Topic: In which continuity should a future Castlevania game be set?

[darkwzrd4]

I say go for a reboot. The LoS timeline is ending with LoS2 and the original timeline is such a mess. The games were good individually, but when you put the pre-LoS games on the timeline, it was such a mess (most likely IGA's fault). What we really need is a reboot with the classic elements that made the early games good:

1)Dracula is simply very powerful vampire. Nothing more. 2)He has a demonic castle filled with monsters that our character has to fight through to get to him. 3)Our character is a vampire hunter of the Belmont clan. 4) He/she uses a magical whip and wields holy power. 5)He/she uses the classic sub-weapons.

As long as future games retain these elements, I don't think that any of us will have a problem. I just hope that if whoever does the series next plans on a more substantial storyline, it is well thought out and has a clear plan so that there aren't any plot holes.

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

As long as future games retain these elements, I don't think that any of us will have a problem.

Not sure about anyone else, but I would.

I want the castlevania series to have more depth than that.

I want to be able to see the focus not only on a belmont/hunter, but also other heroes who do not wield a whip.

Also want to see Dracula's character fleshed out, not him simply being a "poweful vampire" and us not knowing his history and why he does what he does.

I personally would like to see them reboot it and take elements from Bram Stoker's Dracula but do their own twist on Dracula's origin.

The original series tried to do this, but I want to see it perfected with a possible reboot.

[X]

I want to be able to see the focus not only on a belmont/hunter, but also other heroes who do not wield a whip.

So long as Dracula is not their villain to fight then I would have no problems with this suggestion. One of the main points of Castlevania is Belmont vs Dracula. No one else save for a Belmont can even hope to kill Dracula. 1) They do not have the vampirekiller and 2) they do not have Belmont blood in them. And those two elements were part of the CV story long before IGA took the reigns. If there is other hunters then they should tackle other evils that exist in the CV universe. Essentially they would star in Castlevania Gaidens that run parallel to the main Castlevania story, but not interfere with the main story over-all. Just add to it to help deepen the lore a bit. Part of the mess up with the original canon was that IGA essentially made it so anyone could kill Dracula thus downgrading the status/importance of the Belmont clan in the CV story. If anyone can kill Dracula then what's the point of having the Belmont family in the first place? It's that kind of storytelling that throws it all right out the window. And as much as I like to play a non-Belmont every once in a while I not like the idea that just anyone can kill the Count. That's a Belmont's job.

[chainsawmidget]

This. Something like Flame suggested, Belmont Vs Dracula. No twist shit, no "You aren't going to BELIEVE who turns out to be Dracula!". No Belmont is Dracula, not Dracula is Belmont, just keep it simple and to the point. I think the result of problems with story has to do with out of control plot ideas. LoS is able to nip them in the bud because it's not a long continuity. IGA got out of control. Now, that's not saying you can't add a good story to the simple "Simon Vs Dracula" plot. You can. You can flesh out Simon Belmont, just as much as you can flesh out Dracula(again, would love the simple, "He's fuckin' VLAD TEPES!! No Mathias or Gabriel... just Vlad... y'know, inspired by the REAL Vlad III? Yeah, HIM!!".). They can always write something good to allow character growth. And I'd hope it doesn't have anything to do with a "betrayal" story. Keep it simple. spare us the overused plot device shit.

We see this plot enough that I think we need to give if an official name. 

I say that from here on if the plot or the big twist is "Let's see who Dracula really!" then the game is a Scoobyvania. 

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

Part of the mess up with the original canon was that IGA essentially made it so anyone could kill Dracula thus downgrading the status/importance of the Belmont

I disagree.

Anyone?

He made it where ANYONE could beat Dracula?

Lets recap here

1. is his son who's shares powers similar to his.
2.Is Devel Forgemasters said to have power that rival Death's
3.Is Shanoa who used his own power against him
4.Is the Morris clan who wield the same bane of evil whip the Belmonts use.

So how is that "just anyone"?

You make it sound like IGA made it where any kind of average Hunter with a sword or bow could stroll in and kill Dracula when that is not the case.

And even then the Belmonts STILL reined supreme amongst all of them, something IGA constantly pointed out in each one of his games whether it was Symphony of the night, Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin.

The only thing that changed was the focus not entirely being on them, but their importance remained.

Hell, it was a Belmont who IGA had finally kill Dracula for good, so no, I don't think IGA made it to where the Belmonts should not have existed in the first place, especially considering the fact that their powers still reined supreme amongst all vampire hunters, and it was a Belmont who finally killed Dracula in the end.

[Belmontoya]

 

[darkwzrd4]

I disagree.

Anyone?

He made it where ANYONE could beat Dracula?

Lets recap here

1. is his son who's shares powers similar to his.
2.Is Devel Forgemasters said to have power that rival Death's
3.Is Shanoa who used his own power against him
4.Is the Morris clan who wield the same bane of evil whip the Belmonts use.

So how is that "just anyone"?

You make it sound like IGA made it where any kind of average Hunter with a sword or bow could stroll in and kill Dracula when that is not the case.

And even then the Belmonts STILL reined supreme amongst all of them, something IGA constantly pointed out in each one of his games whether it was Symphony of the night, Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin.

The only thing that changed was the focus not entirely being on them, but their importance remained.

Hell, it was a Belmont who IGA had finally kill Dracula for good, so no, I don't think IGA made it to where the Belmonts should not have existed in the first place, especially considering the fact that their powers still reined supreme amongst all vampire hunters, and it was a Belmont who finally killed Dracula in the end.

