Weekly Blog – Castlevania Takeover!

Castlevania: Nocturne has now launched on Netflix, I am super hyped about watching it, and I just want to ramble on about the series. Richter Belmont was actually the first Belmont I controlled. My love affair with Castlevania started reasonably late with Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP. This remake of Rondo of Blood, the first appearance of Richter, also included Symphony of the Night as an unlockable! One of the best games ever made was an unlockable. That sort of move takes some confidence.

Content Warning – Richter uses some naughty words. Probably don’t watch if you are young.

I was always aware of the Castlevania series, of course I was, but I had never played it myself. It just wasn’t the sort of game my parents would have bought for me as a kid, old habits stick around, and so the series evaded my full attention for a long while. Once I was bitten, though, I was fully enthralled. It’s just that good a series.

Still, I have a decent number of gaps in my Castlevania play history. This week, I set out to rectify some of those. I finally picked up the Castlevania Advance Collection and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Ultimate Edition on Steam. It’s an embarrassment of riches if there ever was one and I am so happy.

Having three new Castlevania games from the Game Boy Advance era to play through is an absolute treat. Having Dracula X to play again is a total joy. Finally having the DLC of Lords of Shadow in front of me is bliss. Painful, agonising bliss.

There really is nothing like the difficulty of the classic-style Castlevania games. Titles like Dark Souls have popularised challenging games but old-school games had already mastered it. The feeling of making it through a level, surviving a boss, or uncovering a hidden route never gets old.

However, the thing that has really struck me this week isn’t the difficulty but the beauty of the games. Not just the graphics, but the whole package. There is a gorgeousness that seeps out of the Castlevania series. It is immediately noticeable.

Perhaps too often these days we rest on graphical fidelity to create the atmosphere and awe, and we’ve lost the skill of using every element to perfection. For example, the colour palettes of the Castlevania games vary drastically, even though they use the same environments and areas. Each one creates a different feeling from lavish luxury through to nervous darkness. The sensational pixel art, used out of necessity not nostalgia, is more visually stunning than most photo-realistic modern titles. That being said, the lighting of Lords of Shadow is luscious.

The musical scores are equally masterful. Divine Bloodline, Richter’s theme, rocks out at the start of Dracula X before switching to more suitably atmospheric music as you progress further. Lords of Shadow takes the Castlevania soundscaping even further, and really needs an entire article to itself. Replaying it this week, I noticed how music intensity picks up towards the end of combat encounters, emphasising the tension and victory.

Screenshot captured on a Steam Deck

I guess the real drive behind my gushing for the Castlevania series is actually a sense of loss. We haven’t had a truly new Castlevania game since 2014. Even with the incredible mainstream appeal created by the Netflix series, nothing has even been announced. The closest we have got is the fantastic Castlevania crossover DLC for Dead Cells. Seeing the popularity of the animated series is creating pangs of what we could have.

I know Konami has got bored of making games but we need a new Castlevania title. It really does feel like the gaming landscape is missing something without the series around. I can only begin to imagine how incredible a new, truly top-tier Castlevania could be. Take the series’ existing mastery of music and atmosphere, add in new-generation technology, and you have an instant classic surely?

Look out for some more guided, precise thoughts on the Castlevania series in the coming week!

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