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Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls was originally announced by Konami in April 2018 but it was never fully released. Instead, it was canceled less than a year after its soft launch, never to be seen again — until now.
There’s no release date listed on the Apple Arcade page for Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls, but it certainly looks like a Castlevania title. The franchise’s gameplay mechanics have remained popular throughout the years, despite the series seeing less releases. Like Metroid, Castlevania also slowed down in terms of releases as the years went on, despite both titles contributing to defining the ‘Metroidvania’ genre, which continues to be popular decades after the franchise’s most popular titles.
“Oh… but this world invited me.”
Not much has changed since Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls kind of released before being shelved. The Netflix series was out during the game’s soft launch but perhaps the plans were to test and refine the game after receiving fan feedback while the animated series continued to air. It’s hard to know for sure since Konami hasn’t provided any details.
We don’t know when Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls will be available other than soon but it will be the first Castlevania title in years. The most recent title before now was Lords of Shadow, which was released back in 2014 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. We love covering retro titles in franchises and it says something that the newest title in the series is almost within our coverage territory.
It looks like the wait between games might have been worth it. The pictures on the game’s Apple Arcade page look just like classic Castlevania. Well, and it’s not like we haven’t had other Metroidvania games to play in the meantime.
Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls will have over sixty retro-themed levels and feature characters from across the series, including Alucard, which newcomers from the Netflix series will recognize. Maria Renard, Charlotte Aulin, Simon Belmont, and Shanoa will also be playable characters. The game’s Apple Arcade page says there will be daily and weekly missions and more playable characters at a later time.
Perhaps this too is part of my fate
It may seem sudden but this isn’t the first resurrection or rumbling we’ve heard from Konami. Castlevania Advance Collection hasn’t been officially announced yet but its existence was confirmed by an Australian Classification board and then again by a similar group in South Korea. Maybe Konami is testing the waters for future releases for Castlevania and other franchises, like Silent Hill.
Regardless of what the future holds, this is at least one more game fans of the series will probably enjoy, along with some new fans that might be aware of the game through Apple Arcade or the Netflix adaptation. The Apple Arcade page for Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls also says the game will feature “classic sound and visuals” with character designs from “character designs from Ayami Kojima and music by Michiru Yamane.”
We shall meet again, blood of Belmont!
Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls will also have a new and original story, which is oddly inspiring in a world where entire releases sometimes feel like they were only created for copyright renewal purposes. Re-releases and anniversary collections can be exciting for fans but an entirely new Castlevania is something for everyone to celebrate. Well, except vampires.
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