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Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Nintendo DS)
Developer
Konami
Publisher
Konami
Genre
Action
Players
2
C3 Score
9
Reader Score (11 Votes)
7
9
7
Posted on 21.11.2006
Posted by Adam Riley (jesusraz) 
Comments: 8 
Reads: 3981
Tags:
Castlevania, Portrait of Ruin, Konami, Konami, Action, Nintendo DS
Posted by Adam Riley (jesusraz) Comments: 8 Reads: 3981 Tags:
Castlevania, Portrait of Ruin, Konami, Konami, Action, Nintendo DS
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The Castlevania series may have appeared on many other systems, but the majority of its strongest outings have been released on Nintendo systems, such as three classics on the Game Boy Advance. When moving over to the Nintendo DS for the first next-generation 2D game in the series there were doubts about how well it would end up, but thankfully it was a massive success both at retail and amongst critics. Now the team has been made bigger, the budget seems to have been expanded and it is definitely back with a bang in the form of Portrait of Ruin. Can a game as strong as Dawn of the Sorrow really be beaten by such a margin, though? You bet it can!
The premise of the game is that a crazy artist called Brauner is on the rampage in wartime 1944 and desperately wants to resurrect Dracula himself along with the help of his two daughters, Stella and Loretta, and it is the job of two poor souls
Metroid is a series that is normally mentioned alongside Castlevania nowadays. Sure, it is not exactly the same, but since it includes deep exploration of a large hub-like castle that leads off into different areas and is jam-packed full of secret passages to uncover and bosses stowed away around the grid-like map, to the passer-by it is not hard to see where the comparative comments come from. You find the main map is on the top screen, which is extremely handy since non-DS versions require you to go into menu screens to see where you are actually going. The map is an essential piece of kit or else you will either get extremely lost or miss out on vital aspects of the game and end up having to track back unnecessarily, which can be costly if you are low on health points at the time.
But not only has the graphical prowess been sufficiently toned up, so has the soundtrack. Whilst the GBA has oft been criticised for its weak audio capacity, the DS has already shown that it can strut its stuff with the big boys, churning out gorgeous soundtracks for the likes of Children of Mana and Final Fantasy III (to state two more recent examples). Dawn of Sorrow's music was indeed wonderful, but Portrait of Ruin again seems to take things a step further (maybe more than one step, actually). The rich music that pours from the forth from the DS speakers is haunting, rousing and chilling in the right places, with little spurts of voice acting here and there (yes, even in a hidden English mode, thanks to the game basically being developed alongside its American edition). In fact, right now I have one of the main themes running through my head, so is the addictive quality of the tunes within. Sadly you have to unlock a sound test mode, because it would have been great to have something like that right from the start....but hey, you cannot have it all!
Metroid is a series that is normally mentioned alongside Castlevania nowadays. Sure, it is not exactly the same, but since it includes deep exploration of a large hub-like castle that leads off into different areas and is jam-packed full of secret passages to uncover and bosses stowed away around the grid-like map, to the passer-by it is not hard to see where the comparative comments come from. You find the main map is on the top screen, which is extremely handy since non-DS versions require you to go into menu screens to see where you are actually going. The map is an essential piece of kit or else you will either get extremely lost or miss out on vital aspects of the game and end up having to track back unnecessarily, which can be costly if you are low on health points at the time.
Anyway, this time round there can be one or two players on the screen at any one time, depending on your choice
On top of this, though, is another new addition
Gameplay
9
The newly implemented dual-character aspect works a treat, and the inclusion of quests is marvellous. As for the usual gameplay, it is as much of a joy to play as ever before.
Graphics
9
The fluidity of animation, wonderful use of 3D for backgrounds, sheer variety of enemies and great character flowing through PoR makes this a wonder to behold.
Sound
10
Dragging the composer from Symphony of the Night onto this project really has paid off as it is definitely one of the strongest soundtracks in Castlevania's history.
Value
8
Okay, so the actual difficulty in the game is not too hard, but Igarashi-san and the team have thrown in enough extras and new elements to at least make this one of the most worthwhile outings so far!
