Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS) Review
Posted by Jordan Williams on 12.20.2006
Twenty years ago, you popped Castlevania into your NES and proceeded to verbally abuse yourself by playing one of the best and challenging games of its age. Fast forward to now and you are about to do it all over again with Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for the DS.
What is there to say about Castlevania that hasn't been said already? It set the standard for platforming games, and has appeared in some form on almost every console and handheld under the sun. It's also known for being one of the most engrossing and well played platform games EVER. Admittedly, CV did fall off a bit in the late 90s, but it came back with a vengeance with the game that some say is the best in the series, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
From there it was all fireworks, every time a CV game came along, it had to not only live up to the expectations of the one before it, but it also had to top them. Circle of the Moon, Lament of Innocence, Aria and Dawn of Sorrow all did just that. With Dawn of Sorrow being the first Castlevania game to be on the Nintendo DS, it's now time for the second one to take the light, here comes Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.
The game takes place in 1944. Just at the closure of World War II. So, think about it. A lot of people have just died, it's the end of a war, there's a lot of sorrow and sadness. Yep, it’s castle time!
You take control of Jonathan Morris, a vampire hunter and blood relative to the legendary Belmonts. He even possesses the infamous Vampire Killer, but for some reason he cannot wield it. He is accompanied by his partner in crime, Charlotte Aulin, a teenage witch who can control some pretty good magic.
Together they venture to the same damn recurring castle to vanquish Dracula back to nap-time...or so they think...
Graphics
This game is modeled very much after Dawn of Sorrow, which is not a bad thing by any means. This is also one of the few CV games to have you finally wage the war on places that are not in the castle. Namely, the current owner of the Castle, Brauner, is quite in artist. In fact, he paints pictures that are so lifelike that you can actually go into them. That is where a good half of the game takes place, in paintings that are themed after different areas. One of the more notable ones is a Pyramid and a weird Funhouse which will make your head hurt. Either way, the backgrounds are done very well. Some of them even go as far as to render the background itself in 3D, so when you run by an object it actually turns perspective wise, giving the background a lot more life. The full entrance video makes a return, too. Using a nice blend of hand drawn art and cell shaded 3D.
Most of the monsters are nothing new, you've seen them before. Again, that's not really a bad thing, as most of them animate VERY well and are surprisingly detailed for being so small(see: Nipple slips!?). The main characters animate extremely well, almost fluid. With some very nice minor touches and detail such as clothing and hair movement. The spells that Charlotte employs aren't that impressive to look at, but they get the job done. The top screen, just like in Dawn of Sorrow, is confined to being a Status/Map screen; it's simple and gets the job done.
One thing you WILL notice, however, is that outside of the backgrounds and a handful of monsters. There's a big lack of 3D, which can be taken as a mix bag. Also, when the action gets a little to steep, the game is prone to slow downs (and possible freezing, more on that later). Overall, the game looks great, it's not a great improvement, but it was something that really didn't need to be improved that much in the first place.
But we all know graphics don't really mean squat in a CV game...you came for this.
Gameplay
Now, this is where some of the biggest changes happen. Did you get tired of soul searching with Soma in Dawn of Sorrow? Well, search no more. The "Gotta Catch'em All" style of gameplay has been changed. There's still a LOT of stuff to collect, but it isn't as daunting now that you have two characters to collect for.
But let's talk about the respective characters and how they function:
Jonathan is your standard Vamp Hunter. He is the main offensive force in the game. He, like Soma, can master many different weapons, including claws, knives, whips, swords, and hammers. He also can use a myriad of sub-weapons. Many of these are bought in the castle, or found after killing an appropriate monster. Seeing as Jonathan deals more damage at a faster rate, you will most likely be using him for the bulk of the game.
Charlotte, on the other hand. Is not a defensive fighter at all. In fact, she is just about as offensive as Jonathan, it's just that she lacks range in her attacks, and her magic casting requires her to stay still and not get hit until the spell has completed summoning (which admittedly isn't long, the longer you hold the spell, the stronger it gets). Her real drawback besides her lack or range is that most of the advance commands, such as the high jump, only work with Jonathan. Don't let this discourage you, though. Charlotte can more than hold her own in battle, and on some occasions you will be forced to use just her. Beware, though. Some of Charlottes spells have been known to create adverse effects in some games (Freezing). Thankfully, you really don't NEED any of her spells (except for one). The rest simply make the job easier.
Now, that was just them separate, but the main selling point of this game is that you can control the both of them at the same time, on the same screen. It works like any co-op game. You can summon Char/John onto the screen at any time. Whilst on the screen they will follow your movement (even ducking and jumping) and attack monsters that get in a certain range of them. They will NOT use sub-weapons or magic on their own, however. You must tell them to do with a simple button press. When both of the characters are on screen, you take damage different ways. The character you are currently controlling will take damage from the health bar; meanwhile, if the CPU controlled character takes damage, they will take it from your magic bar. This means that you have to show some sort of care for your CPU counterpart. The more they get hit, the less magic/sub-weapons YOU can use. If the MP bar is depleted to zero, you won't get a game over, you just will not be able to use your partner until your MP is replenished (it regenerates over time, but tonics and food can aid it along). However, if your health drops to zero, it's Game Over. Regardless of the status of your partner.
You also, if you feel the need, can control the CPU controlled characters movements by touching the touch screen. Although this feels a little tacked on and is never quite useful (sans certain characters). You also have a good bunch of team up attacks available to you, these, as you would imagine, or really strong attacks that will usually clear a screen.
Overall, the gameplay outside of the duo mechanic isn't all that different from the new generation of CV games. You still try to make it from point A to point B, killing familiar monsters on the way. Your CPU partner DOES tend to get hung up in certain areas, but that's nothing that can't be fixed with simply dismissing them and recalling them again.
