[DS] Castlevania: Symphony of the Tits

All snatched from Cherrn at Highervoltage in the quotations, will also be stealing some translated info. Some more screen shots at the secondary link.

It was pretty aptly put in my eyes when a guy said "I wish Konami would make one good metroidvania, instead of 40 not bad ones." Colors, as pointed out by yet another guy look a bit more vibrant here, and in a surprise twist to me, Igarashi apparently put in a female lead. I guess since she isn't a Belmont, it's "ok."

Originally Posted by Jigsaw

The Japanese title is 悪魔城ドラキュラ　奪われた刻印 (Akumajou Dracula: Ubawareta Kokuin). The subtitle roughly translates to "The Stolen Seal".

The text doesn't say a whole lot. Dracula's up to no good again, that's about it as far as description of the story. The main character is a female warrior who's a member of Ecclesia, an organisation who fights Dracula. Her name is Shanoa (no clue about spelling), and she uses whips and other weapons.

Joystiq

Originally Posted by Cherrn

Someone did make a new thread, because I was short of time right then!

BUT BEHOLD





Igarashi is making it, and it looks like it has multiplayer too. The leaked name was Order of Ecclesia, but it is probably not going to be the Japanese title.

The rumor dude from EGM says that there are two other games planned; one for Wii (presumably includes DS connectivity), and a PS360 title as well.

If someone can translate all this, that'd be super swell. It doesn't look like anyone has done it yet.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

You got Ayami Kojima back, be grateful.

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Juste Belmont ring any bells?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by surasshu

PS. Not related, but Sonia Belmont! <3

Iga says she doesn't exist.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I know, man. I know. That's what I made the comment I did about it being "ok" that this female lead isn't a Belmont. That's right, I'm ! Not :glad:, !

I was speaking idiomatically.

They've all been solid games for the most part, but I know a lot of us feel that we want to see some kind of movement forward. Hell, that's been said already in this thread as well. I just get tired of playing damn near the same game over and over.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Terminus

Aria and Dawn of Sorrow's Monster Soul ability

GOD IN HEAVEN, NO. PLEASE, NO. Talk about shitty, artificial ways to lengthen your game.

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Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia Impressions - Shacknews - PC Games, PlayStation, Xbox 360 and Wii video game news, previews and downloads

Even more impressions! And god help us, Glyphs sound like the Soul Absorption from Aria and Dawn of Sorrow. Well, here's hoping for the best, in any case.

Quote:

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia Impressions
by Aaron Linde May 15, 2008 2:30pm CST
The previously uncovered Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (NDS) is scheduled for a fall release in North America, series producer Koji Igarashi announced at Konami's press event last night.

The developer demonstrated some of the new features in the latest installment in the long-running 2D action-adventure series. In the place of previously-seen ability and weapon systems in DS forebears Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin, Order of Ecclesia offers players the Glyph system, which allows the use of magic-based weapons, attacks and abilities summoned via symbols absorbed by the player.

Glyphs can be uncovered through exploration of the game's environments, recovered from fallen enemies and gained through plot development. Once attained, glyphs are then assigned to buttons and can be used in a wide variety of combinations.

Igarashi showed that a glyph granting the player a simple rapier could be bound to two buttons—the left and right hands, essentially—and used in swift succession, or combined for a stronger attack. Because the attacks are magical in nature, every strike draws from your pool of magic points, requiring a careful watch over wasting energy in a flurry of attacks. The company says that the Glyph attack system will feature over 100 combinations.

Order of Ecclesia introduces Shinoa, the series' first female protagonist since 1998's Castlevania Legends. A member of the titular Order of Ecclesia, Shinoa aspires to defeat Dracula in the absence of the recently-vanished Belmont family. Though Igarashi did not pin where the game fits in the series chronology, the game's character designs and scenery seem to indicate a 18th- to 19th-century setting.

Order of Ecclesia bails on the oft-maligned generic anime art-style adopted by previous DS outings for its character designs, boasting a much more illustrative and mature tone for its art direction.

