Topic: What do you think now of the DS games?

[The Puritan]

So I just spent the last four months playing the the Dominus Collection. And after about 15 years since I last played the DS outings, I feel like:

-Dawn of Sorrow isn't as good as I remember
-Portrait of Ruin is actually better than I remember
-Order of Ecclesia is exactly as good as (and a little harder than) I remember

POR is especially interesting to me because I recall hating significant parts of it back in '06 i.e. the anime art style, ho-hum level design, and a general sense of overstuffing. Yet I thoroughly enjoyed it this time and I'm not sure why.

Did anyone else have a similar experience? Do you still regard the DS games exactly as you did all those years ago or have your views changed?

[theplottwist]

Time last played aside, I have a similar experience, almost exactly the same. Order of Ecclesia was always my favorite and that didn't change in all the times I played it over the years, but I noticed PoR is actually much better than I had thought the more I played it.

Dawn of Sorrow is like... I like the aesthetic alot (the muted colors, the greyish/brown palette, I do feel a sense of isolation and mood in that game against PoR's and OoE's colorful presentation, which I think is a nice, different experience to have) but I find the gameplay the inferior of the three.

[zangetsu468]

Dominus Collection I've purchased but not yet played. I'm not surprised by any of these comments and I expected and always reiterated that OOE was ahead of its time.

In Fairness to DoS, it was one of the earlier games on the DS and its gameplay felt more 'stiff' than Aria's(and POR & OOE); think of it as a shot of Yamazaki 12yo as opposed to drinking a highball... One questions whether the oldness of the gameplay perhaps shows its armour chinks more so on an upscaled screen/ port, being as aged as it now is.

I still believe OOE is the last true Castlevania and the best blend of old and new imho.

[crisis]

My thoughts:

Dawn of Sorrow; I really appreciate it. Soma’s animation sprite is very detailed, down to seeing his cold breath in the winter sections. That attention to detail I appreciate very much. His animations are on par with Alucard in SotN. There are many unique things in the game not found in other Castlevanias which I appreciate it. However Julius’ sprite is just trash. Like c’mon, wtf were they thinking. The 3D parallax backgrounds especially at the end of the game were very well rendered. The Abyss final area was very creepy, but I wish it was larger. I personally believe we should’ve got a 3rd entry, titled “Eternity of Sorrow,” which sees Soma succumbing to his fate, allowing the centuries-old struggle to continue involving Julius’ descendants. The game featuring Mathias’ portrait in the Julius mode reinforces this idea, and unfortunately Konami didn’t capitalize on it.

Portrait of Ruin, I enjoy very much, but there’s an underlying feeling of laziness behind it. Many reused enemies & assets, tiny castle, too much anime cliches. The art style was terrible, generic slop. But the most egregious sin was not including John & Eric as playable characters, instead we get a bastardized version of Richiter & Maria. wtf?

Order of Ecclesia, still playing through it for the 2nd time. Competent game, although I wish the controls were a bit tighter.

[VladOfWallachia]

I played them all when they launched, but the only one I like going back to is PoR, definitely my favorite of the DS lineup.

[The Puritan]

I played them all when they launched, but the only one I like going back to is PoR, definitely my favorite of the DS lineup.

As glad as I am that OOE remains the #1 DSvania for many, I can relate to this take. If you put the three before me and ask which one I'd rather play right now, I'll probably pick POR. Maybe because it's the most "Castlevania" of the DS trilogy, in the sense that you're playing a Belmont and a Belnades as opposed to a glyph witch and Dracula reincarnate.

Portrait of Ruin, I enjoy very much, but there’s an underlying feeling of laziness behind it. Many reused enemies & assets, tiny castle, too much anime cliches. The art style was terrible, generic slop.

Most of what you mentioned didn't bother me as much this time. I may not approve of reused enemies and assets but I can understand why they happen from a developer's POV, especially when you have a deadline imposed on you from upstairs. Heartily agree on the anime art style though; I still hate it and always will. Konami really should've retained Ayami Kojima for DOS and signed on Masaki Hirooka as early as POR.

One questions whether the oldness of the gameplay perhaps shows its armour chinks more so on an upscaled screen/ port, being as aged as it now is.

You just voiced what I had been thinking about DOS when I restarted it. DOS did kinda-sorta show its age but POR and OOE, not so much for some reason. It doesn't help that Konami might not have optimized DOS in particular for modern machines. My game would slow down in the Lost Village whenever it snowed. 

Dawn of Sorrow is like... I like the aesthetic alot (the muted colors, the greyish/brown palette, I do feel a sense of isolation and mood in that game against PoR's and OoE's colorful presentation, which I think is a nice, different experience to have) but I find the gameplay the inferior of the three.

Upon reflection, I think a big factor is that DOS forces you to do a whole lot more grinding if you want to 100% everything. There's considerably less of that in POR, which means you can get down sooner to what you're really supposed to be doing: fighting your way through the map and moving on with the story.

[mkk hanzo]

So I just spent the last four months playing the the Dominus Collection. And after about 15 years since I last played the DS outings, I feel like:

-Dawn of Sorrow isn't as good as I remember
-Portrait of Ruin is actually better than I remember
-Order of Ecclesia is exactly as good as (and a little harder than) I remember

POR is especially interesting to me because I recall hating significant parts of it back in '06 i.e. the anime art style, ho-hum level design, and a general sense of overstuffing. Yet I thoroughly enjoyed it this time and I'm not sure why.

Did anyone else have a similar experience? Do you still regard the DS games exactly as you did all those years ago or have your views changed?

