Konami, one of the most recognizable and influential game developers in history, has been stuck in a black hole of bad news recently. It all started when they shockingly ousted Metal Gear Solid guru Hideo Kojima before the highly publicized Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain came out. They even went as far as purging his brand from their properties. To make matters worse, it took Konami a while to actually address these changes. Then Silent Hills, one of the most anticipated games of the decade, was overwhelmingly cancelled, disappointing everyone. According to a recent interview with director Guillermo del Toro, who was working on Silent Hills, the cancellation was a complete shock. It wasn’t long after this news that Konami removed themselves from the New York Stock Exchange, and now they will focus all their energy on mobile platforms. To the people who grew up playing series’ like Contra, Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, and countless others, this news just plain sucks. It’s almost as if they’re giving a massive middle finger to the people that made them a success in the first place.
Fortunately for us, it’s not the company that makes a game. It’s talented developers who know what the hell they’re doing. Take Koji Igarashi, the mastermind behind a significant portion of Castlevania’s history. A recent interview with Wired outlines his troublesome last couple of years with Konami as they pushed him away from his passion and into the mobile space. Recently, the man hasn’t been too kind to Konami either. He was in the news all week by creating a Kickstarter for a brand new game called Bloodstained and having it accumulate millions within 24 hours. Everything about it screams Castlevania, which is understandable because that’s what Igarashi knows best. It’s now being billed as the “spiritual successor”. This is great, simply because Castlevania is one of the most recognizable franchises out there. It has an immensely dedicated fanbase that has cultivated for almost 30 years. If Konami’s not going to handle it properly, the man behind the brand might as well give everyone the next best thing.
There are a lot of reasons why Castlevania has made such a mark on the industry. No matter who you talk to though, many people will point to the franchise’s horror element as its defining feature. This is what made the series stand out when it first came to the NES in 1986. The original had you play as a renowned vampire hunter named Simon Belmont. Armed with a magic whip and various artifacts, Belmont launched a one man assault on the terrifying Count Dracula. Everything about his adventure was a massive homage to the classic monster films of old from Universal that people fell in love with. The setting was extremely gothic with Belmont marching through a decaying castle and creature ridden landscapes. He even fought icons like the Mummy Man, Frankenstein, Igor, Medusa, and the Grim Reaper. Screen legends like Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff were referenced as well. Truly, if you liked the classic black and white scary movies, Castlevania was for you.
People were also very attracted to the game’s platforming aspect. It allowed for a more dynamic gameplay that made the fights against these legendary monsters that much better. Vampire Killer, which came shortly after Castlevania, went one step further by making them game’s environment open ended. In this aspect, it was extremely similar to Nintendo’s own Metroid series. The style was very well received so a good portion of games after followed a similar format. Thankfully for Konami, this similarity didn’t detract from the franchise’s success. The monster niche was the real difference maker and it allowed the games to flourish on the exact same systems that Metroid also made its name on.
Whatever popularity Castlevania developed throughout the late 80s and early 90s paled in comparison to what was reached in 1997. This was when Igarashi was first intimately involved with a game’s creation. Under his guidance, the world got Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on Sony’s PlayStation. Despite a lack of publicity in the United States, Symphony of the Night was Castlevania’s biggest success. A huge part of it’s popularity was the increased focus on open world exploration with plenty of RPG elements and a 2D format. Keep in mind that this came at a time when 3D games were on the rise and everyone was following that trend. The comparisons between Symphony of the Night and previous Metroid games were so rampant, it lead people to create the term “Metroidvania” to describe these free-roaming platformers. Interestingly enough, Symphony of the Night was also one of the first games to not star a member from the Belmont family, Castlevania’s primary heroes. It instead featured Dracula’s son Alucard as he fought his reincarnated father.
Thanks to Symphony of the Night, Castlevania was more popular than ever. Its games continued receiving mostly popular reviews and fans were quite content. Sadly for them, Konami wasn’t. They wanted to reboot the franchise to get a different audience. That lead to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow in 2010, the first game in years not created with Igarashi. In a turn of events that is hilarious now, this was when Konami put control of Castlevania under Kojima and his company Kojima Productions. Lords of Shadow quickly abandoned the side scrolling features that made Castlevania so popular and replaced them with something more akin to God of War. A lot of critics liked the change, but longtime fans found it a betrayal. The only Castlevania games out now are under the Lords of Shadow banner, and it’s left many longing for what came before.
My own experience with Castlevania is tragically brief. Growing up, I actively avoided the franchise for the exact reason why it was so popular: the horror. I wasn’t a fan of scary films as a kid and I thought creatures like Dracula and Frankenstein were terrifying. Their entertainment value was completely lost on me. Strangely enough, I was more than eager to play games just like Castlevania, Metroid for example. Apparently I preferred massive aliens over bats. Overtime I found a means to experience some of the games like Dracula X and Circle of the Moon. Barely scratching the surface of course, but you have to start somewhere. My next target is definitely Symphony of the Night.
Bloodstained is easily the best thing to happen to Castlevania fans in years. It’s a return to form in spite of what the parent company wants. The fact that it has already made millions in funding is proof that Igarashi has found something that people actually want. Who cares if it doesn’t boast the Castlevania brand. Even though Konami is making a full move to the mobile space, they’d be crazy to totally abandon one of their most recognizable properties. I’m sure they’ll continue dishing out Castlevania games that will sell decent numbers simply because they’re part of the franchise. If Bloodstained sells well, Igarashi will have a potential new franchise on his hand that is entirely of his own. So who knows what could happen. Castlevania in name could live on with Konami while the classic Castlevania people love can continue under the Bloodstained name. Something is better than nothing.
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Luke Kalamar is Pop-Break.com’s television editor. Every Saturday afternoon you can read his video game column, Remembering the Classics. He covers Game of Thrones, Saturday Night Live and The Walking Dead (amongst others) every week. As for as his career and literary standing goes — take the best parts of Spider-man, Captain America and Luke Skywalker and you will fully understand his origin story.
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