Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

 DS
  • Publisher: Konami
  • Release Date: Oct 21, 2008
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 172 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 142 out of 172
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 172
  3. Negative: 12 out of 172
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. AnonTheMouse
    Feb 26, 2020
    2
    Order of Ecclesia is, I'm sorry, a complete mess of a game. Konami seemingly took everything they knew about the Castlevania formula, and then ignored it completely. Whatever was kept, they made a conscious effort to make worse.

    Gone are the sprawling, interconnected worlds of previous entries for an overworld map. Need to get quickly to a previous area? Fast travel to the warp point    Order of Ecclesia is, I'm sorry, a complete mess of a game. Konami seemingly took everything they knew about the Castlevania formula, and then ignored it completely. Whatever was kept, they made a conscious effort to make worse.

    Gone are the sprawling, interconnected worlds of previous entries for an overworld map. Need to get quickly to a previous area? Fast travel to the warp point closest to the area exit, then go through several intermediate rooms to said exit, select your destination on the overworld map, walk to another teleporter, find the closest warp point to where you need to go (and hope a convenient warp point exists in the first place), then walk some more. Oh, and heaven help you if you don't remember exactly where you need to backtrack, because area maps are only visible in that area.

    Rather than simply picking up things by touching them, and opening containers by hitting them, as every other game in the series does, you must now stop and press up on the control pad. Which, in the case of collecting "glyphs", which take the place of weapons, spells, and subweapons, requires you to stand still whilst unable to defend yourself for several seconds. Not to worry, though, as you won't be collecting glyphs often. Unlike in previous titles, where every enemy had something to collect from it, most enemies now drop nothing, and even those that do seem to have much lower rates than in previous series entries.

    Another thing enemies give less of is experience. Leveling up is a slow, tedious chore, especially in the early game. Bad news, since this game demands that you grind. Yes, you might be able to learn to get through some of the tricky sequences by skill, but mastering the game to the degree that you don't need grinding would take even longer - it's just not worth anybody's time. This can make even getting to the second boss a significant hurdle, as leveling takes forever, and you have to go through a completely unnecessary number of straight linear screens full of enemies (what I like to call "Corridors of Pain") to get to the next real map. You're going to end up avoiding most of the enemies on these screens, too, because fighting them at a low level with early equipment is just too much of a health tax for what precious little you'll have.

    ...and as an aside, it's not a good sign when the level design feels closer to Castlevania II than any other entry in the series.

    You're not missing much. Combat is horrible too. First of all, since Shanoa's ability to use glyphs apparently renders her incapable of holding a real weapon, all of your attacks use a regenerating mana bar. When the mana runs out, you can't fight. There's a "combo" system, but I don't know if you can really call alternating attack buttons to swing while one hand is on cooldown a combo. You could technically mix and match glyphs, but barring some specific combinations, this really isn't useful. Most of the time, you'll just end up using two of whatever it is you wanted to use. Nor are the enemies really updated to make use of this new system. They still behave the same as they did in previous entries, so the best way to fight them is still pretty much the same. All the new combat mechanics add is hassle for the player.

    That's really the core problem with Order of Ecclesia. It adds a lot to the Castlevania formula, but none of it is really an improvement. It all just feels like it's there for the sake of being different, without thought into how it makes the experience more fun. I hesitated about reviewing this game because it's held in such high regard, but the truth is, it doesn't deserve the praise. Everything about Order of Ecclesia is superficial. There's added complexity, but not depth. There's added challenge, but it's tedious rather than satisfying. The world feels bigger and the game longer, but only because there's so much padding.

    Without giving spoilers, the story...well, at it's core, it's formulaic. We've seen this story before in the Castlevania series. Multiple times. They try to dress it up with the bits about Ecclesia and the glyphs, but it's still rehashing tired tropes and well-trodden ground. At least, the parts that aren't a nonsensical mess. Grant you, it's not uncharacteristically bad for a Castlevania plotline, but there's nothing worthy of praise about it either.

    The art design and music are great, but not particularly exceptional for the series. They don't stand out as anything special. Ultimately, I'd say that they just make the game a well-polished turd with a shiny coat of paint.    … Expand
  2. Dracula
    Jan 20, 2010
    4
    I haaaaate this game. Enemies take fovever to defeat, the bosses especially take about a half hour to win assuming you never die, save points are too spaced out, you'll be wanting a health powerup every five seconds. You also have a variety of attacks and a stamina meter unlike some other entries in the series, which is a great leap in the wrong direction. The games were a little I haaaaate this game. Enemies take fovever to defeat, the bosses especially take about a half hour to win assuming you never die, save points are too spaced out, you'll be wanting a health powerup every five seconds. You also have a variety of attacks and a stamina meter unlike some other entries in the series, which is a great leap in the wrong direction. The games were a little easy when you could just wip the daylights out of the bad guys, but this combat lacks that satisfaction, or any satisfaction at all for that matter. The music is also pretty boring, which is weird for a Castlevania game, and the level designs are extremely liniar. I don't have a problem with linear level designs untill I'm actually noticing it. What ever happened to "metroidvania?" One good thing I have to say is that the graphics are nice and the enemy design is very varied. The rest of the game just sucks. You have sooooo much text to read that the cutscenes actually give an accurate impression on how boring the game is. Also, the menus sometimes dont make any sense. In conclusion, take it from a hardcore SMT fan, the challenge in this game is just too unballanced. There is no sense of joy from defeating an enemy after dishing out like 8000 hits on it, or killing a boss that takes like three weeks to kill. It just sucks. It looks like half the other people who found time to share a user review feel the same, and the other half really enjoyed it, so all I can say is procede with caution.… Expand
  3. Don
    Jan 19, 2009
    4
    This game is a series of failures. Legibility is poor, enemies are annoying and poorly balanced or stupefyingly easy. The game complicates acquiring new weapons with the painfully annoying contrivance of having to 'absorb' them. Additionally, they will disappear if you don't collecting them within a few seconds. Nevermind the fact that if there are other enemies around they This game is a series of failures. Legibility is poor, enemies are annoying and poorly balanced or stupefyingly easy. The game complicates acquiring new weapons with the painfully annoying contrivance of having to 'absorb' them. Additionally, they will disappear if you don't collecting them within a few seconds. Nevermind the fact that if there are other enemies around they are impossible to collect since the absorption process takes several seconds and being hit resets this timer often resulting in the loss of the weapon. Bosses are tiresome to confront and vastly more difficult than everything else you have confront up until that point. The over-world map navigation adds nothing whatsoever to the game and is just another tiresome step in this dreary experience. The one and only thing the games has going for itself is production value. It looks and sounds decent.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best DS Game of 2008
5
#5 Most Discussed DS Game of 2008
3
#3 Most Shared DS Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 46 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 46
  3. Negative: 0 out of 46
  1. GamePro
    80
    Take gorgeous graphics, intense action, and interesting gameplay concepts, marry it to the legendary Castlevania franchise and release it on the DS. [Nov 2008, p.100]
  2. Nintendo Power
    80
    Order of Ecclesia may not have a wealth of newness to contribute, but the Castlevania formula still works like a charm, and the game's traditionally strong boss and level designs hold up well in the smaller, more focused areas. [Dec 2008, p.92]
  3. IGN
    90
    Stronger than Portrait of Ruin, Circle of the Moon, and Harmony of Dissonance? Is this reviewer's opinion, yes. The best on DS, or top in the series? I just don't think so.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »