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| From: Konami
Category: Video Games
List Price: $19.99
Buy Used: $17.00
You Save: $2.99 (15%)
New (20) Used (23) Collectible (2) from $17.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 2500
Platform: Nintendo Ds
ESRB: Teen
Media: Video Game
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: Nintendo DS
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.7
MPN: 24112
Model: 083717241126
UPC: 083717241126
EAN: 0083717241126
ASIN: B000GIXIPK
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 21-25 of 25 | | « PREV | | |
 Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin January 16, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am a long time Castlevania fan, and this game has just what I like to see in all Castlevania games. Great sound, creepy environments, tons of cool enemies to fight, excellent boss fights, and plenty of great extras after you beat the game. In fact, this game has found a place in my heart for having one of the greatest levels in video games of all time! The Nation of Fools is the most creative level I have ever seen in any video game, and it closes strong with my favorite video game boss of all time, Legion.
You don't have to take my word for it. If you have ever liked Castlevania games, this one is just what you're looking for. Get this game, you won't be sorry!
Return of the Whip January 11, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Last year's Dawn of Sorrow was Castlevania's first entrance into the DS library. It proved to be a hit, both in critical acclaim and sales. It isn't a surprise, therefore, to see Konami releasing the next instalment of its popular Dracula-related series, just in time for the Christmas holidays. Portrait of Ruin isn't exactly related to Dawn of Sorrow, but both share similar core gameplay elements. New features are included this time round as well to keep things fresh. The result is an instantly satisfying title that will go down in the books as another great Castlevania game.
The story of Portrait of Ruin is set in the year 1944, during World War II. In the midst of hellish times, Dracula's castle mysteriously reappears. Two vampire hunters, Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin, join forces to investigate the occurrence. This is as simple as it gets when it comes to the game's premise - it's merely an excuse to get your characters to explore a huge castle again. This is not really a bad thing though, since it's what Castlevania is all about. The interesting thing here is, you will get the chance to control BOTH Jonathan and Charlotte. This is something that is uncommon in the series.
As you may have expected, both characters have different abilities - Jonathan is the powerhouse that deals high melee damages, while Charlotte is more of a magic user. Despite their differences, controlling them isn't difficult. The basic controls are similar to Dawn of Sorrow, but you can choose to control only one character, call forth your partner to fight beside you, and even switch between characters. All these options are accessible at the push of a button, which makes this double-team attribute extremely user-friendly. There's even an option to perform combo attacks, giving this team feature a further edge as compared to previous single-character campaigns. The downside of this arrangement is that both Jonathan and Charlotte share the same HP and MP. If you choose to play with both of them, losing health for Jonathan means losing health for Charlotte as well. Thankfully, when your partner is hit, he or she wouldn't lose health. Instead, your MP decreases. This is definitely a friendlier approach, since MP does recharge itself over time. With these restrictions in mind, however, you may have to decide whether it's worthwhile to play with the partner.
I won't go much into the weapons, skills and items that you will acquire in this game, except that the whip (originating from the very first Castlevania) is back. Most of these are recycled from previous games, and many of them are rewards for killing enemies or getting into obscure corners. Some of these, however, can only be acquired upon completing quests. Quests are new additions to the Castlevania fold, and are basically things you do that may not have major consequences to the story. For example, one of the quests requires you to kill a certain number of a certain enemy, another tasks you to perform a sword skill a few times. Quests are also largely optional, except for one. The rewards for doing them, however, are exclusive contents that cannot be found anywhere else. True to Castlevania fashion, skills acquired (not necessary from quests) can help you venture further into the castle. The Lizard Tail, for example, allows you to slide through lower ceilings. The Acrobat, on the other hand, lets you use your partner's shoulders as a launching pad for jumping onto a previously unreachable ledge. They are extremely useful, therefore, if you intend to cover every inch of the building.
