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These two interviews contain facts and details about the development that I’ve not read elsewhere, such as an intriguing alignment system that was dropped early on. The first interview is from the official Konami guide book; the second is from an unknown source, but most likely one of the contemporary Japanese gaming magazines." /> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@shmuplations" /> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/sotn00.jpg" /> <script type="application/ld+json" class="aioseo-schema"> {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/#blogposting","name":"Symphony of the Night \u2013 1997 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com","headline":"Symphony of the Night \u2013 1997 Developer Interview","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/author\/shmuplations\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/sotn00.jpg","width":570,"height":350},"datePublished":"2021-12-16T11:59:12+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-21T12:20:14+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/#webpage"},"articleSection":"Uncategorized, Konami, Koji Igarashi, Michiru Yamane, Toru Hagihara, Toshihiro Furukawa, Castlevania, Symphony of the Night, 1997"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/#listItem","name":"Symphony of the Night \u2013 1997 Developer Interview"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Symphony of the Night \u2013 1997 Developer Interview","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/#listItem","name":"Home"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/#organization","name":"shmuplations","description":"80s\/90s\/00s japanese gamedev interviews","url":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/logo.png","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/#organizationLogo","width":537,"height":116},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/#organizationLogo"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/shmuplations"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/author\/shmuplations\/#author","url":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/author\/shmuplations\/","name":"shmuplations","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4da41e709e53c4c1b3a656f0b5ca9cad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"shmuplations"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/shmuplations.com\/symphony\/","name":"Symphony of the Night \u2013 1997 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com","description":"Released in 1997, Symphony of the Night forever changed the direction of Castlevania (for better or worse, depending on who you ask). 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1025px){body .uag-hide-desktop.uagb-google-map__wrap,body .uag-hide-desktop{display:none}}@media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px){body .uag-hide-tab.uagb-google-map__wrap,body .uag-hide-tab{display:none}}@media (max-width: 767px){body .uag-hide-mob.uagb-google-map__wrap,body .uag-hide-mob{display:none}}</style><link rel="icon" href="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/siteicon.jpg" sizes="32x32" /> <link rel="icon" href="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/siteicon.jpg" sizes="192x192" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/siteicon.jpg" /> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/siteicon.jpg" /> <style id="wp-custom-css"> /* Target mobile only: these three all relate to font sizing on mobile */ @media (max-width : 480px) { .wp-block-group { padding-right: 1.5rem !important; padding-left: 1.5rem !important; } } /* .wp-block-columns is used on the frontpage, and also on posts, but i only want this padding on the front page mobile (and the two tablepress pages, actually) */ @media (max-width : 480px) { .page-id-855 .wp-block-columns, .page-id-813 .wp-block-columns { padding-right: 0 !important; padding-left: 0 !important; } } /* @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { html { font-size: .9rem} } */ @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { p { line-height: 1.5;} } /** use full-width for mobile by re-defining responsive--alignwide-width variable **/ @media screen and (max-width:480px) { body { --responsive--alignwide-width: 100%;} } /* This Centers right and left aligned images on mobile */ @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #page .alignleft, #page .alignright { float: none; margin: 1.25em auto; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; } } .entry-footer { display: none !important; } /* remove recent posts from frontpage */ .page-id-239 .widget-area { display: none; } .page-id-239 .site-info { display:none; } body { --latest-posts--title-font-size: 1.4rem; } /*Style the text in latest posts*/ .wp-block-latest-posts.is-grid > li { background-color:#e3e3f5; margin-bottom:1.5rem !important; } .wp-block-latest-posts>li>a { margin-top:-10px; /*width:303px;*/ text-decoration: none; color:black; padding-left:5%; padding-right:10%; margin-bottom:0px; font-weight:bold; } /* date text*/ .wp-block-latest-posts .wp-block-latest-posts__post-date { margin-top: 0px; color:black; padding-left:5%; margin-bottom:20px !important; } /* These add a background to the caption text and remove the spacing between image and caption */ figcaption { background-color: #ddddff; padding-top: 1rem; padding-bottom:1rem; padding-left:2rem; padding-right:2rem; margin-top:0px !important; margin-bottom:0px !important; text-align: center; line-height: 1.5 !important; font-size:1.25rem !important; color:black !important; max-width: 100%; } .wp-block-image img { margin-bottom: 0px !important; } /* removes top spacer from mobile on pages */ @media screen and (max-width:480px) { #page .wp-block-spacer { display: none !important;} } /* This places embeds (like youtube vids) midway into the left whitespace. it's not bad but i havent decided on it yet*/ .wp-block-embed.alignleft {margin-left:10%; margin-right:5%;} @media screen and (max-width:480px) { .wp-block-latest-posts.is-grid { flex-direction: column; }} h1, .h1, h2, .h2, h3, .h3, h4, .h4, h5, .h5, h6, .h6 { clear: none; } /* Styling for the search bar and show entries on tablepress */ .dataTables_filter input { border-radius: 10px; padding: .36rem; } .dataTables_length { margin-bottom:10px; margin-top:.02rem; } /* this shortens the vertical size of the select box by adding less padding top and bottom*/ select { padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:5px; } /* disabling the stupid link highlighting of TT1*/ a:focus { color:inherit !important; background-color:inherit !important; } .wp-block-latest-posts>li>a:focus {color:black !important; } /* targets hover effect on child cells in responsive table*/ table.dataTable .child td:hover { background-color:transparent!important; } @media screen and (min-width:480px) { .tablepress tbody td { font-size:1.2rem; line-height:1.5em; } } .tablepress thead th, .tablepress tfoot th { background-color:#c6a7e3; } .tablepress thead .sorting_asc, .tablepress thead .sorting_desc, .tablepress thead .sorting:hover { background-color: #c066f9; } @media screen and (min-width:480px) { .page-id-855 { --responsive--alignwide-width: min(calc(100vw - 8 * var(--global--spacing-horizontal)), 1440px); } } /* adds spacing to the game table rows*/ @media screen and (min-width:480px) { .tablepress-id-2 td { padding-bottom:15px; padding-top:15px; } } td.column-1.dtr-control::before { display:none !important; } @media screen and (max-width:480px) { td.column-2 { padding-right:15px !important; } } @media screen and (min-width:480px) { .tablepress { table-layout:fixed; } .tablepress-id-2 .column-1 { width: 16% !important; } .tablepress-id-2 .column-2 { width: 15% !important; } .tablepress-id-2 .column-3 { width: 13% !important; } .tablepress-id-2 .column-4 { width: 20% !important; } .tablepress-id-2 .column-5 { width: 20% !important; } .tablepress-id-2 .column-6 { width: 7% !important; } /*.tablepress-id-2 img { width: 180px; }*/ } td.column-1.dtr-control { padding-left:15px !important; /* padding-right:0px !important; */ } @media screen and (max-width:480px) { .column-1.dtr-control img {width:130px;} } /* tricky mobile styling for responsive tables */ @media screen and (max-width:480px) { .dataTables_wrapper .dataTables_filter input {width:70%;} .dataTables_filter {padding-left:170px !important; padding-bottom:5px;} } @media screen and (min-width:480px) { .wp-block-columns { border-radius: 8px; } } /* general re-routing of h3, mainly done to port over code from shmuplations more easily*/ body h3 { font-size: 1.4rem; font-weight: 600; } body { --global--spacing-horizontal: 40px; } /* slightly smaller h3 fonts for mobile*/ @media only screen and (max-width: 480px) { body h3 { font-size: 1.3rem; } } @media only screen and (min-width: 481px) { :root{ --responsive--aligndefault-width: min(calc(100vw - 8 * var(--global--spacing-horizontal)), 800px); } } /* target laptop screens with wider interview area*/ @media only screen and (min-width: 1500px) { :root { --responsive--aligndefault-width: min(calc(100vw - 8 * var(--global--spacing-horizontal)), 800px); } .post-thumbnail, .entry-content .wp-audio-shortcode, .entry-content > *:not(.alignwide):not(.alignfull):not(.alignleft):not(.alignright):not(.wp-block-separator):not(.woocommerce), *[class*=inner-container] > *:not(.entry-content):not(.alignwide):not(.alignfull):not(.alignleft):not(.alignright):not(.wp-block-separator):not(.woocommerce), .default-max-width, .wp-block-search, hr.wp-block-separator:not(.is-style-dots):not(.alignwide), .entry-content > .alignleft, .entry-content > .alignright, .author-bio, .search-form { max-width: var(--responsive--aligndefault-width); } body h3{ font-size:1.5rem; } body p{ font-size:1.5rem; line-height:1.5; } .wp-block-media-text__content p{ font-size:1.25rem; line-height:1.7; } } @media only screen and (min-width:481px) { body