The game looks to be built on the same engine as Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin, featuring many of the conventions that fans of the series have come to expect from the DS titles such as automapping and limited touch-screen functionality. Unlike those other titles, however, the game does not limit itself to Dracula's castle; players are free to leave the confines of the legendary stronghold and travel to other locales via a world map.

As is expected from Konami, the game's 2D animation is a sight to behold, showing marked improvements over Ruin and Sorrow in terms of fluidity of motion and variety in movement. In the course of the demonstration we saw a number of new enemies and boss characters, though it is unclear whether or not Ecclesia will break the series' tradition of reusing the same friggin' monster sprites since 1993's Dracula X: Rondo of Blood.

"I'm still trying hard in 2D," said Igarashi.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia arrives on Nintendo DS this fall.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Probably only when Glyphs are activated, I imagine. I don't know, there are so many things I expect weapons to do in Castlevania, rather I would like weapons to do, and yet here I am swing gigantic cleavers into foes and having numbers pop up. My favorite weapon moments are when you actually do things like toss enemies across the room. A sense of somewhat visceral combat would be very refreshing, in my opinion.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by sprouticus

Imagine a 40 hour 2D Castlevania game

Has clearly never grinded for anything in a Castlevania.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by WraithTwo

Grinding isn't real gameplay.

Think REALLY hard about what you just said. Please.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

When did I ever say I liked Grinding or that it was a positive trait in video games, Wraith?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

It was a good statement, at that. I agree with it wholeheartedly. I find that people talk about "length" as if it means an extension of the parts they find enjoyable. Most games are fairly long, as you stated, but yeah... a lot of that length is masochistic type shit like grinding or other repetitive boring tasks. I just feel that asking for a 40 hour Castlevania is stupid, as "completing" everything certain Castlevanias have to offer is often times a lengthly task.

I was speaking idiomatically.

That would have to be the last game in the series, a literal magnum opus. And that just ain't gonna happen.

PS: It'd be an 80 hour game, then.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

OCD level completionism is pretty much what these Castlevania games prey on. I don't think anyone argues that the main game is long, it's that the side shit is tedious and pretty much what you have to squeeze in order to get a longer return on your investment in these games for some people. It probably wouldn't hurt them to extend the campaign... but then again it probably wouldn't hurt them to stop rehashing the same damn game every time they want to do a supposed "new release."

FELIPE NO

I imagine the preparation to be able to do those runs isn't exactly a short process starting out... that is unless you use a guide or some such. I mean, I see where the game can have its longevity, and it's just unfortunate since I hate doing it. The last Castlevania handheld game I enjoyed was probably Aria of Sorrow.

How ya doing, buddy?

First female lead in a Metroidvania. I love how Igarashi hates Sonia Belmont. Eh, no biggie. Sounds like we're gonna be getting standard fare here.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Castlevania Legends on the Gameboy was fine. I'm assuming you're referring to the Dreamcast abomination.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Look, I already talked to Skills about this, but I bring up Legends because every time the subject of a woman comes up in Castlevania... they're generally subordinate or outright fucking helpless. The only reason Igarashi brought up Legends was to say it never happened, which I find funny because it was solely for the storyline stuff. Nevermind that it was as "to formula" to Castlevanias back then as his are now.

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EDIT: Mo0 makes sandwiches, Skills is an ass(hole), I make fun of Igarashi for bringing up a game that no one remembered anyway for the sole purpose of women hating, and Castlevania Legends is also not worth remembering but was brought up anyway for various retarded reasons.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Let's see how it matches up with the actual game. The trailer made it seem like it's much more action intensive, but R-Type Final did the same thing and that game is still as slow and methodical as most every other R-Type. Looks good, though, perhaps there will be a demo or some such.

I was speaking idiomatically.

It'd sure help, me anyway, for releases like this, I'll say that much. In any case, I've got you suckers for impressions.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I think we've all felt the same way since the thread began, Rock.

FELIPE NO