Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Aazealh

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Oh, what do we have here? :guts:

http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=77434565

For the record, here's a link to some unidentified pictures that were "leaked" a few months ago and that may be from the game (if they're not fake, which is a big "if" since the title isn't even the same): http://kotaku.com/346759/rumored-new-castlevania-ds-screens-indicate-wii-connectivity

We do know that Konami is working on a new Castlevania title for the NDS anyway, so hopefully we'll get some concrete news soon. It's about time, I haven't played a Castlevania game in a year! :troll:
 

handsome rakshas

Thanks Grail!
Aazealh said:
I haven't played a Castlevania game in a year! :troll:

C'mon man, you have to do like me and go through a yearly playthrough of Symphony of the Night. This year I did it with the Saturn version, which is pretty darn cool in spite of some technical problems, Yeah Aaz, these were the supposed fake screens I mentioned to you a while back. I'm starting to hope not, the new female character is awesome looking and Wii connectivity would be a blast. If these are indeed real, I feel bad for everyone hoping for a "The Battle of 1999" game, looks
like Julius got fucked over again. Well, like you I am also eagerly awaiting some concrete details. Let's hope IGA gives us something fresh!
 

Aazealh

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handsome rakshas said:
C'mon man, you have to do like me and go through a yearly playthrough of Symphony of the Night.

Hahaha, funny that you're pointing this out because I intended to say a new game, but somehow didn't write it. And the truth is that I haven't played SotN in years. I might give Super Castlevania IV another go one of those days though, it's been a while. And I'm always struggling not to buy Castlevania II on the Virtual Console.

handsome rakshas said:
Yeah Aaz, these were the supposed fake screens I mentioned to you a while back. I'm starting to hope not, the new female character is awesome looking and Wii connectivity would be a blast. If these are indeed real, I feel bad for everyone hoping for a "The Battle of 1999" game, looks
like Julius got fucked over again. Well, like you I am also eagerly awaiting some concrete details. Let's hope IGA gives us something fresh!

Bah, screw the 1999 incident, I can wait for it some more as long as this game's good. Hopefully now that the news is out Konami will make an announcement. Anyway, I agree that the character looks pretty cool, though her sprite looks suspiciously like Charlotte.
 

handsome rakshas

Thanks Grail!
Aazealh said:
Hahaha, funny that you're pointing this out because I intended to say a new game, but somehow didn't write it. And the truth is that I haven't played SotN in years. I might give Super Castlevania IV another go one of those days though, it's been a while. And I'm always struggling not to buy Castlevania II on the Virtual Console.

It's funny that you mention Super Castlevania IV because I just went and pulled it out of storage. It's a shameful secret of mine but I have never finished that game, I heard it's one of the best. I also finally got a copy of Bloodlines for Genesis, so I have some "new" CV games to keep me busy. And screw what reviewers and Angry Videogame Nerd say about Castlevania II, that game is awesome.
 

Aazealh

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handsome rakshas said:
It's funny that you mention Super Castlevania IV because I just went and pulled it out of storage. It's a shameful secret of mine but I have never finished that game, I heard it's one of the best. I also finally got a copy of Bloodlines for Genesis, so I have some "new" CV games to keep me busy.

Hahaha well I've never finished the original Castlevania myself, you know. That damn game's just so infuriating! :void:

handsome rakshas said:
And screw what reviewers and Angry Videogame Nerd say about Castlevania II, that game is awesome.

Yes. YES, it is. :guts:
 
Did you notice the Wii logo on those screens? Interesting and expected, but maybe not that useful.
Besides, the artwork of woman (normally designed by Ayami Kojima) looks very weird. Not bad looking, but not really like her style.
At least the sprites look like they're really from a DS game.

Anyway, what about Castlevania Adventure or more recently the Rondo of Blood remake (that paradoxically looks awful compared to the original)? The constant in all the platformers of the series is: a failure in your timing, a single jump and... you're dead and frustrated. :troll:

Anyhow, I expect a good looking game with Kojima's return and some nice abilities (like Circle of the Moon!). For the BGM, there's no way it can be bad. :guts: It'll just feature more or less of virtuosity.
 
Hey guys, I've been a semi-fan of Castlevania for a while (I enjoy what I read about it but have never actually played the games) and reading what you guys say about the games really gets my engine going for them. I have Castlevania: Lament of Innocence but have only played the first couple minutes of it. I was wondering what Castlevania game you guys would recommend to get someone hooked on the series? Is there any one game that has the right combination of feel, atmosphere, and story that, once you play it, you'll know you will be playing the rest of the games?
 

Aazealh

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Ryouma said:
Did you notice the Wii logo on those screens? Interesting and expected, but maybe not that useful.
Besides, the artwork of woman (normally designed by Ayami Kojima) looks very weird. Not bad looking, but not really like her style.
At least the sprites look like they're really from a DS game.

