Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

[Gabriel]

Whee! Hell hath frozen over. I finished a Castlevania game!

 

As an indication of how bad I am, I've played the original Castlevania for 20 years and was overjoyed the other day when I FINALLY got past the mummies. Yeah, I've been stuck on the third boss for 20 years. (Well, not really the third boss, but more like the long igor and medusa strewn path on the way to the third boss.) Don't even get me started on how bad Castlevania IV, Bloodlines, and Dracula X Chronicles kick my ass.

 

So, you can see why completing Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin makes me happy. I had never even gotten close to Dracula in one of these games, so not only reaching him but smacking him around like my little bitch was uniquely fulfilling.

 

I have to say that this game is definitely the best I've played for the DS by far. It was much more engaging than Pokemon: Diamond/Pearl (the only other previous game I held in high regard). The levels are nicely drawn and designed. The "Portrait" levels keep things interesting and varied. There are a few nice 3D effects to show that the game isn't just a GBA game. The music is the always cool Castlevania repertoire done quite well on the DS sound chip. The storyline is decent enough with a nice twist. While the game definitely has that "young teen" level of dialogue, it manages not to venture into the insultingly moronic zone. The Johnathan/Charlotte mechanic is nicely done and gives different ways to play the game rather than just wandering halls with the whip dude all the time. And while I was initally thrown off by the wide varitey of weapons (this is Castlevania, it's gotta be all whips, all the time!) I must say I learned to really enjoy the flexibility Johnathan had in weapon use. Probably most importantly of all, after I got going I always felt like I was doing something important and fun and getting close to the big finish, not like I was doing busywork and that victory was an eternity away. The game was almost the perfect length. The difficulty was just enough to get me worked up at certain points, but never so much that I got completely frustrated. And just to put icing on the cake, it's a DS game which doesn't use the touchscreen as a mandatory input device.

 

Oh, and now that I'm finished, there are new game modes open. I can play a New Game + with leveled up Johnathan and Charlotte. I can play sisters mode, or I can have Richter and Maria kick vampire tail in the castle. Hell, yeah!

 

My only complaints now at the end of the journey are minor nitpicks. I wish the game had been on a full console and been done in a more detailed style similar to the PSP Dracula X remake. Charlotte had a nice idle animation, but Johnathan should have had more animation too. The tiny screen cut down on a lot of detail, and I would have liked more. The subweapon system (Axes, daggers, Bibles, etc) did seem like a lot of busywork, and the only times I found myself "grinding" was to master subweapons. But even grinding was just a minor inconvenience instead of a multi-day long ordeal for miniscule benefit.

 

I think now that I've played this all the way through, there's no way I can view these games as "platformers." What I just got done playing was a RPG, without a doubt. It's just that the exploration and combat mechanics used platformer style resolution. There's NPCs, there's inventory, there's leveling, your statistics vastly affect combat, there's grinding... Unless the other games are vastly different (and the prototype, Symphony of the Night, is not seeming very different at all) then I'm not seeing how the action-RPG tag would be inappropriate.

 

I'm in a bit of a unique position because Portrait of Ruin is the first Castleroid I've played. So, I'm starting with one of the more refined versions of the style. I have to admit I'm a little depressed looking at the previous installments, because of how recycled they make Portrait of Ruin look. It does seem the game style stagnated immediately after it's introduction in Symphony of the Night with the same visuals merely being rearranged each iteration.

 

Oh well, I ordered Order of Ecclesia to celebrate.

[shadow460]

You should play Dracula X Chronicles long enough to unlock Symphony of the Night. The main game of Dracula X has horrid controls--they lag noticeably in many places and your enemies come at you from angles you just cannot hit sometimes. If you're not prepared for each attack, it'll get you.

 

SOTN is a different story. Sure, sometimes your attacks can lag, but you change that. With the right equipment, including a sentient sword, you can kill Dracula in a couple of hits. Not like it's a cheap final battle, as with "normal" equipment he'll put up quite a fight.

 

Don't feel bad about losing to the mummies on the original. I only got to the fourth stage when I got it out yesterday, then Frankie and Igor did me in. I used to be able to beat both castles (easy and hard) on a single continue.

[ninjarabbit]

I'd strongly recommend getting Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for the DS. I think it is a superior game than PoR and the Julius mode alone is worth it if you're an old Castlevania fan.

[BydoEmpire]

Whee! Hell hath frozen over. I finished a Castlevania game!

It's still warm around these parts. I've played a TON of Castlevania games, from number 1 on the NES to POR on the DS and I've never finished a single one. I did get to Dracula on CastleVania Chronicles on the PS1 (the harder original mode, not the remix mode), but I couldn't come close to beating him. POR was great, but like all the others, I got about halfway through and quit playing. Some day. Congrats on finishing!

[figgler]

I'd strongly recommend getting Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for the DS. I think it is a superior game than PoR and the Julius mode alone is worth it if you're an old Castlevania fan.