p { font-size:1.5rem; line-height:1.5; } .post p{ line-height:1.5; } /* .wp-block-group .wp-block-group__inner-container > * { margin-top: calc(var(--global--spacing-vertical) - 3px); margin-bottom: calc(var(--global--spacing-vertical) - 3px); } */ .wp-block-media-text__content p { /* font-size:1.25rem;*/ font-size:1.25rem; line-height:1.7; } /* spacing/margins for L/R aligned column content in posts*/ .single-post .wp-block-columns { margin-top: 40px; margin-bottom: 30px; } /* more padding for captioned images that are not left or right aligned */ figure:not(.alignright, .alignleft, .doubleimagecolumn-figure) > figcaption { padding-left:2.5rem; padding-right:2.5rem; } :root h4 { font-size:1.6rem; } .wp-block-media-text__content p{ margin-top:-10px !important; } } /**---------------------**/ /** 1920+ Sizings **/ /**---------------------**/ @media only screen and (min-width: 1920px) { :root { --responsive--aligndefault-width: min(calc(100vw - 8 * var(--global--spacing-horizontal)), 800px); --global--font-size-base: 1.5rem; --global--line-height-body: 1.5; --global--spacing-vertical: 30px; --global--spacing-horizontal: 40px; --global--spacing-unit: 24px; } :root h4 { font-size:1.7rem !important; } body h3 { font-size:1.55rem !important; font-weight:600; } .post-thumbnail, .entry-content .wp-audio-shortcode, .entry-content > *:not(.alignwide):not(.alignfull):not(.alignleft):not(.alignright):not(.wp-block-separator):not(.woocommerce), *[class*=inner-container] > *:not(.entry-content):not(.alignwide):not(.alignfull):not(.alignleft):not(.alignright):not(.wp-block-separator):not(.woocommerce), .default-max-width, .wp-block-search, hr.wp-block-separator:not(.is-style-dots):not(.alignwide), .entry-content > .alignleft, .entry-content > .alignright, .author-bio, .search-form { max-width: var(--responsive--aligndefault-width); } /* this targets the text of the opening intro block */ .wp-block-media-text__content p{ font-size:1.3rem; line-height:1.7; margin-top:-10px !important; } figcaption { font-size:1.25rem !important; /* margin-bottom:2.5rem !important; */ max-width: 999999px !important; max-height:999999px !important; } /* more padding for captioned images that are not left or right aligned*/ figure:not(.alignright, .alignleft) > figcaption { padding-left:3rem; padding-right:3rem; } /* makes sure not to apply "wide" caption padding to youtube L/R embeds, which I use columns for */ .wp-block-column figure >figcaption{ padding-left:2rem; padding-right:2rem; } .wp-block-latest-posts > li > a { font-size:1.5rem; line-height:1.9rem; } .wp-block-latest-posts .wp-block-latest-posts__post-date { font-size:1.07rem; margin-top:2px; } .wp-block-columns .wp-block-column h3:first-child { margin-top: -10px; } } /*--------------------*/ @media only screen and (max-width:480px) { .wp-block-media-text .wp-block-media-text__content { padding-left: 1.5rem; padding-right: 1.5rem; padding-top:2rem; } h4, .h4 { font-size:1.6rem; } h5, .h5 { font-size:1.6rem !important; } } /* these are for interview headings within the main article --need to add responsive stylings... 2.3rem @2560, 1.7rem @ipad/laptop? */ h5, .h5 { font-size:1.9rem; margin-bottom: 0px !important; } h5 strong, .h5 strong{ font-weight:600; } h5 + p { font-weight:600 !important; margin-top:0px !important; } @media only screen and (max-width:480px) { /* this targets the text of the opening intro block */ .wp-block-media-text__content p{ font-size:1.25rem; line-height:1.5 !important; } } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .wp-block-media-text .wp-block-media-text__content h4 { margin-bottom:0; } .wp-block-media-text .wp-block-media-text__content p { margin-top:15px; } } /* .marginbotminus20 { margin-bottom:-20px !important; } */ /* html,body { text-size-adjust: none !important; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none !important; -moz-text-size-adjust: none !important; -ms-text-size-adjust: none !important; } */ @media only screen and (max-width:480px) { figure { font-size:18px !important; } .wp-block-image figcaption { font-size: 18px !important; width:100% !important; line-height:1.5 !important; } figcaption { max-width: 999999px !important; max-height:999999px !important; padding-left:1.35rem; padding-right:1.35rem; } .wp-block-embed figcaption{ font-size:18px !important;} .wp-block-column figcaption{ font-size:18px !important;} } /* wordpress sometimes fails to add the table styling for images, especially in columns--this way images and the like should be freely resizable in style-editor.css as well */ figure.wp-block-image{ display:table !important; } .wp-block-image figcaption{ display:table-caption; caption-side:bottom; } .wp-block-gallery figure{ display:flex !important; } @media only screen and (min-width:481px) { .wp-block-columns .wp-block-column h3:first-child { margin-top: -10px; } } @media only screen and (min-width:481px) { .wp-block-latest-posts.is-grid > li { border-radius: 14px; } .wp-block-latest-posts__featured-image img { border-radius: 14px 14px 0px 0px; } figure.wp-block-image:not(.alignleft, .alignright, .wp-block-column *,.alexalignleft) { margin-top: 40px !important; margin-bottom:40px; } /* margins top and bottom for center aligned youtube vids */ .wp-block-group__inner-container > figure.wp-block-embed.is-type-video { margin-top: 40px; margin-bottom: 40px; } .wp-block-gallery figure.wp-block-image{ margin-top:0 !important; } .wp-block-gallery { margin-top:40px !important; margin-bottom:40px !important; } /* i think this should apply to all column margins, basically videos since l/r images are defined specifically below... */ .wp-block-column:not(:first-child){ margin-left: 2.25rem; } .leftimageplustext .wp-block-column:first-child { flex-shrink:0; } .leftimageplustext .wp-block-column:not(:first-child) { margin-left: 2.25rem; } .leftimageplustext .wp-block-column .wp-block-image figure { margin-right: 0; margin-top:2px; } .leftimageplustext .wp-block-column, .rightimageplustext .wp-block-column { flex-basis:unset !important; } .rightimageplustext .wp-block-column:last-child{ flex-shrink:0; } .rightimageplustext .wp-block-column .wp-block-image figure { margin-left: 0; margin-top:2px; } .rightimageplustext .wp-block-column:last-child { margin-left:2.5rem; } } @media only screen and (min-width:481px) { .wp-block-columns.are-vertically-aligned-center.has-white-color.has-text-color { margin-top:-10px; } .wp-block-group .wp-block-columns .wp-block-column p:first-child { margin-top: -10px; } } @media only screen and (max-width:480px) { .wp-block-uagb-social-share { justify-content: center; align-items: flex-end; column-gap: 0rem; background: #1d1d1d; padding: 10px; margin-top: -40px !important;; margin-left: 0 !important;; width: calc(100vw + 1px) !important; max-width: 101vw !important; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top:20px !important; border: solid grey 3px; border-left:none; border-right:none; } .wp-block-group.alignwide.has-black-color.has-text-color.has-background { margin-top:-20px; } .uagb-social-share__wrap { justify-content: center !important; align-items: center; /* gap: 5px;*/ margin-top: -10px; margin-right:0 !important; } .uagb-ss__source-wrap svg { width: 45px !important; height: 45px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width:480px) { .wp-block-latest-posts > li > a { font-size:1.6rem } .wp-block-latest-posts .wp-block-latest-posts__post-date{ font-size:1.1rem; margin-bottom: 15px !important; } } .taglyfe { background-color: #d9d9ed; padding: 15px; padding-top: 12px; margin-top: -29px; font-size: 1.3rem; /* font-style: italic; */ font-weight:600; margin-bottom:40px; padding-right: 25px; } .taglyfe::before{ /* content:" "; */ margin-left:5px; font-style: initial; } .taglyfe a{ text-decoration:none; /* transition: .25s; */ } /* .taglyfe a::before{ content:"\00a0 "; } .taglyfe a::after{ content:"\00a0 "; } */ @media only screen and (min-width:480px) { .taglyfe a:hover{ background:rgba(114,124,112,.4); padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom:2px; border-radius:4px; } } @media only screen and (max-width:480px) { .taglyfe{ display:none;} } @media only screen and (min-width:481px) { .tagsandsns{ margin-top:-29px !important; margin-bottom:35px !important; box-sizing:content-box; } .tagsandsns-column2 { display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: flex-end; background-color: #d9d9ed; margin-left:0 !important; padding-right:1.5rem; /*! margin-right: 0 !important; */ } .wp-block-post-terms { margin-bottom:0 !important; } .wp-block-uagb-social-share-child:last-child { margin-right:0 !important; } .wp-block-uagb-social-share { margin-left:0; margin-right:0; } .uagb-ss__source-icon { line-height:0 !important; } .wp-block-uagb-social-share-child { margin-left:0px !important; } .wp-block-uagb-social-share-child:hover { filter:drop-shadow(2px 2px 2px black); } .wp-block-uagb-social-share-child:first-child svg { width:38px; } .uagb-social-share__wrap { /* column-gap:0; */ margin-right:0; } } @media screen and (min-width: 481px) { .taglyfe{ line-height:1.5; } } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ figure.wp-block-media-text__media { outline: solid black 13px; } } /* .bigfoot-footnote{ left:0 !important; } */ .bigfoot-footnote__content p{ font-weight:400; } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ figure.wp-block-media-text__media { outline: solid black 13px; } } /* .bigfoot-footnote{ left:0 !important; } */ .bigfoot-footnote__content p{ font-weight:400; } .bigfoot-footnote__button { position: relative; z-index: 0; top: -0.1em; padding: 0; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0.2em; border: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: rgba(110, 110, 110, 0.2); font-size: 2rem; line-height: inherit; } .bigfoot-footnote__button { position: relative; height: .8em; width: .8em; border-radius: 50%; } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .bigfoot-footnote.is-positioned-top { position: fixed; bottom: 0; top: