdom. And I forgot the rest of the second arc.

Slayers had Rezo the Red Priest. He wanted more power so he could cure the ails of the world, so he delved in various dark arts (in spite of the fact he was a priest), turned a young boy into a golem-human chimera, and laid waste to an entire city. He eventually became consumed by the powers of the dark lord Shabranigdo and asked Lina inverse to free his soul from Shabranigdo's clutches in exchange for saving a kingdom from a deadly plague, resulting in the death of Rezo.

Urotsukidouji was about three universes - the human world, the demon world, and the man-beast world - awaiting the coming of the Overfiend, a powerful being believed to unite the three worlds. The humans that knew of the legend sought the Overfiend for power, the beast-men sought it for peace, and the demons didn't want the Overfiend to appear because they liked things as they were and foresaw the Overfiend's arrival as heralding the destruction of the worlds. The Overfiend was to arrive in the Human world, so the man-beasts sent agents there to track him down. They tracked it to a boy named Nagumo who was hit by a truck and died, but was resurrected good as new by the powers of the Overfiend. So the man-beasts protected Nagumo from the Demons until his powers awakened. Unfortunately, Nagumo wasn't actually the Overfiend and turned into a giant monster that laid waste to Osaka, slaying countless humans, demons and man-beasts. The Overfiend was in fact the offspring of Nagumo and his girlfriend Akemi. (So the boy had awesome powers and was supposed to be a hero but was in fact an evil being.)

[Charlotte-nyo:3]

But still japanese canon is the main canon.

Despite the devs being Japanese, I don't really feel that way. I take it to be more like all official canons are co-equal.

[Flame]

Except the localization team did not make or write the game, and therefore their changes are not canon.

They were not paid to change the story, only put it into different languages.

If you want, we can take a good look at the Mega Man canon, and the changes made between the Japanese originals and the localizations... And the arguments that exist there in relation to region specific canons.

[Kramgnauh]

just to derail the discussion that has been going on hehehehe

I think the worst idea Castlevania ever had was to have the art style be switched to anime instead of the realistic/gothic style. Just for some reason, Castlevania just doesn't suit the anime style that well. Just me.

[TheouAegis]

BRING BACK THE 80s ART!!

[JR]

^^Honestly, I would love to see this, for at least a game or two. The Frank Frazetta-inspired art from the first game was probably my favorite in the series. I'll always appreciate Kojima's artwork, but I just like some of the older stuff more.

[Charlotte-nyo:3]

Except the localization team did not make or write the game, and therefore their changes are not canon.

They were not paid to change the story, only put it into different languages.

Given modern localization practices, changing something as defining as the nationality of the main character had to have a go-ahead from the higher-ups in charge of the game at Konami Japan like IGA. TBH, it was probably decided by them as a calculated move (or at least an option given by them to the localization team) rather than as a rogue move by the localization team--just as the decision to try to appeal more to the Japanese audience by making the game more Japan-centered was a calculated move. They needed only to have the option to placate foreign audiences by throwing in a change in the English script.

And it would've held for all time, had this dastardly invention called the "Internets" not existed to spread information 

[Lumi Kløvstad]

And it would've held for all time, had this dastardly invention called the "Internets" not existed to spread information 

God damn that series of tubes... oh wait...

[Flame]

Oh no doubt it was a planned move, to make the character more relatable to western audiences, and it sure as hell isnt a change to end all changes, theres been far worse, (see the Mega Man series, in particular Classic 7)

But it still stands that canonically, he is not an exchange student, he is Japanese.

[VampirehunterB]

worst idea..the motorcycle skeleton

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Dude, the motorcycle skeletons were the perfect gauge of the camp of the 90's games.

As I see it, Symphony was the first Castlevania to take itself completely seriously. The motorcycle skeletons were an indicator that the N64 games were not trying to be completely serious, and were more about fun than canon, as the series was still in that phase. Besides, "gaiden" is in the Japanese title for Legacy of Darkness, making it pretty clear what the developers thought about the game's standing in relation with it's fellow games.

The Japanese title, Akumajō Dorakyura Mokushiroku: Gaiden ~Rejendo obu Kōneru~, translates to Devil's Castle Dracula Apocalypse: Supplementary Story ~Legend of Cornell~.

They were never supposed to be a HARDCORE ADDITIONS! to the series, so I excuse the motorcycle skeletons completely. They're stupid, they're awful, and they fit the tone of the 90's Castlevania's perfectly.

[beingthehero]

Castlevania has always had ridiculous plots. Like MGS, a substantial amount of the games are tongue-in-cheek, like having Alucard use nunchuks and pizza as a healing item.

[Nagumo]

As I see it, Symphony was the first Castlevania to take itself completely seriously. The motorcycle skeletons were an indicator that the N64 games were not trying to be completely serious, and were more about fun than canon, as the series was still in that phase. Besides, "gaiden" is in the Japanese title for Legacy of Darkness, making it pretty clear what the developers thought about the game's standing in relation with it's fellow games.

What excuse do you have for the ninja maidens from Chronicles?

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Changes in Chronicles from the 1993 release of Castlevania X68000:

[/b]brand new rendered cutscenes, with new character designs by Ayami Kojima (of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night fame), a new sprite design for the main character, enhanced music and ... a more balanced difficulty level. Players can choose to play an "Arranged" version of the game with all of the new features intact, or play the X68000 version as it was originally presented.

It was still VERY MUCH in that tongue-in-cheek phase when the original game came out in Japan in July 23 of 1993.

Admittedly, it was a more serious imagining of Castlevania. But ninjas? Par for the course in a lot of 90's video games. Castlevania was no exception.

It's worth noting that Persephone in the post-Aria games is basically the same enemy, just with a remarkably less annoying attack pattern. If anything, she's a harder pill to swallow now than she was then.

[Flame]

The motorcycle skeletons DEFINITELY feel like something only a 90's 3D game would come up with.

They just have that feel.