Topic: Let's talk about "The Dracula problem."

[Belmont Stakes]

Serio answered your prayers some time ago bruv.

No disrespect to Serio but no I just dont feel it. And I have been on this forum for ages trust me I know about that home brew. To quote Mike Tyson or was it Luke Skywalker I take my hand off to him but I am still hoping on a Castlevania fighter with Street Fighter sized characters where you can see their facial features. There's a thought, a Castlevania game that plays like a platformer until you get to boss and then it plays like a fighting game. Granted most fighting games are based off of the boss battle sequences from franchises like CV, Mega Man and sech.

Sorry Serio just my opinion. It's an impressive labor of love. I have to say I am envious of your passion to see it through to the end and for your programming skills. I can't even get my Game maker idea to work proper. At some point I will probably go back to it. 

As for you Bloody to paraphrase Kingsmen "It ain't that kind of movie.....love." 

[zangetsu468]

No disrespect to Serio but no I just dont feel it. And I have been on this forum for ages trust me I know about that home brew. To quote Mike Tyson or was it Luke Skywalker I take my hand off to him but I am still hoping on a Castlevania fighter with Street Fighter sized characters where you can see their facial features. There's a thought, a Castlevania game that plays like a platformer until you get to boss and then it plays like a fighting game. Granted most fighting games are based off of the boss battle sequences from franchises like CV, Mega Man and sech.

Sorry Serio just my opinion. It's an impressive labor of love. I have to say I am envious of your passion to see it through to the end and for your programming skills. I can't even get my Game maker idea to work proper. At some point I will probably go back to it. 

As for you Bloody to paraphrase Kingsmen "It ain't that kind of movie.....love." 

The closest game would be Golden Axe: The Duel for Sega Saturn.
Spewing that wasn't a ps1 game back in the day, I'd have bought it!

[theplottwist]

There's a thought, a Castlevania game that plays like a platformer until you get to boss and then it plays like a fighting game.

So Chippoke Ralph No Daibouken? Seriously, this is exactly what happens in this game, and its a very good platform game.

[chainsawmidget]

I'd say more people would be drawn to the game rather than turned away from it. 

Just to sum the plot up in a sentence, "You're a barbarian (or whatever) and you go to a creepy old castle to kill DRACULA." 

There are people that will go "Dracula?  That's stupid," sure, but I'd imagine there are many more that would go "Dracula?  Hell yeah!"  Really you have to embrace what something is and accept it's limitations.  Freddy Kruegar might be a bit silly as a character, but when you watch those movies, you're willing to put that aside and accept that he's this evil nasty boogeyman.  If you don't, you're probably not going to watch them.  Nobody goes to see Schwarzenegger expecting Shakespeare. 

Having said that, who would you replace him with?  Some guy named Walter?  Mathias?  Count Vladimire Bloodcreep the Thirteenth?  As cool as they might be, they're not DRACULA.  Whether you think he's a cute cartoon guy that runs a hotel or a bloodthirst warlord, you know that when they bring out Dracula for anything, they're bringing out THE Vampire. 

It's like having your evil General be Hitler, the pirate you're up against be Blackbeard, or finding out the crimeboss you're tracking is Al Capone.  They're the big names.  You have to do a ton of work with an original character to get them even close to the impression thse guys can make just by introducing themselves. 

[X]

Having said that, who would you replace him with?  Some guy named Walter?  Mathias?  Count Vladimire Bloodcreep the Thirteenth?  As cool as they might be, they're not DRACULA.

Exactly. None of them are Dracula. But sadly enough IGA couldn't resist altering the already established villain. And now, thanks to that decision, we have a split in the CV fan base that's just as damaging as was LoS' conception.

[zangetsu468]

Exactly. None of them are Dracula. But sadly enough IGA couldn't resist altering the already established villain. And now, thanks to that decision, we have a split in the CV fan base that's just as damaging as was LoS' conception.

I'd say 90% of fans don't like LOS due to LOS1's sequels being garbage in the holistic sense. Of course any other split is going to be larger than this.

[James Belmont]

First of all, let's get one thing out of the way: there's nothing wrong with Dracula as a story, as a concept, or as a character. The only problem right now is the idea that there's something wrong with Dracula that needs changing, and every time someone comes along with a "fix" they think will work, it only causes more problems and turns more people away from the character and everything surrounding him.

Frankly, one could argue the Castlevania series has a similar issue. Some of the worst entries came about because of people trying to fix something that wasn't broken in the first place. So no, there is no "Dracula problem" here.

