"Dorakyura." As an aspiring Japanese something (certainly not a major -- too much for my American brain), this odd combination of katakana, nestled amongst the contents of an otherwise typical magazine spread, takes on a life of its own. Why? Because it's the only thing on the page I can actually decipher. Luckily, my tiny grain of insight is all that's needed to understand what I'm looking at: an official confirmation of a new Castlevania for the Nintendo DS.

Of course, this isn't altogether unexpected, as there have been rumblings of a new installment in the wip-crackin', Drakky-slayin' series for some time now. Fortunately, Famitsu was kind enough to present us with more than a simple confirmation. We've also got deets, yo!

Foremost, this new Castlevania (possibly subtitled Order of Ecclesia) will again be developed under the watchful eye of Koji Igarashi, producer of the other DS Castlevanias, and famous for his involvement with fan favorite Symphony of the Night. Thus, it's unlikely that we'll be seeing any major changes to the franchise's formula, but Iga's never shyed away from mixing things up a tad (see: Portal of Ruin), either.

Also apparent is some kind of multiplayer support, although it's unknown what exactly it will entail. But after giving the scans a once over with my bleary eagle eyes, it seems that the new Castlevania will return to a single character format -- eschewing Portrait of Ruin's tag-team stylings -- which may or may not hinder the return of Portrait's co-op mode.

Regardless of where Iga's taking things, however, his Castlevanias have been some of the best games on the DS, and I have no doubt he'll work some of his vaunted vampire magic this time around as well. Hopefully we'll hear more soon, lest Konami wants Dracula to reappear without being hindered by a meddlesome kid or two.