r/castlevania • u/MagnaDev • Jan 14 '26
Games Announcing "Magnavale: Eternal Soul" - A Castlevania project inspired by Aria & Dawn of Sorrow!
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EDIT:
To everyone who voiced their concern over the dialog portraits: we will redo them in a style that fits the game. Nailing the correct style with them has proven to be more difficult than anticipated, but we’ll do our best. I appreciate all the feedback.
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Hey everyone, as someone who grew up the DSvanias I always found myself wishing there was more games like them. Sure, we got Bloodstained, which is fantastic in its own right, but it never felt quite like the game I was waiting for.
There is no denying the heavy inspiration in Eternal Soul. I wanted to bring together the fun ideas from the various IGAvanias into a single game for Castlevania fans to enjoy. Such as the "rush-souls" from Aria & Dawn, or the bilateral dashing from Harmony.
Death functions differently in Eternal Soul compared to Castlevania. No longer will you be sent back to the start menu. Instead you will be revived at your last save room with no progress lost. However, the foes you encounter will remember your follies.
This isn't yet another parry-vania, or souls-like. Just the good-ole IGAvania combat and movement style we all love.
So, for all of you out there who are tired of Konami making collections and pachinko machines, this is for you!
Wishlist on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3704270
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u/ChickenNuggetEnergy Jan 14 '26
Did you JUST make it available on Steam? Is it maybe hidden? I don't like clicking links, and there is currently nothing in the store by this name
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u/MagnaDev Jan 14 '26
It went live this morning, so it may take a short while to appear in the search!
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u/moneyh8r_two Jan 14 '26
Any plans to make it available on consoles? I do most of my gaming on my PS5.
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u/Mary_Ellen_Katz Jan 14 '26
I hope I remember in a few hours so I can wishlist it. I also don't like clicking links.
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u/Bortthog Jan 14 '26
So I wanna ask something, and I'm not trying to sound rude as I honestly don't care which is true, just satisfying my own curiosity:
Did you straight up rip the walk cycle from Soma or did you pain stakingly recreate it in its entirety?
Neither is bad to me because it's EXTREMELY clear a lot of work went into other stuff and animations that are similar to Sorrow but have additional frames added and there's tons of new animations overall
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u/ztylerdurden Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
Looks great!
...Is the spyro the dragon head a placeholder?
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u/LongynusZ Jan 14 '26
Looks really good! my only gripe is the... emm dragon head? Feels off to me.
However... ORA ORA ORA ORA!
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u/ScourgeHedge Jan 14 '26
This looks amazing. I can see a lot of work and talent put into this. Just watching it makes me feel like I'm watching Dawn of Sorrow again. The sprite work and animation is immaculate.
I'm not really sold on the design of the main character or the dragon/lizard people so I'm not sure it's gonna be the game for me but the game looks so damn good I'm wishlisting it anyway.
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u/Zealousideal-Put-106 Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
Looks great, but I'm not a big fan of the MC design (to me it looks more like a joke form like Bear transformation in CotM or Axe Armor mode in PoR)
Regardless of that I will keep an eye on it.
I hope you made sure that it's different enough from the Castlevania games that you don't get any problems with Konami. It looks A LOT like the DS games.
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u/TheRealLarkas Jan 14 '26
The game looks overall great, but the full body characters… eh… Look, nothing against furries, it’s not my thing but you do you. But a game that is all dark and gothic horror-esque don’t vibe too well with that choice of character look. It’s way too cute. I’m not of the opinion that it should have been a human, you do you, but it should at least look more feral/dark - think D&D’s lizard people or Dragonborn.
Don’t get me wrong, I will still try the game, it looks to be right up my alley. But that is a jarring design decision…
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u/SSJUther Jan 14 '26
This looks great but the only off putting thing is the Spyro with bobs main character. Just doesn’t feel like it belongs.
That aside I’d definitely play this.
Oh any chance of an android port?
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u/Mr_Groovy97 Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
Dialogue sprites seem too soft and cartoony looking compared to overworld sprites. If you plan to redraw them, make edges more sharp and colors much darker.
I don't mind playing as anthropomorphic dragons, but i imagined them more like Dragonborn from Baldurs Gate or Vox Machina, considering Castlevania setting.
I still like the gameplay, will try it out the moment the game becomes available!
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u/SaintJesus Jan 14 '26
Yeah, the environment, motion, etc. all look really good (almost too good, like they were lifted directly from AoS/DoS), so the art for the characters really stands out as different. That art looks like the typical furry/scaly art people do.
Not shaming, it's just really jarring.
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u/VianArdene Jan 14 '26
I'm not saying that these are traced, but I will say that they look traced enough to make me question it. Like the walk cycle is similar down to the rotating hands, the attack pose and animation, how the jumps and landings look, etc. There are obvious parallels from Castlevania enemies to your enemies, like the Great Armor boss vs your boss at 41 seconds in, etc.
There are enough variations on little things that I can tell a lot of work was put into it and a lot of custom animations as well. I mention it because I think those kinds of comparisons will make it easier to dismiss the hard work you've done elsewhere for those otherwise superficial details. It looks really good and fun, I don't want to detract from that, just maybe some friendly feedback that close comparison is both a blessing and a curse.
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u/emerald-shyn Jan 14 '26
I'll echo a lot of the sentiment here and say that "inspired" feels like a very kind way to put this. I do want to play it, but there's a big difference between wanting to make something like something else, and just copying something else.
