I hate to invoke such a terrible cliché, but sometimes, it's true: if it ain't broke, leave it the hell alone. The Metroidvania model remains one of the most compelling gametypes ever, and there's plenty of room for innovation within the formula. The handheld Castlevania games manage to be similar enough to remain comfortable and magnificent, while adding whole new aspects like Portrait of Ruin's dual-protagonist approach. The upcoming Order of Ecclesia is bringing its own modifications to the series, and it works -- it's already been hailed as potentially the best Castlevania ever.Of course, praise like that is more than possible if Konami changed the formula significantly; it's happened before, to great success. But there's clearly more to be done, and more options to be explored within the current overall design, so why change it now? It's too soon.
And so the enemies are the same -- really the same. Is that so terribly bad? The enemy designs are classic and have become a part of gaming lore. No one rags on The Legend of Zelda for recycled creatures and locations. Is that because they change the design? Not at all; in fact, they do change it, and guess what? Sometimes, people get pretty angry over those changes. Remember Wind Waker?
But perhaps the most important point is this: what JC's talking about has already happened. They have switched things up -- and the result is Castlevania Judgment. This debate really comes down to how you feel about that. Sure, there's the possibility that a change to the handheld titles could be really great, but this is what Igarashi does when he gets all innovative: something that isn't innovative at all, and when last we saw it, was not particularly compelling.
I'll take the Order of Ecclesia, me, good ol' harpies and all.
_cg_oct22_kjgfdhd_thumbnail.jpg "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars")
