Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Twenty years since the release of the original Castlevania on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Konami’s Castlevania series is still producing outstanding games, albeit in a different format. Having abandoned the traditional stage based game structure after 1995’s Rondo of Blood, the series has discovered formulaic brilliance in the non-linear Metroidvania game design (a rather clever portmanteau).

Portrait of Ruin is the sixth Castlevania game that follows said format, and a direct story sequel to Castlevania: Bloodlines. Taking place during World War 2, Jonathan Morris Junior and Charlotte attack enter Dracula’s castle to find somebody else running the show. The story isn’t much more interesting or more developed than the other Metroidvanias, but it is enough to keep the game interesting, with the enjoyment bolstered by some nice cameos from heroes past. While some longtime fans may dislike the anime-inspired character designs, it works well with a wide variety of portraits for each character.

The game structure and core gameplay design are the most distinct among the non-linear games of the series, primarily due to the ability to control two characters at once. With a very well-thought out control scheme, Portrait of Ruin allows you to run around as a single character or have the other one follow in tandem with your lead. Each character has six equipment slots and a variety of special moves, and even if you choose to only use one character at a time your customization will not go to waste; combo attacks and special moves for the inactive member can be activated with simple button presses. The way in which Konami has assigned the buttons on the DS is truly impressive, and believe me, ‘impressive’ isn’t a word normally designated for button layouts.

In addition to the regular castle that is the center of all the Metroidvanias, Portrait of Ruin has several stages that take place inside paintings. These areas are reminiscent of the old-school castlevanias where you have to make it from point A to point B, kill a boss, then move on, except each stage has numerous savepoints and warp points. The levels can seem kind of repetitive, but overall they remain interesting and extend the game length nicely.

Unfortunately, with an unusually large game area comes a problem that has plagued large games for years, namely repetitive level design. Far too many rooms are used several times over, dulling the overall impression that I received from the game design. Furthermore, the levels don’t seem to be as platformer heavy as some of the other Castlevanias, instead opting for ‘large room with bunch of enemies that you have to get through’ over and over. It truly is disheartening to see them spend so much time on every aspect of the game except making unique rooms to traverse.

Also worth mentioning is the nice variety of boss fights. In addition to a large field of new and challenging boss fights, Konami has included a bonus dungeon with nearly all of the bosses from Dawn of Sorrow.

For years, one of the greatest drawbacks to 2-d action games of all varieties has been the lacking game length. Portrait of Ruin uses a nice system to overcome the problem, and while it has been seen in other games in the genre, I don’t think it has been as well executed. After completing the game, you can replay the game as any of three additional character sets on two different difficulties, and Hard mode includes a Maximum Level setting. Furthermore, one of the alternate duos is controlled almost exclusively with the touch-screen functions of the DS. While this mode is my least favorite of all of the game modes, it is still an interesting component and will extend the game length for those that are interested. There are a few multiplayer modes, but uninteresting design and horrendous DS online system make these additions virtually useless.

The presentation of the game is generally below that of Dawn of Sorrow, in both the graphics and the music. While PoR is by no means an ugly game, the areas are not too detailed, which makes the repetitive level design even more grating. The soundtrack is very good, but does not make as good use of previous tracks as well as DoS did. Still, most of the music is very catchy and well composed.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is not a perfect game by any means, but it still should be considered the role-model for all future 2-d Action-Adventure RPGs. A great soundtrack, large world, interesting weapons & skills, as well as diverse unlockable playmodes all come together to overcome problems that have plagued the genre over the last twenty years. My only hope for the next Castlevania is that they actually make the game that occurs in 1999. It’s now been book-ended by the events on either side of the final showdown; how about Konami actually finish it?

SIX out of SEVEN

-Extraneous notes- (highlight to read) SPOILERS

-Favorite music tracks include the music just outside of Wind’s room.

-The Combo move Thousand Blades is far too powerful, making hard mode for Johnathon and Charlotte far easier than it should be.

-Richter+Maria mode is actually fun, unlike the Symphony of the Night counterpart.

-I still haven’t unlocked Axe Armor Mode.

-The last boss battle against Death and Dracula is very fitting, considering that the player controls a duo.