"New Ideas, but Doesn't See its Full Potential"

Portrait of Ruin is the latest in the series of what many call the “metroidvania” series of Castlevania games. This second entry to the DS series of games comes with a lot of promise, but eventually leaves the player yearning for more. Lack of originality, unfulfilled concepts, and poor character development create a sequel that could have been great, but settles for mediocre.

The game starts like any other Castlevania – placing you at the gates of Dracula's castle. POR starts with a new concept right from the go – two companions that can be swapped at any point. Jonathan is the typical whip wielder, and Charlotte is the magical backup. This prospect of teamwork has its highs and lows. On one hand, the ability to use dual attacks is fun, but ultimately becomes your partner's sole use, aside from the occasional spell. Most players will find that they use Jonathan for the majority of the time, and Charlotte is rarely used at all. This is disappointing, as the concept could be developed well. The game presents a lot of new abilities right from the get-go, as opposed to the traditional method of fighting a boss for a new power. There's almost too much handed out right away. The double jump is given so quickly that it eliminates the team jump that is acquired right before it.

Dracula's castle is, without a doubt, one of the worst of the series. The corridors are lifeless, drab, and serve little purpose other than to funnel the player to the next portrait, where the bulk of the game takes place. This disappoints, as the castle seemed left out of the game planning altogether. The game also takes a fairly linear approach. There are very few areas that are accessible at the same time. Most areas require unlocking the first in order to progress, and some areas of the castle serve no purpose at all. The underground corridor in the castle leads nowhere, and other areas are so similar looking that they all blend together. Fortunately, the game has an unbelievable amount of warp points, so often traveling the castle to get anywhere is not necessary.

The bulk of POR is with the portraits themselves. Lord Brauner, a new vampire, has managed to channel Dracula's power without reviving him by using the portraits as his source of power. The premise here is exciting, because the portraits can lead to anywhere, taking the player away from the usual confines of the castle. Again, this potential is not completely fulfilled, and may even leave the player angry. Many of the outside locations look wonderful. The crows in the tree in Old Forest, the outdoor locations in the City of Haze, the pyramid backdrops in the Sandy Grave, the rain falling outside of Dark Academy, really transport the player to another world. The main gripe is the indoor locations, which take on the same drab appearance as Dracula's castle. To add insult to injury, the locations are reused as the player progresses farther in the game. One of the least impressive is the Nation of Fools portrait, which is used twice in the game, along with the City of Haze backdrop. This concept worked for Symphony of the Night, but it's not going to work here. One of the few bright spots is an underground area that limited the vision to a small area around the player. This should have been taken advantage of more, as it added a claustrophobic feel to the game. The horror concept really has slipped away from this series.

Storyline has never been a strong point of the Castlevania series. The basic concept of find-and-destroy Dracula seems to work for most players. That said, one cannot overlook the horrendous dialogue that plagues this game. It would have been smarter on Konami's part to simply leave it out altogether. The arrogance and stupidity of the statements made by Jonathan and Charlotte tend to make you hate the players more than relate to them. They are flimsy and lacking depth, and the more they speak, the less you will care about what happens to them. As far as the series goes, this game also breaks the trend a little by having someone other than a Belmont carry the famous vampire killer whip. Again though, the poor writing at the game's beginning will probably make most players simply skip dialogue altogether. POR also continues the tradition of the multiple ending. Since Symphony of the Night, the series has used some type of midpoint to establish a fake ending. The players then usually have to figure out what item they need to fight the “true” boss and progress further in the game. The only gripe here is that the item needed this time is poorly hinted at, and leaves the player with no place to search than the internet. A game should at least be self providing.

The days of Soma's soul collecting are gone. Well, sort of. Enemies now drop either abilities for Jonathan, or spells for Charlotte. In this category, there is a wide range of abilities to learn; however it is far less than the previous games. Many of the abilities will be fairly useless, and again, too many are given to the player at one time. With so many to choose so quickly, many abilities are shelved instantly. These abilities can range from the traditional, like axes and knives, to the wacky, like paper airplanes and cream pies. With enough use, abilities can be mastered, gaining even more strength. What strikes me as odd is that there is no indication of how far along the process is for mastering the weapon. The game displays the SP an enemy will give, but will not display how many SP is needed to master the weapon. It seems that this was an overlook that should not have been.

Charlotte also gains abilities, in the form of spells. Unlike Jonathan, her spells take time to charge, often leaving her wide open to attack. Considering that Charlotte has a short range of physical attack, and a long time to charge for spells, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that her role in this game will be very minimal. Most players only use her for team attacks, and the required spells to progress through the game. Some of the spells are useful, but again, charge times do not work well in a boss fight that demands a quick pace. A minor gripe about the two characters would be that the menu systems place Jonathan as pink and Charlotte as blue. This confused me the first few times buying at the weapon shop, as I kept getting accessories for the wrong player.

Team attacks are one of the few shining spots in this game. Over the course of playing, you will find a lot of great team attacks. Team attacks are almost always needed to take down the bosses, and very few are worthless. Most of the attacks are impressive looking, and one in particular, brings back the ghosts of former games to strike at its foe. Hopefully the idea of two players and combined attacks continues beyond this game, as it has great potential. It left me wanting more.

The bulk of any Castlevania game is in the fighting. Here there are several great points, and again, disappointment. The enemies that you will fight will make appearances from previous games, and other than this, there are very few new enemies. While enemy recycling is nothing new to the series, the lack of new creations shows that the creative team is getting lazy. Bosses are pulled directly from other games, and almost none of them are new. On the other hand, a few old monsters reappearing are nice to have for the nostalgia factor. SPOILER AHEAD. Finally, finally, a traditional fight with Dracula is restored, and not the fights of the past few games. The goofy gigantic creations are gone, and instead we get a dual team attack from Dracula and Death. It's definitely one of the best ending boos fights in quite awhile. A few others reappear too. Medusa, Frankenstein, and the Mummy all make appearances. The reappearance of Richter was probably the biggest highlight of the game. END SPOILER. Other than these few highlights, most players will probably be looking for boss strategies in the other Castlevania game threads.

Other than these few bright spots, most of the game was spent yawning and trudging my way through the game, simply to add it to my completion list. The game boasts a lot of extra features, playable characters, boss rush mode, and an online shop. Frankly, I couldn't play this game through a second time, even if they offered Alucard as an unlockable (which he isn't). Even the game's music left me wanting more. The music lacked any real life to it, which is a disappointment considering how great the Castlevania series usually is with its music.

Portrait of Ruin had a lot of great ideas. These ideas were not realized to their full potential, creating a disappointing game and a blemish to an otherwise great series of games. I hope that Konami will not abandon the ideas, but simply flesh them out more. This Castlevania game looked and felt like a quick release. The characters have terrible development, awful dialogue, and fight in a drab castle with bland music. Recycled enemies, bosses, and abilities mark a bad turning point for the series. The creative team needs to come up with more than a handful of new ideas for the next installment. The series needs a renovation. While the Castlevania series is far from being lost, this game is definitely not a step in the right direction. Better luck next time Konami.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/25/07