Where to begin… glorious timeless gaming. One of the best games I’ve ever played hands down. The enemy designs and map layout are so fun and so dynamic. It’s a game that invites you to discover Dracula’s castle and every extra hour spent looking for something new is always, always rewarded - though not necessary to finish the game.

The inverted castle segment is just as fun and offers so many differences within the same castle to keep it engaging and entertaining. The music is breathtaking and the endless variety of tools at your disposal allows a huge range of ways to take on the castle and its inhabitants. Furthermore, being able to link parts of the castle together was extremely fun and never got boring, tracing my steps again and again after unlocking something new.

Alucard’s little animations have a great charm to them and so much personality, as do so many of the little animations you can find. As I mentioned, it’s a game that rewards discovery and if I could talk about each and every one of them I’d have to write a 3 part book. I love Castlevania so much.

Unreal game, much more difficult than the other DS releases and entirely rewarding. The music is beautiful from start to finish and the enemy designs are so imaginative and fun, each one offering new ways to take advantage of the glyphs. The artistry is amazing and unique monsters like the jersey devil, references to bubba sawyer etc from minds that understand the unique aesthetics and hallmarks of horror and folklore.

Order of Ecclesia, as the rest of the Castlevania games, holds a distinct gothic aesthetic and feel with a great stand alone story which was engaging both in character and lore. Very fun side quests too which helped the world building.