 Kind of this to be honest!

 Day one epxperience to me back then. DoS was super hype due to being a launch title to a new system. I find it a bit easy tho. POst game extra is awesome, maybe the best of the series. Maybe due to the silly touchscreen mechanics shoehorned there. Gimmicks.

 PoR keeps being awesome. In all aspects even while recycling stages.

 OoE has been my fave among the Igavanias for a while (Not counting Bloodstained RotN), it still is, funnily, I didnt 100% any of the 3, just finished them, and the shorter time was on OoE. Maybe because most of the areas I just speeded them up without fighting or grinding, due to the frustrating flying enemies that go thru walls, and the lack of true "anti air" weapons aside from some pickaxes.

 OoE still amazes me when they reveal the castle. Man, what a good thing when one thinks that teh entire game was linear (Which I loved too).

 All three are tech marvels for the console imo. Even recycling sprites from Rondo, SCV4 or SotN. Music wise all three ROCK (no pun intended)

[crisis]

Poetry of Ruin also had the preorder bonus which included the official timeline & a couple other goodies. But as I reminisce, the games include many clues to what IGA was planning on his unmade 1999 game;

- Charlotte is described in her bio that she holds the key to finally destroying Dracula for good. This is odd, since we know it was the Hakuba clan that put the final nail in the coffin, not the Aulin’s.

- The power of Dominus is said to contain the secret to Dracula’s power, and using it against him is extremely effective, perhaps moreso than the Vampire Killer itself.

- Apparently there are other Dark Lord candidates out there, Soma obviously being the strongest, but what happens to his soul after he dies? And why isn’t Death actively seeking to recreate Dracula since he has no dialogue in DoS?

[zangetsu468]

\
- Apparently there are other Dark Lord candidates out there, Soma obviously being the strongest, but what happens to his soul after he dies? And why isn’t Death actively seeking to recreate Dracula since he has no dialogue in DoS?

Death is hanging out, doing 'Death Tingz'.... He'll take whichever Dark Lord candidate comes next as long as he can reap more souls and meet his quota.
Given Celia Fortner was initially the front runner (followed by Dmitri) to be the new Dark Lord, he was likely just following her/ them, though it is a shame he doesn't have dialogue, noting he'd met with Soma before and Julius, presumably, twice before. 

My alternate theory/ preferred head canon on this is that Julius mode's ending IS the true ending. It makes so much f***ing more sense and is highly poetic for Soma to be the next Dark Lord. (So much so that I once wrote a fanfic ending to DoS on these very forums, some years ago. Set after the DoS true ending, where Julius and Soma exchange brief pleasantries about whether the other party members know he's the next Dark Lord, then draw weapons under a full moon, ending in Soma saying "Have at you!" - before that whole GheyA$$ Mirror of Fake stole the same idea...). It's also inconsequential to the overall timeline imo.

[theplottwist]

Poetry of Ruin also had the preorder bonus which included the official timeline & a couple other goodies. But as I reminisce, the games include many clues to what IGA was planning on his unmade 1999 game;

- Charlotte is described in her bio that she holds the key to finally destroying Dracula for good. This is odd, since we know it was the Hakuba clan that put the final nail in the coffin, not the Aulin’s.

- The power of Dominus is said to contain the secret to Dracula’s power, and using it against him is extremely effective, perhaps moreso than the Vampire Killer itself.

- Apparently there are other Dark Lord candidates out there, Soma obviously being the strongest, but what happens to his soul after he dies? And why isn’t Death actively seeking to recreate Dracula since he has no dialogue in DoS?

-Her bio only says she's considered the ultimate weapon to defeat Dracula because she is extremelly powerful for age. I used to believe this line implied more (like Dracula's final destruction), but the actual line is not really talking about her in such as specific way. It's just saying Charlotte's has the potential to beat Dracula because she's ridiculously strong at such an early age. (beyond that, GoS has strongly suggested Charlotte was not involved at all in 1999).

-Dominus contains the "power of ultimate destruction" because the origin of its power is the evil of mankind. Dracula can be beaten by his own power because of its origin, and not just because "it's Dracula's".

-Death wants nothing to do with Soma because one has to willingly step into the Dark Lord role, this is why Death doesn't talk to him. Death does not recognize Soma as "Dracula", much less as its master. Dracula is a mantle that can be inherited, and since Soma refused it, there are others who will accept it. This has been first clarified in the novel, and was (several years) later reiterated on Grimoire of Souls. Death and Soma are not into it, is the idea. Having said that: I think when Soma dies, his soul just passes on. He's the end of that specific soul's role as Dracula. And Death IS indeed actively trying to recreate Dracula (in the literal sense, as is the plot of Grimoire of Souls. Death has been trying to find ways to recreate Dracula and this game is dealing with 1 specific attempt among others happening in the background)

[Aceearly1993]

My thoughts:

Dawn of Sorrow; I really appreciate it. Soma’s animation sprite is very detailed, down to seeing his cold breath in the winter sections. That attention to detail I appreciate very much. His animations are on par with Alucard in SotN. There are many unique things in the game not found in other Castlevanias which I appreciate it. However Julius’ sprite is just trash. Like c’mon, wtf were they thinking. The 3D parallax backgrounds especially at the end of the game were very well rendered. The Abyss final area was very creepy, but I wish it was larger.

I got the very same sense regarding the Julius sprite. It looks to be true to the rumor that the vanilla's sprite artist(s) gave up on detailing it, where they really shouldn't.
This is one of my major quirks towards Dawn which I hold no serious complaints beside this factor and the soul drop rate in normal mode.