Topic: Castlevania Interview

[ruby_onix]

There's a slightly-old interview with Koji Igarashi on 1up.com.

Nothing too shocking. Igarashi considers Curse of Darkness on the PS2 to be his real baby, and Castlevania DS is just a side-project.

Curse of Darkness will have experience points, because that will attract girls to the series. This coming from the guy who struck Castlevania Legends from the "official" Castlevania history because it had a female protagonist, and thinks that adolescent males are turned off by that prospect. He also apparently didn't like Maria being a playable character in the legendary "Dracula X: Rondo of Blood", but he was able to dismiss it as a "joke".

Most of his personal time and his division's funding is going into Curse of Darkness.

The character designs for Castlevania DS were just contracted out to some anime production company, rather than being drawn by modern Castlevania mainstay Ayami Kojima, because he wanted her to focus entirely on Curse of Darkness for the PS2, and not be "distracted" by Castlevania DS. And it's just the character designs that are coming from this nameless generic anime company. The game won't feature any Dracula X-style anime scenes, or any other anime influences.

He doesn't think that the "Castlevania series" and the GBA were ever really a match for each other anyways, so he's not concerned that Castlevania DS might be missing what has become one the more "vital" elements of the series. He's hoping that the anime character designs in Castlevania DS will attract children to the series.

Oh and, the sound quality in Castlevania DS should be better than it was in the GBA games.

[Deguello]

Well.. That guy is just 100% prick, isn't he?

[Plugabugz]

If he's admitting to concentrating on the PS2 game, why bother on the DS?

[Hybrid Hunter]

Yes, he is a prick.
Thats all i gotta say about that.

[Bill Aurion]

What's amusing is that the GBA games are better than the PS2 game...Maybe it's better he *does* concentrate on the PS2 one...

[Don'tHate742]

I couldn't stop playing Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow....

It was fantastic! Everything about it was great. I hope that it turns out to be better. It'll be another reason to warrant a DS purchase.

[ruby_onix]

Y'know what bugs me the most about the "generic anime" art style the Castlevania DS is going to get? It's that they could've easily gotten another skilled artist with a fresh art style to handle the character designs if Ayami Kojima was really that busy.

Skilled artists aren't that hard to find. They're usually begging for a chance to prove their talents.

But no, Igarashi couldn't do that. If he did, it would threaten the idea he's trying to create that says...

Castlevania =
Koji Igarashi - Producer
Ayami Kojima - Art
Michiru Yamane - Music

That's his "magic formula". That's all that's needed. And that's the most Castlevania will ever be, under his watch.

[darknight06]

Side project?!?!  Aiming it more toward children??  If I'm seeing this right, he's basically saying that DS owners don't want a REAL Castlevania.  Yeah and f*ck you too IGA.  I've known him to say some really stupid crap but this is way out there.  I'm surprised he didn't announce the cancellation of it in order to put it on PSP.

[Noble~Feather]

1UP is connected to Sony, and I'm going to now pretend that this interview is twisting the truth a bit... because that's just plain dissapointing...

[Polyethylene]

I read that interview weeks ago and he doesn't say things like that, you're thinking too much.

He never says the word "children", in fact there's no way this game would get something less than a 'T' rate.

Maybe he's a little more focused on the PS2 game, but that's a given since is console game (bigger budget).

And i don't know if the art is handled by a subpar company, the thing is that the in game art looks great and the gameplay too.

People should just read the interview, is not that bad as ruby makes it sound.

[Rize]

That is very worrisome.

I've also seen him at other times say that he loves 2D though.  Wtf... he he loves 2D but doesn't think the GBA/DS are a good fit... does that mean there will be a 2D Castlevania on the PSP soon?  I wish they'd just make another one for consoles.

[darknight06]

They wouldn't do that these days.  Especially in the age where Guilty Gear XX is supposedly a waste of hardware I'm not too sure Konami would risk that.

[ruby_onix]

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I've also seen him at other times say that he loves 2D though. Wtf... he he loves 2D but doesn't think the GBA/DS are a good fit...

I think he specifically meant that Castlevania and GBA/DS owners aren't a good fit.

Quote
And from my perspective, the Castlevania demographic and the user base of Game Boy Advance doesn't match. The games may be geared for an older audience. So with that in mind we decided to do this game on Nintendo DS using character art that could appeal to everyone. I'm hoping to catch a younger audience with the DS Castlevania this time around. And of course Ayami Kojima is a terrific artist, but I think her art is best suited for an older audience.

It seems to me that he sees Castlevania as "any game made by Koji Igarashi/Ayami Kojima/Michiru Yamane, dealing with vampires and stuff". Not as "the pinnacle of 2D videogames" or anything like that.

And on his opinion of 2D and the future...

Quote
IGA: I find with 3D games right now that everybody is focusing on graphics and the actual gameplay is not progressing very much. We're going backwards in a way. As a game lover, I have lots of ideas on how to do a unique 3D game. Maybe doing something by experimenting with the hardware and making a game that looks and plays like a retro one, but one that is presented in 3D.

