Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

"These games just keep getting better and better"

The third Castlevania game has come into fruition on the DS, and it's in the form of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Konami has taken a somewhat different approach to the formula with Order of Ecclesia. You will no longer be solely exploring a giant castle to stop Dracula. This time there is a world map that you can travel around, small little bite sized areas that you can zip through, and an entirely new Glyph system that keeps the combat and gamplay fresh and interesting. These new gameplay features break the stasis that can sometimes be found in the Castlevania series, and due to this, Order of Ecclesia is another fantastic Castlevania game on the DS that should not be missed by anyone.

Order of Ecclesia also has a female lead character named Shanoa. She is the first female lead in a Castlevania game, but don't let that fool you, she is every bit as bad ass as any previous Castlevania protagonist, and this is imparted by her strong fighting abilities and her bold words.

Without a doubt, the most interesting aspect of Order of Ecclesia is the new Glyph System. The Glyph System is kind of a spin off of the Soul System from Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow. Glyphs are little magical images that Shanoa can absorb to gain additional powers. Glyphs can be found hidden in the areas, they can drop from a fallen enemy, or you can intercept one from an enemy that is casting a spell on you. Intercepting them is probably the most fun way to obtain them. When an enemy is about to cast a spell, a small, glowing symbol (Glyph) will appear. At this time, you can quickly absorb the Glyph by press up on your d-pad. Once you have the Glyph, you have it for the rest of the game, and Glyphs never go away.

So what do you do with these acquired Glyphs? Glyphs not only govern the special attacks that Shanoa can do, but they also govern every single attack in the game, including her regular sword attacks. If you want to use an axe, you must find the axe Glyph first, same with any other weapon in the game.

Since your regular attacks and magic attacks come from the same system, it won't take you long to realize that your normal attacks deplete you magic meter. So if you keep attacking, you will eventually need to stop to recharge. This can be somewhat annoying early in the game, but once you start leveling and increasing you maximum magic points, it's really not much of an issue. Magic regenerates extremely fast, so you won't have to stop for too long, even early on in the game.

A Glyph can be equipped in each hand, and one support Glyph can be equipped at any given time. This allows for some really cool combinations of attacks and support Glyphs. You can also equip the same Glyph in both hands to dual wield any Glyph. Each Glyph also has a Glyph Union that will use some of your hearts, but will produce a nice powered up attack of the Glyph.

The Glyph system is so incredibly deep that I could talk about it for a long time, but experimenting with the Glyph system is one of the most entertaining aspects of the game. It may seem unwieldy at first, but once you get used to it, you will want to obtain every Glyph possible, just so you can see what they do.

If anyone has done any research about Order of Ecclesia, you may already know that it's a much harder game than the previous two DS Castlevania games. Please don't let this discourage you from playing this game. The difficulty is no where near as bad as people say. While the bosses may seem tough at first, once you learn their patterns and attacks, they become rather easy. Also remember that looking for a Glyph that the boss is weak against will make your life a whole lot easier.

Another thing to note about Order of Ecclesia is that you can not simply equip your most powerful Glyphs and plow your way through the game. Many enemies have immunities and resistances to certain Glyphs, so swapping Glyphs and finding out enemy weaknesses will make your life a whole lot easier.

Okay, I swear I'm done talking about the Glyph system. I just loved it so much that I feel the need to convey how awesome it is. My advice is to take the time to experiment with the Glyphs. Some of them really come in handy in certain situations.

That's kind of a general summary of the Glyph system and the game setup. Let's see if this game was able to dethrone Portrait of Ruin and become my favorite portable Castlevania game of all time.

Graphics 9/10

Order of Ecclesia has some of the most impressive 2D visuals I've ever seen on the DS. The animation has been improved upon again, and the monster and boss designs are fantastic. Speaking of the monster designs, you should know that a good portion of the monsters in Order of Ecclesia are completely new. The portable DS games make a habit of reusing old enemy designs, but Order of Ecclesia has about 50% new enemies. The new enemies all look great and fit into the Castlevania series very well. The game also has a very dark art style. Some of the bosses are straight up grotesque, and are some of the best I have ever seen in the Castlevania series.

