The Castlevania/Bloodstained Thread: Whip It Good

Darc_Requiem · September 20, 2023

1 hour ago, DoctaMario said:

Interesting. That witcher show seems like a mess, which is unfortunate because the first season was pretty good and actually made me want to play the game.

I miss the days when people could just make a fucking show without trying to be bullshit "activists." Its really an insult to real deal activists in a way.

I'll be incredibly blunt. I'm fucking tired of these talentless assholes using established IP as a Trojan Horse to push our their shitty pet projects under the guise of "adapting an IP for modern audiences." The Witcher is a prime example of this. Hell they literally featured Yennefer as primary character in an arc she wasn't even present for in the books. While the character that was supposed to be the focus of the story arc had already been introduced an established in their "adaptation" of the story.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Darc_Requiem

Camacho · September 21, 2023

On 9/20/2023 at 9:40 AM, DoctaMario said:

Finally picked up and started COTM2 and man this game gets real tough on a dime. I breezed through the first 4 stages but stage 5 is crazy, especially the parts with all the Gradius references.

Glad you're giving it a shot. Stage 5 is the threshold where the difficulty spikes with a CV3'ish level of challenge. Great old school feel with modern QOL touches.

DoctaMario · September 22, 2023

On 9/20/2023 at 10:50 PM, Darc_Requiem said:

I'll be incredibly blunt. I'm fucking tired of these talentless assholes using established IP as a Trojan Horse to push our their shitty pet projects under the guise of "adapting an IP for modern audiences." The Witcher is a prime example of this. Hell they literally featured Yennefer as primary character in an arc she wasn't even present for in the books. While the character that was supposed to be the focus of the story arc had already been introduced an established in their "adaptation" of the story.

Well they know they wouldn't get any viewers with a brand new IP so they have to shoehorn bullshit in with existing ones.

I hope they don't keep that up with Nocturne but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

2 hours ago, Camacho said:

Glad you're giving it a shot. Stage 5 is the threshold where the difficulty spikes with a CV3'ish level of challenge. Great old school feel with modern QOL touches.

I caved and used Casual mode and got to what I assume is the last stage but those rotating platform sections are rough. Dominique jumps a little too far and I'm hesitant to risk Zangetsu there, but he feels pretty good in those parts. Maybe it was casual mode talking but stage 6 didn't seem as bad as 5. 5 is fucking brutal.

AriesWarlock · September 22, 2023

Camacho · September 22, 2023

9 hours ago, DoctaMario said:

Well they know they wouldn't get any viewers with a brand new IP so they have to shoehorn bullshit in with existing ones.

I hope they don't keep that up with Nocturne but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

I caved and used Casual mode and got to what I assume is the last stage but those rotating platform sections are rough. Dominique jumps a little too far and I'm hesitant to risk Zangetsu there, but he feels pretty good in those parts. Maybe it was casual mode talking but stage 6 didn't seem as bad as 5. 5 is fucking brutal.

6 was the Sarcophagus boss, correct? That one's really tough on veteran difficulty. There are 8 stages on the first run- there are additional runs with different characters/endings with different final bosses and a couple new levels in the final run. Then there's boss rush and solo modes if you're still up for more.

DoctaMario · September 23, 2023

17 hours ago, Camacho said:

6 was the Sarcophagus boss, correct? That one's really tough on veteran difficulty. There are 8 stages on the first run- there are additional runs with different characters/endings with different final bosses and a couple new levels in the final run. Then there's boss rush and solo modes if you're still up for more.

I finished it on Casual today. Pretty amazing game although parts of it were pretty tough even in Casual so I guess we'll see how it shakes out on higher difficulty. Looking forward to digging into Episode 2 and tbh, id like to run the game with a couple of the characters by themselves.

Camacho · September 24, 2023

On 9/22/2023 at 11:06 PM, DoctaMario said:

I finished it on Casual today. Pretty amazing game although parts of it were pretty tough even in Casual so I guess we'll see how it shakes out on higher difficulty. Looking forward to digging into Episode 2 and tbh, id like to run the game with a couple of the characters by themselves.

