Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

1. JakeS.

   Jan 2, 2007

   10

   Fantastic! I got bored with DoS, but I can't stop playing PoR. The dual characters are fantastic. Controls excellent. Story not Fantastic! I got bored with DoS, but I can't stop playing PoR. The dual characters are fantastic. Controls excellent. Story not invasive. Big, and well-done. Gameplay is fun.… Expand

   • 1 of 2 users found this helpful
2. MarkV.

   Mar 21, 2007

   10

   FANTASTIC! Despite being not quite as good as DoS, this is still one of the best games for the DS. If you own a DS and like 2D adventures or FANTASTIC! Despite being not quite as good as DoS, this is still one of the best games for the DS. If you own a DS and like 2D adventures or action RPGs, you MUST buy this game. Thank me later.… Expand

   • 1 of 2 users found this helpful
4. sprintinmario

   Jan 22, 2015

   10

   Castlevania Portrait of Ruin in my Opinion is the best Metroidvania I've ever played. First off the music is some of the best in the entireCastlevania Portrait of Ruin in my Opinion is the best Metroidvania I've ever played. First off the music is some of the best in the entire series with fantastic remixes of songs like Cross your Heart(known as crucifix held close in the game), Iron Blue intention and Simon's Theme. They also have great original pieces like Invitation of a Crazed moon, Gaze up at the Darkness, The Hidden Curse, and Jail of jewles. Even though this is not my favorite Castlevania soundtrack its pretty up there.
   
   Now that I've established the soundtrack but now let's dive into the gameplay. Now since this is a Metroidvania so there is a lot of familiar territory but there are some welcome changes . First off Side quests, for the first time ever you can undertake special tasks in different areas of Portrait of Ruin to get a stat boost, money, a new and powerful item or weapon ETC.. These range from punching butcher's meat, to entering button combos, or mastering a skill. Each new quest has a different fun and uniqe maybe a little difficult task. Unlike Order of Ecclesia most of these tasks are not endless Grind-fests and boring fetch quests and they feel more rewarding as you go on completing them. Now the core gameplay of explore the castle kill enemies collect relics, armor , weapons and leveling up hasn't changed much. Except now you have two chracters to play as that you can switch freely between them at anytime. They each have their own weapons armor and accseories. You can also obtain crush attacks that sap your mp like nothing else but they deal a lot of damage. All these things accounted for this game is actually not very easy especially towards the end. Thankfully unlike games like Harmony of Dissonnance and SOTH this game does get harder and thats a good thing.
   
   Overall after you beat the game you unlock 2 other sets of chracters a hard mode with 3 sub difficulties and a boss-rush mode. SO all in all for what ever you can find this game at its a really good deal. I will say there is a boss later on that will make you ooze with nostalgia if your a long running fan and its one tough cookie so be ready. But besides that Portrait of ruin is filled with content with 10 maps to cover, a boss rush mode, a total of 5 difficulties, and 3 sets of chracters to play as your gonna be here for a while.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
5. ReviewKing

   Dec 27, 2006

   9

   Over all better than Dawn of Sorrow, for these reasons: 1. no more monotonous soul system 2. Overall higher fun factor, close to Symphony of Over all better than Dawn of Sorrow, for these reasons: 1. no more monotonous soul system 2. Overall higher fun factor, close to Symphony of the Night 3. More detailed graphics, more layers in the background 4. AWESOME music score, it won best DS music score at IGN 5. fun to level up your secondary weapons 6. bosses are much more challenging, you dont beat most on the first try like in Dawn of Sorrow 7. Numerous portraits lead to very large levels, making this the biggest Castlevania game ever. Now go buy it!… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. Will

   Dec 18, 2006

   8

   The gameplay is excellent. But several aspects of the game seem a bit unpolished.

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
7. harryjc

   Jan 3, 2017

   7

   The content of the game is good, but for some reason this title is very buggy compared to Dawn of Sorrow, and Order of Ecclesia. It justThe content of the game is good, but for some reason this title is very buggy compared to Dawn of Sorrow, and Order of Ecclesia. It just freezes too much, and then you have to start all over again. It happens when you do fast travel, and special moves.… Expand

   • 0 of 2 users found this helpful
8. marspot

   May 7, 2013

   5

   Portrait of ruin is a tonka truck wishing it were a big-rig. It looks, smells, and acts like Castlevania, but at the core it's simply aPortrait of ruin is a tonka truck wishing it were a big-rig. It looks, smells, and acts like Castlevania, but at the core it's simply a watered down adventure game derived from more successful ventures of the same franchise. The anime art direction undermines the serious Gothic overtones that should prevail in any Castlevania entry. The characters are surface level and cliche. There is little to no innovation, nor are there any clever game play elements.
   
   Portrait is frustrating. Not in the sense of difficulty, or boss fights (both can be solved by simply gaining a few levels and trying again not much skill required there), but in that you find yourself meandering around lazy copy-and-paste environments filled with cheap challenges looking for the end of the dungeon so you can move on. Then, the game has the audacity to send you back through those levels on fetch quests for a fat, bald priest and a ghost with too much fashion sense.
   
   The game's redeeming factor, the boss encounters, save it from a score in the red, but it's not enough for me to recommend this title over others for the DS. The story is lame. The levels are lame. The action is decent. But then again, you can get incredible action, story, and levels with Order of Ecclesia, so go buy that instead.… Expand

   • 0 of 4 users found this helpful

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