The castle is once again separated by various themes. The themes aren't as colourful as Dawn of Sorrow, and appear more generic than innovative. You have the locations like the Buried Chamber and the Great Stairway - places that sound, and look darker than the playhouses and gardens from the previous game. However, Portrait of Ruin also introduces an "alternate castle" feature. These additional castles can be accessed by entering various portraits (hence the title of the game) found in the main castle. They are, of course, defined by different themes too. Areas within portraits are comparatively more colourful, which provide great contrast between both universes. It would be a giveaway to explain why you can enter portraits though, so I would just leave that aspect for you to explore. You will no longer be contended just by achieving 100% map coverage anymore though - with these new areas, it's possible to cover as much as 1,000% map, which REALLY sounds like great adventuring prospects.
To complement said adventures, Portrait of Ruin excels in both graphical and audio performances. The game plays like your typical 2D side-scroller, but the backgrounds are rendered in 3D, which give the on-screen action more depth than ever. The details are magnificent as usual, and even with an overall darker feel to the game, the colors remain vibrant and pleasing to the eye. Like Dawn of Sorrow, this game also features an upper screen map support, which, despite its superb functionality, isn't adopted by many other games of similar genre. Music wise, let's just say that the opening theme is good enough to give us goosebumps (the good ones). Sound effects also maintain the high standards set from the last game.
It seems that with each instalment of Castlevania, Konami are getting better at the job. Like Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin is a candidate for the game of the year on the DS, and it's hard to see how Konami can further better the series in the next instalment. For now, however, Portrait of Ruin is definitely the game that you should get for the seasons.
 A half-step to the next step in Castlevania. January 4, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This game is fun- very fun- and much more streamlined than, say, the GBA Metroids. It's probably a lot more accesible to new Castlevania players than Dawn of Sorrow, too. But for veterans, this game may be a little staler than expected- I can see how it could be, as this is definitely the same Castlevania that Konami has shown us before. The WiFi is a little strange- Boss Rush mode basically works like an arcade version of Castlevania. I understand the complexity of co-operative Castlevania, or multiplayer Castlevania in general, but there was much potential that could have been explored. Heck, 16-bit online anything is amazing. Either way, if you've been getting tired of Castlevania and platformers in general, may I kindly point you to many of the other more innovative titles on the DS?
The castle got a new paint job January 2, 2007
Just about 15 months ago I was whipped with Konami's Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, which was at the time and still is one of the best Nintendo DS games. With its only flaw being a severe lack in touch screen support, Dawn of Sorrow was a game that even the most jaded gamer would have trouble complaining about. Just weeks ago, Konami released their second DS Castlevania, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. Does this second attempt manage to replicate the same greatness of Dawn of Sorrow?
Jonathan, who's inherited the Belmont vampire hunting mumbo-jumbo, is joined by spellcaster Charlotte in yet another journey to explore Dracula's castle and defeat the bloodsucker himself. The pair finds out that Dracula isn't the big boy in charge, however-that would be the daunting Count Brauner, who's filled the castle with enchanted portraits that take Jonathan and Charlotte to different worlds. Jonathan and Charlotte have to stop Brauner and his minions. The story is very Castlevania-ish and won't surprise anyone who's played a game in the series before.
Two characters can be controlled at once on the game screen. Jonathan primarily attacks with weapons found throughout the castle, while Charlotte uses magic abilities that can be found randomly in the souls of defeated enemies. You have the option of playing with just one of the two characters or both at the same time, and both styles of play yield different benefits. Playing with two characters requires you to watch out for the health of the CPU-controlled second character, which is actually represented by the Mana bar that also limits your magic attacks or skills. If the Mana bar depletes, the second character disappears and you continue on normally with a single character. This system works but I felt at times that it made some battles too easy. Castlevania has, for years, been a game where even a single large enemy posed a huge threat. Now, with two characters attacking at the same time, that's not such the case.
