Konami recently held a hands on event in NYC for some of their upcoming games. And to my surprise and many others, there was the latest installment to the Suikoden series. And it wasn’t for the PS3, Wii or Xbox360, it was on that little beast of a system the Nintendo DS. After waiting for what seemed like hours to finally get my hands on Suikoden:Tierkreis, I immediately turned the DS off then back on. Call me a freak but i wanted to see this game right from the beginning, opening logo credits and all. Once the credits were finished your treated to a nearly 2 min anime intro with an excellent score to back it up. Now I don’t know about you guys but it still amazes me to this day how much video plus the full game these guys manage to squeeze onto them little ds carts. Especially when the videos aren’t compressed to high hell.

After the intro is done and you input your desired name the game starts you out (or atleast in this demo) as the main character in a hut talking with your friend at which you’ll notice is fully voiced over with crystal clear sound. The characters are 3d polygon models layered on top of 2d hand drawn backgrounds, a technique not uncommon with rpgs. These backgrounds are beautifully drawn and detailed as hell. So far what I’m seeing I’m liking, good job Konami! You can control movement of the main character by either using the d-pad or stylus. Both control well and will just be a matter of user preference.

Now on to the nitty gritty of every rpg, the battle mode. Just like traditional rpg’s you don’t see the enemies on screen instead as you walk about the environments you’ll encounter random battles at which the screen will flash a bright white light and then the battle screen would show. Your parties level, HP and MP stats are conveniently displayed on the top screen of the ds. On the bottom half you’ll have the choice of using your stylus or d-pad to enter your commands. Which at first seems like a lot of inputs. Thankfully there’s an auto fight button you can press which will help speed up those fights when grinding for higher levels. The character models during the battles are on point and the animations are tight. From some hands on time with this demo it looks like Konami is in the right direction for delivering another solid rpg to the Nintendo DS. And it also got me thinking about something, why is the ds getting all these good rpgs? This system has more rpg’s on it than all the bigger consoles have combined. Not that i’m hating on the DS or anything, i just thought it was worth mentioning. Anyways will keep you posted on the latest info for Suikoden:Tierkreis.

I was surprised to hear that people were calling “Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia” “the best Castlevania game since ‘Symphony of the Night.’” It’s not because “Ecclesia” is a bad game, but because it is the biggest departure from the traditions of the Castlevania series since, well… “Castlevania Judgment.” While “Order of Ecclesia” has the makings of a great game, it seems odd to have it bear the name “Castlevania” because it is so different than previous games, and that includes the 2D games that it most closely resembles. Again, what I played of the game wasn’t bad by any means… just different.

First of all, the game stars a female protagonist. While I’m all for empowering the ladies of video games, the lead character’s first name is Shoanoa, and her last name isn’t Belmont. This is not the first time that a Castlevania title hasn’t stared a someone from the Belmont lineage, but coupled with the fact that the series so rarely even has a women in the game, it feels like a bit of a stretch. I repeat, I’m not against a women staring in a game, it just feels a little off for a Castlevania title.

Next up is the Glyph attack system, which is basically a fancy way of saying weapons. The Castlevania series has changed their methods of attacking many times over the last few titles, some for the better, and some for the not so better; this time around they are happen to be going with the Glyphs. These Glyphs are tied to the Order of Ecclesia to which Shoanoa belongs, are part of her character background, and will be vital to taking down Dracula.

Essentially, the way that Shoanoa gains new attacks is through the absorption of Glyphs throughout the levels – which are obtained at key points in the levels, as well as after defeating certain enemies. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with the Glyph system, but, along with it comes an idea borrowed from many an RPG, equipping your weapons. Shoanoa has three places she can equip her Glyphs, two on her wrists, and one on her back. When the same Glyph is equipped on both wrists you have an increased combo attack (think dual-weilding), and only certain Glyphs can be equipped to her back. This may not be an issue for some gamers out there, but personally, I like to tinker with my character as much as possible to maximize their attack. Unfortunately, this means I may have to spend a bit of time in “Ecclesia”’s menu, again, not new, just something that may irk me a little bit.

Finally, the last tweak to the standard Castlevania formula was the inclusion of an over world map. From my past experiences in Castlevania games, they have mostly taken place in once place… Dracula’s Castle – it puts the “castle” in “Castle-vania.” Opening up the world does offer the possibility for new enemies, and a new experience for gamers who have trekked back and forth over Dracula’s sanctuary over and over again, but it just doesn’t feel right for some reason.

Ok… I feel better now that that’s out of my system, you’ll have to excuse me, I sometimes have problems accepting change.

Complaints aside, there is a very good chance that “Order of Ecclesia” will follow very closely in the footsteps of two of the greatest DS games to date, “Dawn of Sorrow” and “Portrait of Ruin.” The story is as deep as Castlevania fans are used to. The controls handle very well. The attack system is creative and unique, yet still feels familiar. The graphics are as good as they get on the DS, and aside from everything mentioned above, there are a whole assortment of things that will make the game familiar enough to longtime fans. (Yes, I realize I’m contradicting myself – deal with it.)

One welcome addition to “Ecclesia”’s arsenal of updates is the multiplayer mode. Included with the, no doubt, vast single player mode, is a head-to-head multiplayer race where you can go up against your friends to see who kills the undead best… or at least who gets to the end of the level the fastest. In addition to that, you’ll be able to share items with other “Ecclesia” adventures, and, the game will use Wii connectivity to unlock Shoanoa in “Castlevania Judgement,” which is a pretty awesome addition.

While Castlevania traditionalists may have some issues with some of the new additions to “Order of Ecclesia,” they may actually improve on the tried and true formula that made the last two DS Castlevania games amazing. My faith in those two games alone is enough for me to get over my issues and realize that someone has to save the world from Dracula, again, and it might as well be me.

-2.0

So konami release this trailer of a new title that have up their sleeves, now all fans of castlevania series will think this is some what related to it. The character himself looks like one of the Belmont characters but he’s not.This is just a teaser trailer but we can expect a good whip cracking adventure out of this title with insane graphics and hopefully a sick sound track to back it up. There isn’t much info on this title at the moment but we’ll keep you posted so kick back and enjoy the trailer!  

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