And welcome to the Castlevania Dungeon Mailbag: Special Edition! When Aria of Sorrow was announced, fans let out a collective sigh of indifference when we heard it would be another Gameboy Advance game. Then some of us got angry when it would take place in 2035, possibly removing it from the gothic atmosphere we've come to know and adore. But after revealing the details, the mood began to pick up. Over 100 special powers to be collected by stealing enemies' souls? Cool. An interesting plot with lots of supporting characters? Also cool. Improvements over Harmony? Damn cool - while I loved the game, it was definitely lacking in some aspects. So we have here a bunch of thoughts from gamers, most of them with some uncertainty but with enough confidence that we'll have another decent Castlevania game on our hands.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to it, but you probably already knew that. And the Gameboy Advance problem doesn't bother me, because that nifty Gamecube adapter will be out around then, so I can play it on the TV. Here's hoping they add a special mode for TV screens like they're doing in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
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Well, I am always glad to see another Castlvania arrive on the gaming scene.
I also find it refreshing that this installment is set in the not-so-distant
future... The 15th through 19th centuries are becoming saturated with CVs,
so I am glad that they are doing something previously unheard of in previous
installments. A few concerns, though: 1. Another CV on the GBA so soon after the previous one? And it is supposed to come out in the next three months when it has just been announced globally just a few days ago? Gee, I hope that they put some incredible work into this in secret! 2. A non-Belmont (or non-Belmont-affiliated) hero? I am not opposed to having one at all! I just hope that Soma Cruz's personal/familial history has some newly discovered links to the overall CV legacy. I hope that he is not simply a "new flavor" in CV heroes. 3. No really concrete word on what's coming up for a next-gen console? We know that one is being developed. Other than that... zippo. Are they hoping to surprise us yet again? ( Then again, letting us know way ahead of time hasn't always been great constructive (i.e. Resurrection)). Still, I do plan to get this game as soon as possible. Til the next column... Jason K. Henry PS -- I'm glad to see you starting up the mailbag once again!
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It seems that Aria of Sorrow was underway around the same time as Harmony. I find this to be an interesting difference between the American and Japanese game markets. American games, PC titles in particular, seem be announced and previewed up to a year or two before they ever come out. Japanese games, on the other hand, seems to be announced a few months before they come out, allowing for adequate press coverage and little else. This doesn't apply to all situations, but it looks to be a trend nonetheless.
And thanks! It's nice to be doing these mailbags again, though without new Castlevanias, I think I'm running out of topics. *_*
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I would probably be driven mad by the announcement of
a third GBA Castlevania, were it not for the
announcement of a PS2 Castlevania. If another GBA
Castlevania is made after AoS, the GBA will have the
most mainstream Castlevanias on it! While more
Castlevania is certainly good, I think many of us have
been getting worried that it might be some time before
we see a console Castlevania again.
I must say, the time period chnge is a bit strange,
but I suppose that only so many games can be fit into
a restricted timeline. I think they have, however,
purposely tried to not include too many modern
elements to soften the blow of the time. From what
I've heard, however, it sounds as though AoS has had
nothing but improvements. There were complaints of HoD's system being too simple, they introduced their largest system yet. There were complaints of HoD's music, they increased the musical quality and brought back the SotN composer. There were complaints of not enough hidden rooms, we're told that there are an abundance of them in AoS. It even seems to me that there were changes I wanted, but wouldn't have even dared to ask for. It seems as though the graphics are even better than HoD's, and as though more storyline will be present with this new Castlevania. When I heard about CotM, I was so eager for a Castlevania that I leapt on it. After actually playing it, it didn't particularly interest me. I eventually got around to buying it, and received only a minute fraction of the joy I've come to expect from the series. As a result, HoD barely peaked my interest. The more I learned, the less I cared. I played it a little, and decided not to waste my time on it. Then I heard of another GBA Castlevania, and shrieked in agony. However, from what I've heard and seen, this Castlevania has gained quite a bit of my interest, and I actually find myself looking quite forward to it. I imagine that many may be turned away by the time period, but it was that or eventually make Dracula revive once every other year in the past. It makes little difference to me. After all, Castlevania's not really about the "when", but the "what" and "where." But why 2035 instead of 1999, when they state that he was beaten in 1999? Maybe we already know when that PS2 Castlevania's going to take place...
