Its not often that I go out and play a Castlevania game, but every time I do so, I feel a genuine joy. I absolutely adored Portrait of Ruin, there’s so much that’s really unique to it that sets it apart from other Castlevania titles. It’s not one that’s hard either, so I do think it’s one that I can really suggest as an entry point to Castlevania, while also being really good.
To me the first and most obvious aspect of Portrait of Ruin is the dual player character system of the game. Being able to switch between 2 characters on the fly, and summon the other character either to help with combat or puzzles ended up being really engaging and fun. Honestly, I wish there were more puzzles that involved switching between the two characters, there were only a small handful, but they were really well done. I also loved playing as both of the characters in the main campaign, though I definitely did prioritize one over another. Throughout most of the game, I played as Charlotte. I loved switching the spells she used, adjusting to whatever I was facing, especially since some spells are better than others for certain bosses. Only at the tail end of the game did I switch to Jonathan, but he’s also another great playable character. He has the same general abilities of other vampire hunters in the series, and because of that he is really fun. I know it’s possible to use different weapons, but it felt only right for him to use a whip, so I didn’t experiment as much with Jonathan as I did Charlotte.
And of course, the other part of Portrait of Ruin that I think is super interesting is in the namesake itself, the portraits. While the game is located in Dracula’s Castle for a good chunk of things, you can also enter portraits throughout the castle which take you to wildly different locations. And I completely adore this, it allows for you to go to locations that otherwise wouldn’t be possible in a typical Castlevania setting. My favorite area in particular is the Pyramid, which I find really cool to be able to explore in a Castlevania game. I also really love how there’s sort of remixed versions of the portraits later on in the game. I’ve always loved the sort of “upside-down castle” idea that most Castlevanias have, and the portraits being remixed is a really fun way of doing things.
I mentioned this earlier, but Portrait of Ruin isn’t too difficult of a game either. Even if there’s a boss or room that is difficult, the game gives an ample amount of healing items, so you’ll never have too much of a worry. Though, I have played a good number of other Castlevanias, some notably harder than this one, so I may just be more used to them, and this is easier to me than to others, who knows. I imagine the challenges I did have were brought upon by myself though. I remember one boss that I struggled with hard because I didn’t realize that you could jump as many times as you wanted while underwater. Though at the same time, it’d be hard to know that, as that, to my knowledge, is the one time you’ll be underwater during the entire game. As well, some bosses probably would have been slightly easier for me if I summoned the partner character more often, and it might’ve been easier if I switched to Jonathan more often as well.
With the multiple locations in the game, exploring and trying to find every little nook and cranny is really fun. I think I got nearly 900% map completion, which is really funny to type out here, I didn’t explore the final area of the game, which is why I’m not close to the full 1000% map completion. It’s mainly because I saw on a guide I was looking at that the bosses in that final are connected to a different game, Dawn of Sorrow to be specific, and I didn’t want to see them until after I had played that game. As well, it’s primarily a boss rush, and completely optional, so I wasn’t too motivated to clear it. Whenever I get around to playing/beating Dawn of Sorrow, I would like to go back to that final area and see what it’s like.
And I most assuredly will replay Portrait of Ruin. There’s multiple additional playable characters that unlock upon getting the game’s good ending, and they have some interesting play styles to them. Theres one where the combat is done entirely on the DS touch screen which I wonder how that’ll play later in the game. With the little bit I tired of it, the game seems ridiculously easy with those characters. Though of course I’d have to wait and see.
I absolutely adore Portrait of Ruin. The ideas this game has are really fun, especially for a series like Castlevania. I love the environments that the game features, and with how much of a sucker I am for multiple playable characters, a game structured around switching between 2 characters is really fun. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, I’m almost assuredly replaying this game, as I want to play with the additional playable character sets, and see what they’re like. This isn’t my favorite Castlevania, but it’s definitely up there, I can’t help but suggest it.
To me the first and most obvious aspect of Portrait of Ruin is the dual player character system of the game. Being able to switch between 2 characters on the fly, and summon the other character either to help with combat or puzzles ended up being really engaging and fun. Honestly, I wish there were more puzzles that involved switching between the two characters, there were only a small handful, but they were really well done. I also loved playing as both of the characters in the main campaign, though I definitely did prioritize one over another. Throughout most of the game, I played as Charlotte. I loved switching the spells she used, adjusting to whatever I was facing, especially since some spells are better than others for certain bosses. Only at the tail end of the game did I switch to Jonathan, but he’s also another great playable character. He has the same general abilities of other vampire hunters in the series, and because of that he is really fun. I know it’s possible to use different weapons, but it felt only right for him to use a whip, so I didn’t experiment as much with Jonathan as I did Charlotte.
And of course, the other part of Portrait of Ruin that I think is super interesting is in the namesake itself, the portraits. While the game is located in Dracula’s Castle for a good chunk of things, you can also enter portraits throughout the castle which take you to wildly different locations. And I completely adore this, it allows for you to go to locations that otherwise wouldn’t be possible in a typical Castlevania setting. My favorite area in particular is the Pyramid, which I find really cool to be able to explore in a Castlevania game. I also really love how there’s sort of remixed versions of the portraits later on in the game. I’ve always loved the sort of “upside-down castle” idea that most Castlevanias have, and the portraits being remixed is a really fun way of doing things.
I mentioned this earlier, but Portrait of Ruin isn’t too difficult of a game either. Even if there’s a boss or room that is difficult, the game gives an ample amount of healing items, so you’ll never have too much of a worry. Though, I have played a good number of other Castlevanias, some notably harder than this one, so I may just be more used to them, and this is easier to me than to others, who knows. I imagine the challenges I did have were brought upon by myself though. I remember one boss that I struggled with hard because I didn’t realize that you could jump as many times as you wanted while underwater. Though at the same time, it’d be hard to know that, as that, to my knowledge, is the one time you’ll be underwater during the entire game. As well, some bosses probably would have been slightly easier for me if I summoned the partner character more often, and it might’ve been easier if I switched to Jonathan more often as well.
With the multiple locations in the game, exploring and trying to find every little nook and cranny is really fun. I think I got nearly 900% map completion, which is really funny to type out here, I didn’t explore the final area of the game, which is why I’m not close to the full 1000% map completion. It’s mainly because I saw on a guide I was looking at that the bosses in that final are connected to a different game, Dawn of Sorrow to be specific, and I didn’t want to see them until after I had played that game. As well, it’s primarily a boss rush, and completely optional, so I wasn’t too motivated to clear it. Whenever I get around to playing/beating Dawn of Sorrow, I would like to go back to that final area and see what it’s like.
And I most assuredly will replay Portrait of Ruin. There’s multiple additional playable characters that unlock upon getting the game’s good ending, and they have some interesting play styles to them. Theres one where the combat is done entirely on the DS touch screen which I wonder how that’ll play later in the game. With the little bit I tired of it, the game seems ridiculously easy with those characters. Though of course I’d have to wait and see.
I absolutely adore Portrait of Ruin. The ideas this game has are really fun, especially for a series like Castlevania. I love the environments that the game features, and with how much of a sucker I am for multiple playable characters, a game structured around switching between 2 characters is really fun. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, I’m almost assuredly replaying this game, as I want to play with the additional playable character sets, and see what they’re like. This isn’t my favorite Castlevania, but it’s definitely up there, I can’t help but suggest it.