In addition to simply exploring, you also have to climb into these to break down the castle's magic. The castle environment our two heroes explore together is a healthier size than perhaps expected, and that's largely thanks to the game's other hook - the portraits. Portrait levels change the visual style of the game dramatically. Then again, if you're that picky, I doubt you got past "vampire" in the fourth paragraph. Obviously it's all done in arbitrarily silly and contradictory videogame fashion - they can't be separated for long, you can summon and dismiss the other character into the ether, and you only have to get one through a door for both to be through the door. Combination attacks can be earned and put to use - helpful, particularly, in boss fights - while orbs can be collected to introduce collaborative skills, like being able to push a button and then have the other character hop through an opening doorway, or for one to jump off the other's shoulders. Two halves of one character then, in some senses, but various methods of combining their forces allow you to strike harder than any one character might. She can use a book for melee attacks (leading to the rather excellent discovery that you can whack people in the head with Don Quixote), while excellent and powerful spells fuel her main advantage over the undead. Charlotte, meanwhile, is a magic specialist. Jonathan is more of a weapons master, with the fondly remembered whip at his side and various sub-weapons to accumulate (the closest thing to Dawn of Sorrow's soul collection). Combination abilities and attacks are some of the best things about the two-character system.īut that's not to say Jon or Charles is in any way superfluous, despite the obvious way their abilities dovetail. At the core, you're still playing a 2D platformer brimming with RPG elements - as well as running along and whacking people with your whip or sword, you need to buy lots of health potions, make sure you're hunting down and equipping the best tools and armour, and keep engaging the enemy to ensure you level up. The introduction of a second character has a big impact, but mainly around the edges. Portrait of Ruin follows on from events in the Megadrive Bloodlines game (take my word for it), and puts players in the boots of two young vampire-hunters - Jonathan and Charlotte - who are trying to take down Dracula's Castle, rebuilt for the umpteenth time thanks to an influx of wandering souls from the ongoing second World War. The compound view is that this isn't as broadly appealing as Dawn of Sorrow, but it is at least trying new things. The gung-ho fan, presumably fresh from one of the slash-heavy 3D console versions, will enjoy battling a broad range of new enemies, and running the arduous gauntlet of countless sub-quests in pursuit of new and enjoyably diverse weapons and tools.īut others, like me, who found greater pleasure in the last DS game's cunning marriage of exploration and discovery - greeting every new ability with a little yelp of excitement, before running off to see how it might help thread more of the world together - will be left somewhat cold. Fittingly for a game fronted by a pair of opposites, there are two ways to look at Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.
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