Yeah, it's fishy overall. The weird monster in the background on the screenshot where the girl is fighting is actually the most disturbing part to me, it looks quite bad.

Ryouma said:
Anyway, what about Castlevania Adventure or more recently the Rondo of Blood remake (that paradoxically looks awful compared to the original)? The constant in all the platformers of the series is: a failure in your timing, a single jump and... you're dead and frustrated. :troll:

Well honestly I think the first game is the worst of them all in that regard. The gameplay back then was really unforgiving. And I'm glad to find someone that agrees with me that the Rondo 2.5D remake is terribly ugly. Long live the original.

El Gaucho Rojo said:
Hey guys, I've been a semi-fan of Castlevania for a while (I enjoy what I read about it but have never actually played the games) and reading what you guys say about the games really gets my engine going for them. I have Castlevania: Lament of Innocence but have only played the first couple minutes of it. I was wondering what Castlevania game you guys would recommend to get someone hooked on the series? Is there any one game that has the right combination of feel, atmosphere, and story that, once you play it, you'll know you will be playing the rest of the games?

It depends on what system you have available. If you can get it, Symphony of the Night is probably the best bet. It's the game that had the most success with people that weren't already Castlevania fans, and that opened it to a new public. It's great all around and you can get it without any worries. To this day it remains a fan favourite for many people. I know handsome rakshas might kill me for saying this, but I don't think the 3D Castlevania games are really representative of the series, so forget about LOI for a while. I also wouldn't recommend the NES games (I, II, III) because they'd probably be too old school for an introduction to the series.

Then there's Super Castlevania IV (SNES) and Rondo of Blood (PC Engine CD) that I personally consider the best platformers of the series. I say platformers because games after Symphony of the Night almost completely lost the platforming aspect that was the staple of the series, and it took a different turn with them. If you can give any of them a shot, don't hesitate (SCIV is available on the Wii's Virtual Console, Rondo of Blood has a remake of PSP, and hopefully will soon be available on VC as well). Be warned though that they're significantly harder than Symphony of the Night and its offsprings, due to the platforming aspect. Those are games that take perseverance to beat, that don't let you save the game and will have you restart from zero times and times again before you can finish them.

Lastly, if you have a GBA or a NDS, I recommend you Aria of Sorrow (GBA) and Dawn of Sorrow (NDS), they follow one another as far as the plot, protagonists and game mechanics go and are really pretty cool on all levels. They're strongly inspired by SOTN, but manage to have their own identity. Another good game on GBA is Circle of the Moon. It's more austere, maybe a little more difficult than the other non-platformer games, but it's still quite good overall.
 
Not my favorite but for I vote for Castlevania Symphony of the Night (previously on PSX and Saturn, available on the Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network, and recently on the PSP as a bonus of "The Dracula X Chronicles").
Why? Simply because this episode probably features the best (for a well balance of 2D/3D effect as much as the artistic direction) "2.5D" ever made (on a Castlevania) and represents a real evolution for the concept of the series and the original gameplay. In addition, the BGM (by Michiru Yamane) are captivating, the character design by Ayami Kojima transcended the genre and adds that little detail that was previously missing to crown the series as unique and coherent in its gothic and romantic themes.

At last, the story brilliantly follows Rondo of Blood, which was a first in the series at the time (first time for a direct sequel). The greatest achievement of the game resides in that its plot twists and multiple endings (especially the "real" one) are completely imprevisible, and even surprising. And just look at the main character, Alucard, how classy! Often imitated but never equalled.
 

handsome rakshas

Thanks Grail!
I'd have to say start out with Symphony, it's definitely a good gateway into the series and for many people it was their first taste of Castlevania. Like Aaz said, I wouldn't get started on the wrong foot with the 3D Castlevanias, they require a little more appreciation that a long time fan of the series would have. I do recommend trying out Curse of Darkness eventually, I really liked that game. Heck, if you have a Super Nintendo or Wii you should grab Super Castlevania IV and start there. The problem with starting with Symphony or one of the GBA or DS games is that you're kind of spoiled with the fact that you can level up at will. In the old CV games you are actually required to master tricky jumps and memorize boss patterns. They can get pretty hard and that really puts off fans who came in on the later games. So don't spoil yourself with Symphony, treat yourself with it. AFTER you beat CV 1 (Good luck), CV 2, CV 3, and Super Castlevania IV. Or at least just go through Super Castlevania IV.
 
