The first time for the DS, Castlevania was done right.
¤ Story - *SPOILER ALERT* We start off with our heroine, Shanoa. It's satisfying to see that a female was used for the first time. She works for, has been trained at the Order of Ecclesia: a place where they train to destroy Dracula. Shanoa was chosen to carry the burden of harnessing the Dominus that would be used to end Dracula once and for all. Her "brother" learns of this and runs off mad, swearing he should be the one. You spend over half the game chasing your brother Albus around watching his mind deteriorate with madness because he had tried to absorb himself and couldn't hold it.
Come to find out Order of Ecclesia was trying to resurrect Dracula instead of destroy him, so you set out (with the newly acquired pieces of the Dominus) to put and end to him yourself once the castle and the dark lord have both been resurrected. *END SPOILER**
¤ Gameplay/Controls - Since of course Shanoa is not of the Belmont family line, the Vampire Killer is not incorporated into this game. She relies on magically used weapons, commonly known as "Glyphs". In order to use them, she absorbs the power of these weapons into her body, and uses her magic to attack with them. One would think that this would be a highly annoying detail and your mp would constantly be low. Thankfully this is not the case, because your MP replenishes pretty quickly and there are plenty of items to find or purchase that refil you back up. Frankly I didn't use and of the MP refillers.
You can at one time, have 3 different types of glyphs to your disposal at any given time, and can even make 3 (X, Y and R shoulder button) sets of glyph set-ups for easy switching depending the the variety of monsters you were fighting. And for an even more powerful attack using hearts you collect there is a "Glyph Union" which involves both glyphs you are fighting with to make a more powerful weapon.
The controls are fairly simple to use in Order of Ecclesia, so that even beginners to the Castlevania franchise can easily fall into place. Shanoa can practically dual wield with t2 glyphs, jump and double jump, and backdash anywhere. Talking to the villiagers and opening chests are easy as a highlighted D-pad shows you what to do. Swimming is even made easy, and Shanoa doesn't take damage breathing underwater unless an enemy hits her.
Areas are easy to follow as the map is displayed on the top screen when Shanoa is in a dungeon, and an overview map is displayed on the bottom screen when you're out choosing an area to fight next and that is the only thing that the touch screen can be used for on this game.
Bosses are definately challenging, each having a weakness of course you must exploit in order to ensure a win. You're awarded medals for completing each boss with out getting hit. Good luck with that!
Only problem during gameplay I encountered (which I shouldn't really even call it a problem since this is a light rpg/platform) is the sidequests the villagers give you. Sometimes it can be quite a pain when they ask you for a specific item and you need to go out and grind for awhile on the monsters that drop it. Since loot drops are randomated it can take 30 minutes plus and I've read how several people complained it took several hours. Mine were never more then 45 minutes. But in the long run the grind is good because you have a goal you're trying to reach and it helps you level Shanoa up.
¤ Graphics - Of course this is a 2D platformer, what else did you expect? No, really the graphics for this one complements the atmosphere. The dark dungeons, the swamps, the caves all came together with the way a Castlevania is expected to be. I was very pleased. The monsters were stylized and detailed fairly well.
¤ Music - Just like the graphics, the music completes this wonderful game. It makes sure to give you a sense of foreboding. And even in some places it was light, giving you a little sense of relief. It was done exceptionally well.
All in all I loved Order of Ecclesia. It's a well balanced mix of fighting, rpg, music and madess. Enjoy!