[Mr. Segali]

I don't see the harm in him focusing on the PS2 version over the DS one. I mean, these guys have been trying to make a decent 3D Castlevania for years now... let him create what he wants to create. There will always be 2D Castlevanias...

[darknight06]

If you're talking about Konami as a whole, then yes.  If we're talking IGA, no.  KCEK made the two N64 games and IGA made LOI and is now working on this.  

This whole GBA/DS demographic crap is interesting.  He seemed to be right glowing about the GBA at one point in time, now they're not a good match?  Could it be because neither one of his games did as well as Castlevania COTM (just speculation, need proof)?  Reason I say that was because he was talking all this stuff about blowing away CoTM and the 3D N64 games which HoD and LoI didn't exactly do, especially HoD.  Castlevania AoS was good, however I'm led to believe that game got a limited distribution cuz I didn't see a lot of copies of that game when it was released and when I sold it back it a good while later it sold back for quite a bit due to being rare.  

About the art, c'mon that's lame.  He really must want this PS2 Castlevania to succeed for him to just throw a random anime artist onto the DS game, despite the fact the style DOESN'T MATCH!  You look at the in-game environments and then look at the Soma picture and it's like wtf?  All I know is that the rest of this game better not be getting that kind of treatment or I'll go down there and personally choke him.

[Galford]

IGA has a little too much ego for his own good.  He nuked the N64 Castlevanias for kicks and giggles.  Next he proceded to make the same game(SotN) over and over again on a different platform.  Now he's making SotN in 3D.  Someone needs to reel this guy in...

[nitsu niflheim]

My bet is that Castlevania DS will sell better that Castlevania: CoD, for the simple reason that I believe the Castlevania fanbase is with the handhelds right now.  Castlevania LoI was not a bad game, not great either, but it had the problem of competing with the GBA fanbase.  My opinion.

[ruby_onix]

The frustrating thing is, Koji Igarashi didn't even make Castlevania.

Most early Castlevania games seem to have been made by various mixtures of Konami talent. Except for Super Castlevania, which was apparently made by Treasure, before they became Treasure.

The main producer on Dracula X for the PCE-CD and Symphony of the Night retired right after SotN was completed.

Koji Igarashi was brought in late in SotN's development to help "co-produce" the game. His main job was apparently to fight and try to convince Sony to ALLOW the game to even be made. He worked on the Japanese voice acting. He got credited with helping to write some of the "story" in SotN. And he did most of the PR work for the game.

Michiru Yamane didn't originally compose classics like Vampire Killer or Bloody Tears. Nobody seems to know or care who did. She did some okay remixes of them (like everyone else at Konami), along with some all-new tunes in "Castlevania: Bloodlines" on the Sega Genesis (which isn't the "Bloodlines" referred to at the beginning of SotN), . Then she did the wealth of new and diverse music in Symphony of the Night.

Ayami Kojima's first art in a Castlevania game was Symphony of the Night.

Then Koji Igarashi had an old Japan-only PC remake of Castlevania 1 ported to the PSX, and released in America (I'm not sure how he got that one past Sony). He "improved it" by including an art gallery by Ayami Kojima that had nothing to do with the PC remake of Castlevania 1. And he hinted that he wanted to port the PCE-CD version of Dracula X to the PSX. Yay Iga!

Konami decided that Koji Igarashi had real love for Castlevania, so they promoted him to being "in charge" of the entire Castlevania series. Yay Iga!

He "clarified" the Castlevania timeline. He made it make sense. Yay Iga!

And he wiped three games from the "official" Castlevania history, two of which were the most unpopular Castlevania games. Yay Iga?

Then he cancelled the Dreamcast Castlevania, which was being made in America by the producer of the Genesis Castlevania, which many people were worried was going to turn out as badly as the 3D N64 games (except that it would have CD audio). Yay Iga?

(In hindsight, I think it's clear that all four of his Castlevania eliminations were made because they were threats to his authority.)

Some Metroidvanias got made on the GBA. Iga wasn't really paying attention. Yay Iga.

Iga unveils Lament of Innocence on the PS2. It's mocked as a Devil May Cry clone, and yet, it's still as bad as the N64 games, except that it has CD audio. Boo Iga!

By now, Iga seems to have reduced Castlevania to "Symphony of the Night", while he still hasn't proven he can even match that game. His main concern seems to be bringing Castlevania into 3D, but he can't make an above-average 3D game, let alone one that's somehow suitable to be the next Castlevania.

The DS can handle a port of the SotN engine. They might actually put out something that's better than SotN. Yay Iga!

Oh wait, Castlevania DS can't have a dedicated artist, because Iga says Castlevania art must be "Ayami Kojima, or nothing". And she's busy working on Iga's next 3D bomb, so Castlevania DS will just have to do without unique artwork. Just "generic anime". They could've taken it up a notch, and used some real anime in the game, like Dracula X did, but Iga says no, and even if he didn't, he already blew all his money on that next 3D game. Good job Iga!      

