Lords of Shadow has always been Castlevania, but it’s a bit of a departure from the past

1up’s Sam Kennedy talked with Lords of Shadow‘s producer Dave Cox about the highly anticipated western refresher for the long-running series. The interview covered the name of the game, the history of its development. Other topics included the music in the game, the change in formula from the “metroidvania” retraversal item-gathering formula that’s been with the game since Symphony of the Night, and Hideo Kojima’s involvement in the title.

I don’t know quite how to feel about the game after hearing all this. I recognize that Castlevania hasn’t always followed the formula made famous by Metroid, and it’s not fair to force the games to keep that style. Still, I really wonder if Castlevania will be distinctive enough as a straight, linear action game, no matter how well built the title happens to be.

Here are some of the most interesting points from the linked article.

• The game was always a Castlevania title, but Konami didn’t disclose this at first for fear of drawing attention from Judgment at Leipzig 2008. I don’t buy this, because it would have made more sense to sit on the game for a few more months instead.
• Commenter (and hopefully contributor) Paul’s concern that this episode will abandon the main things that make Castlevania distinctive appears to be well founded. Cox admits we won’t be seeing the Metroidvania retraversal and item gathering we’ve seen in past titles.
• Cox enjoyed the swinging mechanic we saw in titles like Castlevania IV and Bloodlines, so it’s back. This has been shown in the trailers.
• Koji Igarashi isn’t the only one who’s been kicked to the curb. There is no music in the game from Michiru Yamane, who has been with the series since Bloodlines. The new composer is not named, but there will be familiar Castlevania themes, and the music will be coming from a 120-piece orchestra.
• Gabriel is, in fact, a Belmont.
• This is an attempt to broaden the appeal of the Castlevania series and make it a major franchise again. Iga’s been trying to do this since at least Portrait of Ruin.
• Cox claims that the poorly received Clive Barker’s Jericho is not representative of Mercury Steam’s abilities. Only time will tell.
• Some members of Kojima’s studio have been placed with Mercury Steam to work on the game, but Kojima himself is only supervising. Yeah, he’s busy with what, six Metal Gear games right now?
• Cox’s favorite Castlevania is Super Castlevania IV. Fair enough.

Source: 1up via Joystiq