auto; left: 0; right: auto; -webkit-transform: translateY(100%); -ms-transform: translateY(100%); transform: translateY(100%); width: 100%; margin: 0; border-radius: 0; opacity: 1; -webkit-transition: -webkit-transform 0.3s ease; transition: transform 0.3s ease; left:0 !important; width:100vw; } .bigfoot-footnote.is-active { -webkit-transform: scale(1) translateZ(0); transform: scale(1) translateZ(0); opacity: 0.97; -webkit-transform: translateY(0); -ms-transform: translateY(0); transform: translateY(0); } .bigfoot-footnote.is-bottom-fixed { position: fixed; bottom: 0; top: auto; left: 0; right: auto; -webkit-transform: translateY(100%); -ms-transform: translateY(100%); transform: translateY(100%); width: 100%; margin: 0; border-radius: 0; opacity: 1; border-width: 1px 0 0; -webkit-transition: -webkit-transform 0.3s ease; transition: transform 0.3s ease; } .is-positioned-bottom{ position: fixed; bottom: 0; top: auto; left: 0; right: auto; -webkit-transform: translateY(100%); -ms-transform: translateY(100%); transform: translateY(100%); width: 100%; margin: 0; border-radius: 0; opacity: 1; border-width: 1px 0 0; -webkit-transition: -webkit-transform 0.3s ease; transition: transform 0.3s ease; left:0 !important; width:100vw; } .bigfoot-footnote.is-bottom-fixed.is-active { -webkit-transform: translateY(0); -ms-transform: translateY(0); transform: translateY(0); } .bigfoot-footnote.is-bottom-fixed .bigfoot-footnote__wrapper { margin: 0 0 0 50%; -webkit-transform: translateX(-50%); -ms-transform: translateX(-50%); transform: translateX(-50%); max-width: 100%; } .bigfoot-footnote.is-bottom-fixed .bigfoot-footnote__tooltip { display: none; } .bigfoot-footnote__wrapper { position: relative; z-index: 14; width: 22em; display: inline-block; box-sizing: inherit; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; background-color: #fafafa; border-radius: 0.5em; line-height: 0; max-width: 100% !important; max-height:999999px !important; } .bigfoot-footnote__content { position: relative; z-index: 8; display: inline-block; max-height: 15em; padding: 1.1em 1.3em 1.2em; box-sizing: inherit; overflow: auto; -webkit-overflow-scrolling: touch; background: #fafafa; border-radius: 0.5em; -webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; line-height: normal; max-height:999999px !important; } .bigfoot-footnote__content img { max-width: 100%; } .bigfoot-footnote__content *:last-child { margin-bottom: 0 !important; } .bigfoot-footnote__content *:first-child { margin-top: 0 !important; } .bigfoot-footnote__tooltip { display:none; } .is-positioned-bottom .bigfoot-footnote__tooltip { top: -0.65em; } .is-positioned-top .bigfoot-footnote__tooltip { bottom: -0.65em; } .bigfoot-footnote{ border:double black 10px; max-height:10000px !important; } .bigfoot-footnote__content p { font-size: 1.25rem !important; line-height:1.4 !important; font-style: italic !important; max-height: 1000000px; } .bigfoot-footnote__button { height: .9em; width: .9em; } } .footnotes{display:none;} #alexmenu li a:hover { text-decoration: underline; } #masthead{ display:none; } .entry-header{ display:none; } .site-main { padding-top:0px; } .site a:focus:not(.wp-block-button__link):not(.wp-block-file__button) img { outline:none; } .frontpagesns{ border:none !important; } .frontpagesns .wp-block-column:nth-child(2){ align-self:flex-end; padding-right:2.5rem; /* align-self:center; padding-right:2.7rem; margin-top: 8px; */ } @media screen and (max-width : 480px) { .page-id-239 .wp-block-columns { padding-right: 1.5rem !important; padding-left: 1.5rem !important; } } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .frontpagesns .wp-block-column:nth-child(2){ display:none; } .wp-block-columns .frontpagesns { padding-right:0 !important; padding-left:0 !important; } .frontpagesns .wp-block-column{ margin-bottom:0 !important; } } /* testing out border smoothing on articles*/ @media screen and (min-width: 481px) { .wp-block-media-text { border-radius:24px 24px 0 0; } .wp-block-media-text__media{ border-radius:24px 0 0 0; } /* adjust margins beneath figures (images, videos etc) but only in groups, ie for main content*/ /* .wp-block-group figure { margin-bottom:20px !important; } */ figure + h3 { margin-top:0px !important; } figure:not(.is-type-video) + p { margin-top: 20px !important; } .bigfoot-footnote__tooltip{ background:#363636; } .bigfoot-footnote__content{ background:#363636; color:white; text-shadow:1px 1px black; } .bigfoot-footnote__wrapper{ background:#363636; } .bigfoot-footnote.is-scrollable .bigfoot-footnote__wrapper:after { background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(bottom, #363636 50%, rgba(54, 54, 54, 0) 100%); background-image: linear-gradient(to top, #363636 50%, rgba(54, 54, 54, 0) 100%); } .bigfoot-footnote.is-scrollable .bigfoot-footnote__wrapper:before { background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(bottom, #363636 50%, rgba(54, 54, 54, 0) 100%); background-image: linear-gradient(to top, #363636 50%, rgba(54, 54, 54, 0) 100%); } } /*---------------------------------*/ /*---devnames accordion stuff------*/ /*---------------------------------*/ /* summary { display:flex; align-items:center; } */ details:first-child { border-radius:20px 20px 0 0; } details:first-child summary { padding-top: 10px; } details:last-child summary { padding-bottom:15px; } details:only-child summary { padding-top:15px; padding-bottom:15px; } details:last-child { border-radius:0 0 20px 20px; } details:only-child{ border-radius:20px; } details { /* font-size: 1.3rem; */ font-weight:700; width: 100%; background: #e5e5f4; position: relative; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ details { width:100%; } } details .summary-title { user-select: none; } details:hover { cursor: pointer; background: rgba(0,0,0,.088); } details:hover svg { background: rgba(0,0,0,.044) } details .summary-content { cursor: default; padding: 1em; padding-top:10px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.5; background: #f3f3f3; } details summary { list-style: none; padding: 6px 15px; padding-left: 1em; } details summary:focus { outline: none; } details summary:hover .summary-chevron-up svg { opacity: 1; } details .summary-chevron-up svg { opacity: 0.5; } details .summary-chevron-up { pointer-events: none; background: #e5e5f4; } details .summary-chevron-up svg { display: block; } details summary::-webkit-details-marker { display: none; } details .summary-chevron-up { margin-left:auto; } #downarrow{ opacity:0; } details[open] #downarrow { opacity:1; } details[open] #uparrow { opacity:0 !important; } .summaryflex{ display:flex; align-items:center; } @media screen and (max-width:480px) { .summary-title { font-size:1.25rem; } details summary { padding-left:.8em; } .summary-content { font-size:1.25rem; max-height:9999999px; } } #baguetteBox-overlay figcaption{ display:none !important; } /* potential ipad stylings with slightly enlarged fonts and consistent 810px default content width */ @media only screen and (min-width: 481px) and (max-width:1367px) { :root{ --responsive--aligndefault-width: min(calc(100vw - 8 * var(--global--spacing-horizontal)), 800px); } .wp-block-group p { font-size:1.5rem; line-height:1.5; } .wp-block-group h3{ font-size:1.55rem; } .wp-block-group h5{ font-size:1.9rem; } .single-post .wp-block-columns { margin-top: 35px; margin-bottom: 30px; } figcaption { padding-left:2rem; padding-right:2rem; } } .aligncolumnstraight{ margin-top:-5px !important; } .gradientheader { background: #d9d9ed; padding: 1.5rem 1rem; border-left: solid 15px rgba(0,0,0,.9); border-radius: 0 20px 20px 0; padding-left: 1.5rem; margin-top:50px !important; } @media screen and (min-width:480px){ /* .alexalignleft { margin-left: calc((var(--responsive--alignwide-width) - var(--responsive--aligndefault-width) - 64px) / 2) !important; } */ .textonimagez { margin-left: calc((var(--responsive--alignwide-width) - var(--responsive--aligndefault-width) - 64px) / 2) !important; position:relative; width:fit-content; } .textonimagez h4{ position:absolute; bottom:0; right:0; color:white; background:rgba(0,0,0,.5); font-size:2rem; padding:1rem; padding-top:.5rem; } .textonimagez figure{ margin-bottom:0 !important; margin-top:0 !important; } } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .textonimagez { position:relative; padding:0 !important; max-width:100vw !important; width: 100vw !important; position: relative; left: 50%; right: 50%; margin-left: -50vw !important; margin-right: -50vw !important; } .textonimagez h4{ position:absolute; bottom:0; right:0; color:white; background:rgba(0,0,0,.4); font-size:1.7rem; padding:.5rem; padding-top:.3rem; padding-right:.7rem; padding-bottom:.3rem; } .textonimagez figure{ margin-bottom:0 !important; margin-top:0 !important; max-width:unset !important; } } /* @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .textonimagez { position:relative; width:100%; padding:0 !important; } .textonimagez h4{ position:absolute; bottom:0; right:0; color:white; background:rgba(0,0,0,.5); font-size:1.3rem; padding:.5rem; padding-top:.3rem; } .textonimagez figure{ margin-bottom:0 !important; margin-top:0 !important; } } */ /* this is a min-height for interview titles that are only 1 line high*/ .uagb-post__title{ min-height: 2.534em; } .single-post b, .single-post strong { font-weight: 600; } @media screen and (min-width:481px){ .valkenblock p{ font-size:1.3rem !important; margin-left:-20px !important; } } /* ipad front page */ @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1367px){ .home .wp-block-columns p { font-size: 1.4rem; }} @media screen and (min-width:481px){ .smalltube{ width:55% !important; }} @media screen and (min-width:481px){ .wp-block-video.smalltube2 { width:55%; }} @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1200px) { .smalltube{ width:75% !important; }} @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1200px) { .wp-block-video.smalltube2 { width:75%; }} @media screen and (min-width:481px){ .cavemenu{ background: #fef2f2; padding: 1rem 2.5rem; border-radius: 4px; border: solid black 2px; } .cavemenu a{ text-decoration:none; } .cavemenu a:hover{ text-decoration:underline; } } #junyainoue, #manabunamiki, #takashiichimura, #hiroyukitanaka, #shinobuyagawa, #hidekinomura, #akirawakabayashi, #tsunekiikeda, #cavefacts { scroll-margin-top:3rem; } #makotoasada { scroll-margin-top:5rem; } figure.wp-block-gallery{ width:50%; } .post .blocks-gallery-item { margin-right: 0 !important; margin-bottom:0 !important; } /* .wp-block-gallery { flex-direction: column; flex-wrap:nowrap; } */ .wp-block-gallery .wp-block-image { margin-bottom: 0 !important; } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .post figure.wp-block-gallery{ width:unset !important;} .post .blocks-gallery-grid{ flex-wrap:nowrap; } } /* for stacking images vertically; applies to upper image */ @media screen and (min-width:481px){ .twovertical { margin-bottom:-30px !important; } } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .twovertical { margin-bottom:-20px !important; border-bottom:solid 7px gray; } } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .taglyfe{ color:transparent; background-color: lightgrey !important; margin-bottom: 0 !important; line-height: 1.2; display: flex; font-size: 100%; padding-left: 0; padding-right: 0; overflow: scroll; scrollbar-width: none; padding-bottom: 0; padding-top:0; border-bottom: grey 3.5px solid; white-space:nowrap; } .tagsandsns .wp-block-column:first-child { order: 2; } .wp-block-uagb-social-share { border-bottom:none; } .taglyfe::-webkit-scrollbar { display: none; } .taglyfe a{ color:black !important; padding-left:15px; padding-right:15px; padding-bottom:14px; padding-top:14px; margin-left:-5px; } .taglyfe a:first-child{ margin-left:0; } .taglyfe a:nth-child(odd){ background:darkgrey; } .taglyfe a:nth-child(even){ background:lightgrey; } .tagsandsns{ margin-bottom:0; } .uagb-ss__wrapper { margin-left: 2.5vw !important; margin-right: 2.5vw !important; } .wp-block-uagb-social-share{ max-width:100vw !important; } } @media screen and (min-width:480px){ .post-6590 h3:not(:first-child) { margin-bottom:-10px !important; }} h5, .h5 { letter-spacing:unset; } /* stylings for double and triple columns, see kirby for example */ @media screen and (min-width:480px){ .triplecolumn .wp-block-column{ margin-right:10px !important; margin-left:0; } .doubleimagecolumn .wp-block-column:first-child { display: flex; justify-content: flex-end; } .doubleimagecolumn .wp-block-column:not(:first-child) { margin-left: 1rem; } } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .triplecolumn .wp-block-column figure { margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; } .wp-block-columns .wp-block-column:nth-child(2) figure{ margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; } } .mahounames { margin-top:5px !important; } .namegrid { display: grid; grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(400px, 1fr)); line-height:1.4; } .namegrid-item { font-weight:600; } @media screen and (min-width:480px){ .namegrid{ font-size:1.5rem; } } .gradientheader-open { background: #d9d9ed; padding: 1.5rem 1rem; border-left: solid 15px rgba(0,0,0,.9); border-radius: 0 20px 20px 0; padding-left: 1.5rem; } figure.wp-block-gallery.gallery40 { width: 40%; } figure.wp-block-gallery.gallery60 { width: 60%; } .site-info{ display:none !important; } .widget-area{ display:none; } /* LT suggest */ .uagb-post-grid .uagb-post__image img { max-width: none !important; /* object-fit: cover; */ } @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1350px){ .navcontainer{ background-position-y: -48vw !important; } } @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1066px){ :root{ --responsive--alignwide-width: min(calc(100vw - 6 * var(--global--spacing-horizontal)), 1240px); } } @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1013px){ :root{ --responsive--alignwide-width: min(calc(100vw - 4 * var(--global--spacing-horizontal)), 1240px); } } @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1112px){ .wp-block-media-text.is-image-fill .wp-block-media-text__media { min-height: 350px; } .wp-block-media-text { display: block; } .tagsandsns div:first-child { flex-basis: 70% !important; } .tagsandsns div:last-child { flex-basis: 30% !important; } .wp-block-media-text__content{ padding-top:20px !important; padding-bottom:25px !important; } .wp-block-media-text__media { border-radius: 24px 24px 0 0; } } @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1002px){ body.single-post { --responsive--alignwide-width: 100%; --responsive--aligndefault-width: 800px; } .wp-block-media-text__media { border-radius: 0 !important; } } @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-height:760px){ .navcontainer { height:80px !important; } .titlelogo { font-size:37px !important; } .logoicon img { width: 65px !important; } .wp-block-media-text{ margin-top:20px; } } @media screen and (min-width:481px){ .tagsandsns { flex-wrap:nowrap; } .wp-block-columns .wp-block-column:not(:last-child) { margin-bottom: 0; } } @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:829px){ html { font-size: .9rem} .wp-block-column .wp-block-image figure{ max-width:33vw; } /* .wp-block-columns .wp-block-column{ flex-basis:unset !important; } */ .wp-block-columns{ flex-wrap:nowrap; } } /* at this point, the 800px content area needs to be switched over to "cell phone" centered stylings */ @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:729px){ html { font-size: .9rem} .wp-block-column .wp-block-image figure{ max-width:100%; } /* .wp-block-columns .wp-block-column{ flex-basis:unset !important; } */ .wp-block-columns{ flex-wrap:nowrap; } .leftimageplustext .wp-block-column:not(:first-child) { margin-left: 0; } .rightimageplustext .wp-block-column:last-child { margin-left:0; } .wp-block-image .alignleft{ margin-bottom:35px; } .wp-block-group__inner-container .wp-block-columns{ flex-direction:column; } .wp-block-group__inner-container .wp-block-column { align-self:center; } .rightimageplustext .wp-block-column .wp-block-image figure { margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: -5px; } } @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:970px){ .logoicon img { display: none !important; } } /*front page carousel sizings*/ @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1340px){ .uagb-post__title{ font-size:1.4rem !important; } } @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1277px){ .uagb-post__title{ font-size:1.3rem !important; } } @media screen and (min-width:481px) and (max-width:1214px){ .uagb-post__title{ font-size:1.5rem !important; } } .twotubes .wp-block-embed__wrapper iframe { max-height:100% !important; } .twotubes .wp-block-embed__wrapper { flex-basis:50% !important; } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .twotubes { flex-direction:column; gap:5px; } } /* comments */ #comments { background: #efefff; color: black; padding: 3rem; padding-top: 2rem; margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 0; max-width: calc((var(--responsive--alignwide-width)) - 15vw); border: double black 7px; } .post { margin-bottom:30px; } .comments-title, .comment-reply-title { font-size: 2rem; } .post-navigation{ display:none; } #comments a{ color:black; } #comment, #author, #email, #url { background: rgba(27, 27, 27, 0.9); color:white; border:double white 5px; } #comment:focus{ color:white; } #submit { background-color: #1d1d1d; color:white; } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ #comments { padding:1.5rem; max-width: calc((var(--responsive--alignwide-width)) - 0vw); } .comments-area.show-avatars .comment-metadata { padding-top:0; } } /* commissions page*/ #post-12307 .wp-block-gallery{ width:80%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } @media screen and (max-width:1150px){ #post-12307 .wp-block-gallery{ width:100%; } } #post-12307 figcaption{ color:white !important; font-size:1rem !important; line-height:1.3 !important; } #post-12307 .wp-block-columns{ border:double 10px black; } #post-12307 .blocks-gallery-item figure img { border-radius:8px; } #post-12307 .blocks-gallery-item figcaption { border-radius:8px; } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ #post-12307 .wp-block-columns { padding:calc(0.666 * var(--global--spacing-vertical)); border:none; } #post-12307 .wp-block-gallery{ width:100%; } #post-12307 .wp-block-gallery .blocks-gallery-item{ width:90%; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; } #post-12307 .blocks-gallery-grid{ display:block; } } /* Archive Responsive Font-sizing hackz*/ @media screen and (min-width:1666px) and (max-width:1768px){ .uagb-post__title a { font-size: 1.35rem !important; } } @media screen and (min-width:1214px) and (max-width:1323px){ .uagb-post__title a { font-size: 1.35rem !important; } } @media screen and (min-width:767px) and (max-width:887px){ .uagb-post__title a { font-size: 1.35rem !important; } } .home strong { font-weight:600; } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .uagb-post__inner-wrap{ padding-bottom:15px !important; } } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ p { max-height:999999px !important; }} @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .mobilenamehide{display:none;} .namegrid {display:block;} } @media (min-width:600px) and (max-width:781px) { .wp-block-column:not(:only-child) { flex-basis: unset !important; flex-grow: 0; } .wp-block-columns:not(.is-not-stacked-on-mobile) > .wp-block-column:not(:only-child) { flex-basis: unset !important; flex-grow: 0; } } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ html,body,body h3,h5 { text-size-adjust: none !important; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none !important; -ms-text-size-adjust: none !important; -moz-text-size-adjust: none !important; } h3,.h3{ max-height:999999px; } figcaption.blocks-gallery-caption { max-height:99999px; font-size:1.125rem !important; } } .wp-block-gallery .wp-block-image:first-child{ margin-right:0 !important; } @media