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[Nirolak]

Update:

It seems this is the game.

You remember that new Castlevania trademark you heard about and thought was for Nintendo DS? Well, it's not called Harmony of Despair for nothing.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (aka Castlevania HD) is an Xbox Live Arcade mashup featuring all of your favorite past Castlevania protagonists, made to work together in full Metroidvania fashion. We have obtained the first screenshots from this amazingly different kind of Castlevania game, as well as some vague information regarding gameplay. Hit the jump for the full story.

From what little we've seen of Castlevania HD, it's difficult to describe exactly what kind of Castlevania game this is most akin to. As you can tell from the screenshots, it's a 2D game using sprites instead of 3D polygons and looks very similar to the post-Symphony of the Night style Metroidvania GBA\DS games. You load into a game and can play with up to 6 friends on a single map, all at the same time. You're given a boss target that you must reach and destroy, helping your friends along the way to the same goal. Known playable characters at this point are Soma Cruz, Alucard, Jonathan Morris, Shanoa and Charlotte Aulin. We've only seen Soma, but we imagine each character will have it's own special abilities (think classes, like Team Fortress 2).

It drops you in with a wide camera angle where you're able to see most of the target area. It's not huge, so there wasn't much of an exploration factor. Clicking the right stick will change the viewing angle to the entire map (where you will see a teeny little Soma in the bottom left), or to the standard, close angle that we're all used to.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to see more than a couple minutes of play, but what we did see got us incredibly excited.

6 people being able to get together and play a giant game of party-Castlevania? I knew Konami was a smart company, but it's like they hooked up a machine to me at night while I'm sleeping...so they can record my dreams.

Here we go.

noticed the site/article is down...

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It seems that Konami has trademarked Harmony of Despair.

Konami may be orchestrating two Castlevania games, Castlevania: Lord of Shadow and Castlevania: Harmony of Despair.

The second title has not been announced, but Konami trademarked Harmony of Despair in Europe. And Harmony of Despair follows the post Rondo of Blood naming formula of “something (possibly musical) of something else.”

Candidly speaking, this is just a guess at what Harmony of Despair could be, but the Nintendo DS seems due for another Castlevania game. Order of Ecclesia, which was also coincidentally discovered via a trademark a few months before E3, came out two years ago.

Source: http://www.siliconera.com/2010/04/15/harmony-of-despair-that-sure-sounds-like-a-castlevania-game/

I'm going to agree with the article's assessment that this pretty much has to be a Castlevania game.

Now the real question is though, what platform do we think it's coming for? It's worth noting that Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow showed up very early in the DS's lifecycle.

 

[AceBandage]

Yep. First thing I thought of was Castlevania.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

Hope it's another delicious Metroidvania.

I eat those up! NOM! NOM! NOM! :q

 

[MechaX]

I wouldn't be opposed to an Igavania at this point, provided that IGA has used this time to actually push the concept forward rather than just turning out re-treads of SotN hoping to occasionally make fluke successes (Aria, Ecclesia).

 

[blame space]

Downloadable please! I will pay $15 on a downloadable service.

 

[iconoclast]

Another 2D Castlevania? Sure, I'll have it.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

C'mon, 3DS title

 

[Gilgamesh]

I wonder if the game will be related to Harmony of Dissonance somehow.

 

[Dennis]

That is like the most Castlevania-sounding name ever :lol

 

[Naked Prime]

3DS

 

[AniHawk]

I wonder if the game will be related to Harmony of Dissonance somehow.

That's my guess.

 

[blame space]

C'mon, 3DS title

A title in the same vein as HoD on 3DS would gain nothing, gameplay-wise.

 

[Gospel]

Castlevania Judgment: Harmony of Despair

 

[Skilletor]

Castlevania Judgment: Dissonance of Despair

fixed

 

[EmCeeGramr]

"Man, nobody likes me anymore. I bet it's because I dropped the music names. Screw it, I'm bringing those back."

 

[mugurumakensei]

fixed

Nah that's the Wii 2's huge Castlevania title.

 

[Cep]

Woot.

I love the Igavanias.

 

[WickedLaharl]

if it's more metroidvania then pass.

 

[rollingstart]

reimagining of harmony of dissonance, except now it doesn't suck and with 90% less neon.

 

[ULTROS!]

YES!

I hope to see more

Spoiler

Legion

 

[brandonh83]

Whatever. The more Castlevania in my life, the better. And if they fuck up Castlevania in 3D again this might be something nice to have to fall back on.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Whatever. The more Castlevania in my life, the better. And if they fuck up Castlevania in 3D again this might be something nice to have to fall back on.

If it's for 3DS then that might happen in more ways than one.

 

[thetrin]

I think I've had my fill of metroidvania. They're way too similar every time for my tastes (I realize I level immense praise at series that are far more homogenous, but I'm allowed to be contrary )

 

[andymcc]

wonder how many drac x sprites will be used in this one.

 

[dallow_bg]

Title is lazy.

 

[dream]

Whatever this mystery game turns out to be, I bet it will be "the best one since SOTN!"

 

[LaneDS]

Whatever this mystery game turns out to be, I bet it will be "the best one since SOTN!"

Not if it's a sequel to Harmony of Dissonance it won't be!

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

Whatever. The more Castlevania in my life, the better. And if they fuck up Castlevania in 3D again this might be something nice to have to fall back on.

I'm sure 3Dvania will all depend on how much you like God of War with Belmont and Dracula skins this time out. :lol :lol :lol

 

[GhaleonQ]

Oh, I guess Konami already exhausted every musical term there is, YOU IDIOTS.

I will buy it.

 

[Barakov]

I'm down for another 2D Castlevania. I definitely think this has to be for the 3DS. Although I'd be more than willing to be happy if it showed up on Wiiware/XBLA/PSN.

 

[evilromero]

I bitched about them before but I always buy them. Bring it on!

 

[Freyjadour]

Castlevania: Concerto of Despair! (of the Midnight Sun)

 

[andymcc]

I'm sure 3Dvania will all depend on how much you like God of War with Belmont and Dracula skins this time out. :lol :lol :lol

they could of at least copied a GOOD 3D action game.

 

[RevenantKioku]

IGAVANIA IN MY FACE PLEASE.

I think I've had my fill of metroidvania. They're way too similar every time for my tastes (I realize I level immense praise at series that are far more homogenous, but I'm allowed to be contrary )

Now that you know my pain, the healing can begin.

 

[Gospel]

I think this is just for the regular DS.

Sometime ago, Iga praised the DS for 2d games. And something-something not being able to do them justice on anything other than the DS (Someone correct me on the actual quote)

If not though, then at least there's another game to throw into the "probably for 3DS" category with Time Travelers. And everyone likes that category.

 

[AzureNightmare]

I loves me some new Igavania!

 

[lyre]

If it's of the quality of Order of Ecclesia, then it'll be RPG of the year!

 

[seady]

3DS launch title please for this fall
3DS launch title please for this fall
3DS launch title please for this fall
3DS launch title please for this fall

3D with 2D Sprite.

 

[Iam Canadian]

Hoping for a DS Metroidvania here. If they maintain the difficulty level of Order of Ecclesia, even better.

I don't have particularly high hopes for the console Castlevania coming up, so I'm glad I have something in the series to look forward to.

 

[brandonh83]

I'm sure 3Dvania will all depend on how much you like God of War with Belmont and Dracula skins this time out. :lol :lol :lol

Let's hope not. David Cox promised that it won't feel like GOW. He promised! ;(

 

[NeoUltima]

I'd love a downloadable console game please

...probably another DS game though.

 

[blame space]

wonder how many drac x sprites will be used in this one.

wonder if I could GIVE A SHIT.

gimme gimme gimme

 

[TheCardPlayer]

Aria of Sorrow and Order Of Ecclesia are pretty much, the top Castlevania games. I think that they are both better than SOTN, and I do want another handheld CVs, but a sequel to Harmony Of Dissonance, looks possible here. If so, DO NOT WANT.

 

[rollingstart]

If it's for 3DS then that might happen in more ways than one.

I can only imagine the random gimmick they'd throw into a 3DS Castlevania :lol

Dawn of Sorrow has that random "chip away this ice by tapping the blocks" thing that was totally random. It was like they needed to do something on the new hardware.

I'm down for another Castlevania as long as it isn't as poor as Order of Ecclesia. Aria of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruins, and Dawn are all awesome games. Like the Yakuza series, these games are total comfort games. You don't expect something new but each year or so you get a new entry that is fun to play...except OoE.

 

[Akai]

I think this is just for the regular DS.

Sometime ago, Iga praised the DS for 2d games. And something-something not being able to do them justice on anything other than the DS (Someone correct me on the actual quote

Just because the 3DS will be more powerful than the DS doesn't mean that developers can't make 2D-plane games on it. Or at least you'd THINK that will be the case...

 

[ITA84]

Am I the only one who sees this? Harmony of Despair - HD.

 

[brandonh83]

I'm down for another Castlevania as long as it isn't as poor as Order of Ecclesia. Aria of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruins, and Dawn are all awesome games. Like the Yakuza series, these games are total comfort games. You don't expect something new but each year or so you get a new entry that is fun to play...except OoE.

Ecclesia gave Portrait of Ruin some serious butt-hurt.

 

[AzureNightmare]

I need a new Metroidvania. They're staples of my handheld gaming diet

 

[dallow_bg]

Am I the only one who sees this? Harmony of Despair - HD.

Don't make me sad.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

3DS launch title please for this fall
3DS launch title please for this fall
3DS launch title please for this fall
3DS launch title please for this fall

3D with 2D Sprite.