10 Things You Didn't Know About Castlevania
1. There Was Almost An Open-World Castlevania In 2006
Konami has several well-known franchises under its belt aside from Castlevania, such as...Silent Hill. So what would you say to the news that Silent Hill: Origins developer Climax Studios pitched an open-world Castlevania set in Venice, starring a depressed rock star who inherits the Belmont whip?
Welcome to the shattered world of rock star Michael Cross, who is mourning the suicide of his girlfriend. While vacationing in Venice, Italy, he rushes to the aid of the person in the next hotel room over to find a member of the Belmont clan mortally wounded. They tell him to take their crucifix and whip, head to a particular address, and then give Cross a message from his dead girlfriend.
And that would have began an open-world adventure in Venice, filled with mask-wearing citizens who turn monstrous in the evenings, complete with a day/night cycle. Cross apparently would have been much like Devil May Cry's Dante by using the Belmont whip up close and pistols at a distance. Cross could also equip masks taken from defeated enemies to learn new abilities.
Had this game been greenlit by Konami, it could have done what Symphony of the Night did to create Metroidvanias by creating a new subgenre: Devilvania, perhaps?