I asked Iga why he wasn't in charge of Lords of Shadow.
"We made two 3D Castlevania games," he said. "And to be
honest, they didn't turn out so well. Mercury Steam is very
skilled at creating beautiful 3D images, so they were
brought in to develop the game."
In 2010, Konami didn't quite yet have its own game engine
that could handle Castlevania. Remember, this was years
before the Fox Engine.
"Couldn't you still have been in charge?" I asked.
"It would've been difficult, with them in Europe and me in
Japan," he said. "And since the quality for our 3D
Castlevania games wasn't that high, it wasn't really our
place to tell them how to do one. They had that expertise."
"Looking from the outside, I think they did a good job," Iga
said. "But for many fans, they automatically think 2D when
they hear Castlevania. So there's that to overcome."
"When we did our 3D versions, many fans said they
preferred 2D. So because of that, it might be difficult to
make 3D Castlevania games."
"Were you depressed when you were no longer in charge of
Castlevania?" I asked.
"Yes, of course, I was depressed," he replied, grinning. "But,
I am a huge Castlevania fan. I want there to be Castlevania
games for the next one hundred years. I want them to
continue making those games."
"Were you bitter?" I asked.
"Certainly not. I didn't create the franchise. It was
something I worked on."
"But you made it your own."
"Well, this is the next phase of Castlevania," said Iga. "I have
a lot to be grateful for because of Castlevania."