The Castlevania series has grown in stature over the years, with the seminal PSone outing ‘Symphony of the Night’, three superb games on the GBA and the sublime Dawn of Sorrow last year on the Nintendo DS. Now this has all culminated in one of the best DS games of 2007 appearing here in Europe lately in the form of ‘Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin’. And to celebrate, Cubed3 caught up with Konami to discuss the franchise and much more…
Cubed3: First of all, could you please tell our readers a little about your role on this new Castlevania project?
Dennis Lee, Group Manager, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc: I’m the Product Marketing Manager for the title. I’m the point person in the US that is responsible for all of the promotion, advertising and packaging for the game. In addition I work very closely with Koji Igarashi and the development team in the game development for the title and offer feedback how to make it sell in the US and also what features I’d like to see in the game, being a long-time Castlevania fan.
C3: Portrait of Ruin appears to be a larger project than Dawn of Sorrow, but just how big was the team and how long was the game in development for?
DL: The game was in development for more than a year plus there was a lengthy planning time for the game to determine the storyline, main features and conception of the characters. The team consisted of roughly 2 dozen members for a majority of the development schedule.
C3: Were you pleased with the performance of Dawn of Sorrow overall? And what are your expectations for how Portrait of Ruin will sell?
DL: Dawn of Sorrow performed extremely well and we’re very pleased with the sales of the game. Our expectations for Portrait of Ruin are even higher than Dawn of Sorrow and so far the title has done very well.
C3: The inclusion of both Charlotte and Jonathan as playable characters works extremely well. But what was the reason behind taking this particular route?
DL: We had a few different reasons for including both Charlotte and Jonathan as lead characters in Portrait. We wanted to change up the game a bit from the previous handheld Castlevania titles and offer something new in regards to the gameplay, but wanted to ensure that the basic Castlevania gameplay remained for the fans of the current games. The added strategic elements of controlling two characters with their different strengths and talents created a unique Castlevania experience. Another thing that the dev. Team was looking at was the duality of the two characters. Each of the characters represented opposite ends – like Yin and Yang, but co-exist as close friends and help each other to complete their quest. Charlotte uses her intelligence to battle enemies and to help them through sticky situations, where Jonathan prefers to jump right in and use his physical abilities.
C3: Could you please tell our readers how the different functions of the DS are used for Portrait of Ruin – such as the wireless and Wi-Fi play?
DL: For Portrait of Ruin, we wanted to keep a cohesive single-player mode but wanted to utilize the Wi-Fi and wireless features of the Nintendo DS in ways that had not been previously done. The Co-op modes were fun excursions and allowed two players to play co-operatively to earn additional items that could be used in the single-player game. But the real added feature was the Shop Mode, where players could take their items from the game and offer them up to other players through the Wi-Fi network to earn some extra coin. Also, if you were stuck in the game and needed a specific weapon or maybe a bunch of healing items, and you didn’t want to travel back to the shop in the game. you could save your game at any of the save points, and check to see if anyone on the Wi-Fi network had those items for sale.
C3: How are you finding the Nintendo DS in terms of its power and functions – has it exceeded your initial expectations?
DL: The Nintendo DS is a great handheld system that contains the right amount of power and innovative gameplay features. The handheld console keeps us continually working to bring new gameplay experiences to gamers as we develop new iterations of our classic franchises like Castlevania and brand new games to enjoy for the first time.
C3: Are you pleased with the final version of Portrait of Ruin and is there anything you wish you could have included / developed further?
DL: I’m very pleased with the outcome of Portrait of Ruin. The gameplay really feels like an extension of the classic formula with the dual characters but still feels and plays like an authentic Castlevania title. Out of all of the features and gameplay components, I think that if we had more time in development, we would have liked to expand on the multi-player and with the concept of the Shop Mode. Adding additional courses or side-quests for the multi-player modes and maybe even working out a way to add a 2nd player into the main game would have been great to add.
C3: The GBA saw three superb Castlevania games in its lifetime. Do you plan to continue working on the series for the DS in the future? And would you ever consider remaking an older Castlevania for the portable system?
DL: We are currently evaluating how we want to proceed with the Castlevania franchise and what platforms we’d like to develop games for. I can say that there is a lot in store for Castlevania fans in the future. Also we have announced that we are releasing Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP system, which includes two classic Castlevania titles that fans have been continually requesting. The first being Rondo of Blood remade with 3D graphics. This title has never been released outside of Japan and is considered the holy-grail of the Castlevania franchise. Also it is the last Castlevania action game before moving to the adventure/exploration style of series, so it really is the best of the original Castlevania-style gameplay. The Dracula X Chronicles also includes the classic Symphony of the Night, which has been heralded as one of the best Castlevania games of all time, and is the first time that the game will be available on a handheld system.
The great thing about this new title is that it encompasses the best of both the original and the current style of Castlevania games and also tells the complete “Dracula X” story, so U.S. gamers will understand more of the characters and back-story for Richter and Maria from Symphony of the Night.
C3: With Super Castlevania IV just being released on the Virtual Console, do you think other Castlevania titles will also come to the VC? And is there a possibility of Symphony of the Night being released in the future?
DL: We are constantly evaluating opportunities and consoles for Castlevania games and thinking about where the game series will have a good impact with fans. Stay tuned.
C3: There has been much interest in Castlevania on Wii and how using the controller as a whip could prove too tiring. Would you consider just working on a traditional 2D Castlevania for the system?
DL: We’re planning to continue to keep bringing fans more Castlevania titles in the future and we’re not ruling out any platforms at the moment. We’re looking at each and every console and are determining the strengths of each platform and how to utilize the new hardware and features to bring new adventures to the fans.
C3: What are your thoughts on Nintendo’s Wii in general? Is it really as underpowered as some are saying? And do you feel it can compete against the PS3 and XBOX 360 in the long-term?
DL: The Nintendo Wii is a great and innovative system that I believe will be introducing new and enjoyable gameplay experiences for years to come. Each of the new crop of systems have their own unique strengths and it’s up to talented game developers to take advantage of each and every one of the tools that’s available to bring the best possible games to the public.
C3: Finally, what games have you been playing lately and is there anything in particular you are looking forward to?
DL: I’ve got quite a large stack of games that I will still play, but haven’t
gotten to them yet. I’ve been playing a lot of Gears of War online with co-workers and industry friends. I just finished Final Fantasy XII and am still playing Virtua Fighter 5 and Zelda: Twilight Princess. I’m hoping that more companies keep releasing retro compilations, (big classic gaming fan) and am looking forward to starting God of War 2.
