Here's a picture of a catgirl for no good reason.

Oh Kurt, I'm so excited about Harmony of Dissonance. My newest issue of Nintendo Power has a very decent article about it detailing the sub-item system & some control conventions. It seems you get to flick the whip any direction again, ah la Super Castlevania IV, though I doubt the physics are even close. The simple maps in NP suggest a very similar structure to SotN, at first glance you'd think you were looking at a map of Symphony's castle. What's more, they're using the dual castle idea again, but this time in a way I can really appreciate. On top of that, Juste (how do we pronounce that?) is almost a direct rip-off of good ole Adrian Fahrenheit. So far HoD seems to be the closest thing to a portable SotN. Of course, portability is pointless to me as I never go anyplace & would much rather play on my TV, but it's still exciting to see many features that are so similar to my all time favorite game being updated with new features, characters & levels. How much do you know about the new sub-item system? They're using most of the traditional sub-items (axe, boomerang, holy water, dagger etc.) but they're added to the idea by including a set of elemental books that change the resultant attack of each weapon. I'm sort of bored with the idea of elementally based magic systems in general, but I like the variety this system provides. It's a smooth merging of traditional CV staples with the "DSS" card system employed in CotM. I wasn't too thrilled with the DSS system because it limited the amount of goodies I could discover in the castle's nooks & crannies, & while I know only a little about HoD, the inventory screen shot I saw did suggest a greater variety of collectable items. Plus, they have a new merchant -- why have a merchant if there's not plenty of goodies to buy? Now about Konami's apparent new policy of CV games that don't necessarily include Dracula... At first this idea gave me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, but after seeing what they did with the bosses in HoD, I can see how future plots could leave out the repetitive appearances of Dracula while still making the inclusion of his trademark lair & teeming minions a reasonable proposition. It seems a little anti-climactic & perhaps cheapens that "epic" sense that you get when facing such a prolific figure, but really, when was the time Dracula really seemed like such a big deal in any of the recent games? Sure he's hard to beat sometimes, but his reputation seems to have tarnished. He's rarely the actual antagonist anymore, already -- It's always some lowly servant or crazy cult leader that tries to restore him before his usual hundred year cycle allows. the Right Reverend Steven J. Minar By the way, if you want any details or scans from that Nintendo Power article, let me know, I can provide.

I'm still skeptical about the Spell Fusion system. Though the DSS was a bit limited (in that hunting down cards was a pain, and you could only use one power at a time), there were a LOT of cool powers you can use. This new system seems a bit limiting. Hopefully I'll be proven wrong here.

