User Reviews (11 - 21 of 34)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am a long time Castlevania fan, and this game has just what I like to see in all Castlevania games. Great sound, creepy environments, tons of cool enemies to fight, excellent boss fights, and plenty of great extras after you beat the game. In fact, this game has found a place in my heart for having one of the greatest levels in video games of all time! The Nation of Fools is the most creative level I have ever seen in any video game, and it closes strong with my favorite video game boss of all time, Legion.

You don't have to take my word for it. If you have ever liked Castlevania games, this one is just what you're looking for. Get this game, you won't be sorry!

Pretty fun but it's beating a dead horse at this point.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

From the second I played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night I knew that I strongly desired a sequel to the game. I had really wanted something with top notch 2D work like Guilty Gear Isuka for PlayStation 2 and for it to be on a console but I suppose my hunger was sated by the various Gameboy titles. I've had mixed feelings about the series since Symphony of the Night, some of the titles seem to get close to being as good and others totally missed the mark but the fact stands that none of the additions are on par with Symphony of the Night yet. This game is no different.

You play with two characters which you can use individually, simultaneously, and you can switch around on the fly. This works rather well and adds some depth and strategy to your character set ups. I found the girl to be kind of boring on her own though. She only gets one weapon type and it's rather ineffective. Her spells can be pretty cool but they aren't particularly great for dispatching enemies and remaining mobile. The cool thing here though is that I didn't have to use her. I could use the male character and simply spam the girl for spells when the mood struck me. You can leave both characters out and the one you aren't controlling will attack automatically but if they get hit your magic bar is depleted much like your health would be. The bad news here is that eventually the dual character system begins to strike you as very gimmicky. I would much rather have had one character with all of those abilities rather than having to drag along a second character simply for the occasional puzzle. It starts off as a cool idea but eventually just becomes annoying and you'll most likely stick with one as the game goes on.

Both of the DS games have gone artistically downhill since Ayami Kojima (the character designer for many of the games) didn't work on them. Maybe some kids got spooked by the slightly dark theme to the games and they had to brighten it up but everything seems a little softer to me. The enemies aren't as demented. The environments are more colorful. The blood is toned down, long gone are the days of gushing zombie soldiers. Maybe some people appreciate this but I think it sucks. The ambiance of the series is something I always enjoyed and it's just not here anymore.

The level design is alright, they kind of pulled an upside-down castle move by repeating previous levels only slightly different. That is one of my only complaints with Symphony of the Night and it remains true here, flipping and barely altering a level is lazy. If it wasn't for different enemies you would be bored to tears. It's kind of neat that you go to some different corners of the world but I really don't feel that they belong in this game. It's CASTLEvania, not TRAVELvania.

The music is tinny, cliche, and certainly more upbeat than other Castlevania games. It ultimately doesn't fit well for me. The Symphony of the Night, and Curse of Darkness soundtrack are worth owning regardless of how good the games are. I know the DS is capable of playing good music becuase Meteos and Nanostray have some jams in them, but the quality is pretty junky here. I guess since you go to some different locations it probably makes sense but, again, it just doesn't feel right to be in a Castlevania game.

The game presents plenty of the replay value that the newer titles are known for along with plenty to do in a single play through. Things like this keep the game fun regardless of its shortcomings.

The addition of Wifi is really nice but I have yet to really do a whole lot with it. The game isn't hard enough to do co-op and you can get all the items yourself easy enough without having to buy them off of people. Still it stands as a cool addition especially if they choose to develop it a bit more in the future.

In summary, I think it's the bettter of the DS Castlevanias, but Aria Of Sorrow is still the best of the Gameboy entries. Symphony of the Night is still king. At the end of the day though I think this game is a little weak, fun, but nothing super special about it. I think they need to focus on making one killer Castlevania game rather than churning out Symphony of the Night clones ever other year.

Dawn of Sorrow 1.5: Portrait of Ruin

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game would've score much higher if it wasn't a sucessor to Dawn of sorrow which is one of my favorite Castlevania games. It was still pretty fun, mind you, but I felt like I was playing Dawn of Sorry with differnt characters most of the time. It's mainly because both games use the same game engine, I believe. That is not that bad by itself but I had a problem with sooooo many enemies being lifted straight out of Dawn of Sorrow. With the game featuring many familiar enemies and the new "dual attacks" you can perform, the game seems so much easier. I had no problem mowing down the enemies and bosses alike! Maybe it's time to change things around for Castlevania because I can't really distinguish one game from another anymore. It's a fun game but if you played the Dawn of Sorry recently, it won't be anything special.

