March 2007 archives
Portrait of Ruin
So I've been playing quite a bit of Castlevania Portrait of Ruin since it arrived on Saturday. Having played just about every Castlevania game out there I was eager to get in to it proper. So far it doesn't disappoint. I'm liking the whole 2 playable characters thing; it offers some interesting and quite dynamic fights. Although I have to keep reminding myself that there is a second character at times, force of habit dictates that I end up running about the place as Jonathan most of the time.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Castlevania series are the end of level bosses, usually screen filling. If you've played any of the recent 2D versions then it will come as no surprise that Death features at some point. There's usually some twist to his fight but for the most part its the same thing, big guy with scythe and all. I have to say that this one is probably the most visually impressive though, that and one of the more difficult encounters of the game. I get the feeling I've not seen the last of him in this game though.
Because the majority of this game takes places outside the castle you get to explore areas that would have been out of place in previous versions. The Egyptian themed level for example has a good variety of enemies and some impressive visuals. In comparrison to the last game it feels like I'm making quicker progress. Ofcourse that could just be because I don't know how long it is.
It's still fun to charge around fighting the enemies and the feeling of progress marked by your characters increase in strength is still there. Other features such as boss rush and cooperative play look promising but it's too early for me to comment yet. I've tried out the shop feature a couple of times and on one occasion met someone who was trying to sell weapons that cost ~ 5 times my total gold :P I'm looking forward to playing more, it looks like I'm coming up to something big. I'll probably post another update when I've played a bit more.