The latest issue of Nintendo Power has spilled the beans on the oft-rumored newest entry in the storied Castlevania franchise, and it looks like the Belmonts’ newest adventure is a mix of new and old.
Developed by Mercury Stream (the same team that created the Xbox 360/PS3 reboot Lords of Shadow back in 2010,) the latest Castlevania blends the non-linear, 2D platforming of earlier titles in the series with a continuation of the story and an evolution of the combat mechanics from Lords of Shadow.
Mirror of Fate’s story takes place 25 years after the events of Lords of Shadow, except this time Trevor Belmont will be the protagonist rather than LoS’ Gabriel Belmont. The name Trevor Belmont should be familiar to hardcore Castlevania fans: he was the central character in the much beloved Castlevania 3 for NES, and while he’s not the same Trevor that appeared in that game (remember, Lords of Shadow rebooted the continuity,) an element from CV3 will carry over into Mirror of Fate: multiple playable characters. Mercury Stream isn’t ready to divulge all of Trevor’s companions are yet, but they did say that the original Castlevania hero, Simon Belmont, will appear in the game as a playable character. Fan favorite characters like the sorceress Sypha Belnades and Dracula’s pretty boy son Alucard originally made their debut in the NES Castlevania 3 alongside Trevor Belmont, but it’s currently unknown whether alternate-continuity versions of those characters will appear in the new game. Like Symphony of the Night and the later GBA and DS entries in the series, Mirror of Fate will task players with exploring Dracula’s castle in a non-linear fashion, and players will have to utilize the unique abilities of each character in order to open up new paths through the labyrinthine castle.
The game will also make use of the 3DS’ touch screen via a customizable map: players can set waypoints or leave notes for themselves on the bottom screen map, which should help when you get lost or need to backtrack in order to find some item or secret path that you missed. Konami is also promising that the game will make use of the 3DS’ unique StreetPass and SpotPass capabilities, though they’re keeping the specifics of the game’s connectivity a secret for now.
That’s all the details about Mirror of Fate that are available right now, but you can bet we’ll definitely find out more about the game next week at E3. I love Castlevania and can’t wait to try out the latest game, so I’m hoping that this game will be playable on the E3 show floor. If it is, check back here next week for updated impressions.
Chris Hernandez
This will be a day one purchase for me.