Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin – NDS – Review

To some gamers the word
“advancement” and the phrase “moving forward” are dirty words. In the opinion of
some gamers moving a franchise forward just for the sake of adding a modern feel
to the game is a terrible idea that could lead to disastrous results. The Castlevania franchise could almost be considered the poster child of keeping a
franchise rooted in the old school. While the series did take a plunge in the 3D
gameplay department the franchise always seems to shine when it goes back to its
2D gaming roots. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin continues the streak of quality
2D Castlevania games that has generated interest in the series ever since the
PS1 classic Symphony of the Night.

The story of Portrait of Ruin (PoR)
is based in the year 1944. With the Second World War in full swing countless
lives are lost to the war and tortured souls are roaming the Earth. The evil and
hatred of the lost souls has led to the rise of Dracula’s castle once again.
However this time another vampire is behind the workings of Dracula’s castle,
his name is Brauner. But whenever a vampire is around a Vampire Hunter is not
too far away. The Vampire Hunter in this game is named Jonathan Morris, who
wields the legendary whip the “Vampire Killer.” Along with his partner, Charlotte Aulin, Jonathan must uncover the mysterious of Dracula’s castle and rid the
world of its unspeakable evil.

With Castlevania PoR we get the same
classic Metroid/Castlevania gameplay that became popular with Symphony of the
Night. For those that might not understand this formula let me explain. The
first few Castlevania games were straightforward 2D side-scrolling action games
that had you using a whip as your main weapon while picking up various items as
a secondary weapon. With Symphony of the Night the series took a different
approach by having your character leveling up, learning spells and equipping
various items that you pick up in the game. Another change had you exploring
different parts of the Dracula’s castle instead of following a linear path.
Parts of the castle are blocked off and as you defeat bosses and find new items
you unlock other parts of the castle. For some these changes reminded gamers of Metroid and the whole Metroidvania label was born.

PoR continues the Metroid-vania
gameplay with all of the classic elements that have appeared in Castlevania
games since Symphony of the Night. But this isn’t Symphony of the Night just for
the DS; instead this is a unique Castlevania game that can stand on its own. The
big difference maker for PoR is the addition of your partner Charlotte. Now
instead of playing through the game as one character you can switch between
Jonathan and Charlotte at any time. Jonathan is based on the classic Belmont
style/Vampire Hunter we’re use to by now. He can use whips, spears and swords as
his main weapons in the game. To contrast Charlotte is a magic user that has to
read spells and books in order to attack during combat.

The game doesn’t limit you to just
switching between the characters. Instead you can call upon the other character
to follow you and help you in battle at anytime. The game even includes puzzles
that you have to solve by placing the other character at certain locations on
the screen. The game includes a talk feature that you can use to generate a
conversation between Jonathan and Charlotte in the menu screen. Another special
feature of this partner system is the Dual Crush mode which is a special attack
used by both characters. These changes might not seem like a big deal but for a
Castlevania game it does create something unique that we’ve never experienced.

The level design in PoR is close to
a classic design but falls a little short. The main castle has tons of rooms
that you will uncover as you progress in the game. A new addition in PoR is the
paintings you find in the game. The paintings are a gateway to another map that
you have to explore. Each painting depicts a different type of environment, such
as a desert, that you wouldn’t find inside of the castle. In order to keep
uncovering parts of the castle you will have to finish each painting. Each
painting has its own boss that you have to fight in order to finish out the
painting. But the game usually has the same type of layout and progression. You
find a warp point, you find a painting, you find a save point and near all three
of these are in an area blocked off until you’ve cleared the painting.

The boss battles are another fine
example of classic Castlevania. You will find several bosses that you’ve battled
before in previous Castlevania games. With the addition of your partner the game
does throw some tricks at you that didn’t show up in a previous Castlevania
game. The boss encounters can be very unforgiving especially if you haven’t
leveled up properly. I found myself having to fight some of the bosses
repeatedly to no avail until I spent time leveling up.

Another change in PoR is the lack of
touch-screen controls. In the last Castlevania game for the DS, Dawn of Sorrow,
you had to draw certain pictures on the touch screen to use different spells and
features. Thankfully PoR skips this feature but adds another feature that was
lacking in Dawn of Sorrow; multiplayer play. PoR includes full wireless
multiplayer (Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection) and local multiplayer.

