Topic: Your Ideal Next-Gen Castlevania

[JoshuaKadmon]

Mine would be a 2.5D Demon Castle Wars 3DS game, with 2D side-scrolling gameplay and 3D textures cel-shaded to emulate AK's art style.  Of course, that means that Ayami Kojima would handle art, and Michiru Yamane would compose the soundtrack.  Koji Igarashi would be the writer and producer, while KONAMI proper would be the developer.

With 2.5D graphics, players would be able to create their own character to fight in the Demon Castle Wars, and while the single-player campaign would offer a choice-driven progression and a multi-locale map system similar to OoE, optional multiplayer modes would include a co-op arcade mode, boss rush challenges, a shareable Castle Editor for user-generated stages, and a competitive arena.

As far as character creation goes, perhaps you would start by selecting a bloodline (Belnades, Danasty, Morris, or Renard), male or female, and some appearance options.  Bloodlines would operate somewhat like RPG classes, with Belnades being stronger in magic, Danasty being more agile and stealthy, Morris being physically stronger and more versatile, and Renard being a hybrid of the three, for instance.  Lecarde could also be a possibility, considering the events of PoR [and Bloodlines just before it].  Julius Belmont and Alucard would be critical NPCs, of course.  Because of the potential variety of characters involved in the story, I would like to see some social elements / relationship tracking with the NPCs, something like Persona's Social Link system with branching dialogue and consequences, in order to add greater depth to story progression and skill levelling.  This could potentially be tied back into a homesteading metagame like OoE's village system.  I loved how OoE had a light Suikoden feel to it because rescuing villagers opened up new shops and dialogue in the game's town hub, and I think that could be expanded considerably in a new game.

Also like OoE, the game would feature Metroidvania-esque exploration but in a wide range of environments.  Weapons and equipment changes would show up on the character models, and there would be several endings and difficulty settings to encourage subsequent playthroughs in a New Game Plus mode.

Even if KONAMI tries to ignore the Anthologies petition, such a game would still offer a compelling chance to include DS classics [and maybe even the GBA entries] as unlockables, along with common requests like a Sound Test and Art Gallery.  Retail preorders should include a CD soundtrack.

What would you like to see as the ultimate next-gen Castlevania?

[crisis]

it kinda irks me how people keep saying "Demon Castle Wars" when it's described as just a single war. Singular, not plural. No one ever says "my dad fought in the Vietnam Wars," do they?

nitpicking aside, I'd rather see IGA do what he's been saying he wanted to do for years; a CVIII remake, Castlevania Chronicles: Dracula's Curse for the Vita or 3DS. That would be an excellent way to pay homage and give us one of the best games in the series again, but with a nice overhall. Include the original game as a bonus of course, the updated 2.5D version with extra levels/content/enemies/etc., and added extras such as alt costumes, interviews, boss rush mode, etc. I don't think anyone here would be opposed to that.

[Munchy]

Mine would be this:

1. Give series to Hideki Kamiya/Platinum Games.
2. Tell him to go hog wild.

[JoshuaKadmon]

it kinda irks me how people keep saying "Demon Castle Wars" when it's described as just a single war. Singular, not plural. No one ever says "my dad fought in the Vietnam Wars," do they?

No, but I'm pretty certain that people [including myself] say it that way because Julius Belmont says it in Aria of Sorrow.  I'm not 100% certain, but I believe that's why I have always referred to it in that way.  Of course, if you know for a fact that he never said it that way, I will totally concede to your irking...

I assumed that it was called "Wars" because Dracula would have been resurrected in 1997, which would imply a two-year series of events leading up to his peak in power during the eclipse.  Perhaps Julius and his comrades went through several campaigns against the Count, maybe even in different locations like Transylvania, Japan, America, etc. before the final showdown in 1999.  That's why I say it, anyway.

Of course, as long as the other features are included, I wouldn't care if it was the singular Castlevania: The Demon Castle War or whatever they want to call it.

