Topic: Portrait of Ruin

[beingthehero]

This is one CV title that's been a lightning rod for criticism over the past couple years. What does everybody currently think of this game?
I don't think it's the greatest Castlevania title of late, but i don't think it's a horrible blight on the franchise either. Actually, I think it's pretty good. I've just always liked the portrait stages (except for the second circus-themed stage, which was just too tedious for me.) I also liked how Castlevania felt 'structured' more like an actual castle.

Also, the music was great. Not as great as OoE's, but better than DoS's. I especially dig Yuzo Koshiro's 5 tracks. Gears Go Awry is definitely one of the better stage themes, as is Invitation of a Crazed Moon. I kind of wish Koshiro did all the stage themes. I also dug the huge amounts of references to past titles, especially seeing classic Dracula again and all the whips from Simon's Quest. After seeing 2D Leon in the Greatest 5 spell, I was 90% certain that it was a hint that the next DS game would be a 2D Lament sequel. ;_;
Even though he was woefully underused, Brauner was also one of the best villains in the series. He definitely needed some more screen time.

On the other hand, the character designs dialog seem to get more and more insufferable with each playthrough, and Jonathan becomes too powerful, too fast, and winds up negating too many of Charlotte's spells. It de-emphasizes balancing between the two characters too much during the second set of portraits.

Still, I think it's a good game and a nice time-waster for lazy weekends. What about you all? Do you still like it or hate it?

[Opium]

I think PoR was a great game.  It was especially nice to be able to use 2 characters at the same time, instead of just having unlockable characters at the end.  Knowing when to switch to charlotte, or when to use jonathan, or when to just use one character and make the other one leave, added a new dimension to the gameplay that really worked for me.  I'm not sure if it's my fav CV game for the DS, but it's an awesome game regardless.

[crisis]

I love all the little references it has, such as Maxim's Sword & the Alucard Spear. However beingthehero said Leon's 2D sprite proved to him there would be a 2D Leon game, there was also a new Simon sprite so there could've been a new 2D Simon game. But I was thinking the follow-up game wouldn't be any of those but the 1999 game since the build-up was also there.

The leveling up of all the subweapons was a tad tedious though. I almost maxed it all out until my save got deleted, so I say to myself I say, "fuck this, am not doing this stuff again," and put the game down ever since. But maybe thanks to beingthehero reviving my interest, I might dust off my 3DS & put the cartridge in the hole.

T'would've been awesome if John & Eric were the other hidden team instead of Richiter & Maria. Too much Rondo & not enough Bloodlines :/

[KaZudra]

I love all the little references it has, such as Maxim's Sword & the Alucard Spear. However beingthehero said Leon's 2D sprite proved to him there would be a 2D Leon game, there was also a new Simon sprite so there could've been a new 2D Simon game. But I was thinking the follow-up game wouldn't be any of those but the 1999 game since the build-up was also there.

The leveling up of all the subweapons was a tad tedious though. I almost maxed it all out until my save got deleted, so I say to myself I say, "fuck this, am not doing this stuff again," and put the game down ever since. But maybe thanks to beingthehero reviving my interest, I might dust off my 3DS & put the cartridge in the hole.

T'would've been awesome if John & Eric were the other hidden team instead of Richiter & Maria. Too much Rondo & not enough Bloodlines :/

John and Eric mode would have been really good for the game.

[Mystic Myotis]

T'would've been awesome if John & Eric were the other hidden team instead of Richiter & Maria.

YES.


I liked Portrait of Ruin a lot.  It's the one I pick up and play the most out of the three DS Castlevanias.

[Flame]

As a game, it's ok. As a sequel to Bloodlines, it's terrible.

As one of the many IGA games that rehash elements, its possibly one of the worse, considering it even rehashes bosses.

It's art style while not as shitty as Dawn's, (I DO enjoy PoR's art style,) still was ill fitting.

[Darth Cariss]

I liked PoR, but it's more light-hearted tone did bug me. But it's more than made up for by (what I consider to be) the most epic final boss in a Castlevania game. Even if it didn't have the emotional payoff of OOE or SOTN.

[Munchy]

As a game, it's ok. As a sequel to Bloodlines, it's terrible.

Yerp.

[X]

To me PoR was a breath of fresh air from all the stagnated sword-wielding heros that came before it. I was very pleased with the fact that we had another whip-wielding hero in our midst. I pretty much never use any other weapons for Jonathan other then the whips you collect. But yeah, the graphics are questionable as they seem to come off as something you'd see in a Gameboy advance rather then the DS.

[xXHUNTER_AlucardXx]

I think PoR was a great game.  It was especially nice to be able to use 2 characters at the same time, instead of just having unlockable characters at the end.  Knowing when to switch to charlotte, or when to use jonathan, or when to just use one character and make the other one leave, added a new dimension to the gameplay that really worked for me.  I'm not sure if it's my fav CV game for the DS, but it's an awesome game regardless.

IDEM,its a very good game it has its fails,but is not bad

[The Silverlord]

Evoked little to no mood of Castlevania.  Can't understand why Lords of Shadow takes such a bad rap when Portrait of Ruin does it so much worse!

Konami/IGA were obviously trying to cater to a different breed of gamer.

Over-the-top anime characters, dumbed-down dialogue, non-Castlevania settings, and some truly dreadful level design.

But of course the game is still of a high quality, and well worth a run-through.

[cecil-kain]

The biggest win was the questing system that Wind brought to the table --it was a great addition that added a little extra depth to the game.  The biggest failure was how the partner system was introduced without any complex puzzles to make the most of it --for shame...

[Chernabogue]

I like PoR and I think it would have been a even cooler game with Kojima artwork (or so).

I have to agree on that the Wind system was very awesome.

The partner system had some retarded puzzles. Plus most of the people I know play ONLY as Jonathan.

[Charlotte-nyo:3]

Overall I'd say it's a win on the strength of the series' formulas, but it does have its problems which many have already mentioned. The copypaste room design started getting really egregious in it and it lost some of the nonlinearity of previous 'roid games which added extra nuance and re-playability without bringing the entirety of the linear games' repertoire either.

[Opium]

Plus most of the people I know play ONLY as Jonathan.

Really?  I find that he kinda stinks during some of the tougher boss fights.  Charlotte is much more powerful in certain situations.