Talking Tuesday’s is a mostly informal natter about just about anything honestly. This could be life, gaming, boardgaming or whatever else strikes my fancy. Pop along every Tuesday for a laid back look into the somewhat warped psyche of Toast, and my bizarre take on the world.
When Konami announced they were working on a new Castlevania I let out a squeal of excitement. `Sure, Konami’s latest gaming ventures had been horrendous, but this new game could be different. This new game could bring back Castlevania. Turns out this new game was a free-to-play mobile only affair and whilst my heart sank to depths I did not know it could, I held out some degree of hope that this game would at least be popular enough to spur Konami on to making something better. This was not meant to be however, as Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls will be shutting down before it even receives a worldwide release.
Grimoire of Souls was a multiplayer affair whereby a group of up to six players would tackle various levels as their favourite Castlevania character. Microtransactions existed, but from what I have been told, the game was very generous and many players reported it was perfectly playable without spending a penny. Somewhat ironically, this surprisingly generous business model probably contributed to its death, as people simple weren’t incentivised to actually buy anything.
The news of Grimior of Souls failure is one that can easily be chalked up to typical Konami nonsense, and their utter disdain for their legendary IP’s, and that’s fine. What isn’t fine is that this is probably going to be the last we will hear of Castlevania for a long, long time. Sure we have received various collections and remastered over the last few years, but new content? This was it folks, and it flopped.
I love Castlevania more than I love most humans. I rate the original Castlevania and Dracula’s Curse as some of the greatest games of all time – literal masterpieces that everyone should at least play. Symphony of the Night, with the combined power of Super Metroid, helped carve out a whole new genre for Pete’s sake. Castlevania is not a series that should be thrown away, discarded or forgotten, and yet here we are.
Whilst Castlevania has waived due to mismanagement, new blood has emerged to take up the mantle in the form of Bloodstained Curse of the Moon, and Ritual of the Night respectively. Headed by the legendary, founding father of Castlevania, Koji Igarashi, the series is on its 3rd installment and is showing no signs of slowing down, or declining in quality. These are worthy successors to the throne, but at the end of the day, it would be nice to see the original become a contender once again. It has been too long, and the world needs a bit of happiness right about now.
What a ramble that was! I would argue it was almost digestible, informative content…almost. If you enjoyed this Talking Tuesday, then feel free to check out other entries in the series. Last week I went deep into my love-hate relationship with Animal Crossing: New Horizon. If you want some Castlevania content, I completed a marathon of the classic games not too long ago, and you can check it out here.
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