[Pfil]

Everything Joshua said would be my ideal new Castlevania, with maybe the only exception that I would use beautiful 2D sprites in HD instead of 2.5, since they usually offer a better gameplay, at least to me.

[crisis]

From DoS' Encyclopedia



Nowhere in any game does it say "The Battles of 1999" or the "Demon Castle Wars of 1999." The term Demon Castle War is never actually mentioned in AoS, Julius just says he defeated Dracula in 1999. In PoR, Wind says that there will be a war in 1999. In CoD, St. Germain says "A great battle has yet to be fought," never battles or wars. So the term "Demon Castle War(s)" is just from fans twisting words around (or perhaps Japanese mistranslations), which is natural I suppose. About the "Dracula being resurrected in '97" thing you mentioned,

[C Belmont]

Mine would be a new 2D classicvania or a remake of one in HD
All the background art would be hand painted while the character animation would use prerendered sprites with a cel-shaded style (assuming Konami can't afford some A+ 2D animators that is) and the overall art style would have that Conan inspired look which many of the old covers have.

[Zetheraxza]

Skyrim-Vania with LoS/GoW Gameplay. Have weapons/Armors/Magic. A game in which you can be a Vampire hunter or be a Vampire acolyte. Oh and, have some Multiplayer Content.

[Flame]

Ideal next gen?

LoS comes close, I would just want more platforming and more intricate level design. I like open world design, or at least, stages that give that impression. yknow, multiple paths and/or small side areas that give the stage character. Art direction I could go any which way, I like miss Ayami, but it does not hurt to have other artists do their take. I liked LoS Art. The little of it you could actually see in the sub screens. Although preferably something gothic like.

And I would fucking KILL for Someone like Mana or Nox Arcana to do sound direction and music.

[TheCruelAngel]

Thanks for the info Crisis! I always thought it was "Demon Castle Wars" because that's what a lot of people around in the dungeon used, despite remembering it only as "The Battle of 1999" or w/e.  Figured it must of been some secret knowledge that I didn't have access to.

Anyway, as for ideal CV for the next-gen (like Wii U+ era stuff?) I think it should be two-fold.

Title A) A beautiful rendition of Castlevania in 2D by Vanillaware for the Vita covering the  Battle of 1999, with supervision by IGA, art direction by Ayami Kojima (but art not necessarily done by her) and musical supervision by Michiru Yamane. Maybe a 3DS port, but somehow I don't think it would look as good, but I suppose it would give a wider audience a chance to experience it. Anyway, the title should cover the main protag's experience (Julius & co.) and really close that chapter for the saga.

Title B) Leon! I want another damn Leon title, but a really nice one! I think this should be a fully rendered in 3D game flexing as much graphical fidelity as possible. For that I think Kojima Productions for engine development, Platinum Games for gameplay, IGA for story with assistance from Hideo Kojima, Ayami Kojima on art and while it seems sketchy, I'd also like to see what Yoji Shinkawa could possibly bring to the table with Ms. Kojima. Music I think Michiru Yamane with ambient support by Akira Yamaoka would be excellent. I don't really know who to grab for platforming and level designing, since the best in the business (imo) is rather tied up at Nintendo (Miyamoto), I'd say the KCEJ team that did the 64 titles...but they had some weird design decisions as well. As for story, I think Leon doing some vampire hunting across Europe, storming their castles and slaying them would be sweet. He would be on this quest to A) gather information on Mathias, B) Prevent Mathias from absorbing more vampire souls into the Crimson Stone (if I remember the stone's purpose correctly) and C) save those subjugated under the rule of the fiends! Along the way we can establish a new romance that Leon is against (waaaah, I lurb Sara too much, leave me alone) but finally succumbs to and is able to continue living as a human rather than an avatar of vengeance. Which, in turn, also allows us heirs to the whip for more story fun! I imagine a lot of platforming (traversing terrain to castles and around castles), fast paced action and light RPG elements to blend together into something LoI should have been.

