Saint Gregory
Member
Wait, none of the later games had the whip-flailing? Why did I think that at least one of them had something akin to that? Maybe I replayed SCIV and forgot :/
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(Castlevania?): Lord of Shadows - Thread of KojiPro and HNGHHHHHHH
- Thread starter Dabookerman
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Here are more concept art taken from the press kit give out last year: http://s445.photobucket.com/albums/qq176/Huzzud/Kotaku_Announce/
And here's last year's press release: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...--from-madrid-based-mercury-steam-due-in-2010
Interesting parts bolded:
And here's last year's press release: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...--from-madrid-based-mercury-steam-due-in-2010
Interesting parts bolded:
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Wonder if the levels are interconnected. Sounds like there's a wide range of environments.
A 1up story says that "Looking back at Simon's Quest and other similar games such as Nintendo's Super Metroid, the IGA-led team decided to meld exploration and RPG elements with the gothic action and atmosphere the series was known for." But the SOTN team wasn't "IGA-led", and even if we wanted to accept that it was, it says that the "team" decided.Chemo said:
Also on that page, IGA says about the 32X game (which became SOTN) "We made an early playable version," but AFAIK, IGA was only brought in to the SOTN team after the PSX version became stalled for months because of Sony's anti-2D policies.
I think IGA likes to speak for (and take credit for) the entire team, when really he's the anchor dragging them down.
IGA did not step into his position as head of development for SOTN until more than halfway through the project.
Keep in mind this was a game that originally began as a title for the 32X. Its ambition extended beyond the reach of a cartridge and found itself on the PS1. IGA was brought on board as the team expanded.
In short, he can not be accredited to the success of the game. The concept and gameplay elements were already in place long before he stepped into the picture. In other words, the guy is a hack. He took credit for the massive success of the game, then continued to milk it for over a decade, pumping out several 3d travesties along the way. (Ironically, they were worse than the N64 games which he so vehemently tore apart in various interviews with the press)
The Castlevania games were at one point in time a tremendous asset to the gaming industry. But after SOTN, that light began to fade. Instead of upping the budgets and giving development duty to those who could take the series in directions never seen before, they left it in the hands of a man who was content with pumping out the same shit time after time on handheld formats.
All I can say is, thank fucking LORD he is out of the picture.
I've been saying it for years, but he really did ruin the franchise. Let's hope Kojima Productions can restore it to its former glory.
Keep in mind this was a game that originally began as a title for the 32X. Its ambition extended beyond the reach of a cartridge and found itself on the PS1. IGA was brought on board as the team expanded.
In short, he can not be accredited to the success of the game. The concept and gameplay elements were already in place long before he stepped into the picture. In other words, the guy is a hack. He took credit for the massive success of the game, then continued to milk it for over a decade, pumping out several 3d travesties along the way. (Ironically, they were worse than the N64 games which he so vehemently tore apart in various interviews with the press)
The Castlevania games were at one point in time a tremendous asset to the gaming industry. But after SOTN, that light began to fade. Instead of upping the budgets and giving development duty to those who could take the series in directions never seen before, they left it in the hands of a man who was content with pumping out the same shit time after time on handheld formats.
All I can say is, thank fucking LORD he is out of the picture.
I've been saying it for years, but he really did ruin the franchise. Let's hope Kojima Productions can restore it to its former glory.
cartman414
Member
Well, alright. So it wasn't Iga who chose that path after all. But that still doesn't mean that it was all downhill from SotN. People put too much blame on him, and put SotN up on a pedestal.
FrostuTheNinja
Member
Could this be the horror game he talked about?
(At least I think he talked about wanting to make a horror game.)
(At least I think he talked about wanting to make a horror game.)
FrostuTheNinja said:
That's the direction I've been hoping for years that the series would be headed.
SCVIV was the closest to being a "scary" game. The music, atmosphere, art, and level design all added to an eerie experience. It was fucking amazing.
I can't wait to see what they do with this. Skinny, malnourished she-men be damned!
cartman414
Member
Chemo said:
Which again does not make it or Toru automatically superior to Iga or any of his entries.
Docpan said:
I think it tried too hard in terms of using the new at the time SNES tech to really be scary.
