Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)
Few portable action games, or any games for that matter, enjoy as much anticipation as Konami's Castlevania series. They've continued to get better and better, culminating last year with the superb Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for the Nintendo DS. Now, Konami and Castlevania mastermind Koji Igarashi are preparing the inevitable DS follow-up to that previous success... only this time, they're shaking up the formula a tad.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin takes place in 1944, at the height of World War II. Many souls lost in the global conflict have taken to wandering the Earth in search of salvation, and now they're being drawn toward that favorite hangout of evil, the ruins of Dracula's Castle. Assisted by two vampire sisters, the lost souls are attempting to resurrect the castle once more. It's up to the two heroes, vampire hunter Jonathan Morris and magical female Charlotte Orlean, to contain the souls and avert disaster.
Two heroes? Yep, and you can swap between them at any time. Jonathan Morris is the typical whip-wielding Belmont-type character, though he can use a wide variety of other weapons as well. (Seen so far: boomerangs, swords, axes, and grenades.) Charlotte Orlean appears to be a pure magic user, though it's not yet clear what the constraints of her powers will be. She can also perform a double-jump in which a witch's broom gives her a little boost. Presumably Morris will have a few special moves, too. You'll need to make effective use of each characters' strengths to deal with the game's many challenges. At certain times you'll also be able to call on the non-active character to perform a summon attack, which appears to be a screen-clearing smartbomb-type effect.
Another big change is that the soul system of the two prior games is away on leave. No more souls, other than the ones you're trying to stop. But never fear, obsessive completists: there will now be a massive quantity of weapons (for Jonathan) and spells (for Charlotte) to track down and acquire. Igarashi explained, somewhat cryptically, that it's no longer about getting items from single enemies but from multiple enemies. His meaning was unclear; perhaps he meant that the game will require less tedious "hunting" of specific enemies to acquire specific item drops. That would be a welcome change for us hardcore types with too much time on our hands.
One of the few disappointing bits of Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow was that, despite ostensibly being set in the 21st century, they didn't really feature much in the way of modern scenery. Portrait of Ruin looks to address this in a roundabout way; although it takes place back in 1944, a good bit (at the least) of the action will take place outside of the confines of Dracula's domain. Settings revealed so far include a forest graveyard, a 'burb called "Misty Town," an Egyptian desert, and the interior of Egyptian tombs. For once, those mummy enemies won't look so incongruous with their backdrops.
Speaking of which, the game's graphics will represent a nice little boost over the already handsome Dawn of Sorrow. The video footage has shown off some impressive multi-jointed bosses, and even a huge, wriggling sand worm in the desert looked to only be a regular enemy. Igarashi suggested the music would be better too, a claim which was borne out by the energetic, Castlevania-style rock that played over the trailer.
The game'll be rounded out with unlockable multiplayer modes to enjoy with friends, though details are non-existent. We can't help but imagine a true co-op mode, which would be grand. Unfortunately, that's only speculation at this point. It's safe to say, though, that we all have another excellent Castlevania experience to look forward to. Who said all World War II games were the same? Portrait of Ruin is due out this Fall.