screen and (min-width:480px){ .wp-block-columns:not(.is-not-stacked-on-mobile) > .wp-block-column:not(:first-child) { margin-left: 2.25rem; }} @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .threehorimobile figure { flex-basis:33%; } } @media screen and (max-width:480px){ .wp-block-video figcaption { max-height:999999px !important; font-size:18px !important; } } .tagsandsns{ gap:0 !important; } .wp-block-gallery { display: flex; flex-direction: row; flex-wrap: wrap; justify-content: flex-start; gap: 0 !important; } .blocks-gallery-grid{ flex-grow:1; } </style> </head> <body class="post-template-default single single-post postid-4711 single-format-standard custom-background wp-embed-responsive is-dark-theme no-js singular"> <div id="page" class="site"> <a class="skip-link screen-reader-text" href="#content">Skip to content</a> <header id="masthead" class="site-header"> <div class="site-branding"> <p class="screen-reader-text"><a href="https://shmuplations.com/">shmuplations.com</a></p> </div> </header> <div id="content" class="site-content"> <div id="primary" class="content-area"> <main id="main" class="site-main"> <article id="post-4711" class="post-4711 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-uncategorized tag-konami tag-koji-igarashi tag-michiru-yamane tag-toru-hagihara tag-toshihiro-furukawa tag-castlevania tag-symphony-of-the-night tag-1415 entry"> <header class="entry-header alignwide"> <h1 class="entry-title">Symphony of the Night – 1997 Developer Interview</h1> <figure class="post-thumbnail"> <img width="570" height="350" src="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/sotn00.jpg" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/sotn00.jpg 570w, https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/sotn00-300x184.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" style="width:100%;height:61.4%;max-width:570px;" /> </figure> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <style> #alexmenu{ background:rgba(0,0,0,.3); padding: 10px 0; border-radius: 30px; } #masthead-wrapper{ display:none; } div.entry-content{ margin-top:113px; } .alexnav { position:fixed; top:0; left:0; right:0; width:100% !important; max-width:100% !important; margin-top:0px; z-index:1; } .navcontainer { height:92px; background-image: url("https://shmuplations.com/irem-larger3.jpg"); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-size:cover; background-position-y:-800px; /* border-top:black solid 1px; */ display:flex; box-shadow:0px 3px 6px black; transition: transform .4s, padding .4s; padding: 10px 0; box-sizing:content-box; } .alexmenucontainer{ margin-left:auto; padding-right:2rem; align-self:center; } #alexmenu { display:flex; list-style:none; margin-right:-.3125rem; } .titlelogo { align-self:center; margin-left:20px; font-size:40px; font-weight:1000; -webkit-text-fill-color:#f4cbff; font-family:Helvetica; text-shadow:2px 2px black; } .logoicon img{ display:block; border-radius:50%; border:solid white 1px; width:75px; background:rgb(101, 101, 101, .6); } .logoicon { margin-left:30px; filter: drop-shadow(0px 0px 1px rgba(0,0,0,.5)); align-self:center; } #alexmenu li{ position:relative; width:inherit; font-family:"Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; } #alexmenu li a{ color:white; text-decoration:none; padding:.9375rem; font-size:1.55rem; line-height:1.25rem; text-shadow:2px 2px black; } #alexmenu li:first-of-type a{ color:rgb(255, 215, 0); } #alexmenu li:first-child { padding-left: 5px; } #alexmenu li:last-child { padding-right: 5px; } .scroll-down .navcontainer { transform: translate3d(0, -100%, 0); box-shadow:none; padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom:0px; } .scroll-up .navcontainer { transform: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom:0px; } .alexnav.scroll-down{ z-index:0; transition: z-index 2s cubic-bezier(0,1,1,0); } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px) { .navcontainer{ height:15.78vw; background-position-y:-1000px; background-position-x:-300px; background-size:auto; padding: 0 0; } .logoicon{ margin-left:20px; } .logoicon img{ max-width:unset; 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type="text/javascript" src="https://shmuplations.com/alexscroll.js"></script> <script> window.onload = function() { var divs = document.getElementsByClassName('taglyfe'); var acc = divs[0].getElementsByTagName('a'); var ii; for (ii = 0; ii < acc.length; ii++) { acc[ii].addEventListener("click", function() { localStorage.setItem("searchtag", this.innerHTML); }); acc[ii].addEventListener("contextmenu", function() { localStorage.setItem("searchtag", this.innerHTML); }); } }; </script> <div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-center is-image-fill is-style-default has-black-color has-text-color has-background" style="background-color:#efefff"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media" style="background-image:url(https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/sotn00.jpg);background-position:50% 50%"><img decoding="async" width="570" height="350" src="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/sotn00.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4712 size-full" srcset="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/sotn00.jpg 570w, https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/sotn00-300x184.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content"> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Castlevania: Symphony of the Night – 1997 Developer Interview</h4> <p><em>Released in 1997, Symphony of the Night forever changed the direction of Castlevania (for better or worse, depending on who you ask). These two interviews contain details about the development that I’ve not read elsewhere, such as an intriguing alignment system that was dropped early on.</em> <em>The first interview is from the official Konami guide book; the second is from an unknown source, but likely one of the contemporary Japanese gaming magazines.</em></p> </div></div> <div class="wp-block-columns alignwide tagsandsns"> <div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:55%"><div style="background-color:#d9d9ed;" class="has-text-color has-black-color has-background alignwide taglyfe wp-block-post-terms wp-elements-b026fa27a45936b04b62835189c01233"><a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/">Konami</a> | <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/">Koji Igarashi</a> | <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/">Michiru Yamane</a> | <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/">Toru Hagihara</a> | <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/">Toshihiro Furukawa</a> | <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/">Castlevania</a> | <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/">Symphony of the Night</a></div></div> <div class="wp-block-column tagsandsns-column2" style="flex-basis:45%"> <div class="wp-block-uagb-social-share uagb-social-share__outer-wrap uagb-social-share__layout-horizontal uagb-block-39ef099a alignwide"><div class="uagb-social-share__wrap"> <div class="wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-b52df715"><a class="uagb-ss__link" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="uagb-ss__source-wrap"><span class="uagb-ss__source-icon"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path d="M504 256C504 119 393 8 256 8S8 119 8 256c0 123.78 90.69 226.38 209.25 245V327.69h-63V256h63v-54.64c0-62.15 37-96.48 93.67-96.48 27.14 0 55.52 4.84 55.52 4.84v61h-31.28c-30.8 0-40.41 19.12-40.41 38.73V256h68.78l-11 71.69h-57.78V501C413.31 482.38 504 379.78 504 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26.8-12.2 26.8-26.8 0-14.6-11.9-26.8-26.8-26.8-10.4 0-19.3 6.2-23.8 14.9l-65.7-14.6c-3.3-.9-6.5 1.5-7.4 4.8l-20.5 92.8c-35.7 1.5-67.8 12.2-91.9 28.9-6.5-6.8-15.8-11-25.9-11-37.5 0-49.8 50.4-15.5 67.5-1.2 5.4-1.8 11-1.8 16.7 0 56.5 63.7 102.3 141.9 102.3 78.5 0 142.2-45.8 142.2-102.3 0-5.7-.6-11.6-2.1-17 33.6-17.2 21.2-67.2-16.1-67.2z"></path></svg></span></span></a></div> <div class="wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-25865918"><a class="uagb-ss__link" data-href="https://twitter.com/share?url=" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="uagb-ss__source-wrap"><span class="uagb-ss__source-icon"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 448 512"><path d="M400 32H48C21.5 32 0 53.5 0 80v352c0 26.5 21.5 48 48 48h352c26.5 0 48-21.5 48-48V80c0-26.5-21.5-48-48-48zm-48.9 158.8c.2 2.8.2 5.7.2 8.5 0 86.7-66 186.6-186.6 186.6-37.2 0-71.7-10.8-100.7-29.4 5.3.6 10.4.8 15.8.8 30.7 0 58.9-10.4 81.4-28-28.8-.6-53-19.5-61.3-45.5 10.1 1.5 19.2 1.5 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9.2-18.9v-19c0-26.5-21.5-48-48-48H48C21.5 64 0 85.5 0 112v19c0 7.4 3.4 14.3 9.2 18.9 30.6 23.9 40.7 32.4 173.4 128.7 16.8 12.2 50.2 41.8 73.4 41.4z"></path></svg></span></span></a></div> </div></div> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-group alignwide has-black-color has-text-color has-background" style="background-color:#efefff;padding-right:2rem;padding-left:2rem"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—To begin, please tell us what role you played in the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night development.</h3> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>I was producer for the first half of the game, and for the latter half I was both producer and programmer.</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>I acted as director (for the latter half), scenario writer, and programmer. “There is a glimmer of something suspicious about him.”<a href="#footnote-1-4711" id="note-1-4711" rel="footnote">1</a></p> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>That’s because he’s the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokimeki_Memorial" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tokimeki</a> guy. (laughs)</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>It’s been there ever since Tokimeki was released for the Saturn.