Beware that the other scenarios have tougher bosses than the first run. So jumping to veteran on consecutive runs will probably seem like an extra large difficulty spike vs casual. Veteran is indeed much tougher in general, regardless.

DoctaMario · September 24, 2023

10 hours ago, Camacho said:

Beware that the other scenarios have tougher bosses than the first run. So jumping to veteran on consecutive runs will probably seem like an extra large difficulty spike vs casual. Veteran is indeed much tougher in general, regardless.

Yeah I tried out the first level last night and noticed the dragon had that extra lightning attack. I might just stick to Casual at least unless I learn the game a lot more. I'm not trying to give myself an aneurysm 😂

AriesWarlock · September 25, 2023

Timespinner 2: Unwoven Dream announced for consoles, PC

Travel to the Tower in the Sea to avert the apocalypse in this upcoming Metroidvania.

Timespinner 2: Unwoven Dream is a sequel to the favorably received Timespinner, which first launched for PlayStation 4, PS Vita, and PC on September 25, 2018, followed by Xbox One and Switch on June 4, 2019.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

Quote

About

Travel to the Tower in the Sea to avert the apocalypse, in this exploration action-platformer.

Auria, a retired war hero, awakens to the ominous stirrings of the catastrophic Unwoven Dream. Amidst the turmoil, her son runs away to prove that he is the destined hero who can forestall the impending collapse of reality. Driven by a mother’s love, Auria embarks on a quest to safeguard her son, only to unveil the undeniable truths behind the prophecies and her pivotal role in staving off an irreversible cataclysm.

Key Features

A Holy Warrior Returns to Battle – Once again, Auria must wield her Orbs of crystallized magic to protect the ones that she loves. Bolstered by her healing faith, she will grow in strength and agility to surpass any obstacle. Even should she fall in battle, the blessing of the Eternal Mother will return Auria to life once more; nothing will stand in her way!

Explore a Fantastic World – Embark alongside Auria on a grand odyssey through the sprawling interconnected realm of Surflynd. From eerie woodlands to the ominous Tower of the Apocalypse, from dark underwater depths to the ethereal Domain of Dreams, her journey knows no bounds. Explore a lovingly drawn pixel-art world, accompanied by a beautiful musical score by Jeff Ball, in an adventure that is a perfect ode to the classic games of the 90s.

The Story Continues… – Timespinner 2: Unwoven Dream takes place after the events of Timespinner. As such, expect to see some old familiar faces, as well as many new ones. We’re not on Lachiem anymore!

The original:

Edited September 25, 2023 by AriesWarlock

Hawkingbird · September 29, 2023

On 9/15/2023 at 10:10 AM, DoctaMario said:

I don't know why they don't just create a new character. Like you said Annette has a purpose in the games, and this Annette will probably be a girlboss too if the previous series is any indication.

I just finished binging the show and I can assure you that Annette isn't that. I like this take on Annette. Maria's mother Tera is far more like classic Annette.

Some show spoilers.

Spoiler

It was cool seeing an elderly Juste show up even if his game and story were ass.

I'm mad that only one track from the game was used. The show rendition of Divine Bloodlines is good.

Poor Tera. She ended up getting the ending where she becomes a vampire to save Maria.

Alucard showing up in the ending was hype.

Overall, I thought the show was amazing. It's far more action packed than previous show and they still managed to have the great character work.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Hawkingbird

Sonero · September 29, 2023

How is Blasphemous 2 gameplay wise? Finished bombruch cybertronic budankafunk and thinking of going to it next. Not sure if I should replay Blasphemous one more time to look at it with fresh eyes before going to the sequel though.

Also Steam recommended me this, not sure if you guys had seen it yet:

DoctaMario · September 30, 2023

On 9/29/2023 at 12:35 AM, Hawkingbird said:

I just finished binging the show and I can assure you that Annette isn't that. I like this take on Annette. Maria's mother Tera is far more like classic Annette.

Some show spoilers.

Reveal hidden contents

It was cool seeing an elderly Juste show up even if his game and story were ass.

I'm mad that only one track from the game was used. The show rendition of Divine Bloodlines is good.

Poor Tera. She ended up getting the ending where she becomes a vampire to save Maria.

