Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, known in Japan as Demon Castle Dracula: Curse of Darkness (悪魔城ドラキュラ 闇の呪印 Akumajō Dracula: Yami no Juin), is a console video game developed by Konami for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. It was produced by Koji Igarashi (a.k.a. IGA), who has worked on several other games in the Castlevania series, including Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. Also returning are series artist Ayami Kojima and composer Michiru Yamane.

Story
According to Igarashi, Curse of Darkness is set in the year 1479, three years after the events of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, thus the third official chronological installment according to the Castlevania Timeline. Though defeated by vampire hunter Trevor Belmont, Dracula's curse continues to ravage the European countryside, spreading disease, mob violence, and heresy in its wake. Amidst all this devastation is Hector, a Devil Forgemaster who had formerly worked under the employ of Dracula but betrayed him sometime during the events of Castlevania III. Eventually growing disgusted with Dracula's brutal methods, Hector leaves Castlevania to live amongst humans, settling down to live a peaceful life. When Hector's fiance is accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake, Hector learns that her murder was directed by his fellow Forgemaster, Isaac. Seeking revenge, Hector chases his former colleague back to his old home, and back to the demonic life he believed he had left behind him.

Gameplay
A 3D game like Lament of Innocence before it, Curse of Darkness is said to differ from its predecessor in a number of ways, including a more complex, action/adventure style of gameplay, much like Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow. As Hector is not a member of the Belmont clan, he will not be limited to the traditional "Vampire Killer" whip and will have the ability (much like Alucard and Soma Cruz) to equip a variety of different weapons. However, there is an extra gameplay mode after finishing the game that allows players to play as Trevor Belmont, equipped with the "Vampire Killer" and the classic subweapons (knife, holy water, axe, etc.).

Departing from the central hub level layout of Lament of Innocence, wherein the player chooses from a number of distinct stages all accessible from a central hallway, Curse of Darkness is said to be a more complete game world, with a complete castle map as in Symphony of the Night. However, the game still uses the same map engine as Lament of Innocence, rather than the square-based grid of 2-D Castlevanias. Furthermore, a noticeable difference in level design is that much of the game does NOT take place in Dracula's castle, but rather exploring forests, mountains, and villages in Europe. The player will be also aided by "Innocent Devils" (creatures developed by Hector himself), through the Devil Forgery skill, in order to defeat enemies and solve puzzles within the game. The Innocent Devils (commonly referred as I.D's) come in 6 different types.


 * Fairy Type (Helps Hector with healing.)
 * Battle Type (The muscle of the I.D's. Has the most Heart points.)
 * Bird Type (Flying I.D's that fight flying monsters.)
 * Mage type (Attacks with long-distance magic.)
 * Devil Type (Pure killing machines.)
 * Pumpkin Type (These are meant as a joke but do raise luck significantly.)