~My response last column was a bit long so I'll try shut up a bit this time. But first a tangent,... if Peter Parker doesn't want Mary Jane I'll be happy to take her off his hands, and he can go play with his webs. ~So anyways, Harmony of Dissonance. Can I ask something first? Why do the American titles of Castlevanias have to differ so much from the Japanese titles? Perhaps I can understand if the only excuse is Universal's stranglehold on the Dracula name... as if they invented the character, (they won't even allow a theme park to be placed in Transylvania for f's sake!). But other than that, Legend of the Demon Castle, The Accused Seal, Nocturne in the Moonlight, White Night Concerto... why are we missing out on these great names? If no one knows it could make a great topic. Or perhaps a more generalised topic of the foriegn game differences and changes. ~HOD is in great demand by the diehard Castlevania fans, however for the moment no one else seems to notice. Perhaps that is due in part to the fact that up until E3 it was "assumed" that the game's US release would be concurrent with the JP release, which is less than a month away, (it's been done before with Ocarina of Time, and it could go a long way in ensuring gamer's confidence in the series again) but suffice it to say that the press for it is fairly minimal. Yet even with a September date allowing more ad time, I feel that it will be difficult to reach the same number in Circle of the Moon sales for several reasons. 1) Circle was a GBA launch title, and lauch games are subject to deeper amounts of scrutiny. 2) Many people were hoping for a SotN 2, but CotM meerly imitates Symphony's engine (or more closely Super Metroid's engine) with programming shortcuts abound. (This point becomes incredibly clear when you take into account that Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe, who made Circle as well as the 2 N64 Castlevania's were behind this game. Frankly I find this very unsual that a Japanese buisness would give a creative branch a third chance after two failures). 3) The last and most obvious reason is the dark picture which has been discussed. ~Hopes are very high for this game but unfortunately I can't share the sentiment. Koji Igarashi says that the game's length is double that of Symphony's quest,... is that even possible? See despite claims to the contrary all that the GBA has shown us so far is that it is a portable 32-bit Super Nintendo with a sub-par sound system that seems to do nothing but over-amplify what it resonates to a near preposturusly inaudible degree. I truly respect all that IGA has done for the series thus far. And furthermore I hope that Konami allows him and his team full future use of all of the Castlevania (Akumajo Dracula) names, games and licenses forever,... but I have to be skeptical. ~I don't expect Harmony to be a Symphony sequel so much as a GBA's version of the PSX game with a different story. I think that it would be unfair for anyone to assume that this game will out-do Symphony. In all or hearts and minds such a notion is little more than impossible on a Gameboy. Now a Castlevania for PS2, Gamecube or Xbox,... that would be a true sequel that expands upon the original as good games should do. But don't get me wrong, I'm very interested in HoD and I would not sell any Castlevania in my collection. But who is this Mana girl doing the soundtrack? D PS ~And not like it matters now, but you mentioned that Funcoland bought Babbages, Funcoland couldn't even buy good toilets for thier locations they were so poor. We were bought out by Barnes & Noble whom always owned Babbages Etc to my knowledge. Before the purchase we carried Sega CD, 32X, Saturn, Game Gear, Jaguar, Neo Geo, Turbo Grafx, and 3DO with pride along with our NES, SNES and Genesis and tons of used games. We weren't perfect but we had fun. Now we have paperwork.

You know, I'm not much of a Kirstin Dunst fan...but with that dyed red haired and that Chinese dress, she was looking pretty good. Of course, I'm more of a Julia Stiles fan myself, and....

YES! Castlevania! Back on track....

I'm not sure as to the name changes, actually. Outside of Circle of the Moon, there's hardly been a Castlevania game that kept its name on the journey across the pacific. Your guess is as good as mine.

Undoubtedly, Harmony of Dissonance will not be greeted with the same fanfare as Circle of the Moon. When a system launches, people buy games for their new system just for the sake of buying something - even if the selection is limited. Heck, I almost bought Super Mario Advance (against my better judgement) just so I could have something else to play on the thing. Now that the hype has died down a bit, HoD will probably not gain quite the same following.

Oh, and to clear up a misunderstanding - I meant that the company who owned Funcoland bought out Babbages and Software Etc., so they now have the same exact pricing standards. I'm not sure which chain Barnes and Noble had always run.

Hi, Kurt. First of all, I'd like to comment that White Night Concerto sounds much nicer than Harmony of Dissonance. If you could, please shed some light on why the titles are played around with so much in the Castlevania series. It's not like The Accursed Seal or Dark Night Prelude don't make sense in english or anything. But to get to the topic of my expectations for the new gba title I would have to say that I expect more than Circle of the Moon but less than Symphony of the Night. I really don't like concept of straying from the norm if the norm was done well. But I most likely will end up loving it as I play through the game. I'm always skeptical when new innovations are released for a game series that was done rather flawlessly in the past. For example, I love the esper system in Final Fantasy III. I say that it's one of the best systems in any rpg. When Final Fantasy VII came out I was reluctant to accept the materia system until I found that it worked great. I felt the same way when Square decided to drop the Chrono Trigger system for the Chrono Cross system. I love CC but CT has a better battle system in my opinion. This is how it always goes. I see some new innovation and say it won't be as good as things were in the past. COTM had a really lousy system not because of the cards themselves being a problem, but finding those cards gave me quite a headache. The spell fusion is a new innovation for the game and that's most likely why the system won't be a problem. Because it's for this game. Not Symphony of the Night or Dracula's Curse, etc. If the system stinks, no big deal. The next game won't have the same style. That's why I'm pissed about these online Final Fantasy games. If Final Fantasy XI does well, Square's gonna stick with it. It's not a one time thing. I don't like online rpgs so my playing of FFs ended with FFX. The best case scenario is if the FFXI does well but not too well. This way, Square will make online games but not FF games. Until next time, Castlevania is GRRRREAT! Tony T. Tiger

I like innovation, as long as it doesn't totally replace what works. For me, Chrono Trigger's battle system was nothing but a lobotomized variation of the Final Fantasy engine, whereas Chrono Cross took the better aspects and almost entirely reinvented it to something not only much more unique, but much better.