Alucard showing up in the ending was hype.

Overall, I thought the show was amazing. It's far more action packed than previous show and they still managed to have the great character work.

I guess I'll have to watch it and find out. Some of the things I've heard on Reddit don't give me a lot of hope though. Hopefully all that is just exaggerated.

Camacho · September 30, 2023

I watched 3 episodes of it today- doesn't seem to have much in common with the source material. Not that there was a lot to work with, but this really feels like someone just shoehorned some CV characters into an unrelated story they wanted to create, and of course it seems like Kendi signed off on it. I didn't think the first CV Netflix series was that great either, but at least it stayed somewhat in line with the established story and characters. But to be fair, I don't like anime or this image comics anime-ish style in general.

Honestly, I'm surprised Netflix didn't use the bolshevik revolution and frame Lenin and Stalin as heroes fighting vampires- shit, let's make them black too. Maybe they'll do a Bloodlines series one day and run with that.

Edited September 30, 2023 by Camacho

DoctaMario · September 30, 2023

Yeah I've heard it didn't have too much in common with the source material and a lot of the people watching seem to be ok with that, and meanwhile it's a controversial opinion to just want an adaptation of a series about a family fighting vampires to just be about a family fighting vampires. Sounds like it's becoming like Witcher.

RSG3 · October 1, 2023

I mean what's there to actually adapt of Rondo? Like truly?

Camacho · October 1, 2023

10 hours ago, RSG3 said:

I mean what's there to actually adapt of Rondo? Like truly?

Well, if I were writing it and wanted to extrapolate a story out of what's established, there's the whole Belmont family legacy thing with their eternal struggle against Dracula, training to fight vampires, facing the inevitability that Dracula will return, Shaft's life shaping him to want destruction, Shaft raising cult who wants to destroy humanity, their efforts in procuring Dracula's remains and figuring out how to resurrect him, the struggle and failure to prevent said cult from reviving Dracula, Dracula's subsequent rampage and targeting of Richter's friends and family, Richter's journey to and through Castlevania, the rescuing of villagers, his sister in law, and his fiancé (smart twist would be to have her die and be turned into a creature like when you fail to save her in SNES Dracula X), ongoing struggles with the necromancer Shaft and Shaft's ghost, encounters with the powerful overlords (bosses) along the way, the battle with Dracula himself, and following events that leave Richter feeling without purpose and susceptible to Shaft's corruption and setting the stage for SotN.

Instead, from what I've seen so far, we get almost nothing about the Belmonts, the little backstory we do get involves Richter being in revolutionary period America (??) before being shipped to France, a whole lot of story about Caribbean slavery (but with vampires) jammed into a comic book level take on the French revolution (also now with vampires), the expected Netflix-isms with gay stuff, the catholic church, and what I'm expecting to be some non binary thrown in for extra diversity points. No signs of anything to do with Dracula, more crappy magic that has no rules to play by (superman level writing laziness), and almost no focus on Richter. Only a single villain character has any sign of being more than a one dimensional 80's cartoon character, and it looks like the main reason for that is so he can commence some backdoor action later in the show. Basically, it seems like the point of the story is to lift up Netflix favored groups and slap the Castlevania label on it. There's a part where characters are talking about the revolution and Richter says something along the lines of "I don't know anything about what you're talking about, but my job is to support you". Which is exactly what I'd expect from a Netflix writer when they have to paint someone from an unfavored group as anything other than a 2d villain.

DoctaMario · October 1, 2023

11 hours ago, RSG3 said:

I mean what's there to actually adapt of Rondo? Like truly?

Well like @Camacho said, there's plenty to be able to extapolate from, and in addition to what he typed, I'd also add in Maria's backstory and how she got her powers. From what I've been hearing, this show sounds like a fanfic rather than an adaptation.

OPTIMUS124 · October 3, 2023

On 9/28/2023 at 8:35 PM, Hawkingbird said:

I just finished binging the show and I can assure you that Annette isn't that. I like this take on Annette. Maria's mother Tera is far more like classic Annette.

Some show spoilers.

Reveal hidden contents

It was cool seeing an elderly Juste show up even if his game and story were ass.

