The Konami of the late 90s was a very interesting workplace. A young Koji Igarashi passed through its ranks, an author who is back in the news for his recent Bloodstained. Igarashi went down in history for his role in the Castlevania series, more specifically in Symphony of the Night, ¿but what has this really been? ¿What did? And I ask because it is common to listen and read today: Igarashi created Castlevania, Igarashi directed Symphony of the Night; Well, these two statements are false.
Igarashi entered Konami and was assigned to the team for the development of the popular Tokimeki Memorial series. This is a dating game of the type of which there were already many, but Igarashi added a small novelty that transformed Konami's proposal into a success. We did not see the stats of the girls, but those of our character. As the author states, with this decision, Konami invented a genre, the ren ’ai simulator or love simulator.
The game won, but Igarashi refused to continue working on this series, he wanted something else. For what he had achieved, he was rewarded with being able to choose in which other Konami franchise he wanted to participate; and yes, he chose Castlevania. He was included in the Symphony of the Night team, but not as a director, but as an assistant director. From that in humble beginning, he suggested much of the changes that separate this title from the previous ones in the franchise.
The position of 'assistant director' and his influence on the development of a video game are curious topics if we talk about Konami. There was another famous assistant director who transformed a linear adventure. he rests and against the clock of a penguin in another with alternative routes, secrets, elements of RPG, conversations, buying and selling of objects and even access to a secret end that was reached based on what the player did as such, not as playable character. Yes, we are talking about Hideo Kojima and the first game in which he participated in the company: Penguin Adventure. In this game you can also add different ways to kill the same boss, ¿do you think this possibility of any other of his productions?
With this article I don't want to take Igarashi's credit; On the contrary, he managed to write a very successful IP for Konami and was included in a new work team to add really valuable modifications to his productions. To finish with this text, say that when we talk about metroidvanias, we would have to include in his definition who is the father of all. Igarashi recognizes it in an interview: 'I was inspired by The Legend of Zelda', because although it is not true that Igarashi directed Symphony of the Night, it is that everything starts and ends in Shigeru Miyamoto.
