Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Game Overview

Although the Castlevania series had suffered on home consoles, attempting to find a way to transition into 3D game play although each game (Castlevania for the Nintendo 64After a number of titles for non-Nintendo systems, Castlevania’s return should have been marked by much love and enjoyment from the fans. Sadly the first version of the game on Nintendo’s 64-bit console was a flawed game, interesting in places but not the kind of game fans were clamoring for in 1999., Castlevania: Lament of InnocenceThe first title in the series for the Sony PlayStation 2, Lament of Innocence gave us the first glimpse of the earliest hero in the main series, Leon Belmont, he who first had to engage against the vampires by taking up a magical whip and knocking around the worst foes of the undead world., and Castlevania: Curse of DarknessKonami's 3D follow-up to Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, this game featured expanded powers, exploration, and story, marking a deeper, although maybe not better, game. each was met with varying shade of indifference), the series had continued to crank out moderately successful title after another on portable systems. The sales numbers for the hand-held games were good, and once the series made the transition to the Nintendo DS with Castlevania: Dawn of SorrowThe direct sequel to Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, this game continues the adventures of Soma Cruz, inheritor of the power of Dracula, who continues to be harassed by the creatures of the night as they seek to revive their fallen leader., the groundwork was laid to extend the franchise for a while yet in that market.

Although the previous two titles in the series, Castlevania: Aria of SorrowThe third title for the Gameboy Advance, Aria of Sorrow married the Metroidvania gameplay of Symphony of the Night with refined gameplay and an engaging soul-collecting mechanic, creating what many consider one of the best games of the series. and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, had come out essentially back-to-back, the third portable title in a row wasn't yet another "Sorrow" game. Instead, series producer Koji "IGA" Igarashi went further back in the timeline to make a sequel to the Sega Genesis release, Castlevania: BloodlinesThe first Castlevania game for a Sega console, this title marked the introduction of elements from Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, into the game series.. This was an interesting choice, certainly, as Bloodlines wasn't exactly a strong performer upon its release, with some accounts calling it the worst selling game in the series at a mere 40,000 units sold during its life. But where that game failed, this next game had the promise to correct that wrong and be another solid seller for the franchise.

The resulting title was Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (titled Akumajo Dorakyura Gyarari obu Rabirinsu in Japan, translated as "Demon Castle Dracula: Gallery of Labyrinth"), was a modest hit in line with the previous sales figures for the series. Focusing on Johnathan MorrisSon of John Morris and inheritor of the famed Belmont whip, the Vampire Killer. Johnathan, with his friend Charlotte, has to go to Dracula's Castle when it appears once more, but instead of the Prince of Darkness they find an artistic demon and his two daughters ruling the edifice of evil. (son of John MorrisOne of two vampire hunters in Castlevania: Bloodlines. John was the son of Quincey Morris, from Bram Stoker's Dracula novel and, though not a Belmont, he wields the powerful Vampire Killer to aid him in his fight against Dracula.) and Charlotte AulinA powerful sorceress and descendant of the Belnades clan, Charlotte joins her friend, Johnathan Morris, for an adventure into Dracula's Castle when the evil castle once more appears. But it's not Dracula ruling the castle, and the two are in for an even deeper mystery to behold. (heir to the Belnades Clan), the game follows their exploits through Castle Dracula as a new vampire, BraunerAn evil master vampire, but one not working for Dracula. Instead he steals Dracula's castle and sets up shop within, treating himself as the new Dark Lord and ruler of the lands... a position not everyone is going to be happy with., and his two vampire daughters set up shop in the monster-filled edifice with an eye towards ruling over the countryside.

The game is another in the MetroidvaniaAt the intersection of Metroid and Castlevania lies the exploration platformer genre, the game style with heroes wandering expansive worlds, looking for items to expand their quest, known as Metroidvania. series of titles IGA had been perfecting, a solidly built RPG/action hybrid with plenty to do and many areas to explore. This game seems to be designed with a "more is more" approach to the series, giving players more of everything they liked about the previous few hand-held titles. Instead of having just one castle to explore there was now a castle along with a slew of magical paintings that would transport players to new worlds. Instead of one hero there were now two who could switch back and forth (and work together). There was so much to see and do in the game that, at least on paper, the game could keep players busy for days.

The game was praised, for the most part, for everything the players could do. The two-hero mechanic certainly added a new spice to the game, letting players, in essence, take on the roles from the Nintendo 64 Castlevania, but at the same time. The variety of locations, many of which were new locales not seen in a Castlevania game before, lent the game a refreshed air. And it helped add new life to a classic game, Bloodlines, that hadn't gotten much respect back when it was first released.

That said, some critics were right in pointing out that the quest of the game was fairly linear, at least in the first half, and that for all the new variety put into the title it still played a lot like predecessor Dawn of Sorrow. Of course, it played like that game as it was built on the same engine (with natural improvements over time, of course) -- these games were cheaper to produce if the wheel didn't have to be reinvented each time, and IGA could put out three of these in as many years with the help of that engine and its cost saving technology.

Portrait is a bit of a bridge between the past and the future, then. It's the next-to-last mainline title from IGA, and also the next-to-last proper Metroidvania he'd work on. It's something of an opus, is scale and scope, certainly illustrating just how far IGA's style of games could be pushed. Artistically it's a stunning achievement and really stretches the bounds of what came before. But it's not yet the harbinger of the end of the era, either, or the changes to come. It's pure Castlevania without all the drama and broken dreams to come as Konami slowly shifted its focus from the bread-and-butter of the franchise to other prospects

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