This game is also devoid of the gimmicky touch screen elements that were used in Dawn of Sorrow; this game wants you to play it as a straight up platformer. Save points are plentiful, but so are the boss battles.
This game boasts some of the largest boss battles ever. With bosses sometimes literally taking up the entire screen. The bosses are not easy either, they stick to a normal pattern, but the problem is that the attacks they possess are so strong that even knowing the pattern might not help. If you slip up, you'll be in for a world of hurt. The bosses are great and creative, especially some of the fights near the end of the game. CV is known for having next to impossible final bosses. This game is no different, you'll most likely cuss QUITE a few times when you see what you have to face. It's not pretty.
The standard modes are here. Adventure Mode, Boss Rush Mode, and the all new Co-Op mode. Sadly, the latter is very disappointing seeing as you can only do Co-Op Boss Rush, which gets old very fast. The game can be used over Wi-Fi, but only for the aforementioned Boss Rush mode, and the all new Shop Mode, which allows you to buy and sell items from other users. Both of the modes really don't add much to the game and are more of a throwaway. A really sore missed opportunity here.
Konami is sticking to the "If it isn’t broken, don't fix it" method. While that usually never works out for the better, the addition of two players at once saved this from looking a bit uninspired. It's more of the same, but it's a GOOD same.
Sound
It's no secret. Castlevania has GREAT music. Some of the best music in any game EVER. This does not change in Portrait of Ruin. All of the familiar songs are back, as well as some completely new songs. They all sound great in the background and at some needed intensity or confusion to some of the areas. But believe it or not, the music isn't the stand out thing here. It's the voice acting. Yes, you read right. Voice acting in a DS game. Jonathan, Charlotte, and almost every humanoid monster have a voice. John and Char grunt and scream with the best of them (even yelling each others name when you swap characters), and the monsters throw taunts and insults at you. All of the voice work is surprisingly good in quality and delivery. There's also an easter egg that features full lines of dialogue. Most the game is still text driven, but it's very refreshing to have bosses and enemies give themselves away by calling out their attacks. My personal favorites are a hunter monster who will yell "I SEE YOU!" when you get near, and take aim. And a romantic demon that’s responses change depending on the character. If you are Charlotte, it will declare its love for you "I love you!" and do no harm. If it's poor old John, however. It screams "DIE!" and gives you a stabbing. The voices sound very natural, but, if for some reason you don't like the English voices. Go ahead and hold down the L button when choosing what game mode. You'll hear ALL of the voice clips in Japanese. Talk about detail.
Outside of the wonderful music and voice clips, the standard canned sounds are here. Besides, the sound of a whip breaking a candle will NEVER get old. Also, this is one of the few games to have a sound that triggers when you shut your DS. If close the DS in mid play, you will get a nice sound of a door closing. Simple, I know. But I love little details like that.
Lasting Appeal
You'll be playing this game for awhile. If you are one of those people who want to complete every single nook and cranny of a game. You are going to have your work cut out for you. Be prepared to work your way towards that 1000%. No, I didn't typo. I meant to say 1000%. There's secret areas all over the place, as well as a full list of side quests to do that'll net you hard to get spells, items, and weapons. There are unlockable characters and a hard mode where you can even set your level cap. Be a man, try to do that Hard Mode Level 1 Cap and show everyone just how much of a badass you are. Once you get everything, you'll be bored. But that's going to take a long time, and it's not like you'll be happy without doing it. Seeing as beating the game in its worst ending only takes about four hours, and the ending is down right horrible. You'll definitely want to get the better ending and unlock the new content.
Fun Factor
Do you like Castlevania? If so, you are going to have fun. Plain and simple. This is the new generation of Castlevania at its finest. You have a large castle to explore, 4+ levels to beat, tons of things to collect, and a lot more. You might get bored with the repetitive monsters, but that's just a minor gripe. If you know what you are getting yourself into, you are going to have fun. If this is your first CV game, however. The unforgiving boss battles might turn you off, but due to the light RPG elements of the game, if you want, you can grind around for a bit until you are strong enough to take them down. Either way, you are going to have fun, and when it's over, you are going to challenge yourself to squeeze every ounce of fun that you can out of this game.
The 411
Like I said before, this game is a shining example of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". This is what the game is. It's Dawn of Sorrows with a few additives. It doesn’t do much to progress the evolution of the series, but it doesn’t take a step backwards by any means. After two decades they've still got it. Next time, though, we want to see what else they can do. Because if the next installment is just Portrait of Ruin with some minor fixes, then it'll be a bad thing.
Add this game to the long list of MUST HAVE DS games, it's not the greatest, but your library is going to feel a lot more complete if you have this. Solid game.
Graphics
9.0
It's still amazing how much detail they can fit into the fairly small sprites. I'm sure a lot of people will notice the hair and clothes motions, as well as Charlotte when you taunt. Pervs.
Gameplay
9.0
More of the same, but it's a GOOD same. However, if this trend continues the series is going to hit another dry spell. Let's see some improvement next time.
Sound
10.0
It lives up to the name of Castlevania perfectly. Hell will freeze over when a CV game has a bad soundtrack. Voice clips are a wonderful add-on, and help bring a lot of personality to the game.
Lasting Appeal
8.0
If you are a completist, you'll be at this for awhile. If you aren't, you'll at least play it long enough to unlock the secret characters and modes. But once you do that, it's over. Thankfully it takes a bit to do it. Wi-Fi and Co-op are throwaways.
Fun Factor
8.5
It might be a little TOO hard for newbies, and it might be too easy for people accustomed to running through a game as fast as they can. It does get a bit repetitive, but at least you can turn on Hard Mode and challenge yourself.