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There always been a weird track record about "getting it right" in Castlevania games. Let's take a look. The first Castlevania was pretty bare bones, Simon's Quest went in a whole new direction. Dracula's Curse was an enhance of the third one, with all of those characters and multiple routes - in many ways, it's the ultimate old school Castlevania. Then Super Castlevania 4 came out and went back to the basics with one characters/linear route. Bloodlines and Dracula X SNES had vague branches in gameplay, but not much. Dracula X did have a shiteload of bonus stuff strewn around, but the playable characters and levels still didn't reach the levels of Castlevania 3.
A similar thing is happening with the newer generation of Castlevanias. Let's take Symphony to be the first one - sets down the basics. Circle of the Moon improved the formula with a lot of abilities and made the game a lot more difficult, but the graphics were dull and certain gameplay aspects, mostly involving the strength of enemies and the DSS cards, were a bit annoying. Harmony improved the graphics and control, but at the same time dumbed down the difficulty and took away nearly all of the secrets. Who knows about Aria of Sorrow, but I somehow doubt they'll really get ALL of the aspects right. Something somewhere will probably be unbalanced and a bit lacking. And if it isn't, I'll most definitely be pleased.
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Hey Kurt,
I'm a newcomer to these mailbags, I usually prefer to just lurk around
and read what other people think rather than participate in these things
myself.. but the appearance of a third Castlevania for the GBA is
obviously the single most thrilling thing I've ever experienced (well,
almost) so I just can't help myself. First of, the fact that it's yet another handheld one suits me just perfectly.. I'm not going to be able to afford a next-gen console for a while, and I think they work very well in the small format anyway. I was actually wishing for a new action-based Castlevania when I heard the rumor about yet another portable one.. I think that could have been rather cool for a change. Not that I'm complaining, metriod-style games are my favorite genre. As for the game itself, I was, like many people I'm sure, a bit apprehensive about it taking place in the future.. but it's nothing unexpected tough, they almost had to go in that direction eventually. It's just a kind of change-of.setting that would have to be done quite gracefully not to seem completely silly. No robot skeletons, thanks. But initial reports are very positive to me, they're obviously not overdoing the future theme in the beginning of the game at least. I was hoping that they'd try to make the next Castlevania game a bit different than the last two proper installments, and it looks quite good so far.. just hope they've given the game a bit of another "feel" instead of just having a different story. But I still like the idea that it might be more story-driven, have more characters.. And they're totally giving it all they've got to innovate the character design too... now we have an effeminate guy with SHORT(ish) white hair instead of long... whee. But anyhow, it's good that they seem interested in changing things. I thought, by the way, that some of the comments the design team made about HoD gave the impression that the fan-service aspects of that game were there because it was meant to be sort of the end of an era. They sort of implied that they made the game so similar to SotN mainly to smoothly introduce the idea that Drac doesn't have to be the final boss, the storyline may work differently, etc. Or maybe I'm reading too much into things. The video/audio seem promising too.. I think the graphics look better than HoD, and the music quality (if not the compositions) are easily on par with CotM. You're quite right about the Strong Bad thing, too... I wonder if they were actively trying to make it sound like sort of B-rate anime music because of the Japanese settings.. On a final note, I'm sort of wondering what the reason was for translating the game to English and releasing it in America first.. were HoD's sales that bad in Japan..? Anyway, that's all I can think of right now.. I'm sure they will not disappoint with this game... I bloody well hope they won't anyway, because my expectations seem to have set themselves around "really quite high". So, yeah, hope my English wasn't too clunky, it's been a while since I've written anything lengthy in this language.. Anyway, keep up the good work, your site rocks. Regards, Johannes "Swampy" Dalgren
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I am wondering too why the game is announced for America first, and not Japan. This seems to be a trend that's growing as of recent - in particular, the Metroid games. As of this writing, neither Fusion nor Prime are out in Japan. Castlevania certainly doesn't flop in Japan, but for some reason, it doesn't seem to be quite as popular. There's undoubtedly some cultural reasons for this - the Castlevania games are based off Western legends and designs, so it makes sense from that angle - but I couldn't make any more analyzations without reaching far within the depths of my derriere.
And yes, your English is fine. I get a lot of e-mails from around the globe, and all of them very politely tell me to excuse their English. While sometimes messages turn out to be a bit awkward, they're always understadable, and definitely read better than some of the randomly-spewed pseudo-English that native speakers will sometimes type on various forums.
