Castlevania Icon Koji Igarashi Still At Konami, Working On New Project

Personally, there hasn't been a single CV game I've played that I didn't like. I think they're all varying levels of great. Curse of Darkness was amazing, Aria of Sorrow was a decent offshoot, and Circle of the Moon gets credit for being great and for being the game to start my CV obsession. Unless they start doing the "exploit the crap out of it thing" like Mario, I'll always look forward to CV.

The reason I purchased a DS was for the first DS Castlevania (forgive me for not remembering its name), so news that IGA is still at Konami, and possibly working on a new game is great. I hope that it is an XBLA/PSN HD Castlevania game, but I would not mind another title for the DS and PSP; if of course changes occur.

Now, a full 2D HD Castlevania game done for the Xbox 360 and PS3 (as in $60, and on a disc full) would be one of my dream games. Just imagine how massive a Castlevania game like that could be!

But in the end....I'M STILL WAITING FOR A DAMN CASTLEVANIA COMPILATION!!! IS IT TOO MUCH TO WANT ALL THE CASTLEVANIAS IN ONE COMPLETE PACKAGE?!?

And yes, I want the N64 ones too...don't judge me.

ShenaniganSnake

@Nightshift Nurse: "Not only is Symphony's music better, but so are the backgrounds, the animation, and the overall polish."

CD format, hurrr. :B

@Sherlock Holmes:

HAHAHA that was brilliant

It would be wonderful to see one of those hot DS-style games released for PSP. Or how about XBLA and PSN? That would be sweet.

@AlucardsQuest:Yeah, I suppose what I meant was the major Zeldas: Ocarina, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess. I know a lot of people rag on Twilight Princess, but overall I thought it was pretty well done. A bad Zelda is still a very good game! I think that porting it to the Wii took some of the wind out of its sails.
I couldn't get into the latest DS Zelda, and I probably won't pick up Spirit Tracks, either.

@Nightshift Nurse: Whilst I sort of agree with you, I really love Circle of the Moon. One of my all time favourites.

@Nightshift Nurse: I don't know what "thread up" means, but I still disagree having played both OoE and SotN (on the 360) this year. Maybe SotN just appears to look worse in every way because it was on a 42" screen. I don't see why the games would be too different though... audio aside, the PS1 and the DS aren't that far off technically. After all, the DS can handle N64 ports like Mario 64, and the N64 is the same generation as the PS1.

And if you want a 2.5D game, a game like Sonic Rush shows the DS can do that just fine. There's only so much you can do with side scrolling 3D models on the small screens.

@Nightshift Nurse:

Actually the 2.5 DXC it turned out to be more expensive than any game they had worked on prior to that. However if you look at a game like Muramasa, it's quite clear that 2D can look very good on a current gen console without an exorbitant budget.

AlucardsQuest

@superberg:

I disagree partially with this because the Zelda games that they have released in the last 8 or 9 years have been seriously lackluster. They've had exciting moments sure, but they didn't blow everyone away like previous games had done... and certainly not on a handheld.

I agree that they made too many Castlevania games during Iga's tenure. However they found a formula & platform that worked and sold (in the US) and they stuck with it to varying degrees, (Order of Ecclesia being the biggest departure from the Symphony of the Night formula). I wouldn't mind another Castlevania on DSi, to really show what the new system can do.

I still believe Igarashi can pull off that Alucard game shown at the last TGS. I think it's still in development because it was shown after the Lords of Shadow trailer debut.

AlucardsQuest

@Mezodon: No, they really don't. Go to your PSP or your PlayStation and thread up Symphony of the Night. Now thread up any of the DS Castlevanias and do a side-by-side comparison.

Not only is Symphony's music better, but so are the backgrounds, the animation, and the overall polish.

The inventory system is a complete mess and there's no stat tracking, but beyond those improvements to the interface there's little that's head and shoulders better than Symphony.

If they bumped him off the Castlevania train, I'd hardly be surprised. All the recent games have essentially been repeats, the PS2 titles all failed, and Castlevania Judgment was just terrible.

I'm not calling him a poor designer, because the DS titles were really good, but I think he's done his share of CV work. It's time to make room for new designers and ideas. Igarashi has plenty to give to gamers outside of the Castlevania realm I'm sure.