I'm mad that only one track from the game was used. The show rendition of Divine Bloodlines is good.

Poor Tera. She ended up getting the ending where she becomes a vampire to save Maria.

Alucard showing up in the ending was hype.

Overall, I thought the show was amazing. It's far more action packed than previous show and they still managed to have the great character work.

The first series has a FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR better hook in the first episode but I sincerely enjoyed it. Can't wait for Season 2

EDIT -

I looked online after viewing and noticed that the show has a pretty low audience score.

This series is still is the best video game adaptation to date. I look at it this way, if you want a 1:1 recreation of the thing you saw, you're better off just playing the thing again.

Edited October 3, 2023 by OPTIMUS124

Darc_Requiem · October 3, 2023

11 hours ago, OPTIMUS124 said:

I looked online after viewing and noticed that the show has a pretty low audience score.

This series is still is the best video game adaptation to date. I look at it this way, if you want a 1:1 recreation of the thing you saw, you're better off just playing the thing again.

While I enjoyed it overall, I'm not as familiar with the back story. The Turbo CD was one of the few platforms I didn't have access to growing up and when I found out Dracula X wasn't really a port of Rondo of Blood, I lost interest. The source material comes from the era of video game that didn't have the extensive story telling of modern games. So that leaves a creator plenty of room to adapt the story with some creative license. They can fill in the the missing details with their own spin while leaving the hard points of the story alone. I can see @Camacho's point. If I were knowledgeable on the lore of this era of Castlevania, I doubt I'd have the same view of Nocturne.

AriesWarlock · October 4, 2023

hanzohattori12 · October 4, 2023

1 hour ago, AriesWarlock said:

Finally able to breathe a sigh of relief as a backer for this game. It can’t come fast enough!

AriesWarlock · October 4, 2023

10 minutes ago, hanzohattori12 said:

Finally able to breathe a sigh of relief as a backer for this game. It can’t come fast enough!

Are you getting any backer goodies?

hanzohattori12 · October 4, 2023

9 minutes ago, AriesWarlock said:

Are you getting any backer goodies?

Physical copy for PS4 (when they finally iron out everything due to development changes, will see if upgrade to PS5 physical is possible), digital copy for the Switch, DLC skin and weapons, digital soundtrack, name in the credits, physical soundtrack, and a hardcover art book. Sadly, I was too late to purchase the statue.

Edited October 4, 2023 by hanzohattori12

DoctaMario · October 4, 2023

3 hours ago, AriesWarlock said:

Beat me to it! I've been looking forward to this one for awhile now so I'm happy to see it finally has a release date.

Now the only question is: PS5 or Switch? 🤔

hanzohattori12 · October 5, 2023

1 hour ago, DoctaMario said:

Beat me to it! I've been looking forward to this one for awhile now so I'm happy to see it finally has a release date.

Now the only question is: PS5 or Switch? 🤔

Both.

AriesWarlock · October 6, 2023

“Thanks to all of the Castlevania fans old and new for the amazing response and support,” showrunners Clive Bradley and Kevin Kolde said in a press release. “We are excited to be able to bring you more Castlevania: Nocturne and the next chapter in the rise of Richter Belmont.”

Castlevania: Nocturne season two doesn’t have a release date but its directors, Samuel and Adam Deets, teased fans saying the wait “won’t be quite so long this time.”

GreyFoxx · October 6, 2023

1 hour ago, AriesWarlock said:

“Thanks to all of the Castlevania fans old and new for the amazing response and support,” showrunners Clive Bradley and Kevin Kolde said in a press release. “We are excited to be able to bring you more Castlevania: Nocturne and the next chapter in the rise of Richter Belmont.”

Castlevania: Nocturne season two doesn’t have a release date but its directors, Samuel and Adam Deets, teased fans saying the wait “won’t be quite so long this time.”

Just wrapped this up today and thank god we got a S2 heading our way!

CDB2k20 · October 7, 2023

23 hours ago, AriesWarlock said:

“Thanks to all of the Castlevania fans old and new for the amazing response and support,” showrunners Clive Bradley and Kevin Kolde said in a press release. “We are excited to be able to bring you more Castlevania: Nocturne and the next chapter in the rise of Richter Belmont.”

