The Castlevania series remains a beloved franchise within the gaming community, despite the lack of new titles in recent years. The animated series is seeing major success with the release of its fourth season along with the confirmation of a Richter Belmont focused spin-off series. However, despite the lack of new games on the table, some new blood is being pumped into this franchise, with the revival of the formerly canceled Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls.
Back in 2018, Konami announced this game as a new entry in the series, but for mobile devices. Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls was originally going to be on iOS devices, along with the promise of multiplayer action and classic Castlevania gameplay. This also came with the promise of several different playable characters across the franchise's history, from the iconic Simon Belmont and Alucard to the more overlooked Soma Cruz and Shanoa. The game was soft-launched in Canada in 2019 and then subsequently silently shut down the following year.
For those that were able to briefly play this Castlevania entry, the game was praised by the fanbase. A lot of it was directed for its adherence and respect to the series through its visuals and musical library from several different games. It however was heavily criticized for its heavy reliance on in-game microtransactions. With the game's revival as an exclusive on the Apple Arcade, however, that feature will be removed, as the Apple Arcade doesn't allow for any games that have ads or in-game microtransactions on its platform. The current listed release date given by Konami for this game is "soon."
The story for this game, in particular, revolves around Alucard, under the persona of Genya Arikado, being tasked with slaying monsters that pop up in the various grimoires that open up in-game. This allows him to meet with other unlockable playable characters like Simon Belmont, Charlotte, and Shanoa, with more planned to be released as time goes on. There are also at least 60 playable levels on launch, with other incentives like an ongoing story that involves characters from across the timeline of Castlevania and missions like in similar games.
While this might not be the next entry in the series that fans were expecting, it shows that Konami knows that the Castlevania franchise is still looked upon quite fondly. The only other news regarding potential games were the rumored remasters of the Castlevania GBA trilogy, which is where some of the characters that appear in this game came from. This game could offer fans an insight into these lesser-known characters of the series' history, with a brand-new multiplayer crossover experience.
Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls will be releasing on Apple Arcade.
Source: Konami