Portrait of Ruin is, as the title suggests, a game about portraits. Of ruin.
The way the portraits work reminds me of Lament of Innocence, where there were various levels separate from the castle that you could go to. Except in this one, the castle is its own level instead of just being a hub. The idea of going into portraits to get more abilities in order to explore more of the castle is really cool,but they're unfortunately very linear. The order that you do the portraits in is set unless you do some wacky sequence breaking techniques. The second half is a little better with this, letting you explore the last four portraits in any order. I also liked how they were remixed versions of the previous levels, sort of like the reverse castle in SOTN.
Jonathan and Charlotte are both incredibly fun to play, and it doesn't feel like one character is straight up better than the other. Jonathan has better gear and more options for weapons, and Charlotte has a large variety of spells, both for support and damage. The switching mechanic is unfortunately pretty underused aside from a few early game puzzles. Although I do find it pretty satisfying when both characters out and you can combo enemies to death.
The story is also pretty good, usually Castlevania stories are pretty minimal but this one is quite a bit more involved. I especially enjoyed the callbacks to Bloodlines, which this game is a sequel to. Jonathan and Charlotte also have great banter, and play off each other well.
My only complaints are that it's pretty linear, and also very grindy on account of the subweapons and all the side quests. Other than that, I enjoyed this game quite a lot. Also, extra points for having dual audio in 2006 on a fucking DS game. Based Konami.
The way the portraits work reminds me of Lament of Innocence, where there were various levels separate from the castle that you could go to. Except in this one, the castle is its own level instead of just being a hub. The idea of going into portraits to get more abilities in order to explore more of the castle is really cool,but they're unfortunately very linear. The order that you do the portraits in is set unless you do some wacky sequence breaking techniques. The second half is a little better with this, letting you explore the last four portraits in any order. I also liked how they were remixed versions of the previous levels, sort of like the reverse castle in SOTN.
Jonathan and Charlotte are both incredibly fun to play, and it doesn't feel like one character is straight up better than the other. Jonathan has better gear and more options for weapons, and Charlotte has a large variety of spells, both for support and damage. The switching mechanic is unfortunately pretty underused aside from a few early game puzzles. Although I do find it pretty satisfying when both characters out and you can combo enemies to death.
The story is also pretty good, usually Castlevania stories are pretty minimal but this one is quite a bit more involved. I especially enjoyed the callbacks to Bloodlines, which this game is a sequel to. Jonathan and Charlotte also have great banter, and play off each other well.
My only complaints are that it's pretty linear, and also very grindy on account of the subweapons and all the side quests. Other than that, I enjoyed this game quite a lot. Also, extra points for having dual audio in 2006 on a fucking DS game. Based Konami.