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Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin DS - Review
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DS RRP: £29.99
Released March 9
The Castlevania series has been around for 20 years and has appeared on just about every platform you can think of. For those that haven’t followed the saga, it falls to a member of the Belmont family to defeat Dracula. In Portrait of Ruin, things are just a little bit different...
This adventure's set during WWII and it falls to Jonathan Morris (a friend of the Belmont family) to prevent two mysterious sisters from resurrecting Dracula. Jonathan has inherited the Belmont family’s fabled whip, but hasn’t the skill to use it at the start. He's aided by magic-wielding friend Charlotte and they explore the castle, entering the strange worlds of 4 paintings that hang on the castle walls. You’ll get to fight your way through circuses and desert-themed worlds as well as the castle itself.
You can switch between controlling the two characters utilising Jonathan’s whip and fighting abilities and Charlottes' elemental, healing and summoning spells. You can have both characters fighting together using massively damaging combo moves that require both characters, but you'll find yourself playing as Jonathan through most of the game. The puzzle-solving and duel character use is clever but rather underutilised.
The game looks great and the controls and fighting are carried over from Castlevania – Dawn Of Sorrow. With some cumbersome elements from the last game pared down, some clever new controls, nice voice work, new environments and a far chunkier play-time, Portrait of Ruin is one of the best Castlevania games ever made and a corking buy for your DS.
9/10
