14 DAY TRIAL // Koji Igarashi is the man whom many associate with the Castlevania series of games, one of the most recognizable franchises published by Konami. So, it was a bit of a surprise when the company showed off Hideo Kojima, the father of the Metal Gear Solid series, as being the one overall in charge of the development process of the next Castlevania videogame, called Lords of Shadow.
Rumors started to surface that Igarashi was set to leave Konami and his bellowed Castlevania in search of greener pastures. But Konami is denying those rumors and saying that the next project on which Igarashi is working is set to be unveiled later in 2009 at the Tokyo Game Show.
Hay Boor, who is the spokesman for Konami, directly told Kotaku that “He is still at Konami, and he is still working on projects.” Boor was very tight lipped when asked whether Igarashi was in any way involved in the making of Lords of Shadow, which is being created by Kojima Productions and MercurySteam.
The spokesman was also defensive when asked about the possibility of another Castlevania game being announced this year, coming to the traditional Nintendo DS handheld, on which the series released games in 2005, 2006 and 2008. This could be taken as a sign that Igarashi is involved in the initial stages of a parallel game to Lords of Shadow. It seems that all will be revealed in time for the Tokyo Game Show.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is set to be a sort of reboot for the series, with the setting being the European Middle Ages and with the main character being named as Gabriel.
The game should be an action adventure that combines battles, puzzles and a bit of platforming and the main weapon in the game will be called the Combat Cross. Actors like Patrick Stewart, Natasha McElhone and Robert Carlyle are attached to the project.