</p> <p><strong>Yamane: </strong>I handled the sound, doing both music and sound effects.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—This new Castlevania is for the Playstation. Would you share with us what aspects of the hardware have been improved?</h3> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>The PSX has less limits for development than any previous system. If you think you can do it on this system, you probably can. It has tile and line functions that allow you to do things easily, even without specially prepared software tools. That aspect was very convenient.</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>The PSX made it very easy to make changes and adjustments. With the sound fx too, if you wanted to program something you could just do it.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/guidentt_142-143-e1410791906263.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4713" width="629" height="292" srcset="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/guidentt_142-143-e1410791906263.jpg 549w, https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/guidentt_142-143-e1410791906263-300x139.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px" /><figcaption>L-R: Toru Hagihara, Koji Igarashi, Michiru Yamane.</figcaption></figure> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Conversely, were there any difficulties with the new hardware?</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>Probably the backgrounds, since we were making a sidescroller.</p> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>There’s no hardware support for scrolling on the PSX, so we ended up using the same methods for displaying character sprites to display the backgrounds. That ate up a lot more of the processor power than we had anticipated. Another issue was that, while we were glad to have more memory to work with, compiling the game took an entire hour, during which time you couldn’t do anything. (laughs) That was annoying.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—The Castlevania series has a long history. Compared with previous games, what is the biggest change in Symphony of the Night?</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>No whip. (laughs) Not wanting to use the same story with a holy whip-wielding member of the Belmont clan was probably the biggest change. On top of that, Simon Belmont has a macho image, but this time we chose a more refined, aesthetic look.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—With the added RPG elements, it feels like there’s a lot of freedom in Symphony of the Night. Although I did get lost a lot at first…</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>We gave the player a lot of freedom because we wanted to lengthen the playtime for an action game, which is usually short. If people spend 5800 yen (approx $58) on a game, they should get 5800 yen worth of enjoyment from it. Even when a game is very difficult, defeating enemies isn’t very exciting, is it? I thought it would be fun for players to get experience from enemies and level up, so I added RPG elements.</p> <div class="wp-block-columns leftimageplustext"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/c3alucard2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4714" width="305" height="340" srcset="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/c3alucard2.jpg 768w, https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/c3alucard2-269x300.jpg 269w" sizes="(max-width: 305px) 100vw, 305px" /><figcaption>Fanart of Alucard from CVIII in the Ayami Kojima style, by <a href="http://matiassoto.deviantart.com/art/Alucard-Castlevania-III-107470860" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MatiasSoto</a>.</figcaption></figure></div> </div> <div class="wp-block-column"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Can you tell us the origins of Alucard’s name?</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>It’s Dracula spelled backwards, of course. I heard it was a kind of nickname for Dracula. We had used it in Akumajou Densetsu (Castlevania III), so we took it and used it here too.</p> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>The <a href="http://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/c3alucard.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alucard</a> from Castlevania III wasn’t very cool though. (laughs)</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—How is it that Alucard, despite being Dracula’s son, can use holy weapons and subweapons?</h3> </div> </div> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>This isn’t officially in the story, but in the backstory in my head, his mother was descended of holy blood, so he can use those weapons. That’s why Alucard has both the powers of light and dark, which was something we had decided on at the outset of the development.</p> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>In the early planning stages we had an alignment system. If you used the subweapons a lot you would have a holy alignment, and if you used magic a lot you’d have a dark alignment.</p> <p></p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>Yeah, and the ending would have changed based on your alignment. We had various subtitles for the game in mind too, like “聖魔のトリル” (seima no toriru)<a href="#footnote-2-4711" id="note-2-4711" rel="footnote">2</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Who do you think is the toughest enemy in Symphony of the Night?</h3> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>Under normal conditions, Galamoth is a tough fight. If you don’t have any extra power from equipment it’s a real slog.</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>We made him so that if you just tried to fight him normally, you couldn’t win. I mean, that’s the kind of character he originally was.<a href="#footnote-3-4711" id="note-3-4711" rel="footnote">3</a> (laughs) Please enjoy him as one of the post-game challenges.</p> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>The truth is Galamoth was supposed to be far stronger than Shaft or Dracula, yet if you have the Fairy familiar you can pretty much beat him the same as any boss, right? If you handicap yourself by not using the Fairy it’s very hard though.</p> <div class="wp-block-columns rightimageplustext"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—That Fairy really helps out a lot.</h3> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>I mean, if you just use the Fairy the whole time I guess the game does become easy. You can do the same thing with the mist transformation.</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>Right. So if you’re just trying to clear the game, it’s not that difficult, and beginners have no reason not to play. If there’s any enemy you don’t want to fight, escaping with the bat or mist is perfectly ok.</p> </div> <div class="wp-block-column"> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/symphony03.gif" alt="" class="wp-image-4730" width="292" height="236"/><figcaption>Sadly for the developer's efforts, many of Symphony's later bosses faced this fate.</figcaption></figure></div> </div> </div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—During the doppleganger fight, I remember evading the soul steal attack with the mist.</h3> <p><strong>Yamane: </strong>If you always use the fog you won’t defeat many enemies and your achievement rate will be low, won’t it?</p> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>It’s unrelated to that actually.</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>Well, it’s true that your bestiary won’t get any new entries.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—As for the familiars, I noticed there’s a normal Fairy and a “half” Fairy, but their levels and experience are different.</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>There’s the fairy, the half-fairy, the devil, and the nose devil. We made their stats match their characters.</p> <p><strong>Yamane: </strong>Did you hear all the nose devil’s lines yet?<a href="#footnote-4-4711" id="note-4-4711" rel="footnote">4</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—I heard it. I laughed out loud!</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>We put that in a difficult place to find.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—At first I didn’t notice it at all, actually…</h3> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>You have to force your way into a place that doesn’t seem accessible.</p> <p><strong>Yamane: </strong>A place that’s about to disappear. (laughs)</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>When the voice actor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C5%8Dji_Yanami" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joji Yanami</a> was preparing for the actual devil familiar role, it was like, this sounds perfect for the nose devil! we should be recording this! But we missed it.</p> <div class="wp-block-columns leftimageplustext"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yanami.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4715" width="337" height="253" srcset="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yanami.jpg 640w, https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yanami-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px" /><figcaption>Joji Yanami, voice actor<br>for the Devil and Nose Devil.</figcaption></figure></div> </div> <div class="wp-block-column"> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>The nose devil becomes very strong if you level him, too.</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>All the familiars get really strong if they’re leveled up.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—I raise the Sword familiar to level 50.</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>It’s attacks change at level 90.