The multiplayer mode is broken up
into two parts, a co-op mode and an item/shop mode. The co-op mode pits you and
another player in a race against time to clear a stage in the fastest time
possible. The Shop mode allows you to list the items that you find in the single-player game for sale to other games to purchase from you. The game even allows
you to purchase items from other games. These two options might be small
compared to PC or console games but are a welcomed feature for a portable Castlevania
game.

There are a couple of other features
that either new or changed from a previous Castlevania game. One is a skills’
learning system that you can take on during the game. You will be presented with
various quests in the game that you can choose from and once you have completed
the quest you learn a new skill. Some of the quests are real simple such as
perform a special move while others will have you searching various paintings
are parts of the castle. Another different feature is the skills you pick up in
the game. Now each character has different skills they can use during the game
which are different from each other. For example, as you defeat certain monsters
in the game you pick up the ability to call those monsters into battle. But only
Charlotte has the ability to use this skill since it’s based upon magic.
Jonathan will learn specific skills, which are usually based upon weapons he
finds in the game (such as the axe and knives from previous Castlevania games).
Instead of just picking up new items to use you learn their skills that you can
select from at anytime. No more picking up the wrong item at the wrong time
during the heat of battle.

For fans of the series Portrait of
Ruin is another fine example of why the Castlevania franchise continues to
shine. The game offers the same type of tried-and-true gameplay made popular in
Symphony of the Night. If you’ve ever played one Castlevania game then you will
be at home right away, especially with Jonathan since he is based upon the
classic Belmont formula. The game doesn’t try to re-invent the series by
including a bunch of tacked-on features (such as the touch screen spells) that
only get in the way. The changes that were included are minor but enough to make
the hardcore Castlevania fan take notice. In the end the game does feel like
“just another Castlevania” game instead of something fresh and new. We’re
already on the second Castlevania game on the DS and the fifth title
that has been released on a portable system. The game is still a solid game but
nothing that can overshadow some of the other games in the series.

Gameplay: 8.5
This is the same solid playing title that you would expect from a Castlevania
game. The ability to use your partner during combat and switch between partners
is a welcomed feature that flows seamlessly into the game. The exploration,
items and level advancement create a ton of playability by mixing and matching
different skills and equipment. I did run into a problem from time to time where
Jonathan would end up facing the wrong direction during combat. It seemed to
happen at random but it happened more than once.

Graphics: 8.8
This is one of the best-looking 2D Castlevania and DS games I’ve seen. The
screen is popping with vibrant colors and dark tones from all of the locations
within the castle and paintings. Each location in the game is overflowing with
small details that are very impressive even for a 2D title. The enemies still
look almost the same as they have in previous Castlevania games. During some of
the boss battles I did notice some slowdown when the action would fill the
entire screen.

Sound: 8.6
Fans of the music in the series won’t be disappointed with PoR. You will hear
some arranged versions of classic Castlevania themes heard in previous games.
The game even includes voice samples for some of the characters in the game
which unfortunately get repeated frequently.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
This isn’t a walk in the park. You will need to level up before jumping
into some of the boss battles. Unfortunately the game doesn’t do a great job of
preparing you until after you’ve been defeated by a boss. That’s usually your
sign that you need to level up some more.

Concept: 8.0
When you’ve had this many sequels in a franchise’s history it can be difficult
to come up with a revolutionary idea. Symphony of the Night was the last big
jump in how the series has progressed, in my opinion, and Portrait of Ruin keeps
that formula alive. This isn’t a bad thing but it makes the games feel the same
after a few hours of play.

Multiplayer: 8.5
The multiplayer options might appear limited but are still a welcomed feature
because of the Wi-Fi mode. So many portable games now seem to skip out on
offering true wireless multiplayer but thankfully PoR doesn’t let us down. Maybe
the next game will offer more than two players in one game.

Overall: 8.5
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is another fine title in the long running series.
For hardcore gamers the addition of the second character and Wi-Fi multiplayer
are two great additions that set PoR apart from other games in the series.
Casual games will still get a kick out of the game but probably won’t notice the
subtle changes when compared to the last Castlevania game. I don’t want the
series to change too much but something still needs to be done to make the games
feel different from each other.