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I'm am very excited with the news of Aria of Sorrow, but i am
disappointed about it being on GBA once again. It also seems strange that
it takes place in the future. How are they gonna use a whip in the
future? Or are they just gonna do away with that and have the main
character carry a gun? It seems very strange. Also the rumors I've heard
about the game doing away with the secondary weapons. That really
disappoints me. The secondary weapons are a key element to the game, and
this sould steal thing that I hear about and the rumors on how you can
trade the different souls you have with other people. It seems like
Pokemania is gonna be running wild once again with this new Castlevania
game, and I must say that I hated pokemon. Oh well, hopefully it will be
better than I think it will be, and Hopefully a console will get
Castlevania. The "What's New" section says it has be en officially
announced by Konamia that a PS2 Castlevania is in the works, but Gamespy
says that it is just a rumor. I don't know who to believe. Pete Jakomin
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I get the impression that all of the secondary items are in the game, they're just activated by enemy souls. Maybe that means you can switch them at any time, rather than tracking them down in candles. Not only does that make more sense - I always found it silly that Alucard could hold gigantic collections of swords that would make any Renassaince Fair goers pee their pants, but only had enough room for one dagger or axe.
A lot of people are making comparsions to Pokemon, and I think that's a bit unfair, even if the "trading souls" concept rings familiar.. I've recently been playing Suikoden 3, and it has pretty much the same idea - spend time gathering lots and lots of characters to improve your gaming experience. Yet Suikoden never gets labeled with that stereotype, probably because it came before the Pokecraze hit. Before anyone bash the game mechanics, think of WHY you hate Pokemon. I didn't like it because it was, you know, BORING AS HELL. And it didn't help that all of collecting was tedious and painful. That's quite a bit different from what Aria offers - though I could do without the "random item" element that particularly plagued Circle of the Moon.
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Heya, Kurt. I was reading your Aria of Sorrow preview
and noticed the lead character has rather unusual
name. I happen to know a little about its funky
origin, so what the hell, here goes: o Soma is a prescription drug (generic name: Carisoprodol). It is a muscle relaxant used to treat painful spasms. Side effects may include: Agitation, depression, dizziness, drowsiness, facial flushing, fainting, headache, hiccups, inability to fall or stay asleep, irritability, light-headedness upon standing up, loss of coordination, nausea, rapid heart rate, stomach upset, tremors, vertigo and vomiting. I think I'll stick with the muscle spasm, thanks. o Soma was a downer in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World". When one was stressed out, they would take the drug and go on a "Soma Holiday" (which is where the band Soma Holiday got their name from, naturally.) o Soma is also the spiritual sacrament written of in the Vedas. Most scholars agree that Soma was the Amanita Muscaria mushroom (the "storybook" mushroom, red with white spots), which acts as an energizer and pain killer unles you take an overdose. Then you hallucinate and convulse* and maybe die. Ironic that one Soma can make you convulse and the other is used to treat spasms, eh? Soma was also used by Viking Bearshirts ("Berserkers") who would intentionally overdose before battles. Back to the Vedas. To say that these people were into Soma is an understatment: "Enjoying Indra's friendship, O drop of Soma, bring riches as a docile cow brings the yoke. We have drunk the Soma; we have become immortal; we have gone to the light; we have found the gods. What can hatred and malice of a mortal do to us now, O immortal one?" So, there you have it. Throughout history, Soma has been associated with black light posters and munchies. And Vikings. And immortality. And cows, or something. My head hurts. P.S. Soma looks remarkably like a pimp. I'm surprised he wasn't named White Chocolate Cruz.
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Thanks for that interesting bit of info! The name's definitely weird. Cruz is obviously Spanish, but Soma isn't.
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I can guess that Aria of Sorrow is going to be great but to describe how
I feel about the storyline...confused...very, very confused. Who threw
Dracula into the sun? Was Superman involved in this somehow? The
characters look cool for the most part although I'm wondering how the
Belnades family found their way to Japan, but that's pretty unimportant.
Though I've heard people complaining about the "gotta catch 'em all"
gameplay detail, I think it's going to turn out very well, especially
since I love Megaman. Other than the raised eyebrow at the storyline
oddities, I feel confident that the gameplay will feel familiar yet fresh
and the story will work well in the series once I fully understand what's
going on (though I do hope it doesn't feature Dracula returning as
Nuclearman). Tony T. Tiger
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If the story gets you wondering - that's a good thing, right? It should actually give us all a reason to actually give a damn about the story this time around.
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Those sneaky Konami devils! Look how they spring this on us all of a sudden.