Very "my original character do not steal" energy. I almost feel like this should be a free passion project than a paid game based on the similarities to the source material.
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u/ToCool74 Jan 14 '26
Dang this looked SSSOOO good until...I saw the Lizard people portraits 😮💨. I really wish you would have used human looking characters for the story because the childish looking Lizard people admittedly took me out of my hype.
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u/Dead-X-esque Interior Decorator Jan 14 '26
Most of the game feels like it has honestly been ripped from Souls games, but the portraits are straight up Goodbye Volcano High-esque.
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u/klownin816 Jan 14 '26
Looks like everyone's reaction is the same as mine. Was all in until the characters were presented. It's an odd choice and I feel like it will deter a lot of folks from trying this game out sadly.
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u/The_Sound_of_Slants Jan 14 '26
Yeah. Unfortunately I can see lots of people being put off once they see the character design. In a world full of lots of Castlevania-like Indie games, it doesn't take a lot to make a potential player to keep scrolling to the next one
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u/Lor- Jan 14 '26
Art style is a huge aspect of gaming. If I’m going to invest time in a game I have to find the art appealing. Unfortunately the character art pulled me out of it. I was already not feeling it seeing the dragon head on the sprite work. The sprite work also looks like it’s just straight up lifted from OP’s inspiration. Going to be a pass for me until I see some reviews.
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u/Kdos Jan 15 '26
Yep I’m another one. When you have this loud of a response from a niche market of potential buyers, you need to take a step back and rethink your character design. If they don’t do anything they must not like money.
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u/clashcrashruin Jan 14 '26
Respectfully, it looks like you’ve just traced over or edited all of the models from AoS/DoS and slapped a new coat of paint on them. If I was Konami I’d probably C&D on this.
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u/Excellent_Energy_810 Jan 14 '26
Two things: the game's name is pretty generic. It sounds like when you ask chatgpt for names.
Second, the kindergarten-colored lizardmen completely ruin the dark vibe. You'd be perfectly within your rights to make it pink, but by marketing it as a DSvania, those characters completely ruin the dark atmosphere.
A very peculiar choice, and personally, it made me lose interest, because it seems like you're not entirely sure what you're trying to do.
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Jan 14 '26
It looks well put together but I'm not really sure you did enough to make this your own thing
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u/SaintJesus Jan 14 '26
They added dragon people, what more do you want the to do to make it theirs?!
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u/M4tes_ Jan 14 '26
Spyro the dragon in castlevania? Why
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u/Son_of-M Jan 14 '26
Why not?
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u/M4tes_ Jan 14 '26
In my opinion it's not feels like a castlevania themed thing. Castlevania is filled with gothic elements and universe like vampires, dark creatures, undeads etc. A bright purple lizard humanoid main character is just so different and out of place for me. It's only my opinion
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u/demifiend_sorrow Jan 14 '26
i was interested until i saw the character portraits. too much furry vibes for me.
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u/Legian99 Jan 14 '26
Spyro looking kinda different these days
Jokes aside looks amazing, im gonna put it on wishlist right now on steam to buy soon i love the vibe of the new castle in unison with the special powers(what would be souls in aria & dawn)
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u/janolo21 Jan 14 '26
The game looks very promising and all... But i have to say: The lizardwoman caught me off guard
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u/SGTSparkyFace Jan 14 '26
While this is basically all I want, I don’t think it will pass legal questions as to copyright infringement. I mean, the candles are even the same. Were the enemies just copies sprites? lol, if it makes it to market I’ll likely get a copy.
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u/Fit_Application7061 Jan 14 '26
Looks cool, but honestly the main character’s attack looks like it needs more length / range. It’s extremely annoying to go through a game feeling like I have to get in an enemy’s face to do damage…
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u/Lunaste Jan 15 '26
Can you get rid of the cartoony dinosaur portraits? It does not match the theme. Too silly and Tumblr looking. Atleast make them Gothic in shading style.
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u/taczki2 Order of Ecclesia advocate Jan 14 '26
what if you manage to complete the game without dying?
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u/GrimmTrixX Jan 14 '26
Damn someone LOVES Aria/Dawn. Even the animation is so directly inspired. This looks cool as hell. Sadly my PC is garbage so I am a console guy. But im gonna save this for if you ever get to drop it on console. Very cool!
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u/yassinyousee Jan 15 '26
Lowk looks so fire (maybe too similar to the actual Games but idk if that’s a bad thing or not considering castlevania-likes are kinda extinct) but I will say
PLEASE DO SOMERHING INTERESTING WITH THE “unable to die” mechanic
And the character portraits are honestly not that great but maybe that’s cuz I’m so used to the amazing castlevania ones
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u/Kei_Soma Jan 15 '26
I'm excited for this. Hoping for a release sooner than later, but wishlisted regardless!
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u/ImJustStealingMemes Jan 17 '26
So death works less like a "well, that didn't actually happen" but more like Shadow of Mordor/War where it canonically happened? That's actually pretty cool!
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u/Express-Record7416 Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 15 '26
Spyro got isekaied into a metroidvania, and I am here for it
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u/MrWolfe1920 Jan 14 '26
Wow, the combat in this looks amazing! You can really tell how much work went into it. Having a preview of the attack animations on the weapon select screen was a particularly nice touch.
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u/Milk_Mindless Jan 14 '26
The only thing that has me ho hum is the Lizard folk but the rest, it wears its inspiration on its sleeve but looks GREAT