News: We're still in the future and Dracula is still dead. Are you sure this is Castlevania?
Konami today shed some new light on their upcoming Castlevania DS (which is just a working title, I'm sure the final game will be known as Bordello of Blood or something). The game is being developed by director Koji Igarashi and the rest of the team behind Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and is currently scheduled for a Fall 2005 release.
Castlevania DS picks up a year after Aria of Sorrow and Soma Cruz is still on the run from the vamps. A mysterious cult has made their intentions known that Soma is believed to be the reincarnation of Dracula, and if they get their hands on him Ol' Drac can be reborn with Soma's corpse. Rather than pull an I Am Legend and hole up in a fortified building waiting for his vampiric tormentors, Soma takes the fight to them as he heads for the cult's headquarters: a giant replica of Dracula's castle.
Castlevania DS will be an entirely 2D affair with all of the action taking place on the bottom screen. The top screen will be used strictly for a map, so you'll never be lost in Castle Dracula.
The other major DS function of the game will be the Magic Seal system. As you take on boss monsters throughout the game, a series of symbols will pop up on the touch screen requiring you to match their movements. Sort of like a game of Simon. If you match the symbols movements correctly, the boss will be bound and lose his final bits of energy. But if you fail, the boss will gain energy and be the fight will go on.
The DS' wireless connection is also set to get a workout with Castlevania DS as Konami has said part of the game will revolve around collecting souls of defeated enemies to gain new attacks. These souls can then be traded over the DS wireless connection with other Castlvania DS players.
And like any Castlevania game, Castlevania DS will have "an incredibly moving musical score". With the increased sound capabilities of the DS, who knows what we'll hear.
We'll have more on Castlevania DS soon, until then here's two screenshots to tide you over.
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