Knee-jerk review
Castlevania Portrait of Ruin is another 2D side-scroller just like every other title in the series. It's like Aria and Symphony in that it has a leveling system and various equipment and items that you can pick up. Capcom isn't exactly beating a dead horse, but it's the first thing that comes to mind.
My initial reactions to the game were actually quite negative. Oh look, it's like every other one where you start at a low level in Dracula's castle, but within a minute of playing you gain the ability to switch between two completely different characters. Jonathan plays like every other Castlevania protagonist, he has his whip/sword/whatever and by golly, he knows how to use it. Charlotte on the other hand plays like an upgraded version of Sypha Belnades from Castlevania 3. In fact, I found myself using her throughout most of the game. I thought to myself, "why not?" I've played nearly every Castlevania game released stateside, why not try a new take on it. So I did, and I found myself playing for hours on end. I had, in some respect, rediscovered Castlevania. Sure, some of the co-op areas seemed tacked on and forced, but I really didn't care. I couldn't wait to see what spell would drop from an enemy or what book I would find. Any game that utilizes the literary masterpiece Don Quixote as an in-game weapon to defeat the forces of evil, is worth at least a playthrough.
A few minutes into the game you find out that strange paintings have been appearing in the castle and that to put a stop to the enemy in question not gaining power (it's not Dracula for once...) you must go inside these paintings and destroy the boss at the end. Sounds dumb, right? Yeah, it kind of is, but it breathes a little bit more life into this franchise. The paintings allow the player to visit environments that have (to my knowledge) never been seen before in a Castlevania game. What kinds of environments you ask? Well I don't want to spoil too much but...since when have Castlevania games taken place in the middle of the desert with a setting sun in the background hiding behind a sphinx while painting a blood red sky? Yeah, it's awesome.
Now, I consider myself an above average gamer in terms of raw skill. My 360 is set to default to the hard setting on each game I play and most of the time, that seems too easy. Anyway, this game made me feel humble. No, this game (in some parts) made me it's bitch. Maybe this was directly related to the level that I was at, maybe not, but that doesn't change the fact that I had lost a little bit of pride that day.
After playing arguably the second best game in the series Dawn of Sorrow, I expected another well-put-together, fairly serious storyline. Teen Angst? Check. Hatred for a father for all of the wrong reasons? Check. Wickedly cool supporting character who serves as a mentor? Yep, check. How hard is it to hire a professional writer?If they did, I'm sorry sir/madam. *sigh* Anyway, in short, I was letdown. It also doesn't help that the art style of the characters and opening cinema are generic anime. How hard would it be to make Castlevania cool again?
On a final note, as cookie-cutter as this game may be with the Metroidvania style of gameplay and the anime-inspired gameplay, I still had a lot of fun with the game and had a very hard time putting it down, even though I have a slew of other games sitting right in front of me, which include some of the best titles of last year (hint: one of them starts with a Zelda and ends with a Twilight Princess). Yeah, it's that damn good, just don't expect it to blow your mind with innovation.
My initial reactions to the game were actually quite negative. Oh look, it's like every other one where you start at a low level in Dracula's castle, but within a minute of playing you gain the ability to switch between two completely different characters. Jonathan plays like every other Castlevania protagonist, he has his whip/sword/whatever and by golly, he knows how to use it. Charlotte on the other hand plays like an upgraded version of Sypha Belnades from Castlevania 3. In fact, I found myself using her throughout most of the game. I thought to myself, "why not?" I've played nearly every Castlevania game released stateside, why not try a new take on it. So I did, and I found myself playing for hours on end. I had, in some respect, rediscovered Castlevania. Sure, some of the co-op areas seemed tacked on and forced, but I really didn't care. I couldn't wait to see what spell would drop from an enemy or what book I would find. Any game that utilizes the literary masterpiece Don Quixote as an in-game weapon to defeat the forces of evil, is worth at least a playthrough.
A few minutes into the game you find out that strange paintings have been appearing in the castle and that to put a stop to the enemy in question not gaining power (it's not Dracula for once...) you must go inside these paintings and destroy the boss at the end. Sounds dumb, right? Yeah, it kind of is, but it breathes a little bit more life into this franchise. The paintings allow the player to visit environments that have (to my knowledge) never been seen before in a Castlevania game. What kinds of environments you ask? Well I don't want to spoil too much but...since when have Castlevania games taken place in the middle of the desert with a setting sun in the background hiding behind a sphinx while painting a blood red sky? Yeah, it's awesome.
Now, I consider myself an above average gamer in terms of raw skill. My 360 is set to default to the hard setting on each game I play and most of the time, that seems too easy. Anyway, this game made me feel humble. No, this game (in some parts) made me it's bitch. Maybe this was directly related to the level that I was at, maybe not, but that doesn't change the fact that I had lost a little bit of pride that day.
After playing arguably the second best game in the series Dawn of Sorrow, I expected another well-put-together, fairly serious storyline. Teen Angst? Check. Hatred for a father for all of the wrong reasons? Check. Wickedly cool supporting character who serves as a mentor? Yep, check. How hard is it to hire a professional writer?If they did, I'm sorry sir/madam. *sigh* Anyway, in short, I was letdown. It also doesn't help that the art style of the characters and opening cinema are generic anime. How hard would it be to make Castlevania cool again?
On a final note, as cookie-cutter as this game may be with the Metroidvania style of gameplay and the anime-inspired gameplay, I still had a lot of fun with the game and had a very hard time putting it down, even though I have a slew of other games sitting right in front of me, which include some of the best titles of last year (hint: one of them starts with a Zelda and ends with a Twilight Princess). Yeah, it's that damn good, just don't expect it to blow your mind with innovation.
posted by Coyotegrey at 1:55 AM
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