Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

1. ThomasM.

   Dec 8, 2006

   10

   Improves on all aspects of design from Dawn of Sorrow, which itself is one of the best Castlevanias. The dual-character system works Improves on all aspects of design from Dawn of Sorrow, which itself is one of the best Castlevanias. The dual-character system works wonderfully, and opens up the inventory/spells to lots more usage. The enemies (especially bosses) all have charming animations and flashy attacks. The size of Dracula's castle seems ordinary until you realize each painting is its own world...then the game is huge (progress is measured in hundreds of percentage points). Just the right mix of challenge and fun.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
2. ShaneS.

   Feb 12, 2007

   10

   (9.7 actually) Well I'm ashamed to say that this is my first Castlevania game. I was a Sega kid growing up and the DS is my first (9.7 actually) Well I'm ashamed to say that this is my first Castlevania game. I was a Sega kid growing up and the DS is my first handheld. But anyway Castlevania PoR is a classic sidescroller type action game with RPG elements mixed in. There are two different characters in this game a female magician and a male warrior. The warrior uses weapons of all types, and can don three types of armor that modify his stats differently. Heavy armor makes him resistant to physical attacks but weak agianst magic. Ninja gear makes his attack rating go up, but easily killed by all attack types, and magic gear turns him into a cross between the magician and the warrior. The magician also has three general armor types. Magician gear makes her heavily resistant to magical attacks and gives her a boost in magic power. Dancer gear makes her "lucky" and get a lot of critical hits along with slightly higher attack ratings. Heavy gear makes her a cross between the two characters. There's also tons of special gear in the game with unique effects. In the game you have a magic meter that you use to either do special moves with the warrior, or cast spells with the magician. Most of the special moves with the warrior are throwable weapons of some sort. The more you use a specific special move the stronger it gets, until you eventually become a master in said skill. The spells range from damage of all types (fire, frost, shock, poison etc.) to protection spells, transformation spells, and healing spells. There are also "super moves" that you can use and deplete a lot of magic in the process. In Castlevania PoR there are hundreds of different enemies, and each one occasionally drops a unique item upon death. There are about two different items per monster, and hundreds of items in the entire game. There are also different items hanging around in the different levels. You can buy or sell items with a shopkeep at the entrance to the castle as well. The shopkeeper has two items that cost a ton of money but make the game a bit easier and are essential to beating the game on hard mode. There's also a trainer which gives you quests. Upon completing a quest you are rewarded with a new item. Unfortunately most of these quests are too obscure and confusing to complete without a cheat guide. Different monsters are weak or strong against different attack types, so you'll want to switch weapons and attacks strategies a lot in this game. The main world of PoR is Dracula's castle, but there's also eight different painting worlds. The castle is four times bigger than the painting worlds and has six different bosses. Each painting world has it's own boss as well. The bosses are not to be trifled with. While not quite Ninja Gaiden hard, these bosses are extremely tough to beat, and well designed. Add all this up and you've got a game that'll take you about twenty hours the first time around. Add a boss rush mode, hard mode (ala RE4 where you keep all your previous money and gear), and the desire to collect every bit of loot, and you've got a game that should keep you satisfied for weeks. A lot of reviewers bash Castlevania for just being a photocopy of the last incarnation. I guess there's almost as many Castlevania games out there as there are Final Fantasy games. Don't let that fool you though. This game is really a AAA title and one of the best DS games since Advance Wars Dual Strike.… Expand

   • 1 of 2 users found this helpful
4. sprintinmario

   Jan 22, 2015

   10

   Castlevania Portrait of Ruin in my Opinion is the best Metroidvania I've ever played. First off the music is some of the best in the entireCastlevania Portrait of Ruin in my Opinion is the best Metroidvania I've ever played. First off the music is some of the best in the entire series with fantastic remixes of songs like Cross your Heart(known as crucifix held close in the game), Iron Blue intention and Simon's Theme. They also have great original pieces like Invitation of a Crazed moon, Gaze up at the Darkness, The Hidden Curse, and Jail of jewles. Even though this is not my favorite Castlevania soundtrack its pretty up there.
   
