The big insider dope with the making of this one is the fact that I totally botched my save files, which set everything back about a week. Most of you know this already, but one cannot make multiple saves in SotN, so if you accidentally save the game at a point that's inconvenient (which, really, only happens if you're making internet videos because it's practically impossible to screw yourself in that manner here), you have no choice but to start from scratch. It had been so long since I had made a previous video that I mis-juggled my current playthroughs and saved over what was the master run of the game. Yes, I am stupid.
I guess I'm lucky in this regard in that getting back to that point was only a matter of hours, but it's not the same save file, which slaps the some of the original intent of this series in the face. It's really not that big of a deal, I know, but there was a certain integrity that I wanted to maintain and now I have a flaw that maybe I alone will notice. Oh well, I suppose.
To the actual episode, though, there really wasn't a ton of development anecdotes to relay with this one, but there was a lot of fun research to put into it all the same. This is really where the references to demonology kick off in earnest, and the Tolkien stuff is also starting to mount, too, but sadly, nothing really specific came straight from Iga's mouth here. The best stuff about the Catacombs are its subtext, really.
I mention in the video that the area is basically split in half, and I'm almost 100% certain that this was an early design choice. On the left side of the map, Alucard can fight it out with Granfaloon and obtain the Mormegil, which is a proper Dark elemental weapon. This is for the crowd that may not map the whole castle because Mormegil is a weapon that can turn Richter Belmont into mush. Since it takes some exploration and a little experimentation to get through the pitch black spike room on the right side of the map, the designers want you to take this new weapon to the top of the castle, finish the game, and remain curious about what you didn't uncover. This means a return trip to the area after obtaining the Echo of Bat. It's honestly not all that deeply hidden, all things considered. "I can go here, but I can't go there, yet," is, in this genre of game, all the enticement necessary to eventually get there. It's why we crossed oceans and go into space. People just want to see what's out there.
The other big nod is the combination of Orphic myth and Dante's Inferno. I make it pretty clear in the video, but just to reiterate: Alucard is descending to the lowest reach of the castle. Like in Greco-Roman mythology, he was transported there by a boatman only to be met with a watchdog sentry before breaking his way in to fight a demon that was mentioned by name (which is fairly rare) in the Christian Bible. He literally goes into the underworld, complete with fire at his feet. The prize for killing it is a means to finish the game, but only one facet of it, so this Hell that Alucard is in must be explored thoroughly or fought through a second time. For those of you in the know (which I'm pretty sure is everyone reading this), we get to see much later the difference between a Hell that we thought was under our feet (as our ancestors may have thought) and the Hell that's an upside down reflection of reality, which, in a lot of ways, is a whole lot worse.
Not much of a discussion question this time around, but after doing my share of reading into the origins of catacombs, I kept thinking of Edgar Allen Poe's "Cask of Amontillado" and wondered if there were any subtle references to it in the game. I have a feeling that one of the statues in there might be, but that's too much of a stretch. Curious about that you all think in the comments.
Thanks again for watching, and we're off to the Clock Tower.