Thank you so much for the replies, guys. I really appreciate. I'll pick up Symphony as soon as I can. I'd love to eventually play all of them but I don't know about having to restart the entire game if you die or whatnot. I'm a horrible gamer (I struggle on anything past easy mode) and anything that makes you start the entire game over again may very well make me have a stroke, lol. :ganishka: When I first bought LoI, I played the first five or so minutes of it but when I reached the castle, I had to call it quits. I had no idea where to go or what to do. Oh well. Thank you again for the suggestions, guys.
 

Aazealh

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El Gaucho Rojo said:
Thank you so much for the replies, guys. I really appreciate. I'll pick up Symphony as soon as I can. I'd love to eventually play all of them but I don't know about having to restart the entire game if you die or whatnot. I'm a horrible gamer (I struggle on anything past easy mode) and anything that makes you start the entire game over again may very well make me have a stroke, lol.

Well, in that case the old school games are probably not for you. You may want to try Super Castlevania IV, check out the early levels (basically as far as you can go), but you'll get tired pretty quickly. SOTN and the games that follow its formula are all relatively easy, so you shouldn't have a problem with them.

El Gaucho Rojo said:
When I first bought LoI, I played the first five or so minutes of it but when I reached the castle, I had to call it quits. I had no idea where to go or what to do.

Haha well exploration is part of the fun! :guts:
 
I always loved Castlevania games and can't wait for this new one, it looks interesting.

The main character this time is going to be female it seems?
 

Aazealh

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EndlessSky said:
The main character this time is going to be female it seems?

Nothing has been announced so far. Of course there are the 3 screenshots that have been floating around, but there's a relatively high probability that they're fakes.
 
It's sound more than obvious for us but just a confirmation guys for the title and the platform direct from the ESRB website.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. T Blood, Fantasy Violence Nintendo DS

Source : NeoGAF
 

Oltobaz

Cancer no Deathmask
I wish they made a "Konami vs Capcom" game, similar gameplay wise to Marvel vs Capcom 2, with characters from Castlevania, Ghost'n goblins, Metal Gear...
 

Vaxillus

The one and only severed head
Oltobaz said:
I wish they made a "Konami vs Capcom" game, similar gameplay wise to Marvel vs Capcom 2, with characters from Castlevania, Ghost'n goblins, Metal Gear...
Unfortunately, considdering the rivalry between these two companies it's unlikely. The only reason Capcom vs SNK happened is because Capcom I believe owns SNK now.
 

Aazealh

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Vaxillus said:
The only reason Capcom vs SNK happened is because Capcom I believe owns SNK now.

Capcom doesn't own SNK, I don't know what you're talking about. It's SNK Playmore now. The reason Capcom agreed to make the Capcom vs SNK games is because they were developing them and getting most of the profits (and SNK proposed it in the first place because they weren't doing so well financially).
 

Vaxillus

The one and only severed head
Aazealh said:
Capcom doesn't own SNK, I don't know what you're talking about. It's SNK Playmore now. The reason Capcom agreed to make the Capcom vs SNK games is because they were developing them and getting most of the profits (and SNK proposed it in the first place because they weren't doing so well financially).
Whups, my info must be off. Sorry.

Actually spoke too soon on the other aspect too, I forgot they made this: http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/namco-x-capcom/
What I get for posting when it's so late :???:
 
Let's get back on topic with another confirmation :
69001020080514_160600_0_big.jpg
 

handsome rakshas

Thanks Grail!
Aazealh said:
Interesting, looks like those screenshots were real after all!

Well now I feel like a jerk for not believing they were real! I don't know about these new screenshots, the new enemies look good but the main character just looks like a palette swap of Charlotte from PoR. I guess I can't complain, the male characters never looked radically different. Either way I'm very excited.
 

Aazealh

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Staff member
handsome rakshas said:
Well now I feel like a jerk for not believing they were real!

Don't feel bad, they were and still are suspicious... I mean they do look a little off, and the name of the game isn't even the same. I guess it's because it was from an early build.

handsome rakshas said:
I don't know about these new screenshots, the new enemies look good but the main character just looks like a palette swap of Charlotte from PoR. I guess I can't complain, the male characters never looked radically different. Either way I'm very excited.

Yeah, I hope it's good aside from the Charlotte-ness of the character. Mostly I just want them to explore new ideas, a bit like what they did in PoR but pushing the concept further. New bosses, new enemies, new abilities, new plot developments, and most importantly an inspired level design. Oh well, in any case we both know we'll buy it. :void:
 
More screens guys and now we can appreciate or talk properly about the graphic details. :serpico:

No comment, just cry.
69001020080515_193903_1_big.jpg


Wait a minute ! It's... Castle..Metroid... Super Metroidvania :ganishka: Beyond the current gamplay mecanics, this screencap really looks like a mix of both franchise (especially Super Metroid and his famous boss).
69001020080515_193903_2_big.jpg



Apparently the new save/checkpoint
69001020080515_193903_3_big.jpg
 
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