Castlevania: Nocturne season two doesn’t have a release date but its directors, Samuel and Adam Deets, teased fans saying the wait “won’t be quite so long this time.”

Yes!
Certain Netflix-isms, aside and a very much enjoyed this season!!

Hawkingbird · October 10, 2023

On 10/1/2023 at 9:33 AM, Camacho said:

Well, if I were writing it and wanted to extrapolate a story out of what's established, there's the whole Belmont family legacy thing with their eternal struggle against Dracula, training to fight vampires, facing the inevitability that Dracula will return, Shaft's life shaping him to want destruction, Shaft raising cult who wants to destroy humanity, their efforts in procuring Dracula's remains and figuring out how to resurrect him, the struggle and failure to prevent said cult from reviving Dracula, Dracula's subsequent rampage and targeting of Richter's friends and family, Richter's journey to and through Castlevania, the rescuing of villagers, his sister in law, and his fiancé (smart twist would be to have her die and be turned into a creature like when you fail to save her in SNES Dracula X), ongoing struggles with the necromancer Shaft and Shaft's ghost, encounters with the powerful overlords (bosses) along the way, the battle with Dracula himself, and following events that leave Richter feeling without purpose and susceptible to Shaft's corruption and setting the stage for SotN.

Instead, from what I've seen so far, we get almost nothing about the Belmonts, the little backstory we do get involves Richter being in revolutionary period America (??) before being shipped to France, a whole lot of story about Caribbean slavery (but with vampires) jammed into a comic book level take on the French revolution (also now with vampires), the expected Netflix-isms with gay stuff, the catholic church, and what I'm expecting to be some non binary thrown in for extra diversity points. No signs of anything to do with Dracula, more crappy magic that has no rules to play by (superman level writing laziness), and almost no focus on Richter. Only a single villain character has any sign of being more than a one dimensional 80's cartoon character, and it looks like the main reason for that is so he can commence some backdoor action later in the show. Basically, it seems like the point of the story is to lift up Netflix favored groups and slap the Castlevania label on it. There's a part where characters are talking about the revolution and Richter says something along the lines of "I don't know anything about what you're talking about, but my job is to support you". Which is exactly what I'd expect from a Netflix writer when they have to paint someone from an unfavored group as anything other than a 2d villain.

You should actually watch the show.

Nocturne doesn't need Dracula. The last series gave him his happy ending. No need to undo it to have more Dracula. The Castlevania series has other villains that's been the big bad like Elizabeth Báthory (who is the big bad of Nocturne)

We get nothing about the Belmonts is a lie. We are literally introduced to a brand new Belmont on episode one (Julia). Later in the season

Spoiler

we get introduced to an elderly Juste, his past and his falling out with Julia.

Why is a show about vampires having gay characters an issue? Vampire have been used as a metaphor for sexual deviance for as long as they existed. There's more to the gay characters other than their sexuality. There's no non binary fyi.

Ricther is the main character from start to finish. There's a point when the plot on hero side comes to a halt mid season when Richter decides to peace out. To say he's not a focus is not accurate.

Caribbean story is there to establish Annette's backstory.

The show establishes that magic becomes unusable if the user is suffering from heavy trauma. Richter was able to use magic as a kid but hasn't been able to since his mom died.

Olrox has nuance beyond shipping. The reasons for why he doesn't anything isn't fully explored.

About that line you paraphrased from Richter, he said something more in line in having complete faith in Maria and her mother because he loves them. They are his family and he joined the revolution because he has faith in Maria's reason to do so. It's wrong for a dude to have complete faith in someone?

I love Castlevania but in terms of story the games aren't got much there. What is there is basic and it only exists to provide context to the gameplay. Everything Netflix has done is in improvement in my eyes.

AriesWarlock · October 10, 2023

Wellman · October 11, 2023

The best aspect of the Castlevania shows, besides the gorgeous action scenes, to me has been how they changed things from the game lore in many aspects to add to characters.

It could tone down on the edgy violence and subject matter, but there are those that tune in for that stuff.