Of course they do, because Symphony of the Night was amazing and fresh when it came out. We were YEARS removed from Super Metroid, and that series was practically confirmed dead by Nintendo, so it was a taste of something gamers hadn't had in ages. It was also completely new for Castlevania, which made it exciting. People loved it.cartman414 said:
Without taking the 3D console installments into account, our next 2D Castlevania was Circle of the Moon (not by IGA, but also not nearly as good as Symphony). Then we got Harmony of Dissonance, the absolute worst of the worst. Then we got Aria of Sorrow. Then we got Dawn of Sorrow. Then we got Portrait of Ruin. Then we got Order of Ecclesia. Only slight changes were made to the formula, and even slighter changes to the enemy sprites, with the story and tone going from already pretty hokey into downright embarrassing. Level design is a joke too, with every game mostly consisting of hallways and floating platforms with the occasional environmental hazard here and there. Even the art direction became piss poor. What made Symphony of the Night so fresh, the Metroid style, is exactly what makes IGA's titles so boring... there was practically no change to the series after Igarashi took over, outside of small tweaks/gimmicks and disgusting 3D console abortions.
Look at the earlier Castlevania titles, up through Symphony. They're all pretty different from one another, if you take them in the order of release... you have the original, then you have the weirdo second game, then you have the character-swapping/branching-paths third game, then you have the tribute to the first game with IV, etc etc. The series was very exciting in that time because the games were unique and you could always expect to be entertained and surprised with each new iteration... and Symphony was the biggest surprise of all, because the change was absolutely drastic. Since then we've meandered in the same old shit for a decade, thanks to a guy who takes credit for Symphony's success. Since he obviously can't come up with a game of his own, he just traces over the lines that Hagihara drew for Symphony and tries to change things slightly so that it isn't obvious that he's a no-trick pony.
People don't put enough blame on this guy... the fact that he has defenders at all is indicative of that. It is actually beyond the scope of my comprehension that there are people who can't see that Koji Igarashi is not only a hack, but that he has no business whatsoever being in charge of a development team. Especially not one responsible for handling such a classic franchise.
Of course it does. IGA can't do anything but try to relive Symphony's glory, time and time and time again. He's the game developer equivalent of a comic book artist who traces other peoples' work. Whereas Symphony of the Night was a love letter to Metroid, the subsequent releases are lazy cash-ins made solely for people who don't mind paying $35 to play what is basically the same Castlevania game over and over forever.cartman414 said:
cartman414
Member
Chemo said:
The level design may have been bland at times, but had none of SotN's ridiculous hallways, chasms, or whatever else that made it into a boring backtrack-fest at times. That Aria and subsequent Metroidvanias cut the backtracking was a huge improvement in my book. SotN is only fresher in that it came first.
And for what it's worth there were actually a few sprite redos here and there, most notably the now humongous armored guards.
I won't disagree there was more variation between entries prior to Symphony, and Dracula's Curse and Rondo are my two favorite games of the series, and that I actually prefer that era of the series, but I'm never one to deny the merits of similar-yet-improved games, hence my opinion that SotN has been eclipsed by various successors.
I'd agree, if all the subsequent Metroidvanias actually were inferior to Symphony... which they aren't.
Only they're not 100%. Besides, sometimes improvements can make a great game template even better, not to mention that Order of Ecclesia has offered concessions to the old-school style games, where combat mechanics are significant.
EternalGamer
Banned
FrostuTheNinja said:
Don't worry. It's a 3D Castlevania, of course it will be a horror game. Except you won't even have to play it to feel an impending sense of dread.
I think you may have missed that the problem is not that things in the template should be fixed, it's that there's a template period.cartman414 said:
I can go on and on about IGA until I'm blue in the face, but I typically try to keep it to a single post. That said, I don't want to derail this any further because this game has me fucking excited.
Cannot wait to see this in action.
Also, please go back to the original Castlevania logo. None of the games without it are good. :lol
SolidSnakex
Member
Teknoman said:
He's the one that originally mentioned Kojima's connection to Lords of Shadow. He said one of his friends worked at Mercury Steam.
lol, IGA haters.
