We suspect Luc is referring to the Rose Princess (and her sidekick Mr. Cuddles), which was going to be his next game after Eternity’s Child when he repeatedly says "cannot mention the character", but that is just our opinion! We don’t want to get the talented artist into any hot water with any of our idle speculations.
Here is the game pitch which those nasty publishers had the nerve to turn down:
- The Game Play -
The game play will be based around 2D adventure action games, like Castlevania and Metroid. Where the player has this huge world to explore and can only access new areas with the right weapon or new ability. The main game is expected to be 10 hours long, and a extra 5 hours to finish it at 100%
- Attacks & Fighting -
The player will take the control of "cannot mention the character", who will attack with her cello. She will be able to upgrade her weapon by gaining experience points every time she kills a enemy. You will be able to find armours in the castle which will make her less vulnerable to attacks. As the game progresses you will be able to cast magic spells as stronger attacks against bosses. But every time you use a spell, your magic meter will go down so you will have to find more magic in the castle to refill it.- Skills & Upgrades -
You will start off with only have some basic moves, such as a normal cello attack and a attack when you’re jumping or in the air.
Later in the game once defeating bosses you will be able to get other moves, such as a double jump, sliding, dodging which will allow you to access other parts of the castle.
The more enemies you kill the more experience points you get which will allow the player to become more powerful.- Magic Powers -
There will be several powers that you will be able to find within the castle. Such as a shield spell, another one that allows you to summon pugs that will then attack the closest enemy. Others spells will allow you to play the cello and have flying notes then go all over the screen and give damage to all enemies, ones that can cast fire (to burn down things) and also water.
- Objects -
There will be various objects within the castle, such as keys will which allow you to unlock doors to access new areas. Various body armour which will allow the player to receive less damage when he they are hit by a enemy. As well as HP and MP will be found throughout the castle and also by killing enemies. The player will be able to get spells by finding spell books. Also there will be night and day cards, which will allow you to change the time of the day, since some doors only open up at night or in the day.- The World -
The world will be divided into 8 different zones that the player go back and forth as he wishes. To get to another area of the world you will have to either find a new ability (such as double jump) or a spell/key to get past the door. The level design will be very similar to Super Metroid, and the Castlevania DS and GBA games, it will be a open 2D sidescrolling world.- Areas in the World -
Beauty Factory.
A factory is located within the world, which creates robots to replace artists, so they can be the perfect beings and obey every order, "cannot mention the character" was created here. It’s a big neon light factory, with many machines that will be creating robots.
Thorn Gardens
The castle will have a big garden where all the weeds and thorns are overgrown so it now looks like a forest, the player will need the fire spell to burn down big thorns in the way, and also the water spell to grow plants to jump on to access other parts of this area.The Theatre
This is the king’s private theatre where he goes to see performances done by the robots he’s created. It will be inspired by the Paris Opera.The Poker Rooms
These rooms are all inspired by poker, and you will need to place cards found in the castle in a certain order on doors to be able to unlock them.The Art Gallery
This part of the castle will have a lot of puzzles, the player will have to reproduce some paintings with the wiimote in order to unlock doors and gain new objects.Lair of the Pug
When "cannot mention the character" is kidnapped by pugs in the game, he will be brainwashed into becoming their leader. This area has all the king’s robot pugs, such as pugs with wings etc… the pugs however as cute as they look they are some of the most vicious enemies in the game, and they will all have a French accent.
Space Labs
The kings obsession with space, has led him to create this whole observatory. With reproductions of planets, stars and space. There is also weird gravity in this level, each planet reproduction will have its own gravity, so it will be similar to Mario galaxy only in 2D. This area will be played in 360 degrees, with the room constantly rotating as you play.Castle Hallways
The hallway of the castle will be inspired by Versailles, and will be the first area the player will visit in the game.- Boss Tactics -
At one point, "cannot mention the character" will be kidnapped and his robotic brain will be modified, so there will be a boss fight against him. He will throw flamed vodka bottles (similar to cocktail molotov) which will set parts of the room on fire and cause explosions, the player will have to use the shield spell to protect "cannot mention the character", and then wait for the flames to go down before attacking him.
The violin twins, these 2 robotic twins were created to entertain the king. However in the boss fight, the player will have to dodge all the violins they are throwing around like boomerangs, and then wait for one of them to start playing before the player can attack them.
The orchestra conductor boss will basically be a rhythm mini game where you will have to move the wiimote and nunchuck at the right moments in rhythm (like indicated on screen) to attack him with flying musical notes coming out of the cello.
So what do you think of this concept then? Is this a game you would like to play? Are the publishers short-sighted to pass up on this idea, or prudent as this genre has had its day? Let your thoughts be known below!
Source: Luc Bernard’s blog
Comments 18
Hmm...if done right it could have been interesting with the right art direction...like Super Metroid and Castlevania: DoS.
I've always been a big fan of the Castlevania series and in particular the game play mechanics which I've watched develop in the various GBA and DS renditions of the series. Seeing that sort of tried and true concept applied to a world as creatively lush as the Rose Princess is an extremely exciting prospect.
2D Metroids are amazing. Potential best WiiWare game.
i will be definitely getting this game when it comes out and enternity child as well.
Anyone else remember when CV wasn't an "adventure" game? I miss CV III-style action
_(Note: i do like the Castleroid games, but sometimes I just want me, my whip and maybe a sidekick or two rampaging across a castle filled with old school challenge.)
I have the GBA Casltevania games and they never get old. They are so good. Symphony of the Night is a masterpiece of gaming, butt I would not mind to see another adventure with Simon Belmont. Anyway, I like this article it has some cool game ideas.
Where do I sign to make this happen??
This osunds awesome...way better than Eternity's Child or most upcoming wiiware games. What a shame...
Um.... why would they turn that idea down? Super Metroid and Castlevania:SotN are two of my favorite games. And I know I'm not alone in that belief. Also, a castleroid-style game with Luc Bernard's art style? That would kick ass.
Í hope publishers are reading this so they know how awesome we think it is.
@ Jupiter Adept- All 10 of you?
I'm not exactly sure that'd cause publishers to start beating down Bernard's door.
Since the concept is pretty much Castlevania: SOTN with cool enviroments and artdirection, the game doesn´t sound original. I´m sure it would sell though, and I´d definitly buy it if I had enough space on my Wii. This being said, I do understand if publishers don´t go bonkers over a pitch leaning so heavilly on Metroid and Castlevania.
Hmm....this idea sounds cool, some Castleroid gameplay....wait a minute...I think I found the problem:
"...another one that allows you to summon pugs that will then attack the closest enemy...."
Publisher obviously hate his obsession with pugs! Isn't it obvious?
we need a new console game of this type though, it's been awhile since we've had a brand new castleroid type game, there have been remakes, but nothing really new
I'd like to see a game with the art direction of vanillaware on the wii.
A magic spell where enemies are attacked by pugs ROFL that's too funny!
Sounds like a solid game, who knows why they turned it down. Could be "not original enough", could be "imitatable acts" (molotovs), could be Pug Phobia... We'll never know, let's just hope either Eternity's Child does well enough that Luc Bernard will have to beat the publishers off with a stick, or that he'll keep shopping around for someone willing to make it.
If I could have only one WiiWare game, I'd want something like this.
From the look of Eternity's Child, I think this could be a really great game, as atmosphere plays a huge part in this kind of game.
Long-live 2D!
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