In the last column, you asked for thoughts on White Night Concerto/Harmony of Dissonace -- particularly in how it'll hold up to SotN. To me, the three main things that made SotN great were 1. The gameplay 2. The artwork 3. The music It's #3 that has me the most worried. Reports are that the graphics of White Night Concerto are really great, while the sound is sub-par. While I don't think anybody's expecting the GBA to be able to produce CD-quality sound, we've come to expect GBA music to be similar to SNES quality. I am guessing that the main reason for the discrepancy is that the Castlevania developers are really pushing the CPU to its limits with graphics operations - just loading a lot of maps, tiles, and sprite animations from ROM will do that, not leaving much time left over to mix in sound samples without it getting all choppy (the GBA has to do sample mixing in software since it doesn't have a separate sound processor like the SNES did). When this happens some games will rely instead on the GBC sound channels. There's four of them, all of which play just a single tone, but don't require any software mixing. Unfortunately the result doesn't sound that great - in fact it should sound the same as a Game Boy Color. To alleviate this some games will combine these with software-mixed sound to get a kind of half and half effect, though it's still sounds better to have full software mixing. Personally, though it's tough call, I think I prefer to have better sound over better graphics. I think the music reaches you at more of a sense-memory level than graphics do, and that a game with good music will more easily make a lasting impression. Castlevania is known for its driving techno/goth/classical soundtracks. I will always remember Castlevania II as one of the first games that made me want to turn the volume up rather than down. I'm dissappointed when a Castlevania game doesn't deliver in this respect . . . I don't know if it's just a coincidence, but my least favorite Castlevania games are the ones with the least remarkable soundtracks. Still, I want to say that it's really the gameplay that forms the backbone of the game. I have high hopes for White Night Concerto simply because Konami has ample experience in making great Castlevania games. Whereas in another game the lack of good music might drive my overall opinion of the game down just a point, I'm willing to let that slide for when I know that every other aspect of the game is going to be great (and in that last sentence I only barely resisted the urge to make a pun on the title "Harmony of Dissonance".) Speaking of other aspects of the game, I think it should be mentioned that in terms of side-scrollers, we have more than just Castlevania to look forward to. At E3 (which for the first time I now wish I had gone to) Nintendo has unveiled Metroid Fusion for GBA, which promises to have much of the same expoloration/action that SotN, CotM, and HoD are largely based on. Konami also unveiled a side-scrolling 3D Contra game for PS2. Though it's not Castlevania, it's a side-scroller, and it's by Konami. Hopefully this is a sign that developers are starting to realize that there still is a market for these games, and that they don't have to be exclusive to handhelds. I for one would really love to see a side-scrolling Castlevania on PS2 - and for Konami to re-contract the guy who wrote SotN's soundtrack (does he do any other soundtracks, btw?). And now all this thinking about side-scrolling has given me the urge to play Super Metroid.:) Tom

Considering that Circle of the Moon has some pretty respectable music, the decrease in sound quality is a disappointment indeed. However, the graphics, from the screenshots and videos, do look absolutely amazing. I'm hoping the composition quality will still be OK - after all, the first two Gameboy Castlevanias had really great soundtracks for the system.

Actually, Michiru Yamane, composer of Symphony of the Night, is a female. She also composed Bloodlines' soundtrack. As for her other work, it hasn't been nearly as impressive. She worked with Sota Fujimori (who rearranged the Chronicles music) on the PSX games Gungage and Elder Gate (both released only in Japan) and weren't horribly interesting. Oh well.