Still, everything looks and feels just right. Both characters control very well and special attacks are done easily with a simple button combination. Throughout the game you'll find all sorts of special abilities that allow you to move around the environment even more than before-just like in every Castlevania, getting the double jump ability opens up a large amount of real estate, and it's quite exciting to find any new ability. I've always put Zelda, Metroid, and Castlevania in similar places for their adventurous progression; it isn't until you find a new item or ability that you can truly proceed or unlock every nook and cranny. I like this design, it's simple but still forces you to look around and play with everything.
Replay value is extended beyond the normal kill-the-boss-and-proceed progression of past Castlevanias. You can now accept mini-quests and side missions to earn special moves, weapons, and the like. Some of these side quests are very simple, but others aren't explained well and will have you searching high and low through every area of the castle just to complete. The rewards are well worth the trouble, making this distraction a worthy addition to the game.
Portrait of Ruin, like Dawn of Sorrow before it, has beautiful 2D visuals with a ton of detail. Enemy sprites seem to have several layers that react independently, making the animation that much better. Some of the 3D effects used are very, very nice, like 3D enemies and backgrounds. The only thing I'm starting to like less and less is the anime character style. What happened to the gothic style of Harmony of Dissonance, Circle of the Moon, and Symphony of the Night?
Overall, Portrait of Ruin is a good game that doesn't outdo its predecessor but definitely deserves some attention from action, adventure, and Castlevania fans. In future Castlevania games I'd like to see Konami tinker with more 3D effects and less anime-inspired art, and I'd also prefer if they'd stick to a more traditional design. The portrait idea was cool but just seems like a cheap way to introduce levels that are dramatically different than Drac's castle. So the final word: it's good, even great, but not as good as Dawn of Sorrow.
My first foray into Castlevania and I liked it December 27, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Notice I said "like" since Portrait of Ruin lately is one of those games where people play it and go "it's not Dawn of Sorrow". Well to be honest, I haven't actually played that one. The only real Castlevania I started playing was Lament of Innocence which even series fans didn't really care for. As a Christmas gift, I received this and finally started my first blown try at a Castlevania game and I actually did like it. While it does have a noticeable Metroid root (so dubbed by people Metroidvania), it's also quite enjoyable despite some minor but noticeable flaws.
Story: With this series it's just like Mario only instead of saving the Princess we have to contend with another castle and baddie in a different time period. Taking him on during World War II era is Jonathan and his companion Charlotte. It doesn't really have huge twists but it's at least a good story to experience.
Graphics: They almost feel GBA-quality and it isn't a knock against the game. The other game I asked for was Final Fantasy III which has some great 3D graphics. Portrait's graphics aren't really that stellar but they've been like this for awhile so it's hard to knock them. I like having the varied locations for the levels though. Levels are essentially portraits you enter with places like an old town or a desert.
Sound/Music: The in-game sound effects are nice and fit the world but don't think they're going to impress since they're just meant to add realism to a fantastic world. The voice acting is minimal at times, relegated to sound bytes with the story told through text but the always dependable music doesn't disappoint either.
Gameplay: An RPG format with levelling up and weapons and equipment found along the way. The problem is like a lot of RPG's you might find yourself overwhelmed but it's kind of inconsistent since you can dispatch enemies no problem but then there's a boss with a killer hit taking off a HUGE chunk of life, literally making it 2 hits and you die. Purchasing equipment is not really a problem except things can get pretty expensive but since by that time you need more Potions, Anti-Venom or Curse antidotes than you never really get to purchase that next armor since you're spending it on life-saving stuff.
The game has a Dual-Character system where you can switch between action heavy Jonathan or book-wielding/spellcasting Charlotte. Again, it's inconsistent since you'll mainly use Jonathan since he hits harder. There's a couple of puzzles where you can call him/her to fight with you or solving a puzzle. An early example is having her stand on a statue and pushing it so you can access a higher path that's too high to jump. There's room for a lot of these but that's evident through the game.
Of course it's not going to eclipse Symphony of the Night in fans' eyes or even Dawn of Sorrow but regardless it's a really enjoyable game that shows that even if it's familiar, they don't do wrong either...unless they're in 3D.
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