They sure are good at keeping a secret. I'm delighted. And psychic too,
apparently. I was just thinking the other day, "you know, we're running out
of time periods to set Castlevania games in. What can they do now but try
the future?" Viola. I like what I'm seeing in the screenshots. The graphical style has improved even more over Harmony--the backgrounds look at least as good, if not better, while the somewhat awkward-looking character sprites from Harmony have been upgraded, and look simply gorgeous in Aria. I didn't quite believe their line about being forced to downgrade the music in Harmony, especially after playing Metroid Fusion, so I'm glad to see that they've dedicated themselves to improving that as well. I have to say I'm a bit concerned about the sheer volume of abilities promised in Aria. With that many powers one has to wonder how many of them will be useful and seem appropriate in the setting. For that we'll just have to wait and see, I guess. I do like the suggestion that you'll be able to assign several to your character at the same time. One of my biggest beefs with DSS was being limited to a single power. While it's fun to speculate about Aria, I have to admit that my thoughts keep coming back to what these details likely reveal about the unnamed console Castlevania. If Dracula was defeated in 1999, then I think it's a safe bet to conclude that "Consolevania" (sorry) will be set in that time period, and will revolve around the "final" battle against Dracula. Now that's a cool thought. Christopher Lundgren P.S. Here's an interesting tidbit--apparently "Castlevania" is an acceptable word, according to the hotmail spellchecker.
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Given that souls seem to take on many roles, I don't think it will be as big as problem as in Circle. But the design of the game poses a bit of a problem. Let's say that Konami designs a boss that's so difficult that you absolutely NEED a certain item to succeed, or else the battle will be hellishly tough. But in a game where the more powerful items are randomly generated or hidden away in some obscure passage, it's a bit of an unfair punishment to game players to force them to backtrack because they weren't properly prepared. This is a primary element on RPG game design that pisses me off to no end - it's especially prominent in the 16-bit Final Fantasy games. I got to the end of Final Fantasy 5, but I never bothered to get Bahamut because it was, you know, an OPTIONAL sidequest. Then I decide to read the FAQs on X-Death and they all say "He's easy! Just use Bahamut!" I bashed my head on the keyboard, tried futily to beat the last boss a few times, then gave up.
The moral of that story is that you should never, EVER design a game where an optional item is a requirement (or near requirement) for beating the game. Personally, I think in RPGs, you should never have to level up. This is especially true in Castlevania games - if you're good enough with your whip skillz, then you won't need to scour the castle for health power-ups or spend lots of times beating bad guys. But if you aren't a Castlevania master, then you have options to give you a helping hand. The key is to find a good balance - personally, I think Circle of the Moon came the closest to this ideal. Optional items or quests should definitely supplement the game in a way that's useful, and that was the problem with the DSS system - most of it was pretty cool in theory, but you couldn't actually do much with it.
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When I first heard the rumors of a new Castelvania, my hopes were for a new
version in the vein of Castelvania 1 or 3. I was dissapointed when I heard
it was yet another Metroid-Vania style game, but that subsided, soon
replaced by excitement. Let's face it, Castlevania (when done n 2D) has been consistantly excellent and I can only imagine what waits behind this new door. Sure, I'll say I'm sick of the exploring type gameplay, but when it comes right down to it, I'll pay for it on import release and play it to death (hopefully on a GB Player or a GB SP). What else can I say? The art looks great, the graphics look closer to SOTN than HOD/WNC did. Actually, this is kind of scarey. Why are they trying to relive the glory of SOTN when that game got everything right the first time? It's frustating that I can't get a new side scroller-old school Castle anymore. I'm greatful for Cronicles, but I really want something new. Something pure 2d, and nothing 3d/2d mix. I'll neve rget that, of course, so it's always good to be happy with what you get. So there is our lesson; let us be greatufl that we are still getting 2D, New Castlevanias on a more frequent than yearly basis. God bless Iga, god bless bitmaps. Rade
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I know a lot of people share your sentiments about an old-school Castlevania, but it doesn't seem like that design is very popular these days. Look at Contra Shattered Soldier: all of the old school gamers (and most reviewers) loved it, but look at message boards and you'll see a lot of people complaining about its length and difficulty. People want games you can play for a long time - once it's beaten, it's on the shelf to collect dust, or sold back to the game store. Traditional Castlevanias are, by nature, much shorter. It could definitely be done if they put a lot of hidden stuff - along the lines of PC Engine Dracula X, but moreso. But I also think Konami has seen that Castlevania grew a really big fanbase around the time of Symphony of the Night, and doesn't want to scare them away too much
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~Like any Castlevania fan, I'm more than eager to get my hands on a new
Castlevania game,... but upon first hearing that the next installment
would once again be on Gameboy Advance it felt like a beautiful girl's
kiss followed by a swift kick in the nuts. Apparently all of our efforts
to email Konami about Castlevania Chonicles 2 were seen as some sort of
joke. It doesn't help matters that Konami no longer respond to emails,
(I personally haven't heard a peep since they confirmed to me that
Resurrection was cancelled). IGA did mention that there would be a next
generation surprise at E3, but it would be foolish to get my hopes up.
