Castelvania Chronicles - Director's interview

Could you please give us some background info on the projects you've worked on in the past ?

The major work of mine would be directing and programming Castelvania - Symphony of the Night. As for other games, I've written some game scenarios for Tokimeki Memorial.

Do you have a personal favorite Castelvania game ?

Personally speaking, I love Castelvania 3 : Dracula's Curse. Another game I like is Akumajo Dracula X : Chi No Rondo, which was only released in Japan.

Why choose this particular Castelvania title for revival on PSone ?

The original game was only sold in Japan and was for PC. There weren't that many who owned a PC at that time, you know. So, a lot of requests were made by PlayStation owners to convert this game. Moreover, this game had a great reputation. I've played the original game in starting this project. And still, it's quite a lot of fun to play. I wanted to do something about the situation. Where one of the greatest games cannot be played by gamers, especially fans outside Japan.

Because the title hasn't been released in the U.S. until now, can you give us a little background info on the game's story and structure ?

This is the very first "remake version" from the old Castelvania series. The story itself is not really that dramatic but Simon, who is the descendant of the Belmont Family, uses a sacred whip to destroy Count Dracula. A very simple story, which fans all know. This game is much more controllable compared to the original game. For example, you can change the start-up of the jump action, whip down while you jump and more. The game control has been upgraded which I believe that game itself turned out to be very fun to play with.

Are you planning more Castelvania re-makes ? If so, you can tell us which classic titles you'll be re-visiting next ?

Yes, some future plans are in my head right now, but whether or not I can carry out these plans is up to your support. Please encourage us to make this dream come true ! By the way, the game I am planning at the moment may be hinted towards somewhere in this interview.

What do you think it is about Castelvania series that still endears it to so many fans around the world ?

I'm sure that this is due to its great game play and deep story. And also, the graphics and sound quality are always the best, which endear a lot of fans.

We've heard that you're currently working on a new Castelvania game - when can we expect to see it ?

The release date for any new game is not confirmed yet. we are now making the very basic foundations of the game, as we are just now brainstorming the game plans. please do look forward to the next game because it's going to be astonishing !

Which Konami team is working on the game, and have they worked on any of the previous Castelvania titles ?

I've gathered excellent staff for this upcoming game. Not only do we have staff from "Symphony of the Night", but also from the "Akumajo Dracula X Chi No Rondo". I would say this is the most talented team we've ever assembled for a Castelvania game !!!

Symphony of the Night took the series in a new direction, with a vastly different game structure. as much as we love that game, we've always wondered, what was the reason behind the change ?

The major reason why I came to rechange the Castelvania concept was due to its longevity. Users spend so much money on a product and I simply wished if they could enjoy the game much longer. So I came to think about this in Symphony of the Night. Previous Castelvania series were meant to made as "one direction" type of games. I decided not to follow this type, but rather something with more exploration. That's one of the major differences. Also, if you're not good enough as a gamer, you cannot see the ending ; that simply means that not everybody enjoys the game fully. To allow everybody to see the ending, I made the choice to implement power-up levels so that any gamer could play the game thoroughly with the impression that they have beaten the game and gained a cash-back feeling. Video games are more expensive than any other amusement ; If you ask players to pay for such expensive stuff, why not make something worthwhile enough for gamers to keep and play forever !!! The story itself was something very interesting and deep but previous Castelvania series seemed like they linked to one another, but they never did ! I thought I had to do about this, as the Castelvania series has a very strong universe. In order to do so, I've unified all of Castelvania's world view in the game, Symphony of the Night.