This, but you missed a few details:
1) Dracula wasn't at his full power when Hector beat him
2) Dracula was only toying with Shanoa (he never used a demon "true" form in the battle). She only won because she used his own power against him. After all, before doing so, Dracula even said: "that won't work!"
3) The Morris clan was able to beat Dracula by using the whip, but suffered side effects that shortened their lives that the Belmonts never experience.

Aside from Alucard, who is Dracula's own son, the only people who have been able to kill Dracula at his full power without side effects are the Belmonts. And, while Shanoa did it, it doesn't count because the only thing that worked against him was Dominous which is his own power and if it wasn't for Albus's soul sacrificing itself, the use of the glyph would of killed her.

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

This, but you missed a few details:
1) Dracula wasn't at his full power when Hector beat him
2) Dracula was only toying with Shanoa (he never used a demon "true" form in the battle). She only won because she used his own power against him. After all, before doing so, Dracula even said: "that won't work!"
3) The Morris clan was able to beat Dracula by using the whip, but suffered side effects that shortened their lives that the Belmonts never experience.

Aside from Alucard, who is Dracula's own son, the only people who have been able to kill Dracula at his full power without side effects are the Belmonts. And, while Shanoa did it, it doesn't count because the only thing that worked against him was Dominous which is his own power and if it wasn't for Albus's soul sacrificing itself, the use of the glyph would of killed her.

Thanks, and that only further adds to my point.

Its not like IGA made it to where anyone could be Dracula, he made Dracula weak in some instances and buffed some of the main characters (Shanao) to make it to where they could win.

Very few have been able to beat Dracula at full power, and most of them are Belmonts.

The Belmonts by no means where irrelevant in the IGA timeline, their power reined supreme over all and worked the best against Dracula.

[Ratty]

I enjoy the B-movie feel of the original timeline, both before and during IGA's tenure. After the 5th time the words "Dracula has returned... again!" are uttered your timeline is going to get a little goofy, I don't care who you've got writing it. And the original timeline was nothing if not endearingly goofy. But as many have said with this series story concerns are mostly secondary. The most important thing is the gameplay and atmosphere consisting of the iconic music (Bloody Tears, Vampire Killer, Theme of Simon Belmont etc. etc. etc.) gothic castle environment(s) and classic monsters.

[Munchy]

I'll say it until I'm blue in the face, but a further flung future Sorrow game where Soma is as old or older than Julius. With actual freaky cult members and more varied locales. Whether or not you play as Soma I'm indifferent, but I'd like to see this setting.

Otherwise... I'm not crazy about making more continuities or reboots or whatever. But it would be interesting to see the history of the Castle itself. I like the idea that perhaps the land it was built on was always somehow "bad", and maybe exploring other incarnations of it or who owned it before Dracula was around. (No, not Bernhard. Older, like Roman Empire or even before.)

[Shiroi Koumori]

Aside from Alucard, who is Dracula's own son, the only people who have been able to kill Dracula at his full power without side effects are the Belmonts.

Uhm, I would like to add that Drac was not at full power during Symphony (this is also proven during the Alucard Dracula dialogue in Judgment). So, I think only the Belmonts can kill him at full power.

Anyway, correct me if I recall wrongly.

[DragonSlayr81]

I enjoy the B-movie feel of the original timeline, both before and during IGA's tenure. After the 5th time the words "Dracula has returned... again!" are uttered your timeline is going to get a little goofy, I don't care who you've got writing it. And the original timeline was nothing if not endearingly goofy. But as many have said with this series story concerns are mostly secondary. The most important thing is the gameplay and atmosphere consisting of the iconic music (Bloody Tears, Vampire Killer, Theme of Simon Belmont etc. etc. etc.) gothic castle environment(s) and classic monsters.

This! In general, more nods to horror movies rather than mythology(while I like some mythology nods, I always felt CV was more fitting as horror pop culture> world mythology). Things like Leatherface appearing in OoE did put a smile on my face because of that. Also, it's why I prefer the look of LoI's Forgotten One over LoS's Forgotten One(which I still think looks like it could be a monster from Final Fantasy, and actually draws some close comparisons, design-wise, to FFXII's Chaos). A skinned, rotting demon being held up by massive meat-hooks that sicks giant maggots(from his own body) and pours his own fetid blood over you is just soooo fuckin HORROR. It's like getting scrounging up horrorific imagery, and adding a dash of Clive Barker for good measure. At least that's what I prefer, visually.

I'm also not against Dracula looking like this again:



Always been a fan of the classic look.

[Intersection]

Nathan Graves defeated Dracula. So did Hugh Baldwin. They may no longer be canon, but they should at least be remembered.
Incidentally, they didn't even use the Vampire Killer. The Hunter Whip was their weapon of choice.

Very few have been able to beat Dracula at full power, and most of them are Belmonts.

Few Belmonts have actually faced Dracula at his full power. As far as I'm concerned, only Trevor and Julius have had that privilege.

And to top it off, well... there's Soma.
That man vanquished Chaos itself, which was admittedly the source of Dracula's power. So I'd say he deserves some recognition as well.

I'm also not against Dracula looking like this again:

http://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i/mg/8/50/4baa7fbfedfe3/detail.jpg

Always been a fan of the classic look.

I can see what your point is, but... please. Not Marvel. Not in Castlevania.

[VladCT]

I can see what your point is, but... please. Not Marvel. Not in Castlevania.

He's just showing an example of ye olde Bela Lugosi-influenced look, what's wrong with the example happening to be from MAHVEL?

[DragonSlayr81]

Yeah, not Marvel but the look. If you crop off the bottom, the art looks very CV-ish. His particular look reminds me of PoR's Dracula(like VladCT's avatar, which paid major homage to classic Dracula):