However I'll be the last one to complain since May of 2001 to the day
that the "surprise" game launches we will have recieved 5 Castlevania
games within a two year time span. So with that said on to buisness,... ~Aria of Sorrow looks to be a bold step for the series, it appears to be more ambitious than both Symphony of the Night and Simon's Quest put together. I dare say that it might be too ambitious for Gameboy Advance. ~Here's the rundown of changes. No sub-weapons, (all Castlevania games except the CV Adventure had sub-weapons)? No whip wielding Belmonts, (ok it's worked without a whip before, but do you play the games without Belmonts in them much)? No trace of Dracula, (Dracula was apparently finally destroyed in 1999, and since there is no one else the end boss must be,... )? No classic timeline, (the futuristic setting seems a bit of an odd choice and will no doubt given comparisons to Vampire Hunter D once again)? With many people deciding that Harmony of Dissonance had not evolved the series very much, Aria of Sorrow is obviously in response to that. But has IGA gone too far? I guess we'll find out on May 7th, (that is if the game is not delayed,... funny how there's no release date in Japan yet though). And only 20 days after that us lucky Gamecube owners will be able to play all six Gameboy Castlevania games on the big screen with the Gamecube Gameboy Player. ~I have to address this though... IGA has mentioned that since some people were disappointed with HoD's music, AoS's music will be of higher quality. Team Castlevania may well be able to do this since this is their second outing on GBA, but I wonder what omissions will have to take place in order to achieve this goal? I was under the impression that HoD used the maximum amount of graphical prowess that the GBA hardware is capable of, and that was the reason that the in-game music didn't take advantage of it's full potential. Something's gotta give, and I worry what this will be. ~However I have few doubts about the game quality. IGA is heading the team (hey the guy likes the best Castlevania games so I trust him), Ayami Kojima has done a great deal of great artwork for this game, (her style seems more Yoshitaka Amano influenced with each project), and Michiru Yamane is back composing full time for this project, (I hear her recent work on Suikoden 3 is wonderful). The trilogy of talent is now complete, and collectively what they will come up with will definately get attention. But since Rondo of Blood is celebrating it's tenth anniversary this year, there is no better time to re-release it and no one will be happy until that is done. P.S. ~Was anyone else fooled into thinking that once Simon appeared on the GBA screen that classic NES Castlevania ports were soon too follow? Everyone else has done a port of some kind to Gameboy, why not our beloved series?
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I don't know a whole lot how the Gameboy Advance CPU operates, but I'm just willing to bet that cut out extraneous effects that didn't add much, and they rewrote their entire audio library. Already you can see that Soma doesn't leave shadow trails like Juste did, and maybe it won't feature any gigantic multi-segmented bosses like Harmony. Or maybe IGA just held a sword to the programmer's throat and said "Optimize or else!" Whatever the deal, I don't think the sacrifice, if any, would have any major impact.
As for Suikoden 3 - a lot of the game music enthusiasts I've talked to really dislike this soundtrack, and I'm not quite sure why. Some of the synth quality is a bit blegh and it has its share of crappy, boring tunes, but there's some damn enjoyable music in there. I don't know what tracks Yamane wrote for it (she and two other composers did it) but I think it's pretty good.
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Hi Kurt, I love your site. I saw the movies and pics posted at ign and gamespot. I bet my thoughts differ from a lot of other peoples'. I am not sure that this new gba game is gonna strike a good chord for me. I really like Circle of the Moon. Eventhought it was dark and hard, with a good light and the codebreaker, I have a blast. Harmony's music was not good. Simon's Quest has midi music with excellent tunes, but Harmony had midi music and bad tunes. Harmony's gameplay was not exciting for me. I was sad that the whip looked like 6 squares next to each other, and moving through the game was tedious for me. Aria's graphics look like they have more depth than Harmony's, but the light colors don't work for me. I liked Circle's graphics, escpecially the stained glass in the chapel area, and the glow that spread out from the orb in the save room. Those qualities plus the awesome sound really got my interest. The light colors of Harmony and Aria probably work better in low light, but they don't draw me into the game like the colors of past Castlevania games do, like Simon's Quest. Aria's music sounds are better quality than HoD's, but the tunes have the discordant clash of notes that Harmony does. Some tunes have a lot of notes per second like the day battle theme of Simon's Quest, but Aria's music seems to lack the catchy melody and hypnotic rhythm. I love Castlevania music, and I enjoy playing the game in part because of the music, so I might pass on Aria and wait to see if the PS2 game has a soundtrack cd. Take care, man ,and good luck in school. Mike
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Harmony's graphics still look a little weird, especially Juste's bright red coat, but they're definitely required for the GBA. It's the same deal with Metroid - Fusion was a lot brighter than Super, and artisitically much better as well. I still prefer the dark atmosphere of the SNES game, but that would've been hell on the handheld. Chalk it up to a necessary evil.