What is Inigo Montoya doing besides that poster?

please be a new 2D HD psn/ live arcade game like bionic commando rearmed, please please please.

raikoh05

I'd be happier if Konami went the Zelda route and just made one or two really good Castlevania games each generation. I'd love a high-res 2D one for the PS3 or 360.

The yearly DS games are fun, but they feel... soulless. Symphony of the Night has this deep "labor of love" feel that later games just don't seem to catch. I still go back and play it from time to time. I like the new ones enough to play through them and enjoy them, but they don't stick with you in that lasting way.

I'm curious about Lord of Shadows, but I think it's going to be a lot closer to God of War than Castlevania. But who knows? Metroid Prime was a hell of a surprise.

@SaanZ: I wouldn't go that far. The fifth game was a turn in the right direction after the "meh" fourth. The biggest problem with the series is that it's very hard to live up to the quality of the first three games, especially II. It's possible, though. The team just needs to make its fanbase happy and not worry about appealing to others too much. I mean, they got five games in the series by doing that, right?

@Nightshift Nurse: I myself would love to see a new HD 2D Castlevania, but how can you think that the DS ones aren't capable? I think they're better than the PSX version. I love the DS ones, and I love the system and challenge in Order of Ecclesia. Sure, the graphics, animation, and sound don't match up, but the DS ones have much better level design, and game design.

@excel_excel: Yes, I'm aware of The Dracula X Chronicles. Thank you.

I was thinking something more along the lines of an original, modern Castlevania though.

The only reason I even suggested the PSP had more to do with isolated comments from Iga himself about the prohibitive cost of a next-gen (presumably HD) 2D Castlevania.

Though one would imagine 2.5D would solve at least some of the cost problems associated with hand-drawn 2D visuals.

@Archaotic:

Nothing after III deserves to be in the same franchise.

Glad to see Jay Boor is still in the industry. It was a memorable time for gaming during his tenure at IGN circa 1997.

Shinjiru

I would like to see a 3D Castlevania on Wii using MotionPlus

CartesianDualist

@Nightshift Nurse: The DS games look better than SotN. The only thing that suffers (and not nearly to the degree the GBA did) is the music. I could see making an HD game for the consoles, but I don't see much point in a PSP game. The second screen is actually very useful for DS Castlevania games.

@Nightshift Nurse: God thats so silly. DRACULA X CHRONICLES HELLO

seemed he kinda got the boot, poor igarashi

@gold163 (° д° ): For a Suikoden game? Yes. Yes it was. It doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Suikoden II, let alone the same franchise.

@Archaotic: Are you guys talking about Suikoden? Was the DS game really that bad?

@Saint Anima: Eh? Which?

Superlocke

Castlevania is a good franchise for Konami, so having two teams cobbling together separate offerings for it seems like a great idea. I've enjoyed both the 2D and the 3D Castlevania games so far, so I'm pretty excited for both. As much as I've enjoyed Iga's work, I'm also particularly excited to see what MurcurySteam/Kojima productions will do with the series. Continued good times for the series.

What Igarashi needs to do is start to work in a new Castlevania in 2D with graphics ala Blazblue. We don´t needany stinkin' 3D...

Daniel Pizarro Sánchez

@Nightshift Nurse: I'm pretty sure The Dracula X Chronicles was a bit more then baby steps on the PSP. You got the original Rondo of Blood, the remake and SotN with new dialogue.

I've loved the GBA and DS Castlevania games, but I would love to see more Castlevania on the PSP.

omyard

A lot of people say Castlevania needed to be free of Igarashi, but I think Igarashi needed to be free of Castlevania.

Iga himself is a decent guy and not a "talking head" developer like so many others, and the man has been able to make great game after great game (obviously with the help of the Castlevania team, don't get me wrong). Most people overlook this however, simply choosing to target the series' focus on the "Symphony of the Night" format. Seems pretty obvious to me why they look to that game for inspiration-- every time they've tried to venture away from it and into 3D space, the results are almost uniformly disastrous. This gives the indication that either the Castlevania team is ill-prepared to tackle a project of that design for whatever reason, or Castlevania simply is a series that does not translate into 3D. I'm betting on the former, as I'm sure most are-- including Konami, since this game is pretty much entirely outsourced.

