"Time to grab that whip again!"

With there being three Castlevania games on the GBA, it was inevitable that a second Castlevania game would come to the DS, especially since the DS and GBA Castlevania games were in the same style. Whilst Portrait of Ruin may have the same kind of game play, there are the new things, and even some things taken out, although Portrait of Ruin still manages to be a great game.

First off, the story. You play as Jonathan, a young man with a mission: destroy the vampire that is inside a castle. Although he isn't a Belmont, he still has the power to use the Vampire Killer, but this time he isn't alone. He set's out with Charlotte, a young mage whom must help him to defeat the vampire. Along the way they meet your usual characters, such as a shop owner and some evil vampire sisters, and even Death. The story is pretty basic, and doesn't really have any unexpected plot twists, the ending is exactly as it should, so there isn't anything too spectacular here.

The gameplay of Castlevania Portrait of Ruin is simple. It's a 2D side scrolling platformer, but with elements of RPG, and some free roaming too. The game sets you off into a giant castle, and in many areas, there will be places you can't go to until you have certain abilities or done something. All over the castle are the enemies of the game, really imaginative enemies, and the classic ones. Pressing attack will attack with your weapon, but it depends on what it is. If you have giant axe, your character will swing it slowly, and you have to make sure the blade actually hits the enemy. A small sword will swipe in front of you though, for example. You can equip different weapons and armour, just like in an RPG, and you can get money to buy extra equipment. You gain EXP from defeating enemies and level up. So yeah, it's classic RPG elements, but set in a 2D platforming world. If you have played the GBA/DS Castlevania games, you will instantly know what you're getting into, as it's no different. Either way, it's a great system, and thank god it hasn't been changed into a poor 3D Castlevania game for the DS.

The main new thing is the fact you get a partner. Charlotte, is young mage, who can seriously kick ass when used right. This adds new game play to the series, as you can switch or have both out at the same time. For example, having both out at the same time, if your partner is attacked, your MP goes down instead of you sharing HP. You can switch between them, and give them orders, mainly for puzzles, like for one to stand on top of a pillar, stay whilst the other person pushes it, allowing the person on the pillar to reach higher places. Charlotte is good with magic, where as Jonathan is the classic weapon user. You will find your self mainly just using Jonathan through out most of the game though. You can also gain special abilities, where pressing R will summon your other character, allowing you to perform a massive move which will literally fill up the screen, be it a volcano or giant lightning strikes. Whilst the new system is pretty good, unfortunately, the partner based puzzles all seem to be at the starting areas of the game, in which then you may need to use your extra character's shoulders to jump off, but when you get the ability to just press UP+L, and go as high as you want, you wouldn't need them ever again. Whilst it does work, don't expect to be using it much.

Also, there aren't any touch screen features now. They were pretty useless in Dawn of Sorrow, being used to draw symbols just to fight the boss. They felt like they were there just because there is a touch screen, which isn't right. There are some characters which attack using the touch screen, but apart from that, nada. There is WiFi in PoR though, in the form of a shop, and co-op. No, don't get too excited. It's NOT story co-op unfortunately, but instead, Boss Rush co-op, which I haven't tried myself. The shop mode can be useful, but again, it feels like it's there because DS has WiFi now. Either way, it can be useful, as there are many quest items you need which you can easily sell and can't get again. Nice additions, but not entirely needed to enjoy the game the most.

There is also the new Quest Mode to spice things up a bit. Talking to Wind, he will set you on many different quests for various rewards. The quests are quite tough, mainly because the solutions can be pretty stupid, like to find a monster, you must crouch down in one particular room to wait for it to appear, and the quest info doesn't help you with that at all. The quests are quite interesting though, like getting 0 MP, or getting 0 Gold (the painful one), or making Charlotte wear a whole set of certain clothes. The rewards are pretty good, especially when they're big ass weapons you can sell for money. And there is a glitch in the game which lets you get the quest reward over and over again, which yes, does work, and is kind of cheating. Either way, it's a nice good addition to the Castlevania series, and should be used again in later games.

There is one last addition to the game, which kind of makes a lot of it up. Instead of just having the castle to explore, there are many portraits all over for you to enter and defeat the boss inside. Defeating the boss inside allows you to get further in the game to the vampire, and the portraits certainly add something new. Each are based on different themes, like a creepy circus type one, with upside down rooms, and deserts and pyramids. They are nice distractions from the usual rooms of the castle, which don't vary much. Unfortunately, later on in the game, there are four last portraits, which are all based on previous portraits, meaning the same kind of environments and designs, just with new enemies and bosses in, which is kind of disappointing. Still, they're pretty good, a nice new feature for the game!

The graphics haven't improved much over Dawn of Sorrow to be perfectly honest. The character models do look a bit more better, slightly more detailed, but up close, they're the same pixel people in the previous game. The backgrounds are the best part really. This time, quite a lot of them are in FULL 3D, instead of the semi-looking 3D ones of DoS. They look good and fit into the game well. There is the fair share of gore too, or at least, blood, and quite a bit from certain enemies. The music is pretty good, upbeat in some areas, highly expected in Castlevania, as some areas are like this. Over areas can have music to suit them. It's of good quality, nice tunes, and there are even some voice clips. Not many, but they're good for the game, as it is on the DS, and are a nice addition.

PROS:

Fun gameplay (still).
Massive castle with portraits to explore.
Good new features, partner system and portraits are well done.

CONS:

When it comes down to it, the gameplay isn't that much more different.
It's pretty short.
Not so good story line.

THE RATINGS:
Graphics: 8.4/10
Audio: 9.0/10
Story: 7.0/10
Game Play: 9.0/10
Life Span: 8.3/10
Difficulty: 7.5/10
Multiplayer: 5.0/10
Overall: 8.7/10

My Two Pence:

Where as Portrait of Ruin doesn't add much new, what it does add, the quest system, partner system and portraits, they are pretty good and a welcome addition to the game. The WiFi is a bit rubbish, and not completely important to the game, but any platforming, RPG, or Castlevania fan should get this game. Especially if you enjoyed Dawn of Sorrow!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/09/07