News
‘Castlevania: Harmony of Despair’ Added to Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program
With the news that we potentially might be getting a new collection of Castlevania games, the multiplayer-focused Castlevania: Harmony of Despair has just been announced by Major Nelson himself, Xbox head Larry Hryb, to be the latest game added to the Xbox Backwards Compatibility program.
Castlevania Harmony of Despair is coming to Xbox One Backward Compatibility today https://t.co/qPMRNs2ZLo pic.twitter.com/Uvch5PFuzz
— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) March 14, 2019
Released in 2010 for the Xbox 360 (and 2011 for the PlayStation 3), Harmony of Despair featured characters, sprites, and locations from several different Castlevania titles. The story, involves a cursed book called the Grimoire, in which the story of the evil citadel Castlevania is recorded. However, the castle comes to life within the pages of the book, taking various forms from previous incarnations, and the heroes of the past, also recorded in the book and coming to life within its pages, must once again fight to put an end to the curse.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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