AriesWarlock · October 11, 2023

DoctaMario · October 15, 2023

On 10/11/2023 at 9:24 PM, AriesWarlock said:

Is this a game being worked on? I remember Micrard from CV Dungeon back in the day

AriesWarlock · October 15, 2023

2 hours ago, DoctaMario said:

Is this a game being worked on? I remember Micrard from CV Dungeon back in the day

I am not sure. For some reason, Castlevania fan games started appearing on YT for me.

Camacho · October 15, 2023

On 10/9/2023 at 9:28 PM, Hawkingbird said:

You should actually watch the show.

Nocturne doesn't need Dracula. The last series gave him his happy ending. No need to undo it to have more Dracula. The Castlevania series has other villains that's been the big bad like Elizabeth Báthory (who is the big bad of Nocturne)

We get nothing about the Belmonts is a lie. We are literally introduced to a brand new Belmont on episode one (Julia). Later in the season

Reveal hidden contents

we get introduced to an elderly Juste, his past and his falling out with Julia.

Why is a show about vampires having gay characters an issue? Vampire have been used as a metaphor for sexual deviance for as long as they existed. There's more to the gay characters other than their sexuality. There's no non binary fyi.

Ricther is the main character from start to finish. There's a point when the plot on hero side comes to a halt mid season when Richter decides to peace out. To say he's not a focus is not accurate.

Caribbean story is there to establish Annette's backstory.

The show establishes that magic becomes unusable if the user is suffering from heavy trauma. Richter was able to use magic as a kid but hasn't been able to since his mom died.

Olrox has nuance beyond shipping. The reasons for why he doesn't anything isn't fully explored.

About that line you paraphrased from Richter, he said something more in line in having complete faith in Maria and her mother because he loves them. They are his family and he joined the revolution because he has faith in Maria's reason to do so. It's wrong for a dude to have complete faith in someone?

I love Castlevania but in terms of story the games aren't got much there. What is there is basic and it only exists to provide context to the gameplay. Everything Netflix has done is in improvement in my eyes.

I'll probably finish it at some point. I have to disagree with you on throwing out Dracula and just about everything established being for the better. The whole thing feels like they're doing their damndest to pander to Reddit communists. Forced diversity aside (Eastern European CV setting and vampire lore be damned), setting this one in the French revolution and giving it a black and white "good guys vs bad guys" spin is particularly nauseating to anyone who has actually read much about it, its immediate consequences, and its lingering aftermath. If anything, it's pretty backwards- in CV lore, the sorts of people who want to burn down everything that came before, fundamentally change man's nature, and create utopia from rivers of human blood are the ones who would side with vampires and resurrect Dracula so that he could cleanse the earth in chaos.

As for my complaint about the magic, I meant that it's lazy in that it is limited only by the writers imagination. Want to make a shield out of a floating block of ice? Sure, but it can melt, and that same magic spigot apparently can't make more. Need to throw fire? Make some Dio horns and you're good, but the fire only does something whern we want it to, otherwise being roasted can be ignored. Need to make a bridge? Sure, let's make one appear while on the run, but you also can't just use that some magic to move lots of dirt or rocks into a boulder that crushes your enemies, nor can you just move the ground out from under them and form spikes for them to land on. The shit isn't grounded in any way- even with pure fantasy mechanisms by magic, having rules, costs, effort, and limitations laid out- more than "I'm emotionally scarred, so now I can't hadouken, even though someone who was literally enslaved and also saw their mother murdered can make dirt float"- would be much better. It's crap, and I thought it was crap in the first one too.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Camacho

AriesWarlock · October 16, 2023

AriesWarlock · October 17, 2023

DoctaMario · October 17, 2023

Finally got around to watching the first episode of Nocturne, and there are things I like about it, but Maria and Richter seem like reskinned versions of Trevor and Sypha so far which is annoying. Maria is supposed to be kind of annoying but not in an insulting way.

