The Castlevania of the Future
Darkmoon's Rants #5
Along the same lines as last time's rant, this time we shall focus on another fan fantasy of Castlevania. Castlevania in the future, as well as an idea I had, that being CV across dimensions.
This, I know, seems odd for me to cover, since you would assume I'd want nothing to do with frivolous ideas as such. But HA!, you're wrong. WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!
Staring with the CV of the future, let's take a good story setup:
Set this far into the future, not close like Aria. Let's setup a nuclear war, one that creates a future not unlike the future painted in a Terminator movie. Now, Dracula, the character the story always revolves around, comes back from, well, wherever he goes when he's defeated. He's in an incarnation that's not as do-goody as Soma, so we can get to some fun time evil.
Now, let's say in this desolate future, those humans that are still alive are in domes, kinda like Chrono Trigger... but happier. We gotta have hope, otherwise the game seems pointless. So, we now have a world ripe for the picking, one in the throws of nuclear winter, so darkness is always across the land. We have humans, just trying to eke out an existence, and an evil set on destroying them.
The story, as it would in the game, starts with a Belmont. As always. We take this Belmont as he travels the countryside, ala CV2... Or maybe he starts out at Castlevania. We could get a more SotN style game, or CV1. The style the game calls for is totally open-ended. Heck, if someone worked hard enough, all sorts of new level possibilities are available. Heck, we could get tones of Contra or what have you in there.
And as for sci-fi technology, as much or as little can be used as needed. You could get funky whips and lightsabers... or stick to a Goth feel. Totally optional.
This is one I KNOW people will balk at, but what about Castlevania games that cross dimensions? You know, alternate realities and such... This really would only be possible in a more RPG style of game, like CV2. I'm not saying it has to go fully RPG, since I especially don't think CV should go that direction, but maybe a CV2 game or Zelda2 even.
Anyway, again we start with a Belmont. Dracula comes back to life, is terrorizing the countryside... then something different happens. Let's say the Dark Priest of Funk and Evil, Shaft, taps into some dark magic, and suddenly, the Belmont is in another world, one run by vampires... Maybe he has to fight a vampire version of himself... Just bouncing ideas around.
We take it a step further, and we could have a Chrono Trigger style game where the player is always one step behind the bad guys, trying to fix what they've changed next.
Of course, I really doubt anyone but me likes this idea. I have a soft spot in my heart for dimensional travel. I think it's keen.
But anyway, there ya go. That was fun.