Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

"No "Batman" this time, but plenty of Whipping to be had"

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (PoR for word count) is one game that confounds me. On one hand, I found it somewhat dull and boring, and on the other I found it to be one of the best DS games to be churned out at the time of its release (Winter 2006).

Let me explain: the basic game has you as a whip carrying hero and a spell-casting pre-teen, going up against all manners of undead, wierd souls, and inhuman experiments. Had it not been for the teleporting portraits (more later), PoR would easily have been another generic game, dual characters aside.

Oh, the dual characters. At any time during game play in PoR, you can switch between the whip-carrying Johnathan Morris (more on him later) and the spell summoning Charlotte Aulin (who takes constant offense at being called a "kid"/"little girl," despite her young age) at any time. Numerous foes require this switching for effective damage, and many puzzles require you to have both on screen at once to progress. This does spice things up again, and can be fun.

But the story is just... Well, compared to Aria of Sorrow/Dawn of Sorrow's Dracula reborn plot, it just isn't as fun. Granted, old school 16-bit gamers will probably find it nice that often-overlooked Castlevania: Bloodlines is tapped as the basis for this title. Yes, PoR's plot is a continuation of sorts on the old Genesis Castelvania title, with Johnathan Morris on one side and an NPC ghost telling you the plot on the other. But even with this continuation, the only real plot points that stand out (and without spoiling) were when Death was getting irritated because someone was using his master's powers. That was all that I remembered of the plot before going back recently.

Graphically, the game is still a work of art, easily surpassing the often-maligned Dawn of Sorrow's graphics (criticized as too GBA) with many 3D effects, nice particle effects, and massive creatures. Even the charging Bull (from Dracula X PC Engine) looks fantastic. Smooth frame rate, wonderful animations, and even the character portraits (which use a differient anime-style than Dawn of Sorrow (DoS).

The audio is fabulous, and the Victorian Fear track has become one of my all-time favortie Castlevania sound clips. Many haunting tracks are to be found here, and the stellar effects are wonderful. The fact that Konami allows you to go back and forth from English voice dialog and Japanese is only better, as the Japanese voice acting is VASTLY better than the English (especially Charlotte).

The controls are solid, though using some of the new items and spell effects just were not as fun as DoS's Soul sysem. Granted, Konami did try something new, but it just was not as versitile or fun. And it's a good thing that Johnathan is not a Belmont, for it would be hard to explain why he wields not just whips, but swords as well.

Game play is still classic Metroidvania, with exploration, item gathering, and leveling up all intact. The Portrait system allows you to warp to far off lands within paintings (?!), which give the series a much-needed diversity in design. I liked going into a small town and a warped carnaval of a chaos relm, but the Egyptian level was just too cliche (how many series have NOT used that one?). Still, the diversity was nice, even when the levels were overhauled.

So why do I have love/hate feelings for this game?

I really, REALLY don't care for the main mode. Johnathan and Charlotte were just not as interesting as Soma as far as plot goes, and their abilities were pretty standard for the GBA/DS games in items and spells (though AoS and DoS's vast Soul system dwarfs it in options). It's not that it is a bad game, but just...eh.

On that same note, I put up with this when I learned that there was an unlockable mode buried in the game that I had to play. Just as DoS had the Castlevania III-like mode built in, so does PoR have a hidden "old school" tribute mode. In PoR's case, you use Richard Belmont and Maria (of Dracula X fame), in all their 16-bit glory. Special abilities they have not (compared to Johnathan and Charlotte), but all of their classic abilities are intact (including Maria's cute attacks). Oddly enough, this mode was more akin to the old games in fun and challenge, even with the level up system.

There is another mode present, but going into its details would open up the spoiler issue. Suffice to say that you use touch screen for most of the combat. It's amusing, but dull compared to Richard/Maria.

Also of note is that PoR is the first Castlevania title to support online gaming. While not the co-op that many hoped for, it is still fun and useful if you know someone else that likes to play.

In short, the main game is average, yet the unlockable "tribute" more than keeps me entertained. Now if only Konami would bring Dracula X to the DS or Wii's VC (even though it is being reworked for the PSP).

Score: 9 of 10

+ Best Features: Graphics, Richard/Maria, sound track, controls, WFC support, Japanese voices

- Worst Features: Plot not up to the twists in Dawn of Sorrow/Aria, Charlotte is irritating, no Soul system

* If You Liked: Dawn of Sorrow (DS), Aria of Sorrow (GBA), Lunar Knights (DS)

* Guilty Pleasure: Just the thought of how much fun it would be to play a Dracula X remake in the 2D art style of this game for the DS (instead of the 3D overhaul on the PSP...)

+ (Great) Reality: With the PSP getting the Dracula X remake (which includes the original plus Symphony of the Night), and the excellent Konami Arcade Classics for the DS, the odds of seeing a Konami Castlevania collection for the DS continues to look promising, the Wii's VC not withstanding... [EDIT - As of this edit, Konami has announced a new Castlevania DS game. And there was much rejoicing. Yay.]

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/14/07, Updated 11/20/07

Game Release: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (US, 12/05/06)