What Is Castlevania Requiem?
Castlevania Requiem is an upcoming Konami release for the PS4. It isn’t a new title in the long-running series. Instead, it is a bundle containing both Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which makes sense because the two have a much stronger connection between them than most titles in the series.
In short, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was a platformer that had its initial release in 1993, while Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was a platformer action RPG that had its initial release in 1997. Story-wise, Rondo of Blood featured Richter Belmont seeking to free his lover Annette from Dracula, while Symphony of the Night featured Alucard searching for Richter who has gone missing some time after his victory over Dracula.
Mechanics-wise, Symphony of the Night is particularly notable because it introduced some of the core elements that have become iconic of the Castlevania series, with examples ranging from the action RPG elements to the need to explore non-linear levels.
Both Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night were successes, though it took some time for the latter to reach its full potential because of a lack of initial marketing. In fact, both titles were successful enough for them to have received multiple remakes and re-releases on a number of platforms.
As a result, while the fact that Castlevania Requiem will be a PS4 exclusive for the foreseeable future is rather unfortunate for other console owners, it is not exactly unexpected because previous remakes and re-releases have often been restricted to a single platform as well.
Further Considerations
With that said, one can’t help but wonder whether the release of Castlevania Requiem will have an positive impact on the Castlevania series as a whole. There is clear interest in a new Castlevania title, which has been boosted by the release of the Castlevania animated series via Netflix. Furthermore, there have been reports of internal Konami discussions over the potential of a new Castlevania title. However, it remains to be seen whether these encouraging signs will ever lead to a new Castlevania title or not.