I'm not too fond of the man's few latest games, but no one knows for sure how much exactly he was involved in SOT. So, to say that he took credit for someone else's work is downright fucking retarded. Here are the facts: The original director stepped down at some unknown point during the development of SOTN, and IGA took over. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.
Also, Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow are some of the very best games of the entire franchise. Suck it up, haters.
I'm not too fond of the man's few latest games, but no one knows for sure how much exactly he was involved in SOT. So, to say that he took credit for someone else's work is downright fucking retarded. Here are the facts: The original director stepped down at some unknown point during the development of SOTN, and IGA took over. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.
Also, Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow are some of the very best games of the entire franchise. Suck it up, haters.
Dabookerman
Member
RIghteo, a new day.
Thoughts:
Could Yoji Shinkawa and Ayami Kojima be making any contributions to the concept art, or art in general, i mean what the hell has Ayami been doing anyway all this time lol..
Wonder if Michiru Yamane will contribute with the music?
Since the game is 3D, I am somewhat glad that IGA isn't involved. He doesn't need to be.
Thoughts:
Could Yoji Shinkawa and Ayami Kojima be making any contributions to the concept art, or art in general, i mean what the hell has Ayami been doing anyway all this time lol..
Wonder if Michiru Yamane will contribute with the music?
Since the game is 3D, I am somewhat glad that IGA isn't involved. He doesn't need to be.
Tyrone Slothrop
Banned
yeah hopefully capcom won't screw this one up
Dabookerman
Member
SMZC said:
Indeed, but doesn't make it any less of a mystery of what the hell she was doing for the past few years lol.
cartman414
Member
Chemo said:
Well, arguing that the problem has to do with relying too much on a template is different from arguing that it's quality based.
zoukka said:
Perhaps, but they also gave you quicker ways of getting around the castle/playing field.
But it's a real shock for you to diss a playstation game now is it
WTF. Console wars don't apply here. I just rate the games, not the system they came on.
Undissable? How? Even though I do find flaws with it?
SotN doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Super Metroid. (Then again, none of the Metroidvanias approach the best of the Metroid series, SM and Zero Mission.)
zoukka said:They also cut the freedom of approching different sections of the castle/whatever.
But it's a real shock for you to diss a playstation game now is it
It's just that SotN is undissable. Like Super Metroid.
Super Metroid's design runs circles around SotN
eso76
Member
cartman414 said:
SOTN >>> every 2d Metroid ever released. Oh, but that's just my opinion
So, i just woke up and basically only slept 3 hours (damn ubishit conference) and i'm a little slow. So am i reading this right ? A new Castlevania by Kojipro, confirmed ?
Can we expect full blown, 20 mins long Dracula's monologues about how men are just miserable piles of secrets ?? Jokes aside, this is as awesome as a piece of news can get.
Dabookerman
Member
eso76 said:SOTN >>> every 2d Metroid ever released. Oh, but that's just my opinion
Stuff like this, it's like picking your favourite child..
D.Lo
Member
Until today I didn't realise opinions could be factually wrong...eso76 said:SOTN >>> every 2d Metroid ever released. Oh, but that's just my opinion
Oh, and I agree with the Igarashi haters. Konami's fault too though, they had a top tier franchise and let it slide to near oblivion.
Gameplay-wise, I'll admit Super Metroid is better than SOTN. But I'll take SOTN over Super Metroid anyday because of the atmosphere (as good as SM's is), the soundtrack, the theme, the art direction, the character designs, the RPG elements and because the Castlevania mythology is much richer and interesting than Metroid's, in my opinion.
D.Lo said:Until today I didn't realise opinions could be factually wrong...
Oh, and I agree with the Igarashi haters. Konami's fault too though, they had a top tier franchise and let it slide to near oblivion.
Castlevania has never sold incredibly well. SOTN itself had pretty shit sales, despite of being regarding as the best of the series by most people. Say what you will about IGA, but the thing is, with another director, we would have still gotten low-budget games. Actually, without IGA, we probably wouldn't even had gotten any new games of the series for a long time now.
Nuclear Muffin
Banned
Surely this would indicate that this is not a Castlevania game?
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