Hopefully the characters get better. I do like Olrox though and hope he gets a lot of screen time rather than bowing out so Bathory can take more. I like her too so far, but it would be nice to have them both as big bads because they each bring something to the table

Edited October 17, 2023 by DoctaMario

AriesWarlock · October 22, 2023

Edited October 22, 2023 by AriesWarlock

AriesWarlock · October 23, 2023

AriesWarlock · October 25, 2023

DoctaMario · October 25, 2023

I've watched more of Nocturne and I'm liking it more now. Maria is still annoying but that's on brand and Annette isn't as bad as I expected, although her giving Richter shit for running (which itself seemed a little out of character imo) was kind of a wtf moment. Still, better show than I expected and I'm happy about that.

I do think they miscast Olrox though. Zahn McLanon or whatever his name is just doesn't do it for me, and I don't know exactly what he's going for with the voice he's using for for the character.

Edited October 25, 2023 by DoctaMario

AriesWarlock · October 26, 2023

A Castlevania-style Bram Stoker’s Dracula game is coming to Game Boy Color

Your retro Nintendo handheld may need some new batteries.

In the year 2024, a new Castlevania-like title is coming our way – for the Game Boy Color.

Coming to us courtesy of Incube8 Games and the development team at Spacebot Interactive, Dracula: Dark Reign is unique in that it’s the first video game ever to be equipped with the Stoker license. Bram Stoker published his iconic novel Dracula in 1897.

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Bram’s great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker created the StokerVerse label alongside his partner Chris McAuley. The duo aims to publish games, comics, and novels under the StokerVerse banner. Each of these is inspired by the works of Bram Stoker.

Because Dark Reign sports the StokerVerse license, it’s able to take a deep dive into the world of the 1897 novel. Players will take on the role of the story’s protagonist, Jonathan Harker, as he attempts to escape the vampire’s castle. The upcoming Game Boy Color Metroidvania title even features a never-before-seen prologue to the original book that’s pulled from Bram Stoker’s personal notes.

Incube8 Games promises a “unique blend of storytelling, exploration, and action” within Dracula: Dark Reign. All of which is based on Stoker’s source material from many, many years ago.

Dracula: Dark Reign makes its physical Game Boy Color cartridge debut in 2024 for $59.99. A future Digital Edition is also planned that will be playable via PC or Mac emulators. A demo is available for players to try out on the Dracula: Dark Reign demo page.

https://incube8games.com/collections/game-demos/products/dracula-dark-reign-gbc-digital-edition-demo

DoctaMario · October 28, 2023

A GameBoy COLOR game?? 😂 Why??

Interesting that they got Stoker's blessing. I still have a copy of that sequel Dacre Stoker wrote to the original novel, but I haven't read it. Maybe that'll be next on my reading list.

For the record, that prologue to the original novel they were talking about HAS been published before. I have a copy of the novel that includes it. Interesting that they're making reference to it in this game.

Hawkingbird · October 29, 2023

On 10/25/2023 at 2:01 PM, DoctaMario said:

I've watched more of Nocturne and I'm liking it more now. Maria is still annoying but that's on brand and Annette isn't as bad as I expected, although her giving Richter shit for running (which itself seemed a little out of character imo) was kind of a wtf moment. Still, better show than I expected and I'm happy about that.

I do think they miscast Olrox though. Zahn McLanon or whatever his name is just doesn't do it for me, and I don't know exactly what he's going for with the voice he's using for for the character.

I didn't like Annette giving Ricther shit considering not keeping her trauma under control is what got the opera guy killed.

Camacho · November 11, 2023

Just finished my first playthrough of Infernax. It's really good, very much like what we all wish Simon's Quest was. Tons of secrets and replay value as well, lots of morality choices that change the story and missions. There's also a secret that fulfills that grade school wish of "wouldn't it be cool if I could use the Contra guys in Castlevania?" The music is superb as well, real A grade NES style stuff.

DoctaMario · November 11, 2023

37 minutes ago, Camacho said:

Just finished my first playthrough of Infernax. It's really good, very much like what we all wish Simon's Quest was. Tons of secrets and replay value as well, lots of morality choices that change the story and missions. There's also a secret that fulfills that grade school wish of "wouldn't it be cool if I could use the Contra guys in Castlevania?" The music is superb as well, real A grade NES style stuff.

I finished that one up not too long ago and liked it quite a bit. I liked that the morality gauge would change the course of the game and even which weapons you used as well as the quest system.