death919's Review of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

One of the best DS games so far!

User Rating: 9.6 | Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin DS

By death919 | Review Date: January 15, 2007

Gameplay: Castlevania: Portrain of Ruin plays similarly to other 2D Castlevania games, though it does add a few new twists of its own. For one, you now have 2 characters, a male character that uses weapons like swords, axes, throwing knives, etc… and a female, who is mainly a spellcaster. You control one of these characters at a time, though you can summon the other one, controlled by the AI, to fight along side you (when they take damage, you will suffer damage to your mana). You can also switch between these characters any time you want, though I mostly stuck with the male and his weapons. While there are a few puzzles here and there that utilize this new 2-man team, most of the game plays similar to previous Castlevania games like Dawn of Sorrow, where you’ll explore a castle, fighting huge bosses and growing levels and things like that. Overall, the gameplay in Portrait of Ruin is pretty awesome, and some of the best I’ve ever seen, both in a Castlevania game and on the Nintendo DS.

Graphics: Like DoS, Portrait of Ruin looks amazing! The in-game graphics are top-knotch, definitely some of the best 2D side-scroller graphics that I’ve ever seen, with some of the coolest looking bosses ever! Also, the game has an cel-shaded/anime opening cut-scene which I think looks superb, and is also pretty amazing to watch (I’ve watched it about 10 times so far). Overall, Portrait of Ruin is a very nice-looking game.

Sound: Like other Castlevania games, Portrait of Ruin has an amazing soundtrack! It wasn’t quite as good as DoS’s music, but it’s very different. The music is less energetic than DoS’s, but more moody and atmospheric. It’s too bad that they took away the sound room option in this game, since I loved listening to the sound room in DoS, but even so, Portrait of Ruin definitely has amazing music!

Value: Like most Castlevania games, Portrait of Ruin isn’t exactly the longest of games. It took me just over 8 hours to complete with the best ending, though if you include moments where I died (especially during the final boss battle, which is insanely tough and insanely fun), that number is probably closer to 10 or 11 hours. However, there are a ton of different modes that you can unlock as well, a few of which I haven’t even tried out yet, so there’s definitely a good amount of value to be found in this game. Also, the game boasts both multiplayer and online modes. While I haven’t tried the multiplayer, I’ve heard that there are 3 levels that you can play in it, which should last people a while, especially if they’re difficult. The online mode is somewhat disappointing, since it’s only 1 level long, but it’s still pretty fun to play. There’s also an online shop mode, where you can buy items from other people, which is pretty cool. There’s also a lot of neat side-quests in the main game which have their share of awesome rewards, so PoR definitely has quite a bit of meat on its bones and should stay in people’s DS’s for a pretty long time.

Tilt: Overall, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is one of the best DS games that I’ve played so far, and even manages to surpass Dawn of Sorrow. The game is incredibly fun to play, has great graphics and sound, and will last you quite a while. It’s also got a pretty good storyline that’ll keep you entertained, and a pretty fun online mode that’ll keep you coming back. I highly recommend this latest entry in the Castlevania series. It’s probably the best DS game released in 2006, and I can guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

One of the best DS games so far!

Portrait of Ruin is another successful Castlevania reincarnation.

A new twist on a classical game!