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I was excited to see that Konami is makeing another Castlevania...I mean
who wouldn't be...the games have been my livelyhood since i was about 10
years old....and the fact that it was gonna be set in the future almost
made me poo myself...but there are two very big drawbacks to this. One:
it is for GBA...I really don't like this system too well...I have one of
the TV adapters for it that I bought from gamegizmo.com, but It didn't
help all that much. when I played Harmony of Dissonance on my TV adapter
the graphics looked horribly pixelly. But for some reason Metroid Fusion
was as smooth as a baby's bottom. Two: the game unfortunately, like Circle of the Moon and Harmony, will probably be a Symphony of the NIght clone. I LOVED symphony...it was proably the most kick ass game I have ever played, or ever will play, but it should be left as it is, these last couple CV games have just tried to copy it with gameplay and artwork, and have paled in comparison to the real thing. I think I was one of the few people who actually really really liked the CV games for N64, I loved em, infact, Legacy of Darkness would have to be my second favorite Castlevania game...this is partly because it was 3 dimensional, and in terms of gameply, it wasn't a symphony clone. it had it's own story, and it's own feel. and it worked. It wasn't trying to be like anything, it just simply "was" and that was what was so great about it. also if I have to look for Dracula's body parts in one more friggin castlevania I'm gonna throw a friggin' fit. It's getting old, we should have just had to look for them in Simon's Quest. I'll admit, in Symphony I found it kinda nostalgic that I had to find the body parts again, but in harmony it was just plain annoying. so in closeing, Aria of sorrw appears to have a really kewl set-up in terms of story, I like the idea of Dracula finally being defeated in 1999 (it's about fucking time) and the thing about the castle being sealed in the sun seems a little out there...but I'll just wait and see how the story playes out...hopefully it'll make some sense. (but based on the endings to some of the games I've played here lately i.e. Kingdom Hearts, and Harmony of Dissonance, I'm not expecting too much....I just wonder "Why in the hell can't Konami just make a decent version of Dracula X for Playstation2 so we can forget about the CRAPPY AS HELL super-NES version"? well I've bitched and moned enough for one evening... (one last thing, it would be really kewl if somehow Konami and the creator of Vampire Hunter D could somehow Collaborate, and work out a game where it could explain how Alucard becomes Vampire Hunter D (that would be my dream game)....but that's just me dreamin') ~Rhett (master vampire killer) Whittington ;)
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Since it does use the same (or similar) engine as Harmony, it seems like it will suffer a bit of the same-ness you're talking about, but hopefully there'll be some innovations as far as enemies and castle areas.
What does worry be a bit about Aria is the mention that there will be a "similar concept" to the upside-down/dual-castle system from Symphony and Harmony. It worked great in Symphony, but made the last half of Harmony very tedious. I don't think that needs to be there - just give us one castle or something.
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Dear Kurt I'm as excited as everyone else on Aria of Sorrow. A Castlevania set in the near future? This is most defintely a first, and as long as the chronological setting is not too apparent in the game itself (like putting overly futuristic weapons, enemies, and backgrounds), it should be a smash hit. Apprehension on my part is present over the use of enemy souls to gain new abilities, since it sounds quite Megaman-ish and thus un-original, but in itself it does sound like a nice concept. The hero being able to wield multiple weapons will definitly provide a lotta variety, placing the game still closer in its feel to SOTN, which started the "Castletroid" games anyway. So do the new graphics, especially with the bits that looked like they were taken from SOTN (such as the Merman room). The music had better be good this time. I was expecting much from HOD's, but it bombed. COTM's was better by comparison. Remade background tunes from the older CVs should be present. I'm also a bit disappointed over the apparent lack of equipment slots. Looks only slightly better than the meager Body and both Arms in Circle of the Moon. I'm hoping for the return of Magic Max-Ups, which were present only in the same game. One last thing: does Konami have this thing for white-haired protagonists in their "Castletroid" games? I didn't take much notice when I first saw Nathan Graves four years after SOTN's release, but when I spotted Juste Belmont, my eyebrow went up. Seeing Soma Cruz for AOS makes me think white hair's some kinda requirement to be the hero of today's Castlevania games. ^^; Not that I have anything against it, but the main heroes' looks -COULD- use some variety.
