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| Messages from the developers |
CREDIT TO LANCE123 FOR SUBMITTING THESE!
These are found in the pre-order bonus for the US version of Portrait of Ruin.
Koji Igarashi (Director)
20 years... wow! It sounds so long...
When the original Castlevania was released, I was a university student and played this game at my senior's home because I had no money to purchase videogames.
In Portrait of Ruin, The main character uses a whip in consideration of Castlevania's 20th anniversery. and the game is designed for two simultaneous players as homage to Castlevania III: Dracula's curse. We placed a heavy emphasis on the battle with two players, so what you can not only switch between these two characters but you can also perform actions simultaneously as a key to the game.
My most unforgettable and memorable Castlevania project is Symphony of the Night. As all of you are aware, it was my first participation with Castlevania and my first title as a director. But then again, I'm scared that I'll find undiscovered bugs in the game so I don't ever go back and play it (laughs).
But, I would have to say that Castlevania III: Dracula's curse is my favorite Castlevania title of all time. What I love of all in this one is the composition of getting a feeling of thoughtfulness over the storyline and characters with only a handshake.
It has been 16 years since I joined the videogame industry and it has been about 10 years since I began working on the Castlevania series. Before Symphony of the Night, I remember myself being so jealous of the Castlevania team and I used to visit them a lot! I wish I could keep on working with the franchise as my life work, but then again, I need to educate my team staff members so that they could take over my role for the future...I would like to look towards next generation consoles while keeping space for handheld games at the same time.
I will keep on looking at the future of Castlevania and make sure the brand survives another 20 years.
So now, I feel very flattered and honored that I am the producer of the game series I had been longing to work on and also greeting the 20th anniversary of Castlevania. I am very happy that Portrait of Ruin is excellent not only for Castlevania fans but it is also easy for beginners to pick up and play and it should live up to your expectations.
Enjoy! (Signed in script is Iga)
Ayami Kojima (Artist/Character designer)
I was very fortunate to get to know Castlevania team members including Mr Igarashi and Ms Yamane, who opened a new world of experience for me.
One of the most enjoyable aspects with my involvement on the Castlevania series is that I was able to interact with many team members and work as a team and that I feel togetherness as we finish up the product.
I would like to thank once again all of the Castlevania team members that I was able to work with in this franchise and all the Castlevania fans and hope that Castlevania will be loved forever bringing new excitement all the time. (Signed is Ayami Kojima in script)
Michiru Yamane (Composer)
Two years after I graduated from my university, I joined Konami and learned data input on Bloody Tears and Vampire Killer notes--Very well known classic Castlevania music. I was impressed by its wonderful melody lines as my supervisor taught me how to input music data.
My favorite Castlevania project was Vampire Killer for Mega Drive (a.k.a. Bloodlines for the Sega Genesis). It was my first title for the series ever and I was under a lot of pressure. I was also in charge of converting music to the real game engine and I was actually working on the sound effects at that time. I handled every aspect of the audio in the game. There were lots of sound effects at that time. I handled every aspect of the audio in the game. There were lots of sound effects I made for Symphony of the Night and I worked to edit tons of voice data. So these two titles are my unforgettable Castlevania projects for me. However now I am very pleased that many people were delighted with the results.
When I came to international media interviews for Lament of Innocence. I realized that there are many of Castlevania fans outside of Japan! I feel so refreshed every time I face fans' great anticipation and enthusiasm over the series. I feel very honored I am able to celebrate Castlevania's 20th anniversary.
For Portrait of Ruin we had a legendary music composer Mr Yuzo Koshiro on board with the series as a guest music composer. We noticed he was also a huge fan of the Castlevania series, and he took pleasure in creating music for us this time. I hope you will fully enjoy listening to his pungent songs at key points. It was such a precious and pleasurable moment to be able to work with Mr Koshiro. And it was such a great experience for me to learn his interpretation of Castlevania music through his music composition.
I hope all of you enjoy Portrait of Ruin. (signed is Michiru Yamane in Japanese)
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