Mysterious flyer suggests possible Castlevania spiritual successor from Iga - rumour

A mysterious flyer appeared at Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune's PAX Prime panel last weekend that hints at a new game that's speculated to be a Castlevania successor by the series director Koji "Iga" Igarashi, who recently left Konami to pursue his own projects.

It's all speculation at this stage, but there are numerous nods to the classic vampire-slaying saga in the following flyer (as tweeted by IGN's Jose Otero).

Here's what the text says:

"Prepare yourself, alchemist, for the challenge and deep mystery of [blank], the all-new adventure that will turn your world upside-down. (What else would you expect from World-famous game creator, [Blank]?) Travel the lands in your quest to seal ruptures in the fabric of reality itself. Master the dark arts to defeat the demons threatening all of mankind and gain their skills, forging new weapons from the precious materials they leave behind. Because yes, alchemist, there will be blood. The only question is will it be yours, or theirs?"

The "turn your world upside-down" line is often interpreted to be a reference to Symphony of the Night's secret second half, while the "what else would you expect from" bit suggests that the most obvious mastermind behind this viral ad is indeed the correct one.

The images on the CRT TVs in the corner certainly resemble Castlevania, while the occult art, reference to abundant bloodshed, and vague description of an alchemist crafting gear from fallen foes sounds not unlike the spell system employed in many of Iga's Castlevania titles.

Of course, Iga legally can't make a Castlevania game proper outside of Konami, but he could always pull an Inafune and make something akin to Castlevania the way Mighty No. 9 hearkens back to Mega Man. In fact, Iga hinted to Kotaku in March that he'd be interested in doing that very thing.

"I was really inspired by the reaction that Keiji Inafune got with Mighty No. 9," he said at the time. "It showed me that if you have the fans, you can provide them the games they want."

"I want to make games that people like, and that I'm good at," he added.

Astute readers on NeoGAF have made out the fine print as a quote from oldschool US gaming magazine GameFan. It says, "It will likely take the dubious honor of most kick assest game that ever was. If you don't jerk you head around the first time you play this game you had you had better check your pulse. The intro will only make you say 'yeah that is going to be the game on the Ultra 64.'"

Some have speculated that this is the new project mentioned by localisation company 8-4 in a recent podcast. 8-4 collaborated with Comcept on Mighty No. 9, so it's not out of the question that it could be working with Iga on this one, possibly on a new Kickstarter.

Stranger things have happened.