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I would be inclined to agree with you over the white hair thing - but would you prefer the pink from Castlevania Chronicles?
Didn't think so.
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Hey Kurt, it's been a while since the last mailbag thing. And with Aria of
Sorrow.. I just have to get a few things off my chest. 1.) As much as I love Castlevania.. I really don't like paying money for a game that is on a console (if ya wanna call it that) thats main purpose is to 'take it with you wherever' kinda thing. I want to play it for fun .. not to keep me occupied while going to my girlfriend's house. 2.) The Storyline behind AoS (No, not Ultima Online: Age of Shadows) sounds solid.. but Konami kills it with the year. 2035? I'd expect a huge skyscraper as tall as the Sears Tower but with cool futuristic things that make it look... futuristic. Now that is the futuristic Castlevania. 3.) Soma Cruz looks a bit.... weak. Mina Hakuba sorta looks like an oriental version of Emma Emmerich (also known as E.E. from Metal Gear Solid 2) Other than that, the characters look... decent. That was my short thrashing of Aria of Sorrow. Come May 6.. I'll be camping outside of Toys R Us to get my copy like the fanboy that I am. And..is the soundtrack going to sound like Harmony, or Circle? Or better..? Anyway! Let's all E-mail Konami and tell them to make a ps2 Castlevania! (Please god, let them remake Rondo of Blood for us Americans who don't want to import games because we don't feel like paying the extra tax for the game) ---- Vampiro170
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I don't like paying much for GBA games either. It's always felt somehow...wrong. $30 is an OK price for some games, but the $40 mark is ridiculous for a game that's not only technologically inferior to home consoles, but is on a much smaller screen. But Castlevania makes it worth it, for the most part.
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Well, thoughts were asked for, so here we have my humble thoughts! I'm a big fan of the GBA Castlevanias. Maybe it's because I'm an RPG fan at heart, but I actually enjoy the free-roaming style of the recent games. All-out action is good, but when (like Symphony of the Night) there is an abundance of optional areas which don't have to be cleared to complete the game, but reward the player with better weapons and armour, that is what I enjoy. Exploration. Finding new areas, unlocking hidden secrets. Not only is it rewarding, but it keeps drawing people back for more. As long as Aria of Sorrow delivers what it promises, then it will be another great game. Also, is it just me, or does Soma's friend's name, Mina Hakuba, sound a lot like Mina Harker, the girlfriend and later wife of Jonathon Harker from the original Stoker Dracula novel? I'm not sure if it is intentional or not, I'm guessing it is, since we have had ties with the novel in the other Castlevania set after the novel, that is John Morris, son of Quincy Morris, who delivered the final blow to Dracula in the novel. Also, I don't like the way Konami seems intent on divorcing Castlevania of the Belmonts. Surely when it has been so firmly established that only the Belmonts can defeat Dracula, to now try to reverse this is more trouble than it is worth? Then again, Soma might be somehow descended from the Belmonts, and maybe he won't be the one to finish Dracula in the end, if there's a Belnades hanging around... I like the sound of the larger supporting cast. Sounds like AoS will have the deepest story yet, which in my mind can only be a good thing. All in all, looking forward to the third GBA Castlevania.
Sol
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I definitely think Mina is a reference to the Dracula novel - I could be wrong, but I don't think it's a typical Japanese name. I still think they should toss in Harker in there somewhere, just for good measure.
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No doubt we all anticipate the arrival of a new castlevania game, but is
it worth the fuss? This is by far the most defaced castlevania game I
have ever seen. There is nothing traditional about it except for the name
"castlevania". No. 1 - Futuristic castlevania??? Nope, sorry just doesn't fit...next thing we'll know Aliens and UFO's will be opponents in Dracula's castle. No. 2 - Soma Cruz looks like a hippie pornstar and a washed up druggie in some old Dirty Harry movie. No. 3 - J and Hammer have identical facial features exept J looks like one of the guys from Army of Lovers. No. 4 - What the fu#@ is it with all this japanese crap!!!!?? Jesus Christ! Dracula is a freaking European!! and one could conclude that the people opposing him would be Europeans as well!!! ( "YOKO" Belnades? how did that happen hmmmm? stay your side of the world you bastards.) I mean how the hell does Castlevania get mixed up in this japanese sh#%! That's like putting the Queen of England in Mexico holding giant burrito sceptor. This game is way too japanese oriented. I understand these guys are running out of ideas but for the love god and the sake of an immaculate game series don't make our dear castlevania futuristic and TOTALLY japanese. This game looks more like hyperiria with the castlevania mystique. Such a pity. Hell I think this might be the first castlevania game I skip. I 'm sure the gameplay is outstanding but the storyline just spoils everything. Here's my conjecture, I think the japanese are just finally putting some claim on these castlevania games. The castlevania charachters are all from the western world, but now the japanese want a voice in castlevania games. Castlevania games are japanese enough already, but this the biggest contribution yet. I personally have nothing against the japanese but this new title looks absurd. Well that's my idea and it righteous.
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This is probably the only overly negative response I received. Remember, don't think "defaced" think "different". You're definitely jumping to conclusions on some of those things. There's barely any futuristic elements to the atmosphere (that we've seen) and the Eastern/Western clash going on here (which I find pretty interesting) seems pretty minimal at the moment. I'd love for them to integrate more Japanese elements - fighting demons a la the old Famicom game Getsufuu Madden would be pretty cool. Some of ther secondary characters do look a bit weird - especially Hammer, who seems to be an army general of some kind (??).
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First I wanted
to say I've been waiting for Konami to do a "modern" Castlevania for a
couple years and what they have finally delivered doesn't look like it
will disappoint. I also have some theories about this title so bear with
me. First I want to talk about Genya Arikado who I think might actually be Alucard. And after artwork of the characters was released I was certain that he is Alucard. But I thought about the story and how you must keep Castlevania alive and thought maybe he might actually be Dracula trying to use you to keep his castle alive (Even though J looks more like Dracula then Genya). If Genya is indeed Alucard then I wonder why he is back and maybe then J is Dracula and you might meet him and he might use you to keep the castle alive. Another thing I was thinking about was if you were indeed used to keep the castle alive then Soma might be a descendent of the Belmonts, he does have a resemblance to Juste. Or I was thinking maybe Mina might be a Belmont descendent because she is a Shinto priestess and they are known to exorcise demons so it is a logical job for a Belmont. My last theory is that the other character that are shown such as Yoko Belnades and Hammer are trying to destroy Castlevania because that is a logical thing for a Belnades to do and Hammer looks like a soldier and it is logical that Governments would send soldiers to investigate a castle that suddenly appears from nothing. So if this is true you would most likely have to fight these characters because you are trying to keep the castle alive. I also hope that with all of these new characters maybe Konami will actually let you play as a 2nd character that has a story or maybe even a 3rd character also. Thanks for hearing my theories. Keep up the good work Kurt.
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Some interesting theories - like mentioned previous, there's enough here to make us look forward to the plot more, and you've pointed out more reasons to be drooling over it.
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It's been a while, Kurt... A new Castlevania, set in the future. This appeals to me, I've always wondered what Castlevania would be like in the future. The potential for new things... but not entirely new. I'm looking for a modern twist on the old. You know what I mean, although you probably cringe... I want to see laser whips, and I want to shoot skeletons with plasma pistols. I want my armoured demons to try and kill me with lightsabres. I want to see a new, exciting, yet ancient castle. I want to run through zero-gravity catacombs, fighting monsters on the ceiling and avoiding pits that go But things don't turn out like that. I find out that Aria of Sorrow will be much like other Castlevanias. It will take place in the future, but it will be the same as before. Whips, crosses, holy water... no lightsabres, no laser whips, no pistols. I can't help feeling that the potential isn't being used, that it's not new enough... it's going to be the same Castlevania, but for some soul collecting and the possible lack of Dracula. Which could be cool... And you know what? Part of me is glad, very glad. I would love to see the futuristic version, but then again, I look forward to Aria of Sorrow. It's familiar, it's what Castlevania means to me, and it looks amazing. So I can live without the laser whips. As long as it happens someday. Scooby, who wants to wield a laser whip.
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I know there are people that really want a futuristic Castlevanias, but I think it'd anger too many fans. I'd think it'd be a bit silly, personally. Konami always COULD make a Castlevania-inspired game and change the name so people don't go on flaming sprees, I guess.
I think that about does it. I don't know if I'm going to have any of these mailbags until Aria comes out *looks at watch impatiently*, but keep an eye out on the main page.