Fun, but not a classic.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Let me start off by saying that this game was pretty fun, and I would say that it's worth the money if it's something that's on your "might buy" list. But, it's nothing near a classic. It doesn't compare with Symphony of the Night. The graphics are pretty much the same style as SOTN, which is a good thing in my opinion. The gameplay is also very similar even with the ability to switch between 2 characters. Honestly, I rarely switched unless it was a small situation that required it. As for fighting, I found myself always sticking with the male character, so the new system doesn't really add anything extra. The story isn't bad, but is also nothing memorable which to me is really the only downfall to the game. Even though the game to me felt like a watered down rip off of SOTN, I would've considered it a classic if the story would've caught my attention more. But, like I said before, the story isn't bad, and I did find myself enjoying the gameplay quite a bit. If you're considering buying it, I would say go for it. If you're looking to be amazed or get the same experience that you got out of SOTN, don't hold your breath.

Must have!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It was a well made game. The storyline a bit cheesy but worth it. It was actually fun to play. Not many games out there can be given that title. The draw back to the game is a short storyline. Eventhough there are side quests (dont sell anything, unless you have multiple of same item) still a short game. Online game play is a great addition to it. Its worth getting.

Good Game overall

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This caslevania game is a good game to own. its rather long. (which is a good thing) and it has a lot of secrets and hidden things. Also the ability to play through again after beating with different characters or the same characters with almost all your old stuff is great as well. The downside to this game is the replay value wasnt that good. i just didnt feel like picking it back up after i beat it. overall though a great game to play!!

Castlevania- A Legacy of Greatness

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The latest venture into the world of Castlevania is pure magic. It's huge, with rich backgrounds, audio, and all the classic castle crawling fans have come to know and love. As far as the newer Castlevanias go, this is one of the best.

You control two characters in this one- which is a first for the series. Though not taken to it's fullest use, this concept is dynamic and can either be used to challenge yourself as a player, or just annoy you. Personally, I like to have both characters on screen at all times.

One of the coolest things in Portrait of Ruin is dispelling the various paintings hidden around the castle. You actually enter the paintings by diving into them. The world you find on the other side is heavily theme-based, just as you would expect from a painting. Exploring the painting gets you out of the castle and makes you feel like you really are somewhere else!

The new Castlevanias are becoming more strongly story-driven, and this game has a ton of character dialog to enjoy. I think this adds personality to the characters which makes the player empathize with them.

Overall, I fell this game is a blast to play! There's lots to do including extra mini Quests you can complete inside the castle which can be both riddle-like or just plain challenging.

I really enjoyed this game and I think you will too! ^_^

Comes up short in a few key ways

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 12
Date: December 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

An okay and challenging Castlevania that comes up short in a few really annoying ways.

1) The dual character mode isn't implimented nearly as well as it could've been. There's a very low rate of puzzles and abilities that utilize this new feature.
2) The quest mode can be really frustrating. Sometimes you'll need an item that you have previously sold and can't get back unless you know someone selling it on the WFC shop mode or start the game over. They should've made any quest releated items non-sellable, or allow you to complete the quest even if you do sell them. Also, you can take on 5 quests at a time max, so if you have that quest and can't complete it, you're just stuck and can't pick up any new ones.
3) Selling items is a huge pain, as you are forced to keep one item of everything to prevent the above mentioned quest problem. Even if you did want to sell a bunch of stuff, it doesn't remove your equiped gear from the "to sell" list, nor put an E or anything next to it, so you may accidently sell your equipment if you're not paying attention.
4) Way too many enemies (and bosses) are reused...again
5) The story is really comedy/anime driven and this proves to be a major distraction and seems very out of place given the timeframe of the game (WW2).
6) Promise of co-op play is only limited to boss rush mode.
7) 95% of the items and abilities are worthless or just clones of one another.
8) Re-used stages (or similar looking levels) within the game. You'd think the portraits would bring in some new variety, but the only really different type of level is the pyramid level. Most of the others just look like any other CV castle.

While still playable and sometimes enjoyable, this game definitely is the worse CV title since Harmony of Dissonance. Some of the levels and all the new enemies are cool, and so is the dual character mode. But for the above mentioned reasons this game fails to live up to Castlevania's previous body of work. The biggest improvement in this game, though, is it's back to the Circle of the Moon difficulty level.

Castlevania

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 14
Date: December 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The only thing I have to say!! It's a good game I already played it and this is better than the other castlevania!! buy it and tell me later if you like it!

A half-step to the next step in Castlevania.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: January 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is fun- very fun- and much more streamlined than, say, the GBA Metroids. It's probably a lot more accesible to new Castlevania players than Dawn of Sorrow, too. But for veterans, this game may be a little staler than expected- I can see how it could be, as this is definitely the same Castlevania that Konami has shown us before. The WiFi is a little strange- Boss Rush mode basically works like an arcade version of Castlevania. I understand the complexity of co-operative Castlevania, or multiplayer Castlevania in general, but there was much potential that could have been explored. Heck, 16-bit online anything is amazing. Either way, if you've been getting tired of Castlevania and platformers in general, may I kindly point you to many of the other more innovative titles on the DS?

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions