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Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

R Nilla

R Nilla

Diamond Member
Apparently this is old news, but it's the first I've heard. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is coming to the DS this fall.

Link

We're pretty sure that Castlevania series director Koji "IGA" Igarashi is out to claim an award for "most sequels in a series on Nintendo DS." His latest, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, was revealed by the long-bearded, whip-wielding IGA at last night's Konami presser (and before that, the ESRB), and is set to stir up renewed Castle-mania this fall.

Order of Ecclesia stars a new female heroine who is a member of the ... wait for it ... Order of Ecclesia, a group out to destroy -- who else -- that vile Count Dracula fellow. The game introduces a new Glyph system that Konami promises will offer "more than 100 different combinations" of weapon and spell attacks. These attack mash-ups enable players to unleash two blows simultaneously. Buying and selling items and weapons via the Nintendo WFC is also pegged for this latest, characteristically beautiful addition to the classic 2D franchise.
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IGN Interview with Koji Igarashi, series producer and key creative leader.

Some highlights:

...

IGN: During the presentation you mentioned that Order of Ecclesia takes place in a time where the Belmonts are all gone. That makes this the most futuristic entry thus far for the series, correct?

Igarashi: In regards to the timeline, this game takes place right after the era of Richter Belmont, where the last Belmont disappears with the whip. That's where the series fits overall in the timeline; right after the era of Richter Belmont.

...

IGN: In the progression from Symphony of the Night until now, we've seen a huge mass of different battle systems. There have been soul systems, magic systems, card battling in Circle of the Moon, and soul harnessing in the Sorrow series. How did you come across the whole "glyph" concept, and is this a way to blend the best of everything into one large experience?

Igarashi: The main thing I really focused on in regards to how I wanted this version to play, was the feeling of it taking time and causing tension to grab these new skills away from enemies, sometimes in the heat of battle. Instead of just killing enemies, grabbing their weapons, and using the items right away, I wanted that feeling you get when you're actively pulling away the magic and taking time to absorb the new powers. So that certainly ties into the whole design on my end.

...

IGN: Well we hate to ask, since I'm sure you've been asked a million times, but what was with the "Wii Connect" option on that first screenshot of the game? It was everywhere on the internet.

Igarashi: Ahhhh yes. Well, that's a secret. We'll have to wait on that for now. (laughs)

...

IGN: Well, we do have to bring up one more thing, as the fans are asking like crazy. What do you have in mind for the future of Castlevania, specifically when in regards to the Wii? Also, do you feel that Castlevania works better as a 2D franchise than a 3D one? It has been very well received on PSX, then on GBA, and now on DS.

Igarashi: First let me answer the question about 2D and 3D. As you know, the 2D and 3D gameplay has been completely different, and I felt that on DS that 2D was best-suited for the platform, so that's why we stuck with it in 2D for all three games. It was the right type of game for the right system. In regards to the Wii, there's not really much I can say right now. I'm looking at the system, and we're looking to expand the franchise, so I'm sure that in the coming weeks or months you'll be hearing something new.
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I loved Aria of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin, arguably two of the best DS games, so I'm looking forward to this!

 
Originally posted by: RaiderJ
The last Castlevania was pretty good, but still nothing quite beats SotN
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Agreed. I enjoy all of the Castlevania games, but SotN reigns supreme. Man, why can't Nintendo keep up with the 2D Metroid games? Fusion and Zero Mission were so good.
 
They made too many and now the story is goofy. Dracula doesn't rise every 100 years anymore he rises every 3 days.
But I have enjoyed every one of them so I will keep playing.
 
I'm kinda conflicted. They have started to become silly with the story (the one that takes place in the future, because of some weird solar eclipse stuff and had some strange cult or something was really when I kinda started to notice that), and they are diluting the franchise to a degree. However, I don't really pay any attention to the story when playing these anyways, and the gameplay is still very good, even if it really is not changing much (although they do seem to be trying strange, kinda gimmicky stuff, but it doesn't seem to actually be much different in actual execution). It looks like they're improving the graphics over time as well.

What I want is a fuller Castlevania (a true sequel), with HD visuals (focus on lots of detail animation and other things to keep the wow factor up), an even better than Symphony of the Night soundtrack (all in lossless as well), and put it on the 360 and/or PS3. I wouldn't even mind a Wii version if it wasn't for the fact that I know they'd make it have whipping motion controls.

I sure hope that new Sonic game turns out to be good, so it will maybe convince other developers to give a similar style a try. It and Little Big Planet could be a great boon for people like me who have been wanting 2D games with a modern makeover. I do have to say that the Sonic game's visual style seems a bit off to me for some reason. I think now is a ripe time to do that, you can cash in on 2D nostalgia, and it will be fairly fresh, especially with some holdout 2D franchises going 3D (Street Fighter, I can't seem to think of the other examples at the moment). Nintendo could've made even more of a killing if they'd have made the Wii capable of outputting HD resolutions, but then make a bunch of highly stylized 2D games for it. Well maybe not, but they could've still made games with the motion controls and people would probably be raving about the graphics.
 
My big complaint is that they've been recycling the same sprites, and in many cases many of the same bosses, for ten years now.

Give us more new enemies, more new bosses, to go along with our new protagonists/abilities!
 
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