</p> </div> </div> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>At level 50, you can equip it as an item, and if you level the familiar up to level 99, it’s extremely powerful. But the familiars were something we barely had time to finish in the development, and they almost didn’t get added to the game. So most of the enemies aren’t really balanced with regard to the player using a familiar. What I’m trying to say is, please don’t overlevel the familiars. (laughs)</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>For people who think they’d be helpful for them, it’s fine to use them. But for those who don’t want the game balance broken, it’s also fine to ignore them.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—In the ending Maria chases after Alucard, but I’m curious about what happens after that.</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>That’s something left for all the players to imagine themselves; it’s not our place to say. There are also other endings where she doesn’t follow Alucard.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—What is the max percentage you can get on the map?</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>It’s actually 200.6%. If you uncover the entire castle it’s 100%, and the inverted castle also has 100% (plus the underground waterway part for the extra .6%). We set the normal castle completion at 100% so as to put one “endpoint” to the game’s progression. What we were thinking is that people wouldn’t defeat Dracula on their very first playthrough; we wanted them to defeat Richter once. Then, after feeling like they’d beat Richter and cleared the game, they’d decide to aim for 100% completion in the normal castle and uncover all the places they didn’t get to; in doing so they’d discover the inverted castle and feel like they’d found something special. When players defeated Richter, we wanted them to be wondering, “What happened to Death? What about all of Alucard’s stolen equipment?”</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/familiars.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4716" width="648" height="415" srcset="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/familiars.jpg 629w, https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/familiars-300x193.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 648px) 100vw, 648px" /><figcaption>The familiars of SotN, including the Nose Devil and Half-Fairy.</figcaption></figure> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Well, in the clock room, if you break the right statue you do find the fake Alucart gear. (laughs)</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>Ah yes, the three-piece set. (laughs)</p> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>At first it was much more difficult to get to that room… I think it would only open at a set time for one hour? And if it was going to be really hard to get to, there should be some better equipment inside. But once we changed it so you open the clock room with the stopwatch, we realized we had better swap the gear there out to something less powerful. But we couldn’t think of anything good for it, so we just quickly and lazily made up those crappy three Alucart items. It was fun for us as programmers, we got to tease the player with those item stats.</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>If you collect all three, they’re good though.</p> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>Yeah, with all of them equipped, you get a luck bonus. With two rare rings, you’re all set. But you’ll be weak. (laughs)</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>The strength is about the same as the short sword.</p> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>The reason for that is that originally you didn’t need the double jump to reach that room. There was a moving platform, and if you knew the right time to wait you could get the gear from the very beginning. Even though the Alucart sword has better reach we thought the short sword was a good level of strength for it. Of course, once we changed it so that you needed the double jump, maybe we should have left a better item there as well… (laughs)</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Please give a final message for everyone.</h3> <p><strong>Hagihara: </strong>I want to mention the Axe Armor. There’s some funny events if you wear it. Once you clear the game normally, you can start over with an Axe Armor playthrough, so I hope people try it out.</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>I really wanted to write a lot for the story this time. But being an action game, I had to cut much of it out. I hope from the progression of the dialogue, players get a sense of that larger backstory. Also, the line of dialogue that I especially liked was the final scene, when Alucard says “kore ijou haha o kurushimeru na!” (“Trouble the soul of my mother no more!”). Most of the rest of Alucard’s dialogue is very dead and emotionless, but he showed us some feeling here. I shed some tears when I heard it, so be sure to take a listen.</p> <div class="wp-block-columns rightimageplustext"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <p><strong>Yamane: </strong>Please enjoy the soundtrack, as well as the nose familiar dialogue. That was almost all done in editing, and was personally very fun for me, so I think you’ll enjoy it too.</p> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>Graphics lately have mostly been 3D rendering, and this kind of handcrafted pixel art has become rare. Please enjoy viewing the lovingly crafted graphics.</p> </div> <div class="wp-block-column"> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/guidentt_140-141-e1410792007790.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4717" width="302" height="229" srcset="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/guidentt_140-141-e1410792007790.jpg 328w, https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/guidentt_140-141-e1410792007790-300x228.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 302px) 100vw, 302px" /><figcaption>Hagihara and Igarashi.</figcaption></figure></div> </div> </div> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-black-background-color has-black-color is-style-dots"/> <h5 class="wp-block-heading">Symphony of the Night – 1997 Developer Interview</h5> <p>with director Koji Igarashi and designer Toshiharu Furukawa</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Today we have developers Koji Igarashi and Toshihiro Furukawa here to talk with us about Symphony of the Night. To start with, please tell us what games you’ve been involved with up to now.</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>Detana Twinbee (PCE), Gradius II -Gofer no yabou- (PCE), Tokimeki Memorial (PCE), Tokimeki Memorial -forever with you- (Saturn).</p> <p><strong>Furukawa: </strong>Rampart (Famicom), Axelay stage 2 (Super Famicom), Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (PCE), Gungage (PSX), DDR 2nd MIX dreamcast edition (DC port).</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—What were some of your early ideas for Symphony of the Night, at the outset of the development?</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>Our first idea was to use the story and setting of Vampire Killer, and make the final Belmont vampire hunter your enemy. Another idea I had, and this is also from the setting of Bloodlines, is that it was supposed to be Quincy Morris who defeated Dracula, but it was actually Alucard who defeated him. I had even thought how this would work with the ending visuals. Also, the decision to make this a more exploratory action game was to extend the short life of normal action games a bit, and this was something we decided fromo the very beginning.</p> <p><strong>Furukawa: </strong>At the time the development section chief ordered us to make the “Ultimate Dracula” game. No one really knew what “ultimate” meant, but all the developers had talked it over, and the result was Symphnony of the Night. So, what do you all think? Ultimate Dracula. Try and picture that.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Why did you choose Alucard as the protagonist?</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>Since we increased the size of the player character, we had to think about how that balance would work with the traditional whip; the problem is that the whip would reach across the entire screen, so we decided to make an action game based on other weapons instead. We also wanted a character whose abilities could grow and change, and to that end we thought using a character who could transform into other things would be more interesting. Given those two points, and the need to connect the protaganist to the history of Castlevania, we chose Alucard.</p> <div class="wp-block-columns rightimageplustext"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <p><strong>Furukawa: </strong>From a visuals perspective, we thought it would be cool to have a stylish man as the lead. The image of Simon in the instruction booklet of the very first Famicom Akumajou Dracula was slender and stylish. But somewhere along the way the Belmont image got changed to a pumped-up, musclebound man… and Symphony of the Night seemed like a good chance to change that image. I also think the “Akumajou” (demon castle) title doesn’t really suggest Simon Belmont as the main character, though that might be overstating things.</p> </div> <div class="wp-block-column"> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ayamikojima.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4718" width="312" height="288" srcset="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ayamikojima.jpg 393w, https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ayamikojima-300x278.