   Now that I've established the soundtrack but now let's dive into the gameplay. Now since this is a Metroidvania so there is a lot of familiar territory but there are some welcome changes . First off Side quests, for the first time ever you can undertake special tasks in different areas of Portrait of Ruin to get a stat boost, money, a new and powerful item or weapon ETC.. These range from punching butcher's meat, to entering button combos, or mastering a skill. Each new quest has a different fun and uniqe maybe a little difficult task. Unlike Order of Ecclesia most of these tasks are not endless Grind-fests and boring fetch quests and they feel more rewarding as you go on completing them. Now the core gameplay of explore the castle kill enemies collect relics, armor , weapons and leveling up hasn't changed much. Except now you have two chracters to play as that you can switch freely between them at anytime. They each have their own weapons armor and accseories. You can also obtain crush attacks that sap your mp like nothing else but they deal a lot of damage. All these things accounted for this game is actually not very easy especially towards the end. Thankfully unlike games like Harmony of Dissonnance and SOTH this game does get harder and thats a good thing.
   
   Overall after you beat the game you unlock 2 other sets of chracters a hard mode with 3 sub difficulties and a boss-rush mode. SO all in all for what ever you can find this game at its a really good deal. I will say there is a boss later on that will make you ooze with nostalgia if your a long running fan and its one tough cookie so be ready. But besides that Portrait of ruin is filled with content with 10 maps to cover, a boss rush mode, a total of 5 difficulties, and 3 sets of chracters to play as your gonna be here for a while.… Expand

   • 2 of 2 users found this helpful
5. ReviewKing

   Dec 27, 2006

   9

   Over all better than Dawn of Sorrow, for these reasons: 1. no more monotonous soul system 2. Overall higher fun factor, close to Symphony of Over all better than Dawn of Sorrow, for these reasons: 1. no more monotonous soul system 2. Overall higher fun factor, close to Symphony of the Night 3. More detailed graphics, more layers in the background 4. AWESOME music score, it won best DS music score at IGN 5. fun to level up your secondary weapons 6. bosses are much more challenging, you dont beat most on the first try like in Dawn of Sorrow 7. Numerous portraits lead to very large levels, making this the biggest Castlevania game ever. Now go buy it!… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. Will

   Dec 18, 2006

   8

   The gameplay is excellent. But several aspects of the game seem a bit unpolished.

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
7. harryjc

   Jan 3, 2017

   7

   The content of the game is good, but for some reason this title is very buggy compared to Dawn of Sorrow, and Order of Ecclesia. It justThe content of the game is good, but for some reason this title is very buggy compared to Dawn of Sorrow, and Order of Ecclesia. It just freezes too much, and then you have to start all over again. It happens when you do fast travel, and special moves.… Expand

   • 0 of 2 users found this helpful
8. marspot

   May 7, 2013

   5

   Portrait of ruin is a tonka truck wishing it were a big-rig. It looks, smells, and acts like Castlevania, but at the core it's simply aPortrait of ruin is a tonka truck wishing it were a big-rig. It looks, smells, and acts like Castlevania, but at the core it's simply a watered down adventure game derived from more successful ventures of the same franchise. The anime art direction undermines the serious Gothic overtones that should prevail in any Castlevania entry. The characters are surface level and cliche. There is little to no innovation, nor are there any clever game play elements.
   
   Portrait is frustrating. Not in the sense of difficulty, or boss fights (both can be solved by simply gaining a few levels and trying again not much skill required there), but in that you find yourself meandering around lazy copy-and-paste environments filled with cheap challenges looking for the end of the dungeon so you can move on. Then, the game has the audacity to send you back through those levels on fetch quests for a fat, bald priest and a ghost with too much fashion sense.
   
   The game's redeeming factor, the boss encounters, save it from a score in the red, but it's not enough for me to recommend this title over others for the DS. The story is lame. The levels are lame. The action is decent. But then again, you can get incredible action, story, and levels with Order of Ecclesia, so go buy that instead.… Expand

   • 0 of 5 users found this helpful

See all 25 User Reviews