Unit 72 Task 1a + 1b

Artist Research

What is an adventure? An adventure is a exciting, usual, or daring, experience but it could also be a journey or a voyage. Ayami kojima created beautiful illustrations for a video game called castlevania. She was self taught and developed her own personal drawing techniques that have defined her unique style. Ayami started with designing novel covers, and black and white illustrations for inside content. Unlike many artists today, she still works with real media, meaning all the art work inside the book "Santa Lilio Sangre" were all originally painted and etched onto canvases before they were in the book.

In the book "Santa Lilio Sangre" the printing quality is amazing which makes it easier to see every brush stroke in the paintings, on thick, smooth pages. Most of the illustrations feature men, though Ayami Kojima's designs tend to feature an androgynous look which is look that is partly male and partly female in appearance. Ayami is a fan of shonen manga, even though the target audience is male. She has also admitted that she is interested in creepy movies and surgery, which is what most likely inspires the dark side to her drawings. 

Castlevania also known as Akumajo Dracula (Meaning Devils Castle Dracula) is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The game is about the Belmonts, a clan of vampire hunters, and their fight with Dracula. The series started in japan on 26th September 1986. The game was released on different platforms, from earlier  systems such as the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) to the more modern consoles such as the Xbox 360.

This is Castlevania released on 26th September 1986, the game is about Simon Belmont going on an adventure to defeat Dracula. The character design is simple but affective, and the background has shading which makes it look king of 3D. The style of the game is kind of a dark retro. I think the game has a gothic feel to it. The art style is called 8 bit, this style was created when games were first invented the technology then wasn't as good as now, so every thing was very pixelated.

This is Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest it was first released in Japan on 28th August 1987, but in Japan it was called Dracula 2: Noroi no Fuin (meaning Dracula 2: The Seal of the Curse). The game was originally released on the family computer disk system, but was later released on the Nintendo Entertainment System.The game is about Simon Belmont who goes on a journey to undo his curse that Dracula put on him, on their previous encounter when he fought with Dracula. But when Simon defeated Dracula in the previous game he split into 5 pieces and scattered, so now Simon has to find and bring all the pieces of Dracula to the ruins of the castle and defeat and seal away Dracula. This game is also pixelated but it looks more smoother and a bit brighter than the previous game. Also there is more detail in the shading.

FCD (Family Computer Disk System)

  

NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)

 




 

This is Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse it was first released in Japan on 22nd December 1989, but in Japan it was called Akumajo Densetsu (meaning Devil's Castle Legend). This game was the third, and last Castlevania video game made for the console NES. This game is a prequel to the original Castlevania, it is about the ancestors of Simon Belmont. It starts with Dracula trying to take over Europe with an army of monsters, but the Belmont family are exiled and are called into action by the church. The Belmont's were  exiled because people were scared of there super human strength, but with Dracula trying to take over with an army of monsters the church has no choice so they had to turn to the Belmont's for help. So Trevor Belmont has to embark on a journey to defeat Dracula because he is the current wielder of the vampire killer whip. I think the graphics of the game have become more rounder, smother and less pixelated and the colour has become more bold and less saturated. 

This is Super Castlevania 4 released in japan on 31st October 1991, this game was the first castlevania game for the console SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). This game is about Simon Belmont going on an adventure to defeat Dracula.

SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)

I think the game has become a lot more detailed and a bit dull and the colour is also a bit saturated. Through out the years the game has become more detailed in shading and in the look of the character because you can tell that the character is wearing armor because of the texture used. Also you can see the dints, cracks and texture in the ground. There is a lot more detail in the background especially in the sky because, in the previous games the sky was a one plain colour and now there is more than just one colour and you can even see clouds.
                                                                                      
This is Castlevania: Rondo of blood, the game was first released on 29th October 1993. This game continues the endless feud between vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the immortal Dracula, the main character in this game is a 19 year old called, Richter Belmont he is the rightful heir to the vampire killer whip and the direct descendent of Simon Belmont. Richter goes on a journey to rescue his beloved Annetta because she was kidnapped by Dracula's servant Shaft. Shaft is a Dark priest and a servant of Dracula, on the way of Richter's journey he encounters Annetta's sister, Maria Renard who was also kidnapped but when rescued, she insisted on joining Richter's journey to save Annetta. He ends up rescuing a nun called Terra, who mistakes him to be the manifestation of god. Richter also saves the village doctor's daughter Iris, and then finally Annetta. After defeating Shaft and Death, he then confronts and vanquishes Dracula and the castle then falls into the sea. The console to play this video game was called PC Engine, the console was made to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment System but it ended up competing with the Sega Mega Drive, Nintendo Entertainment System and a few other game consoles. The PC Engine was the first game console to be released in the 16 bit era. 

PC Engine

The first Castlevania game to be released in the 16 bit era was Super Castlevania 4. If you look at the evolution of Castlevania through out the years you can see the progress of the technology and you can see when the 16 bit era had started because that's when the characters appearance becomes more detailed.

In Castlevania:Rondo of Blood you can see the technology has improved there are more colours, shading, and brightness. The background has more detail and the character. You can see that the graphics have become more realistic compared to before. The statues in the background look more real compared to the first Castlevania.

This is Castlevania: Symphony of the night released on 20th March 1997 in Japan. The console needed to play this video game was PlayStation, however the game was reviewed and rated a 93%. Since then the game has been re-released on many different consoles and is now know as a classic of video gaming. If you look at the details of the game you can see that the graphics are smoother and less pixelated, you can see patterns in the background on the big circle door. There are also more of a variety of colours being used and texture, because if you look at the hammer you can see it is made of wood and metal compared to the older games when you couldn't see as much detail so you could not tell what materials the weapons were or the material of the clothing.

Also this game is different from the others because usually in the plot of the game there is someone trying to kill Dracula but this time the character you play as is Dracula's own son Alucard who is a half vampire half human called a dhampir, who was originally called Adrian Fahrenhiet Tepes. He did have special powers and was stronger than any human but not as strong as his father especially in the dark arts. After his mother was accused of being a witch, and killed Adrian then grew up under the influence of his father, and was trained in the dark art and molded into a warrior who would one day fight for the side of evil. Because Adrian was a dhampir he did have a soft gentle side which came from his mother. Before his mothers death, Adrian was by her side even though he was furious, his mother insisted that he didn't take his anger out on the humans, because their lives are already full of hardship. With those thought forever implanted into his mind, his mind always wandered questioning his fathers intentions. After standing by as long as he could he left his fathers army and disappeared. Adrian knew his father would use his wrath on the people, so he decided to destroy his fathers army, hopefully encouraging his father to change his mind. Adrian also changed his name to Alucard, which is his father Dracula's name in reverse, he did this because it represented that he had beliefs opposite to his father. Alucard also has the ability to transform into a bat, wolf, or mist. The artist who created the designs for this game was Ayami kojima.

This is Castlevania also sometimes called Castlevania 64. Because it was made for the console Nintendo 64, it was first released in North America on 26th January 1999. In this game you can play as Carrie Fernandez who is a young orphan with magical ability's, or Reinhardt Schneider who is the heir to the vampire killer whip of the Belmont clan. Once you choose your character you then go on a journey to stop Dracula from rising from his century long dormancy. This game is the first Castlevania game to be made 3D, you can tell that the colours are quite dull and saturated. You can tell when things are further away from the character, because they are more saturated the further away they are. I don't really like the way the game looks because its very dull and the colours used are very dark and saturated. But it is different in an exciting way because your playing the game in 3D, and back then this was the first 3D Castlevania so I would imagine that this game was exiting and fun to play back then.

This is Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, it was made to be played on the Game Boy Advance. The game was released on 21st March 2001 in Japan, and the graphics are back with the 2D style of the previous games. In this game the main character is not a part of the Belmont clan like the previous games, apart from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night where Alucard goes against his father. This time the character is called Nathan graves and he is going on an adventure to rescue his kidnapped mentor from Dracula. I don't really like this character because he is different from all the other characters in the previous Castlevania, and because the artist is different you can tell because the style of the character is totally different compared to the work that was previously done in the other games. The artist for this game is called Kazuko Fujihara.

 

This is Castlevania: Lament of Innocence this game was released on the 21st October 2003, and the console to play this game was PlayStation 2. This game is about the origins of Castlevania, how everything started with the Belmont's endless feud with Dracula. The story begins with Leon Belmont a former soldier of the Belmont clan. His close friend Mathias Cronqvist tells him that his betrothed Sara is being held captive by a vampire called Walter Bernhard. Leon then sets off on an adventure to save his betrothed Sara, encounters Rinaldo Gandolfi who is an alchemist and a resident of the forest outside of Walters castle. When Leon enters the castle grounds Rinaldo gives him a whip crafted by alchemy so he could defeat the monsters, he also enchants his gauntlet so he could use the enchanted relics in the castle. He also learns that he has to defeat 5 monsters to gain entrance to Walters throne room. After defeating the five monsters he also defeated Joachim, who is a vampire kept prisoner in Walters castle. Before dying Joachim mention that the Ebony and Crimson stones, that were created by alchemy can create darkness. Leon then learns from Rinaldo that the Crimson stone can convert the souls of vampires into power for the holder of the stone.  When Leon reaches Walter he rescues Sara and try's to slay Walter but there was no effect. 

Leon Belmont (character design)

At Rinaldo's cottage it is revealed that Sara is slowly becoming a vampire, Rinaldo then tells Leon that he must sacrifice Sara so the whip could be affective against Walter, but Sara overheard the conversation and she begged him to kill her and use her soul to save others from suffering her fate. Leon reluctantly completed the ritual and created the vampire killer whip. Devastated by the loss of Sara Leon returns to the castle to slay Walter, however when Walter is defeated death take his soul and offers it up to Mathias, Mathias then appears and reveals to Leon that everything was orchestrated so he could take Walters soul and convert it into power for himself using the Crimson stone. Mathias then explains that he choose immortality as a vampire to curse god for taking his beloved wife. He even offers the same to Leon but he refused, Mathias then ordered Death to kill him but Leon defeated Death and vows that the Belmont clan will hunt Mathias down and destroy him. The games epilogue then reveals that Mathias becomes Dracula. I really like the story of this game i thought it was kind of interesting and exciting as I was reading the story. The Artist who created the character designs is Ayami kojima, i really love her work and her art style. I also really like the look of the characters.

Mathias Cronqvist (character design)

This game is Castlevania: Lords of Shadows released on 5th October 2010 in North America. This game can be played on the PlayStation 3 and on Xbox 360. This game is different from the other castlevania games because it starts a new franchise. This game is about Gabriel Belmont who goes on a quest to defeat the Lords of Shadow to revive his wife back from the dead. In this game you play as Gabriel in a 3D environment using his skills to defeat the enimes and solve puzzles throughout game. In the end when he defeats the Lords of shadow there power ends up going into Gabriel. He tried to bring his wife back using an enchanted mask called Gods mask, it was said that it had the ability to bring back the dead. When he used it, he could see his his wife but he could not bring her back from the dead. She told him he has been given a new life to redeem himself, and then took off with the Gods Mask. I like this video game and the graphics are pretty good. There is also a part two to this game and the graphics in that game is a lot more better than the first Castlevania lords of shadow. If you look at the gif below and compare it to the two above you can tell the ones below are more high definition and  more realistic.

Castlevania Lords of shadow 1 + 2 Art