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 312px) 100vw, 312px" /><figcaption>Illustrator Ayami Kojima, responsible for the<br>visual style of SotN and later Castlevania games.</figcaption></figure></div> </div> </div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Please tell us about any events, ideas, or characters that had to be cut from Symphony of the Night. Also, if there’s any post-game story for Richter, Maria, or Alucard, please share that too.</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>As far as the story goes, I did have deeper and more involved dialogue planned, but I thought it would interrupt the game progression too much, so we took it out. There were many characters who had to be cut, but the ones I still wish we could have added were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_B%C3%A1thory" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Elizabeth Bathory</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_de_Rais" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gilles de Rais</a>. As for post-game stories, Alucard and Maria’s whereabouts are unknown. Richter uses this as an opportunity to pass the vampire killer to the Morris family, who are relatives of the Belmonts. He disappears with Annette. After this the repuation of the Belmont name as vampire hunters vanishes from history. However, that doesn’t mean the Belmont bloodline has died out, so perhaps they will rise again as Vampire Hunters someday.</p> <p><strong>Furukawa: </strong>In a sense, I don’t think I can really say much about Alucard’s distant future… (it’s a mystery). As for Richter, the events of Bloodlines create the background for the story of Symphony of the Night, and I can’t confirm what happens to the Belmont clan after Richter. But that being the case, have you thought about what the future might hold? I like to think that one of the Belmonts is, unbeknownst to all, locked in battle with the King of Terror prophesized by Nostradmus to appear in July 1999.</p> <p>I’d also like to say that although Maria chases after Alucard in the ending of Symphony of the Night, he doesn’t make her a vampire. She isn’t around 10,000 years later, you know. (laughs)</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Symphony of the Night is the newest Castlevania since Bloodlines. What things did you consider when making another entry in the series?</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>With Symphony of the Night, our concept was to make a game that would overturn player’s ideas about Castlevania, yet also feel like a Castlevania game. As for what things we specifically wanted to change:</p> <p>-make the action exploration based (although Castlevania 2 also did this)<br>-add RPG elements, so anyone who put in the effort could beat it<br>-no more one-hit-kills<br>-the player character would not use a whip<br>-no more stairs (I mean stairs in the style of the previous Castlevania games)<br>-change the visual style</p> <p>So our biggest concern was how, using these new ideas as a base, to create a game that would fit cleanly into the timeline and world of Castlevania, and not harm the image of previous games in the series.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—There’s a huge assortment of weapons and items to choose from, but how did you come up with ideas for all that?</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>We used a variety of different references, books and such, and tried to add things that hadn’t been used in Castlevania before.</p> <p><strong>Furukawa: </strong>Each staff member had a special attachment to a different kind of blade, so we ended up with a good variety. Though this did result in the developers’ favorite weapons being super-powered. Not realizing that no one liked shields was a bit of a blind spot…<a href="#footnote-5-4711" id="note-5-4711" rel="footnote">5</a></p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—The Castlevania series is known as a 2D action game that sets the bar high with a very high difficulty. I think with the emphasis of RPG elements in Symphony, more players than ever have been allowed to enjoy the series. How has the response from fans been in that regard?</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>The one thing we heard the most was “it’s too easy.” We expected to hear that though. There were also some people who said it was too difficult, and it brought home to me the difficulty of making something for “everyone.”</p> <p>Symphony of the Night has also gained a lot of support from female users, definitely because of the difficulty setting, but perhaps also because of the visual style.</p> <p>So in addition to allowing people who couldn’t beat previous Castlevanias to play, we’ve also successfully broken through to a whole new class of players, and I’m very happy that we’ve overturned the “hard game” image of Castlevania.</p> <p><strong>Furukawa: </strong>Many people also said “I don’t know anything about Castlevania and this was fun!” I have mixed feelings about that.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Tell us about how you came to hire Ayami Kojima as the illustrator for Symphony of the Night.</h3> <p><strong>Igarashi: </strong>Wanting to do something different from previous Castlevanias, one of our first steps was to imagine an alluring new visual style for the characters. We decided then to search for an illustrator who hadn’t done much work with games, someone who was active in a whole different genre. As a team we went to bookstores and checked out book covers, buying the ones we liked and researching the artists. There were a number of candidates, but we felt that Ayami Kojima’s work had the rich, aesthetic direction we wanted for a new Castlevania.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">—Thank you for your time today!</h3> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="571" height="46" src="https://shmuplations.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/footer-test2.gif" alt="" class="wp-image-1534"/></figure></div> <div style="height:1px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <p><em><strong>If you've enjoyed reading this interview and would like to be able to vote each month on what I translate, please consider supporting me on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.patreon.com/shmuplations" rel="noreferrer noopener">Patreon</a>! I can't do it without your help!</strong></em></p> <div style="height:1px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> </div></div> <script> let box = document.querySelector('.tagsandsns'); let height = box.offsetHeight; console.log(height); if (height > 80) { document.querySelectorAll(".uagb-ss__source-wrap svg").forEach(function(element) { element.style.width = "50px"; element.style.height = "50px"; }); document.querySelectorAll(".uagb-social-share__wrap").forEach(function(element) { element.style.marginRight = "11px"; }); document.querySelectorAll(".uagb-ss__wrapper").forEach(function(element) { element.style.marginRight = "17.5px"; }); } </script> <div class="footnotes"><hr /><ol><li id="footnote-1-4711" class="footnote"><p>A silly joke: he’s describing himself like a character in a visual novel. Tokimeki Memorial, a visual novel game which he had just made, was a runaway hit in Jap<a href="#note-1-4711" class="footnote-return">↩</a></p></li><li id="footnote-2-4711" class="footnote"><p>Something like, “The Trill of Light and Darkness.” A trill is a musical ornament where two adjacent notes (aka 聖 “holy” and 魔 “evil”) alternate rapidly.<a href="#note-2-4711" class="footnote-return">↩</a></p></li><li id="footnote-3-4711" class="footnote"><p>Most likely a reference to Galamoth in Kid Dracula, the final boss of that game.<a href="#note-3-4711" class="footnote-return">↩</a></p></li><li id="footnote-4-4711" class="footnote"><p>The nose devil was voiced by Joji Yanami, a famous Japanese actor who is known for nasally roles. It was included as a joke, and was left out of the US versions.<a href="#note-4-4711" class="footnote-return">↩</a></p></li><li id="footnote-5-4711" class="footnote"><p>An odd comment considering how powerful the shield rod+alucard shield is, though it’s true that most of the others aren’t very interesting.<a href="#note-5-4711" class="footnote-return">↩</a></p></li></ol></div> </div> <footer class="entry-footer default-max-width"> <div class="posted-by"><span class="posted-on">Published <time class="entry-date published updated" datetime="2021-12-16T11:59:12+00:00">December 16, 2021</time></span><span class="byline">By <a href="https://shmuplations.com/author/shmuplations/" rel="author">shmuplations</a></span></div><div class="post-taxonomies"><span class="cat-links">Categorized as <a href="https://shmuplations.com/category/uncategorized/" rel="category tag">Uncategorized</a> </span><span class="tags-links">Tagged <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/?/konami/" rel="tag">Konami</a>, <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/?/koji-igarashi/" rel="tag">Koji Igarashi</a>, <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/?/michiru-yamane/" rel="tag">Michiru Yamane</a>, <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/?/toru-hagihara/" rel="tag">Toru Hagihara</a>, <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/?/toshihiro-furukawa/" rel="tag">Toshihiro Furukawa</a>, <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/?/castlevania/" rel="tag">Castlevania</a>, <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/?/symphony-of-the-night/" rel="tag">Symphony of the Night</a>, <a href="https://shmuplations.com/archive/?/1997/" rel="tag">1997</a></span></div> </footer> </article> <div id="comments" class="comments-area default-max-width show-avatars"> <div id="respond" class="comment-respond"> <h2 id="reply-title" class="comment-reply-title">Leave a comment <small><a rel="nofollow" id="cancel-comment-reply-link" href="/symphony/#respond" style="display:none;">Cancel 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