There's a lot of truth to the complaints many have made about producer Koji Igarashi's direction with the Castlevania series -- mainly that every new entry seems like a slight update to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night's (1997) template -- but we've never let that get in the way of us taking in every bit of vampire-slaying media each new Castlevania title.

As a team focused on digging up news on Nintendo DS games, we sift through dozens of videos and screenshots, glossing over most of them. With IGN's hands-on impressions and direct-feed clips for Order of Ecclesia, however, we took in every word, every second of animation. They're all embedded past the post break for you to do the same, of course!

And, for those of you who are still grumpy about Order of Ecclesia possibly feeling too much like previous installments, you'll be happy to hear this bit from IGN's preview: "Between the glyph system's reliance on magic, the 'out of the castle' feel of the game, and the all new enemies, this is the first time since Symphony of the Night that a free-roaming version of the game hasn't felt like a direct clone of Symphony of the Night."

With the confirmation of a new Castlevania game with Koji Igarashi behind the helm, you can imagine our excitement. It's even greater than the time we first saw the last Castlevania game. If it builds upon all of the amazing features of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, we'll probably just die right then and there after playing it. We'll have seen everything we've needed to see and be able to die a nice, peaceful death.

Until that day, though, you can bet we're salivating for every single juicy morsel of Castlevania news we can get our grubby little mitts on. This latest interview with Koji Igarashi is no exception, as he details some of the things about Ecclesia. Like, why did he go with a female protagonist? Hint: it's because the fans wanted it!

Believe us, we've far from ruined the interview for you. It's got some interesting stuff in there, so give it a watch.

When the scans got leaked online showing off a new Castlevania title, we don't have to tell you how exciting it was. Our staff was all kinds of happy, sipping on champagne and even a few were making copies of their butt on the Xerox machine. Now, you have to prepare yourself, because looking at scans is nothing like getting your eyes all up on some direct-feed screens, right? Right.

Well, thanks to a post over at NeoGAF, that's what we're looking at right here. And, we'll do you one more solid. We'll save you the trouble of having to say it: those sprites look utterly fantastic.

Famitsu has revealed the next Castlevania game for the DS, confirming recent speculation over Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Judging by the screens in the scan above, those mysterious shots from last month were the real thing. The magazine also divulges the involvement of Koji Igarashi, producer on Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow. As in those games, there will be support for two players, though the exact nature of the multiplayer (local play? WFC?) remains a miserable little pile of secrets.

And that's it for now! Leap past the break, whip in hand, to see another snippet of a scan.

Two months ago we told you that there were rumors of another Castlevania title coming to the DS. After performing countless ritual sacrifices, we're happy to report that the series will definitely be returning to Nintendo's popular handheld.

Koji Igarashi, the producer of the Castlevania series, recently revealed this little tidbit to Wired's Game|Life. Igarashi stated, "First, we're doing another Nintendo DS version. There hasn't been an official announcement, but we're doing it."

Well, that's about as official as an unofficial announcement can get, so you can take your grains of salt elsewhere. We may have been expecting Castlevania's return to the DS, but we're relieved to hear it nonetheless.