I would like to see Igarashi work on a brand-new game where people's expectations will not be directly tied to "will it be like Symphony of the Night or won't it?"

Lebensengel

Hmmm, maybe in a reversal, Kojima assists with Castlevania, and Igarashi assists with.....Zone of the Enders? NO! NO! I take it back!

ShimodaNexus

@Tye-The-Czar: No, no nonono!
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Sugoi

@misc.insanity: Aww, I hate that I skipped it this year. I would have recognized him instantly. ^_^

Sugoi

Prepare for it....
Nanobreaker 2!

Tye-The-Czar

I hope it's not Castlevania, I want to see what he could do with something completely different.

@Nightshift Nurse: I kinda agree. I'm tired of DS 'vanias, it'd be nice if we got a proper Metroidvania on the PSP, if not the PS3 and 360.

Unless Iga's finally over this obsessive-compulsive fixation with reproducing Symphony of the Night on hardware that can't go toe-to-toe with the PSX (GBA, DS), then consider me completely indifferent.

He pushed that envelope as far as it can go ages ago and it's high time he aim a bit higher. Even baby steps onto the PSP would be a nice start.

I'm sorry, but to me IGA = Castlevania. It just won't be Castlevania without his quirky, lovable, awesome touch. Which isn't to say that Lords of Shadow may not be a great game; it almost certainly will be. But it won't be Castlevania.

With that said, I'm still hoping that the 360/PS3 Castlevania starring Alucard isn't dead, and is preferably 2D or 2.5D in nature. While IGA's early 3D castlevanias had their share of issues, the Rondo remake showed the incredible potential that 2.5D Castlevanias have, and I'd hate to see that go unexplored.

Sugoi

My brother cosplayed as Koji at last year's Otakon, going around saying stuff like, 'it's not a fighting game!' No one got it though. :(

@xxXX_Insanities_Birth_XXxx:

I'm fired up for it, too.

On a different note:
I think MS is out of place at TGS. They're like the white guy in an Asian clique. The white guy no one wants to play with.
http://kotaku.com/5321790/kaz-hirai-giving-tokyo-game-show-keynote...

Ok, I will stop now.

TGS is going to be awesome. Will Ashcraft be there? I hope so.

iEro-Sennin

@Archaotic: Wholeheartedly agree. It really is blatantly obvious at this point isin't it?

@Saint Anima: Yeah, Konami owes its fans big-time for subjecting them to that drivel.

@Archaotic: Would be the best news coming out of TGS for me. Unless, Konami also decides to do right with a certain JRPG series it owns...

To me, Castlevania is another of those franchises that are getting a touch stale. The recent ones, AoS, DoS, OoE, are good, but had to resort to a 'gotta catch em all' style soul system to make it very interesting. Not very Castlevania-like. Hopefully Igarashi can breathe some life into the series.

vid3oman64

Well, considering Igarashi very hastily announced his own PS3/360 Castlevania project at last year's TGS? I wouldn't be surprised if we get to see that this year.

2.5D PSN/XBLA 'vania starring Alucard. No more wasting time.

Yet to play a DS castlevania that I don't like, whould really love to see a new game with Soma, first character to have a second game besides simon belmont. Last games seem to be trying to finally put some online play that really works for 2d catlevania games, I hope they finally achieve it in the next one.

I'd love a console version of a 2D Castlevania. I wouldn't say no to a new DS one either, but it would be nice to have a giant sized 2-D version (done either 3-D or sprites) for the Wii or the 360. 360 for the HD, obviously, Wii because you just can't beat the original d-pad control.

Mommar

@iEro-Sennin: Still 2 months away then. That sucks but now I know when to expect it. Thanks.

xxXX_Insanities_Birth_XXxx

@xxXX_Insanities_Birth_XXxx:

24. - 27.09.09

iEro-Sennin

When is TGS this year?

I'm really looking forward to the next castlevania game so would love to see it at TGS but if there's any announcement of this guys new project I'd be happy too.

xxXX_Insanities_Birth_XXxx

I can only pray there's work for another ds castlevania. Didn't he say at one point though, he never wanted to do another 3d vania? That could explain his absence from the project.

hopefully...

nerdmanwhippy