"It's called Portrait of RUIN for a reason..."

...Because Koji Igarashi(better known as IGA, the producer of the Castlevania series) along with Konami just didn't put much thought into this game. It is highly overrated, I am going to say this now. I am a BIG Castlevania fan, but no fan-boy. I can tell when a game is weak. This game puts the Castlevania series to shame.

<Story>
Castlevania has been really detouring in main story and changing for the worst lately. From 'Aria/Dawn of Sorrow's thing about Dracula being resurrected in some school kid during an eclipse to 'Portrait of Ruin's wannabe Belmont(Jonathan Morris) and his very annoying "know-it-all" friend(Charlotte Aulin) trying to stop the resurrection of Count Dracula, among other things. Why Konami, why? Why not a story featuring a Belmont or at least one of the other Castlevania characters that actually had character? I don't know how much you can put up with Charlotte's constant nagging and stuck-up attitude and Jonathan has very weak character to boot. They both also have very poor sense of judgement. These two characters just annoyed me and should not be so-called "vampire hunters". Now, there is a few other characters you will meet on your way through the game(I wouldn't want to spoil anything after all, that is if you want to actually play this...), but they aren't too interesting either(well, except for one character, but he's usually always in a Castlevania game anyway(besides Dracula, that is :p)). What ever happened to the awesome story and characters like in 'Symphony of the Night' or 'Curse of Darkness'?

<Graphics>
Another Castlevania game with the ugly generic anime art style with very generic looking characters. Enough to make me puke. The art in this game is nothing compared to the great Ayami Kojima's who has done most of the art for the series in the past. It's worse enough they put another cliche anime cut-scene in the menu(ugh). This whole character design takes away from the game because you now have what looks like one of those crummy anime series: two kids, who look like they escaped from school, just go out and somehow try to kill gruesome creatures in a castle(riiiight...). They also got pretty lazy with the areas, or "stages", of the castle/paintings. In each stage, there is only like 4 really dull backgrounds that get reused over and over in different positions(upside down and all around). And, would you believe that some stages have the same exact backgrounds as a presumably "different" stage you been to before? The whole game looks like it was put together by an amateur in one of those lousy "RPG-Maker" games. Seriously lame. Add in the 4 or 5 reused mobs for each stage and you have super repetitiveness right there. Too bad they choose mostly ugly styles and characters to drawn in. Some of the mobs even look like they where ripped from some dumb anime. Demon nurses with huge syringes and cat women? Gimme a break. The very few awesome looking mobs, like Andras, the Werewolf and a certain scythe-wielding, shrouded figure, are only in like two spots or are one-deal bosses! I'm not a so-called "graphics whore", but I found the look of the game to be very lacking, especially compared to past Castlevania games. I've seen GBA and SNES games more pleasing and colourful to look at than this, and that's saying something.

<Music/Sound>
What happened here? This is supposed to be composed by Michiru Yamane? I find that hard to believe. The music is so lacking in quality it sounds like it was made for a low-budget title(wait a minute...). None of the music tracks where inspiring or memorable. It might as well just not be there. I can't even really remember any of the music, besides the very few old-school Castlevania remixes, but that can't save this game. I usually love Castlevania music(I own the OSTs from many of the games), but this game I wouldn't even want the soundtrack for free. There is some talking, in either English or Japanese, which ever you prefer. We're not talking full-blown-cut-scene dialogue, but a few words, grunts, and phrases here or there. We have a mixed-bag here though. Some of the character's English voice-overs don't sound very good, but some of them seem more fitting. Same deal with the Japanese voice-overs. However, it sounds weird hearing characters with English names in Europe speaking an Asian language and they could of did a better job with some of the English-voice overs in my opinion. But I figure my expectations where a bit high because the past Castlevania's that had English voice acting where all spectacularly done and this isn't full-fledged voice acting to begin with so I should let it slide. Still, either language voice-overs shouldn't really get on your nerves, besides the enemies - which can and often do... from mobs shouting "I SEE YOU!" every time they're about to make a move, to yells of "Let's play!"... makes me want to stab my ears. And, they sound just as annoying in Japanese compared to English, only difference, is that you can't understand what they're saying directly. Luckily, most of the noisy mobs are not too predominant throughout the game or the volume can just be shut off since there's really no reason to have it on anyway.