[ruby_onix]

BTW, there's a more "positive feeling" interview with Igarashi in the latest issue of Nintendo Power (presumably because the higher-priority PS2 game isn't mentioned).

Pages 44 and 45.

[Galford]

Gotta love them fluff interviews from Nintendo Power...
But really, Castlevania desperately needs to be re-invented again...

[Blackknight131]

Folks, please read the inrerview first for yourselves before passing Judgement here.
Ruby, you've blown that interview way out of proportion.

I have just finished reading it and I am not picking up the same kind of vibe you did.

Here are some direct quotes:
In regards to his attitude towards Castlevania DS:

Armed with a developer-only Nintendo DS (which has a shiny, dark grey casing and dull finish on the inside) Igarashi revealed a demo cartridge running the same trial version of the Castlevania DS game shown at Konami's Gamers' Day last month. He mentioned the warm reactions he received about the game and seemed genuinely excited about its ongoing development.


In regards to the impact of the new art style on the beloved Castlevania gameplay:

1UP: So has this new Japanese anime style of character art influenced the gameplay at all?

IGA: Absolutely not.


In regards to seeing this same art style in future games:

IGA: I think that really depends on consumers' reactions. It's a bit of an experiment actually. I'm sure there will be people who won't like the anime style of the character art, but I remember back when we first started using Ayami Kojima's art there were many fans opposed to it.

In short, I can see where you derived some of your fears from: he is indeed focusing on the PS2 game, he indeed wants to experiment with a different character art style in order to appeal to more folks.

However, focusing more on a big-budget game for a big-time console system makes absolute sense. Doesn't mean the handheld old-skool~ish Castlevania isn't getting a good deal of love and attention.

For the record I'm a big fan of Castlevania since Symphony of the Night, which I absolutely loved. This DS game is my most anticipated, except for perhaps Fire Emblem GC.
I know that there are some Castlevania gamers that yearn for the pure action-platforming of the original titles tho, so heres hoping one day you guys get your wish (I honestly think such gamers are in the minority however, and it would indeed likely require a different director to deliver that sort of pure gothic-action).

[ruby_onix]

I don't think I really blew the interview out of proportion. I just... pulled out a couple of highlights... all of which were negative. I didn't really see anything else that was "new".

Then I spun off into a couple of rants.

I do agree that any interested people should read the real interview, and not just my highlights.

About the art style though (the "real" tangible negative coming from Igarashi's leadership here, IMO), that "expanded audience" thing is his secondary excuse. His primary reason was the higher-priority of the PS2 game (he basically says as much in the 1up interview).

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I'm sure there will be people who won't like the anime style of the character art, but I remember back when we first started using Ayami Kojima's art there were many fans opposed to it.

I do agree that people are often resistant to change. But the complaint here isn't about a change in style. It's about the change from "signature style" to "unsigned generic". I think it's Koji Igarashi who's afraid of change, in his "all or nothing" support of the link between Ayami Kojima and Castlevania.

[Blackknight131]

Oh, absolutely Iga said that likely the primary reason he didn't have Kojima-san on board for Castlevania DS was that he wanted her to focus on art assets for the PS2 game.

However, I want to point out that that in itself is not neccesarily a negative...if having a different art team take care of the most cosmetic art assets in the game (character portraits and the like) will get me that game much sooner than waiting for Kojima-san to free up the time for it (because again, her first priority would have been to the PS2 game) I'm OK with it personally.

I do have to admit tho....I don't dislike the new art style. Its different, but I like anime and perhaps by extension I'm reasonably comfortable with the new look. Folks who really dislike it upfront are likely quite a bit more taken aback.

As for:

Quote
I think it's Koji Igarashi who's afraid of change, in his "all or nothing" support of the link between Ayami Kojima and Castlevania.

I would disagree with that, instead pointing to the fact that he is indeed experimenting a bit with the DS game....not only in art style but in new elements such as touch screen interactivity (which may or may not add to the experience).
I think it is fair to say tho, that judging from what we have seen of the DS game, a very good deal of what makes these recent Castlevanias as good as they are (for folks who like that style) is present thus far in the game....sweet 2D graphics: check. Smooth animation: check. Good music: check. Plentiful enemies and bosses: check. Cool gear and attacks: check.

Lastly, and Im only half joking here...but perhaps its better not to spread Kojima-sans contributions too thin...if you havent seen her main villian design for the new PS2 game, take a gander (make sure no small children are around the computer).

Yiiiii~kes =p

[altf4]

In with the he's a prick bandwagon.

[RABicle]

I'm glad he's focusing on the PS2 version. Seriously Konami proved on GBA that they hardly need to think about Castlevania to churn out quality. It's liek they just have this formula to making the games and insert some characters and a vague storyline, think of a title that somehow involved musical compositions and BAM new game. We can be pretty sure that Castlevania DS will be top qualty even with boring artwork and being more of the same.
PS2 one is still looking appaling but he might pull something off and I hope he does.