[Abnormal Freak]

Lavish hand-drawn console sidescroller made by new blood. I think most agree that WayForward have proven themselves, so maybe they should do it.

Linear or open-ended, I don't care—just throw in some difficult jumps/pitfalls/ACTUAL PLATFORMING in the latter, for crying out loud.

[darkwzrd4]

My ideal next-gen CV would probably go back to the old timeline.  It would take place after the events of AoS and recon DoS.  To be more precise, it would take place after Soma's death from old age.  There would be no Belmonts.  Instead, the main good guys would be Alucard and the Belnades family.  The story would revolve around a former underling of Dracula attempting to take power and Death would be trying to prevent anyone aside from Dracula's next reincarnation from ascending to the throne. 

In terms of gameplay, it would be 3D and would be more of an RPG.  You would have your choice of playing as Alucard or a Belnades (who would be customizable).  Whoever you choose (Alucard or Belnades) you would develop them by gaining experience through killing enemies.  Everytime you level up, you would be given a perk to use on perk trees and several stat points to put on whatever stats you want allowing you to develop your character you want.  So, you can have a warrior build, a mage build, or some combination of the 2.  Starting stats for characters would depend on who you choose: Male Belnades would be more warrior based, Female Belnades would be more mage based, Alucard would be balanced between the 2.  Belnades magical abilities would be based in fire, ice, and lightning.  Alucard's magical abilities would be based in non-elemental, fire, and darkness plus he will have his classic shapeshifting powers (bat, wolf, mist).  Weapons would be any weapon imaginable including hand guns.  There would actually be a perk for the Belnades characters that allows you to shoot fire/ice/lighting shots instead of using conventional ammo (regular shots would suck against all enemies but humans).  Alucard would not use guns.
Enemies would be both humans and monsters (monsters would be primarily magic and/or melee based).
Areas would be diverse and range from old, abandon ruins to modern bunkers and other secret bases (some made to be modern versions of Dracula's castle).  Locations would be all over the world and there would be a lot of revisiting areas.  Plus, the game would be almost completely open world.  To cut down on annoying and eliminate long winded backtracking, there would be a fast travel feature similar to what is in the Elder Scrolls series.  Being that it is set in the nearish future, these events would be happening under the radar of the everyday person.

On a final note, this is just my opinion and if you don't like it, that's your problem.  Oh, and there WOULD BE PLENTY OF PLATFORMING in the areas.

[Phoenix7786]

For once, I'd love for Castlevania to have a Belmont as primary protagonist. Not since Juste have we had a legit show-down with Belmont vs Drac. And even then, Juste fought a mere wraith and then a weird, Legion-esque amalgamation of Drac's remains.

[Kingshango]

Honestly, I wouldn't mind if they didn't return to the old canon but I would not be opposed to it either. With that said:

For 2D, I want a beautiful hand drawn sprites in HD. No more reused Rond of Blood copy pasta stuff, just brand new sprites. I would also like for it to be a Metroidvania/Classicvania hybrid, something in the lines of Order of Ecclesia since that game seemed closer to a Metroidvania/ Classicvania hybrid. Keep some of the RPG elements as well as various weapons. And more dangerous platforming to keep you on your toes.

For 3D, make it a non linear open world game with a huge castle to explore with secrets areas and such. Some RPG elements with various weapons and side weapons at your disposal. Combat should have it's own feel and should focus on timing rather than spamming a single combo till the enemy dies. Platforming should be traditional rather than cinematic.

As said before It doesn't matter what timeline it takes place in, as long as it has these things it all gravy. Just as long as the Belmont clan are front n center. No more special "Belmont mode" after beating the game. Oh and have Dracula be the final boss.

[GuyStarwind]

Isn't the term Demon Castle War in AoS? The steel plate item mentions it.