Konami Celebrates Fan-Favorite ‘Castlevania’-Inspired Game ‘Dead Cells’
Konami is feeling proud after the Dead Cells crossover with Castlevania hit big with fans.
Castlevania is one of the all-time greatest series in gaming history and one of Konami’s most valuable IPs. Known as Akumajō Dracula in Japan, it was released in 1986 for the Famicom and then in 1987 as Castlevania for the NES. The original timeline’s story had players taking control of the Belmont clan and allies’ quest to defeat Dracula and the forces of evil. The series has since had multiple sequels, a short reboot, spin-offs, and a successful Netflix show.
So why did the game fall off? One reason is that the original timeline had a solid endpoint. Dracula was defeated, then re-incarnated as a good guy named Soma. Konami let MercurySteam reboot the series in 2010 with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. The reboot lasted only 3 games and had an incredibly unsatisfying ending.
Since then, Konami has mostly left the IP alone outside of some re-releases and an attempt at a mobile game. Luckily, Dead Cells released an incredible DLC crossover that breathed much-needed life into the series. And Konami couldn’t be more proud.
via Motion Twin
Dead Cells & Castlevania Crossover
“It is not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. I was brought here by humans who wish to pay me tribute.”
Dead Cells is a roguelike-Metroidvania game developed by Motion Twin in 2018. The series took major inspiration from many of Castlevania‘s titles. Players saw the inspiration in the use of whips, secrets in the walls, and even its key art featuring a castle in the background.
It was a no-brainer for Konami to let Motion Twin include a Castlevania crossover as DLC. Evil Empire COO Benjamin Laulan talked with The Escapist back in February about his experience bringing Konami on board.
“When I think of a big company lending their property to make something with the IP, I was fearing that it would be way more strict. They were pretty laid back because they saw that we were doing our homework. We were checking the wiki. We were playing all the games we were referencing, so they realized pretty quickly that we knew our Castlevania.”
The DLC was called Return to Castlevania and has been an absolute blast to play. Critics and fans alike love the DLC, which is a passionate love letter to the franchise. Konami’s Return to Castlevania supervisor Tsutomu Taniguchi has taken notice, and he’s incredibly proud, he said in an interview with IGN.
“Seriously, knowing that Dead Cells, which is among the greatest indie games of the past ten years, was inspired by Castlevania is a huge source of pride for us,….When Evil Empire and Motion Twin came back with their full-DLC proposition instead of just this short featuring we weren’t really surprised and we were hoping for that to be honest. And we just thought we had to let them go full circle, because we knew they would use every ounce of their talent to honor the franchise. And also, I personally admit I just really wanted to see what a fight against Dracula in Dead Cells would look like!”
Taniguchi went on to talk about just how motivating it is for Konami to see such excitement and enthusiasm about Castlevania.
“We tried to bring back the games that people loved and cherished with the Castlevania Anniversary Collection and the Castlevania Advance Collection, we also brought back Rondo of Blood & Symphony of the Night for our PlayStation fans and on mobile, and launched Grimoire of Souls on Apple Arcade to celebrate the lore of the franchise…..But we know that our fans always want more, and we do too, so this opportunity to have this amazing crossover with Dead Cells was impossible to pass up on.”
The Known Future of Castlevania
Castlevania still has new content coming out in the future. Castlevania for Netflix was an adaptation of Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. It took plot elements, characters, and more from other titles like Symphony of the Night and Curse of Darkness. The series ran for four years and many fans, including myself, had mixed feelings about the ending.
The plot doesn’t really have a way to continue from there. Showrunner Kevin Kolde and writer Clive Bradley saw a chance to continue the story – during the French Revolution. Castlevania: Nocturne was announced last June and appears to be based on Rondo of Blood, Dracula X, and Symphony of the Night. There’s no word yet on a release date.
Is Konami finally back in action? It seems to be reviving some of its famous IPs. Silent Hill 2 is getting a remake and a brand-new movie. Based on Taniguchi’s comments, Castlevania isn’t dead yet. It seems that, like Dracula, you can always count on Castlevania to come back to life.
“What a horrible night to have a curse” – ‘Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest’
