Comic Con 2010: We Know Things About Konami Games

While Konami’s presence of the Comic Con show floor is largely dedicated to Yu-Gi-Oh: The Trading Card Game, we had the chance to check out some of their games and ask some more questions to follow-up from our time with them at E3. We got more hands on with Hard Corps: Uprising, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and Otomedius, and were actually able to hear each of the games for a change.

So, what’s new with Hard Corps and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and what did we learn about Otomedius and Castlevania: Harmony of Despair? More after the jump!

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

While we missed this one at E3, we had fun with it here at Comic Con, and really got a kick out of being able to zoom in and out of the screen at any point in time.  It’s all crazy that bosses can leave their chambers and roam about the map once you confront them, making you chase after them in order to defeat them.  More importantly, however, is the fact that the game will be using music from Order of Ecclesia, Symphony of the Night, and other past Castlevania titles.  While we don’t know at this time if any new music will be written for the game, it has been confirmed that along with map packs and characters, music packs will also be downloadable in the future, allowing gamers to customize their aural experience with the game.  Sounds pretty cool to me, although I hope Konami prices them reasonably.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

We played this at E3, but were unfortunately unable to hear much.  This time we got to enjoy it with a nice pair of Sony headphones, hearing every detail of the game’s emerging score.  The game opens with an emotional cinematic cue that sounds like something from a feature film.  While beautiful, I can’t say that it sounds distinctly Castlevania in that it’s lacking that Gothic flair.  The game has a very epic vibe about it, from Patrick Stewart’s narration to the focus on story and character development.

For the game’s battles we were treated to a bombastic action piece filled with brass and deep string stabs.  We got a taste of choir and rumbling percussion with plenty of crash cymbals.  Again, not much in terms of paying homage to the roots of the series, but fitting of the beautiful visuals.  I have to say that I did feel there were too many “press the button at a certain time” elements in the game (not really Quicktime events, but similar), which some may take issue with.  The second section of the demo featured a beautiful and enveloping piece to accompany a night in the forest.  It ended with somewhat of an upbeat “adventure” motif that sounded like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean.  Get ready for the swashbuckling Gabriel Belmont!

Harp Corps: Uprising

Again, we saw this at E3, but didn’t get to hear much.  We pumped up the volume this time, subjecting everyone to the highly “gamey” synth rock music, similar in style to Contra.  While we didn’t hear any direct references to Contra themes in the music (composed by BlazBlue composer Daisuke Ishiwatari), we did hear that familiar “level complete” jingle at the end of the demo, ripped straight out of Contra.  I’m really looking forward to this, and producer Kenji Yamamoto has told us that the game will feature approximately 15 tracks and that they’re hoping for a soundtrack release.

Otomedius: Excellent

Well, we didn’t get to play Otomedius: Excellent at Comic Con.  So why are we talking about it?  Konami actually had Otomedius: Gorgeous on hand, which is a Japan-only release for the Xbox 360.  Excellent is actually the follow-up to Gorgeous, but Excellent wasn’t ready to be shown, so they brought along Gorgeous to give us an idea of what we can expect from the franchise.  Confused yet?  Everyone else there was too.  While information is scarce, we were told that Konami intends to offer music expansions similar to what was done in Japan.  I asked about a music player (sound test) in the game, and was told that it currently did not have one.  I insisted that they should really consider it if they expect fans to buy additional music for the game.  We’ll see what happens.

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Which Konami titles are you looking forward to the most?  Are you surprised by the approach the teams are taking to any of these games in particular?