Kurt, Yes, I'm back, posting again after a brief respite. (Of course, no one remembers me, so I'll stop boring you.) White Night Concerto, eh? Before I start let me just back track to last week... I have little experience in buying old/rare games at high prices. I have a love for ebay, simply because I got a copy of Super Metroid 3 months ago with box, instructions, and the little poster that came with it for $30. The same thing on half.com would have cost $60! Now, if30 seems to much to anyone, (it was my first buy, I wouldn't know!) then I don't care, because it's an awesome game, and it got me back in a Metroid mood for Metroid Prime and Metroid 4. To be honest, my biggest game pricing concern is the price of new games. Every source told me that Nintendo would sell their GameCube games cheaper, as the discs were easier to produce than cartridges. No luck there. And the worst are the GBA games, I mean, $40?!? Grrrr.... Which brings me to White Night Concerto. I LOVED Circle of the Moon, my first CV since Simon's Quest, and I can't wait for the next installment. COTM is still my favorite GBA title, and I hope that Konami can manage it again. Although I won't be as happy if it costs $40... Ah well. It is Castlevania, after all. Unfortunately, I have nothing else to say. The spell fusion system, is that the same thing as in COTM? If it is great, if not, well, they might even improve it. Maybe I'll comb your site for an answer. Anyway, in my view, White Night Concerto is another CV installment, and if they make it anything like COTM, well. It'll have to be good. Scooby, who wants to kill Vampires.

As much as eBay tends to irritate me at times, Half.com is worse. Most of the sellers on there are textbook definitions of a "fucking moron". Last I looked, someone was trying to sell a Greatest Hits copy of Symphony of the Night for $70. Same with Rez - never mind I can go down to the local Funcoland and get it new for $50. I swear, since they're affiliated with something as popular as Amazon, they think they can get away with rape. End rant.

And Gameboy Advance games seem to be going down in price - a lot of new games are being released at $30 now, which is a bit better. Still, Sonic Advance currently sits at the $40 mark...grrr...

