Cognition Dissemination: What’s Next for Castlevania?

Considering how long the franchise ran, and how frequently it continues to be discussed, it can be a little difficult to believe that next February will mark a solid decade since Konami’s Castlevania series has been in the grave. Indeed, the last brand-new installment to release was the MercurySteam-developed Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on February 25th, 2014, notably released for consoles in the generation before last. The combination of the poor sales and reception for LOS2 and interquel title Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate was enough to kill off the rebooted series, which in turn took the entire Castlevania franchise with it.

It didn’t help when Hideo Kojima, one of the chief individuals responsible for handing the franchise to MercurySteam at the helm of Kojima Productions, left Konami in a messy fashion at the end of 2015. With him gone, and former producer Koji Igarashi leaving in early 2014, it was clear that no one was willing to take the reins of the franchise on consoles. Chances are Konami themselves wasn’t interested in pursuing further installments in the first place.

Igarashi has since established a spiritual successor to the 2D games in the form of the Bloodstained series, with “IGAvania” Metroidvania title Ritual of the Night (a game still being updated more than four years later) and two old school-style Curse of the Moon titles. Castlevania has since lived on through one mobile shuffled-up installment, Grimoire of Souls, and primarily through the animated series on Netflix. The franchise has been in the grave long enough. Like Count Dracula, it’s time for it to again rise from its grave.

The question, of course, is how in the world that should happen. That’s fortunately not too hard to imagine.

The last several years have shown how Konami hasn’t been equipped to develop a new installment internally for several years, something they remarkably haven’t done since Castlevania: Order of Eccelesia in 2008. There are several companies they could outsource new installments to.

Merely suggesting that Konami work with MercurySteam again seems like the kind of sacrilegious suggestion that would get Holy Water tossed on me. But hear me out. It’s true that Lords of Shadow 2 and Mirror of Fate turned out poorly, after the original Lords of Shadow was fine enough in quality. But MercurySteam has since proven that they can handle a new game – a 2D one, at least.

It seemed crazy for Nintendo to trust the company with a Metroid title when Metroid: Samus Returns was announced for 3DS in 2017, only three years after the last two LoS games released. But that title, released only three months after being revealed, turned out well. The same could be said of Metroid Dread two years ago, the fifth installment in the main 2D series. The game not only proved that MercurySteam could handle a brand-new Metroid game or Metroid-style game, but showed how a significant market still exists for well-budgeted 2D revivals of older franchises. Castlevania could be part of that too.

It’s clear that Konami themselves was part of the problem with the quality of the last two LoS titles. They could develop a solid installment with a good guiding hand when necessary, assuming they even need that with the experience they have now. Should they take one on, it would be better if it didn’t take place in the same timeline the LoS titles did. This one’s personal, because I’m just not a fan of a Belmont becoming Dracula.

A new game should instead take place in a new timeline. In this way, yes, I am asking for another reboot. But this new timeline should have more in common with the old and more familiar one, similar to the Netflix animated series. It would be nice if the game focused on a character who hasn’t been the focus of the animated series, too, like… I don’t know, Sonia Belmont? She deserves justice. They could also use the same artists hired for the LoS titles, albeit adjusted for more “traditional” Castlevania sensibilities.

It’s not just MercurySteam, of course. Other developers could be tasked with handling a 2D game. WayForward could do it, a company Konami previously partnered with for Contra 4 and is currently doing so again with Contra: Operation Galuga, a reimagining of the original game. WayForward also assisted ArtPlay with the development of Bloodstained RotN, and previously worked on the Castlevania-inspired Bloodrayne Betrayal. M2 could also develop a new game, after previously handling Castlevania ReBirth (another game that should be ported around, alongside all the other ReBirth games). But they’re busier with ports these days, including some games on the recent Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1.

Castlevania has achieved a good sense of popularity with the animated show, and it would be nice if Konami capitalized on both that and the nostalgia associated with the brand. If a new game isn’t in the works right now, however, it’s not as if there aren’t plenty of games to port around in the meantime.