The areas outside of Dracula's castle are all represented well, and my personal favorite was the Kalidus Channel, which is a harbor type area that has knee high waves crashing all around you as you explore the area.

Order of Ecclesia looks great. I won't ruin anything for you, but I will say that one of the boss confrontations ends in one of the most awesome and brutal enemy deaths I have ever seen in a video game.

Sounds and Music 9/10

The Castlevania series always has excellent music, and Order of Ecclesia is no exception. Beautifully composed soundtracks that alternate between gloomy and energetic. I was particularly fond of the introductory music in Dracula's castle.

The sound effects are just what you would expect from a Castlevania game, and there is a little bit of voice acting that is very welcome. Some of the bosses also scream out their attacks as they attempt to tear you limb from limb. This is sometimes an indication of the attacks that the bosses will be sending your way. I loved how Rusalka, the mermaid boss, would yell out “Rage be wild!!” as she sent out huge tidal waves that covered the screen.

Order of Ecclesia doesn't disappoint in the audio department. Keep the volume turned up and your headphones on.

Story 9/10

Shanoa is a member of small group of magic users that use Glyphs for various purposes. The beginning of the game has Shanoa about to go through a ceremony to obtain Dominus, which is the supposed ultimate Glyph. She is being instructed by an arbiter known as Barlowe. Another member of the group named Albus has become jealous of Shanoa being chosen to receive Dominus, so he interferes and absorbs the Glyph for his own purposes. He then runs off and it's Shanoa's job to go after him and find out what he's up to.

As you can imagine, the main plot ends up involving Dracula, and the hokey story does just enough right to keep it interesting throughout the game.

Gameplay 9/10

I covered the Glyph system in my introduction, so I'll try to keep this brief. The gameplay in Order of Ecclesia is very well done. The Glyph system balances the game out in a perfect way. The boss fights are not as numerous as in previous Castlevania games, but almost all of them are memorable, and will take quite a bit of effort to overcome. Things can get a little demanding at times, but I never had a problem reloading my saves and trying again.

The first half of the game has you exploring many different areas on a world map, but the second half of the game focuses on Dracula's castle, which is about as big as all of the smaller areas combined.

There is not as much backtracking in Order of Ecclesia as there is in previous Castlevania games, but this ends up being a good thing. There are inaccessible areas, but you can quickly reenter old areas to get the things that you missed.

There is also a questing aspect of the game. During your adventure, you can find villagers that have been imprisoned in certain Glyphs. Once you absorb the Glyphs, they will go back to a town and offer some type of service for you. They also offer up some quests for you to complete. The quests are simple in nature, but I found them all to be worth doing and most of them offer some good rewards. I saved every villager and did every quest, which is not like me at all.

Order of Ecclesia plays just like it should. The writhing difficulty may turn some people off, but keep in mind that the difficulty is based on how well you know your enemies and the properties of your Glyphs. The more experimenting you do, the easier the game becomes.

Longevity and Re-Playability 8/10

I was able to complete Order of Ecclesia in about 17 hours. This included completing the two additional bonus dungeons, completing all of the quests, and instilling my mind with the Glyph system.

Since the game is pretty linear, you can get almost everything on your first play through, and while I did complete the bonus dungeons, I found them to be pretty weak overall.

Conclusion

Konami has done it again. The third Castlevania game for the DS is every bit as good as the first two and in some regards it transcends both Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. The interesting thing about Order of Ecclesia is that it's different enough from Portrait of Ruin that I don't feel comfortable choosing one as being better than the other. I can just say that they are both excellent games and if you are a fan of Castlevania, buy Order of Ecclesia as soon as you can.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/17/09

Game Release: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (US, 10/21/08)