9
C3 Score When Dawn of Sorrow was released early on in the lifespan of the Nintendo DS many thought it would appear rushed. However, it turned out to be one of the best games on the system. Now, though, it has been well and truly surpassed by Portrait of Ruin /10
Please post your comments below.
Buy Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Reader Comments
1
is spinning plates.
10036
L100 C3 Master
Sounds excellent, great work Adam. Might pick this up at some point if I have spare cash/nothing else to play, not done Dawn of Sorrow yet though! Castlevania games don't actually sit too well with me no matter how much I play them...
really need to sort out my posture. :/
3975
L89 Tom Nook
Nice review!!!...AI buddy!
Thats what children of mana needed...some puzzles to get money etc could only be done two player :(
And multiplayer co-op!? Awesome! (If any of my friends get this that is...
I'll probably be picking this up...if wii doesn't rob me of all my money....
Thats what children of mana needed...some puzzles to get money etc could only be done two player :(
And multiplayer co-op!? Awesome! (If any of my friends get this that is...
I'll probably be picking this up...if wii doesn't rob me of all my money....Avoid Games Like the Plague, productivity++
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13744Operations Director, Senior Editor
Thanks : Loved this game so much...The only thing that stopped me from regretting getting through so quickly is that I have Final Fantasy III and Yoshi's Island DS waiting for me! :-D
Fantastic game and other than being confused by some of the quests (lack of Japanese knowledge), there was no problem working through this import copy!
Adam Riley [ Operations Director :: Senior Editor :: Cubed3 Limited ]
Looking for a Voice Actor? Look no further! | Follow AdamC3 on Twitter!
Loved this game so much...The only thing that stopped me from regretting getting through so quickly is that I have Final Fantasy III and Yoshi's Island DS waiting for me! :-D
Fantastic game and other than being confused by some of the quests (lack of Japanese knowledge), there was no problem working through this import copy!
Adam Riley [ Operations Director :: Senior Editor :: Cubed3 Limited ]
Looking for a Voice Actor? Look no further! | Follow AdamC3 on Twitter!
Kirby PWNZ j00
5529L100 C3 Master
The music is BETTER in this one!? :-o Awesome ;_;
I'm really hoping we get the option of the Japanese voices in our version, because the American ones piss me off >.>Still a proud member of the 'omfg amazing water in games' society
I'm really hoping we get the option of the Japanese voices in our version, because the American ones piss me off >.>
February's Cubed3 Podcast - Nearly Complete!
13744Operations Director, Senior Editor
The US voices are indeed cheesey, but I played through the game with them enabled because everything else was in Japanese and it grows tiresome not understanding a thing after a while...
Whether they'll have the Japanese voices in the US one...who knows - you might get lucky! :
Adam Riley [ Operations Director :: Senior Editor :: Cubed3 Limited ]
Looking for a Voice Actor? Look no further! | Follow AdamC3 on Twitter!
Whether they'll have the Japanese voices in the US one...who knows - you might get lucky! :
Adam Riley [ Operations Director :: Senior Editor :: Cubed3 Limited ]
Looking for a Voice Actor? Look no further! | Follow AdamC3 on Twitter!
209
L21 Shy Guy
I'm soooo looking forward to this game... hopefully I can import it with the preorder bonuses.. if not.. poor us europeans :(
February's Cubed3 Podcast - Nearly Complete!
13744Operations Director, Senior Editor
Yeah, definitely try to get your hands on the pre-order bonus - it really does look worth it.
But whether or not you get it, the game is good enough alone :-D
Adam Riley [ Operations Director :: Senior Editor :: Cubed3 Limited ]
Looking for a Voice Actor? Look no further! | Follow AdamC3 on Twitter!
But whether or not you get it, the game is good enough alone :-D
Adam Riley [ Operations Director :: Senior Editor :: Cubed3 Limited ]
Looking for a Voice Actor? Look no further! | Follow AdamC3 on Twitter!
0
L1 New Born
My guess is that this game will feature the Japanese voices and not the english by default. Over here in the USA Dawn of Sorrow used the Japanese track so I don't see why it would be any different with the sequel.
1: Uh, my friend here needs to use the facilities.
2: Facilities be damned! I need a bathroom!!!
2: Facilities be damned! I need a bathroom!!!
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