 

I think Castlevania DS is easily the best portable version there is for sure. Julius mode FTW!

[Gabriel]

I've had Order of Ecclesia for about a week now. I was looking forward to it because it seemed so well regarded.

 

So far, it's a disappointment.

 

Visually, it's fine. It looks pretty nice. The bosses and enemies so far are kinda cool. The overall aesthetic works, much like it does in Portrait of Ruin. Most of the professional reviews are giving it high marks for visuals. Yet, I have yet to see any of the nice 3D touches like I did in Portrait of Ruin, and the visuals really aren't all that different from the previous title I played.

 

But the real disappointment is the level structure. The world map seems like a good idea, and it really is. The drawback comes from the areas themselves. Portrait of Ruin was very nice in this regard with well designed and balanced areas with save spots and teleporters in excellent and useful locations. Order of Ecclesia is nothing like that.

 

Teleporters and save spots seem to be positioned at random. Far too many areas are "gauntlet" areas which are long boring linear hallways (no jumping or anything, just a long hallway to walk down) with mandatory enemies to fight and drain HP. I just got past one such hallway where there are multiple large enemies which, if they touch you, perform a grab and suck away 30 to 50 HP.

 

I'm often getting the feeling I'm in an area I'm not supposed to be in, like it's too high level for me. So, I find myself grinding to bring my stats up. I didn't have to grind in Portrait of Ruin until late in the game when I realized I needed to master the bible subweapon and I needed some extra cash. But in this game, I'm constantly running up against enemies which require a ridiculous number of hits to scratch and which can't be avoided.

 

There are also far too many pesky flying enemies (which like to hover just out of reach). The also have strange vulnerabilities and resistances which mean just about any weapon mix will be ineffectual against something on the screen at the time.

 

And I have yet to face a boss where I didn't find myself dying a few times and having to restart. I've seen the Game Over screen a LOT. It's just not well balanced, and it's quickly becoming unfun. It's starting to hit that zone of being frustrating busywork.

[A Sprite]

I've had Order of Ecclesia for about a week now. I was looking forward to it because it seemed so well regarded.

 

So far, it's a disappointment.

 

Visually, it's fine. It looks pretty nice. The bosses and enemies so far are kinda cool. The overall aesthetic works, much like it does in Portrait of Ruin. Most of the professional reviews are giving it high marks for visuals. Yet, I have yet to see any of the nice 3D touches like I did in Portrait of Ruin, and the visuals really aren't all that different from the previous title I played.

 

But the real disappointment is the level structure. The world map seems like a good idea, and it really is. The drawback comes from the areas themselves. Portrait of Ruin was very nice in this regard with well designed and balanced areas with save spots and teleporters in excellent and useful locations. Order of Ecclesia is nothing like that.

 

Teleporters and save spots seem to be positioned at random. Far too many areas are "gauntlet" areas which are long boring linear hallways (no jumping or anything, just a long hallway to walk down) with mandatory enemies to fight and drain HP. I just got past one such hallway where there are multiple large enemies which, if they touch you, perform a grab and suck away 30 to 50 HP.

 

I'm often getting the feeling I'm in an area I'm not supposed to be in, like it's too high level for me. So, I find myself grinding to bring my stats up. I didn't have to grind in Portrait of Ruin until late in the game when I realized I needed to master the bible subweapon and I needed some extra cash. But in this game, I'm constantly running up against enemies which require a ridiculous number of hits to scratch and which can't be avoided.

 

There are also far too many pesky flying enemies (which like to hover just out of reach). The also have strange vulnerabilities and resistances which mean just about any weapon mix will be ineffectual against something on the screen at the time.

 

And I have yet to face a boss where I didn't find myself dying a few times and having to restart. I've seen the Game Over screen a LOT. It's just not well balanced, and it's quickly becoming unfun. It's starting to hit that zone of being frustrating busywork.

 

Blame the old school is new school mentality. The game perversely gets easier the further you go, due to the developer attempting to force players to play hardcore in the opening levels.

 

It's a gimmick. A nasty one.

 

Sometimes a little stagnation is good.

 

Really, you're going to see that pattern of forced experimentation over and over. Avoid Dawn of Sorrow if you aren't good with the touchpad - you'll be unable to defeat a single boss until you learn to quickly copy other people's drawings without a mistake.

 

Go straight to the GBA prequel instead.

 

Minus the downgraded graphics and sound needed to fit into a 6-8 meg cart, it's the best balanced, most innovative of the series on handheld. Everything just feels right - the level of polish is like a master crafted watch.

[shadow460]

Blame the old school is new school mentality. The game perversely gets easier the further you go, due to the developer attempting to force players to play hardcore in the opening levels.

 

It's a gimmick. A nasty one.

This is very true. I have found it a LOT in DXC, but the difficulty does ramp a little in the end. Play hard in the beginning just to beat a couple of stages, and then the end gets almost too easy in some spots. I beat Dracula's third form about 45 minutes after I first encountered it.