Anything? Anything.....? But... I feel so lost without the guidance of the Castlevania webmaster.... I know, I will have a Vanilla Coke to settle my nerves... Sorry Kurt, couldn't resist! Harmony of Discord/White Night Concerto.... Well, I am glad to see that they are going into some of the other characters history a bit, I myself had been wondering about the branch of Sypha and her progeny. Although not many liked her for her abilities or her weakness when she got hit, she was much better in my eyes compared to Grant and Alucard (mind you that Alucard looked like he came out of a leather bar in San Fran. during the Castlevania III days, thank the gods above that they refit him a bit). Which kinda ties into what I would like to put out: Matt's Wishlist of things that Konami can do to make my life a little bit happier (Trust me, you WANT me happy Konami!). 1) Come out with a REAL Castlevania Chronicles, not just the X68000 remake. - Yes, that is right, I said it... I have forever cursed my ancestors for even thinking of this, but here it is. After seeing what they did with the gang from Castlevania III as the bosses in the inverted castle, I have wanted them to go through and do the same thing they did to X68000, which was to keep the same set up, just make the games a little bit more lively. Heck, I don't think I am being greedy, am I? 2) A new copy of Castlevania for the PS2, GameCube, or XBox PRONTO!!!! - Yes, yes, yes... I am impatient, but then we all should be when I see games like "Devil May Cry", "Pirates" (Yes, I know this game is a tad dated, but still, the ship scenes are AWESOME! Makes me say argh everytime a cannon fires), and "Metal Gear Solid", I know that it is possible to make a DECENT 3D game! There are gods of technology and they have blessed us so at this time and day for Konami to NEVER, EVER make a "Castlevania 64" AGAIN!!! But then who am I kidding, I still want it as a 2.5 D sidescroller.... I am such a cave-geek sometimes.... 3) STOP making games for the Game Boy Advanced system! - Sacrilege coming from a Game Boy Advanced fan who just went through his 10th set of batteries just to get that Angel Knight in Tactics Ogre.... Look, I love the system, can't get enough of it, but my goodness is it ever costly! And my trash can is filled with friggin batteries! However, I want a game that I can put time into WITHOUT seeing that dreaded RED LIGHT! Gods how I hate that! Stop teasing us with this list of stellar names that did great on other games and get to it already! I feel like I am back at my job, watching the officers bs'ing over who farts better. 4) NEVER, EVER make a Castlevania 64 AGAIN!!!! - I know, I already said that, but it can't be said enough! 5) Movie, movie, movie! - No, nothing like "Yawn Raider" with Jolie or even the well meant but ill timed "Final Fantasy", but man would I pay ducets to watch a Castlevania movie! I got free tickets and a spot in front of the line for the Star Wars II opening morning showing (12:01 baby!) and I was slightly geeked. Heck, just seeing a CG Death or some suave actor playing Dracula would make me camp out in front of the theater for weeks on end... well, maybe not, but you know where I am going with that.... 6) Books, mags, comics, anything! - Do you realize how much in depth a Konami-sponsored series of novels, comics or anything else would generate storylines and cash until the cows came home? Do you realize how many NEW people would be reached by the comic medium or even the novel route (NOTE: This has nothing, NOTHING to do with the fact that I am an aspiring author that would love to have that as a feather in my hat and would be eternally bitter for eons if I ever could have that in my grasps and not get it... nothing at all). 7) Darker side of #6, NO CARTOONS! - Do you realize how much I hate Dragon Ball? Don't get me wrong here, Goku fanboys. It is a great series. However, it is overplayed on the networks, the overmarketing of clothing, subpar games, etc., is just dizzying. Granted, I might get slightly geeked if a cultish-type anime popped up with characters in them (and I don't want to hear about the main character from Vampire Hunter D looks like Alucard! It isn't the same in the slightest!), but I know that once it gets out, it is all over. 8) NEVER, EVER make Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness AGAIN!!!!! - Yes, yes, yes.... but at least I didn't say the regular 64 version. Of course, this was supposed to be in the first version anyway, stoopid Nintendo... 9) Konami taking a hint and listening to the Americans - And even better if it were this website that they listened to first (waiting for the cheap pop). Yes, Kurt does an amazing job of keeping things together, moving things along and getting people like me to write in to express the facts that we are fanboys and fangirls and we love it! We want more of it! I myself am so proud of the fact that I am a Castlevania geek cause I know when someone comes up to me to ask about a game, they all know I am a master and a sage... of course, I never tell them about the true master.... 10) That Matt would shut up so that way he can let others have their say! - Wait (thinking, thinking)... that is me! Gods, I can be so rude to me sometime! Thank you Kurt, as always I appreciate the forum and the chance to make an ever-loving @$$ out of myself, and I have sent a crate of Vanilla Coke out your way. -Matt "And what do you want from Satan... er, Santa, little girl?"

Vanilla Coke = no. Perhaps I'll give it to one of the crazy hobo people that traipse around my town.

Interesting demands, though I'm sure they're ones that many of us share.

Konami hasn't had a long history of listening to the American audience. Dance Dance Revolution, a game nearly four years old in Japan, just started coming here last year - and with crippled versions, I may add. Many of the favorite songs are not in the American versions, because Konami of Japan doesn't want to pay the licensing fees to use them outside Japan. As a result, we get a crippled product. Castlevania: Resurrection was an attempt to make a game for the American audience but...we all know how well that turned out.

Personally, I'd rather see a Castlevania anime than a live action movie. I'm also confused as to lack of interest in a manga or anime - I mean, Goemon got its own cartoon. I see books of Persona, Soul Hackers, Fire Emblem, Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profiles comics all the time - maybe Castlevania isn't popular enough to aspire any artists to do something commercially? Who knows...

For the next column - let's talk about import games. Will you be able to stand the summer waiting for Harmoy of Dissonance? If you're like me, probably not. The question is, if you're importing it or playing a ROM - does playing through a Japanese game scare you? Would you will be willing to live through screens of weird Japanese characters and miss out on the story just to play the new game earlier than everyone else? Have you ever done this with other Castlevania games? And would you ever try to learn Japanese for the sake of playing a game like this?

-Kurt. "If relationships are like video games, and Level 1 is "Friends", and Level 3 is "Lovers", then Level 2 is "the stage where the Grim Reaper keeps kicking my ass."