Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

[samejamesbond]

I just completed this game while I was in Arizona so I thought a review would be
appropriate, and what I can say is this game is for those of us who miss the old
Castlevanias.


Story:

YouTube - Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Intro

The year is 1944, the massive amount of death from World War II has called forth
the castle of dread, Castlevania, and the church has sent the current wielder of the
Vampire Hunter, Jonathan Morris (son of John Morris) and witch Charlotte Aulin
(a decendent of the Belnades clan) to discover the cause of the return of Dracula's
Castle.

Upon arriving they encounter local priest Vincent Dorin, who acts as the merchant
throught out the rest of the game, and a ghost who goes by the name of "Wind"
who teaches Jonathan and Charlotte new techniques.

Wind reveils to the two vampire hunters that Dracula isn't the lord of this castle, but
another vampire named Brauner, who is stealing Draculas powers via paintings
littered through out the castle walls, and to stop him they must enter each painting
and slay the demons within.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/14/CPoR-BraunerScreen.jpg

One thing that is different about Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin's plot is, it doesn't
establish a new timeline within Castlevania (Order of Ecclesia) or sequel a recient
title (Dawn of Sorrow), it instead continues the story of classic Castlevania:
Bloodlines for the Genesis, which stared Jonathan's father John Morris and his
friend Eric Lecarde.

This game is excelent in bring back nostalgic memories of past Castlevania games, like the fight with Richter Belmont:

YouTube - Castlevania Portrait of Ruin (part 18)


Gameplay:

The defining feature of Portrait of Ruin is the Coop style play between Jonathan
and Charlotte. they both work in tag team to take down their opponents and can
use a powerful dual crash to decimate opponents.

YouTube - Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Werewolf Boss Battle

One thing Castlevania vetrans will like is the return of the whip as a primary
weapon, not seen since Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance as you progress in
the game, Wind will grant Jonathan new abilities with his whip. Jonathan can also
equip swords, rapiers, lances, axes, and hammers to allow for flexability. For the
first time, the type of weapon you use will be either a weakness or strength against
certain foe, making players mix up their playing style.

Another thing vetrans will love is the return of subweapons, classics return such as
the Bible, Holy Water, and Axes. New ones also appear such as grenades,
cannonballs and Javlins. Another new feature is, as a player uses his subweapons
more often, it'll increase in power and eventually mastering them, giving them new
abilities, such as using larger axes or more knives.

Charlotte on the other hand, plays like any other Belnades clan member, she uses
books you aquire throughout the campaign as weapons and she uses various spells
to keep foes at bay.

After completing the game, you unlock two modes, Sisters mode where you play
as Stella and Loretta or Richter mode where you play as Richter and Maria.


Graphics:

One of the main complaints the AVGN makes in his Castlevania Part 4 episode,
he complains how every Castlevania since SotN has been in the Castle. Portrait of
Ruin's paintings breath new life into Castlevania titles by providing various worlds
themed on worlds such as a 1940's London or Ancient Egypt.

The anime themed portraits return in Portrait of Ruin, but they are much more in
detail than Dawn of Sorrow's.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/Castlevania-Portrait_of_Ruin_Characters.jpg


Sound:

As with most Castlevania titles, the music is beautiful and really add to the game.


Crazed Moon:
YouTube - MUSIC: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Crazed Moon (DS)

Victorian Fear:
YouTube - MUSIC: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Victorian Fear (DS)

Hidden Curse:
YouTube - MUSIC: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Hidden Curse (DS)

Dance of Sadness:
YouTube - MUSIC: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Dance of Sadness (DS)


Portrait of Ruin also sports some nostalgic music:

Bloodlines (Richter's Theme):
YouTube - MUSIC: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Bloodlines Bequeathed (DS)

Theme of Simon:
YouTube - MUSIC: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Theme of Simon Belmont 2007 (DS)

Overture:
YouTube - MUSIC: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Overture (DS)


Overall:

While Dawn of Sorrow is made for newcomers to the Castlevania Franchise,
Portrait of Ruin was made for vetrans with high nostalgic flair and whipping
excelence as always.

4.5/5

[Mareeps]

Believe it or not, this was the first Castlevania game i played. Discovered the series pretty late.

[samejamesbond]

Bloodlines was my first game, so I was excited when I found out about the sequel.

[Demon-Mask]

Is this one better than Dawn of Sorrow?

[samejamesbond]

Depends on tastes, Dawn of Sorrow if you like the New Castlevanias,
Portrait of Ruin if you like Classic Castlevania.

If you get Portrait of Ruin, it's a sequel to this game:
Retro Uprising - Arcade - Castlevania Bloodlines (http://retrouprising.com/game-menu/game/711/)

So what will it be?

[Demon-Mask]

That's cool, I really like Bloodlines, and I want to throw pies at zombies, so I will get this game at some point.

[samejamesbond]

The pie is a fun weapon.

Tip: It stuns Richter, making the difficult fight much easier.

[Demon-Mask]

I already knew that, I also want to beat a mass of corpses and play as Richter

[samejamesbond]

Maria is also playable in Richter mode.

[Demon-Mask]

I know, but Richter is really awesome. The only reason I bought Dawn of Sorrow as opposed to Portrait of Ruin is Alucard.

[samejamesbond]

He's toned down though.
Julius is much stronger than him.

[Demon-Mask]

I know, but the recycled sprite was awesome.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cv-sotn/characters/saturn-alucard%282%29.gif

[samejamesbond]

I guess you're right.

[Demon-Mask]

Sorry about the broken picture.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v493/Gizmonicgamer/Arucard.png

[fenrir1887]

Played it. Not a bad game at all.

[Mareeps]

I know somebody that used an action replay on it, and for some reason, paper airplanes do around 2000 damage each.

[fenrir1887]

Seriously? That's not the first time someone took a shortcut. I would do it if I got frustrated with the game and despite not having access to certain weapons early, I'm not.

[Tails]

I do it out of fun and making the game harder.

[Mareeps]

Seriously? That's not the first time someone took a shortcut. I would do it if I got frustrated with the game and despite not having access to certain weapons early, I'm not.
He already beat the game, he just made a L.99 file, and the paper airplane was extremely overpowered. At bosses weak to it, it would kill them in 3 hits.

[fenrir1887]

Uh, huh. Sounds like what I do when I get mad at Circle of the Moon.

[Mareeps]

And what would that be?

[fenrir1887]

Cheat of course. Circle of the Moon is one of the most frustrating Castlevanias I have ever played. Trying to find all the DSS cards was a real pain. Then, fighting Dracula after collecting all the abilities in various areas. I swear I'd have needed to max out my luck just to find the rare cards.