Second of all, with that said, I always thought it would be fun to branch out a little bit, maybe even explore other classical monsters. What about a Frankenstein-based story? Or one inspired by the Phantom of the Opera? It'd be interesting if other monstrous tales took place within Castlevania while Dracula was sleeping.

[zangetsu468]

If you throw more of "The Creature" into Castlevania, you will wind up with Van Helsing.

There's nothing technically wrong with the characterisation of Dracula through the CV series.

The main gripe from what seems to be a minority of fans:
- They don't like The Sorrow Series' characterisation and "Japanisation" of Dracula being replaced with Soma.

The main gripes from what seems to be a divided fanbase are:
- LOI's Mathias replacing traditional Dracula

The main gripes from majority of fans:
- The don't like LOS2's direction of Gabula playing the role of the "anti-hero"/ protagonist (which is how Dracula Untold painted him; essentially as a Superhero)

Anyone bitching about why Dracula's characterisation is bad in any of the other games really needs to calm their anal rage and chill tfo.

A few of the games found different and innovative ways to bring about Dracula (or at least what appeared to be him) along with his resurrection and/or how it played out:


- CV64/ LOD (Best "characterisation" and resurrection of Dracula imo)
- HoD (Not Dracula, but hey it was close)
- COD
- OOE (going the extra mile with explaining another way Dracula could be defeated)

[Belmontoya]

Cv64 really did do a great job with Dracula and vampires in general. The music is good too. I did a new version of a song from it for Lecarde chronicles 2 and it gave me a renewed appreciation for the music in that game.

[TheTextGuy]

Cv64 really did do a great job with Dracula and vampires in general. The music is good too. I did a new version of a song from it for Lecarde chronicles 2 and it gave me a renewed appreciation for the music in that game.

The cutscene in the second stage (just as you open the second gate) where "Dracula" appears and taunts you always sticks with me just because it's a rare moment where someone who's seemingly Dracula (even though he isn't) comes and taunts you.  It's a nice little moment that gives you a glimpse of the villain (even though it's Fake Dracula).  Also I find the music to be quite atmospheric in general, which is something that I like.

[zangetsu468]

The cutscene in the second stage (just as you open the second gate) where "Dracula" appears and taunts you always sticks with me just because it's a rare moment where someone who's seemingly Dracula (even though he isn't) comes and taunts you.  It's a nice little moment that gives you a glimpse of the villain (even though it's Fake Dracula).  Also I find the music to be quite atmospheric in general, which is something that I like.

The Castle keep. I love that stage, and that particular moment.

He's saying "Come and get me b*** ass punk"

[chainsawmidget]

The main gripe from what seems to be a minority of fans:
- They don't like The Sorrow Series' characterisation and "Japanisation" of Dracula being replaced with Soma.

The main gripes from what seems to be a divided fanbase are:
- LOI's Mathias replacing traditional Dracula

The main gripes from majority of fans:
- The don't like LOS2's direction of Gabula playing the role of the "anti-hero"/ protagonist (which is how Dracula Untold painted him; essentially as a Superhero)

All of those problem boil down to "Dracula isn't really Dracula, he's somebody else." 

People don't WANT somebody else.  We want Dracula. 

[zangetsu468]

All of those problem boil down to "Dracula isn't really Dracula, he's somebody else." 

People don't WANT somebody else.  We want Dracula.

Except in the CVverse he IS Mathias. As I said not everyone hates LOI's story, the fan base seems to be quite divided. (I'm pro-Mathias)

But if people want Vlad III + the Dracula myth I can understand that.

[chainsawmidget]

Except in the CVverse he IS Mathias.

Except in Smphany of the Night where ther Power of Sire clearly showed that Dracula used to be Vlad the Impaler (or at least somebody that looked a lot closer to him than Mathias ever did.) 

As I said not everyone hates LOI's story, the fan base seems to be quite divided. (I'm pro-Mathias)

That's okay.  Everyone has the right to be wrong once in a while.   

[zangetsu468]

Except in Smphany of the Night where ther Power of Sire clearly showed that Dracula used to be Vlad the Impaler (or at least somebody that looked a lot closer to him than Mathias ever did.) 

Canon retconned, but also Dracula could have easily assumed his position/ power as "Sire"(as King of Wallachia) upon Vlad's Death starting the actual Dracula Legend. It makes perfect sense in context as a power play to amass followers, but also indulging in blood drinking and massacring a people who would blindly follow him anyway (and praise him) for being their king. Vlad III was considered a national hero and still is today.

Looking different to the previous king is no issue when you don't leave your throne room during the day.

That's okay.  Everyone has the right to be wrong once in a while.   

That's cool everyone has the right to be a hayyyyta, but don't hate the playa hate the vania