<Gameplay/Controls>
The game plays basically the same as other Castlevania games before it. You can play as either Jonathan or Charlotte, equipping them each with armour/weapons/sub-weapons(or spells) you find as you go along hacking and slashing mercilessly at your foes, while trying to explore every part of the castle, or in this case, the castle and the "worlds" in the paintings(hmm, where have I seen this before? *coughSuperMario64cough*). The gimmick to this game though is the "Partner System" in which you can switch between either character at will, use both of them to get past obstacles, perform a team-up attack or just have the second character follow you and fight along side you. This system works quite flawlessly, besides the fact that Charlotte is pretty much dead weight because shes very weak and most of her spells take a long time to charge. It's almost impossible to charge a spell for 5+ seconds in the heat of battle without getting hit(therefore interrupted). Also, it's very frustrating because you have to keep manually equipping each spell to use it. Only time I used her was when you needed to for a switch and other nonsense or a decoy/meat shield during a boss. Jonathan was the one I solely used during the whole game. So this "Partner System" needs a few tweaks. But, I think the system could be pretty good and be fun to have more than one person to play with at once(as long as both characters are useful). Konami should defiantly do it again(but, with better characters). Another new feature to the series is a "Quest System". A character you meet fairly early in the game will hand out quests to you. They can range from fetching items, doing a button combo, or equipping certain items, among other things. Aside from the first quest, they are not required to finish the game. But you do get some nifty items and skills as rewards. Unfortunately, the game is still pretty boring to play because of the unlikable main characters and the repetitiveness of the levels. I would never of thought filling out a map and trying to find items in a Castlevania game would be so bothersome! At least I can say something good about the controls. They perform like they're supposed to and I haven't had any trouble pulling off a move or two. The button config is also easy to learn and responsive. You never even have to touch the bottom screen and that is a good thing! (grumbles about 'Dawn of Sorrow's poorly implemented touch screen features...)

<Replayability>
I don't see why you'd want to play through this game more than once, but, there is some unlockables. You can play as either the two vampire sisters from this game, a certain duo from the Japan only 'Rondo of Blood' and 'Symphony of the Night', and an Axe Armour(by himself), along with the usual "Hard Mode", "Boss Rush" and a "New Game+"(eww). Now, I don't particularly favor any of these characters or modes, so I find these unlockables to be quite mundane. ...Not that I'd want to chug through all those stages again anyway(shiver). There is two Wi-Fi modes, you can play co-op, although very limited(why not through the whole game? I have no idea), or "sell" and buy things online. By "sell" I mean duplicate your items. Other people can come into your "shop" and purchase an item without you losing it and vice-versa! Amazing, right? I didn't find any use for these modes though, of course. You can get anything and everything you need from the game itself offline and I wouldn't want to make anyone suffer by playing with me.

<Final Thoughts>
The only reason this game is hyped is because it has "anime-esque" characters and it's 2D. I don't know how that warrants this game an automatic "perfect" score. For some reason, people who claim themselves to be "Castlevania fans" want the series to stay in 2D *only*. They don't give the 3D ones a chance(no matter how good they are) and we end up with this garbage. Both 'Lament of Innocence' and 'Curse of Darkness' where amazing and show how well the transition from 2D to 3D can be. You know what? I don't care if a game is 2D or 3D. I just want a great game and this one isn't it. I am tired of all poor 2D Castlevanias getting undeserved hype and all good 3D Castlevanias getting undeserved bash. I really hope Konami doesn't churn out another Castlevania like this one again. Come on, you can do better IGA!(the amazing 'Symphony of the Night' shows this!). Well, maybe next time...

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/09/07