Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Thoughts
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin was released in 2006 on the Nintendo DS handheld. The game is a continuation of the Castlevania: Bloodlines plot and takes place in 1944 during World War II.
Portrait of Ruin received positive reviews upon release, being listed as one of the Top Games of 2006 by Game Informer. It was also called out for its musical score. The game received similar praise from other outlets such as IGN and 1UP.com.
As of this post, Portrait of Ruin is two years from its 20th anniversary. How does it hold up today?
What I liked
The Sound and Music
Ahh yes, we are back to form with the superb sound and musical score in a Castlevania game. The audio department worked hard on this one, in my opinion. Portrait of Ruin contains some of the best sound effects and music of any Castlevania game. At the very least, subjectively, the music is on par with the best of the best in the series. And I think the sound effects may be THE best. The crunching sound of Jonathan’s sword landing on a skull. The grunts and flavor dialogue that you hear after an attack or when taking damage. The dying sounds of an enemy. It’s all very well done. Even if the game was sub-par (which it is not), the sound and musical score could keep a player moving through the game to the end.
My description will never do it justice so I will post a link to a Longplay by Tsunao on World of Longplays (skip to 20 minutes or so to really get the idea).
Two Players
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In Portrait of Ruin, players will control Jonathan Morris, son of John Morris from Castlevania: Bloodlines and Charlotte Aulin, a young sorceress. Throughout the game, there will be areas or puzzles that will require using both characters at the same time and even swapping out the playable character. There are also enemies that are better suited to be tackled by Charlotte over Jonathan. This isn’t just a gimmick like the drawing of the magic seals in Dawn of Sorrow; the game was built around the idea of swapping characters or using them in tandem and it is used to great effect.
The execution of swapping characters is also well done. By default, one of the characters will be CPU controlled, following behind you and helping out in fights in a small capacity. There is also the option to have only one character in the fray in order to conserve the other character’s magic and health. At any point, you can swap the character you control, which results in an audio clip of the current main character saying the other’s name out loud (CHARLOTTE! or JONATHAN!). The swap is immediate, and no time is wasted.
There are power moves that can be executed using both characters. An anime overlay will appear with the character’s faces and the particle effects will let fly depending on the power.
Side Quests
Portrait of Ruin also contains a side quest feature. In the “hub” area of the game, Jonathan and Charlotte encounter a mysterious ghostly figure. This figure, who will remain unnamed for spoiler reasons, will give out optional little side quests for the duo to complete. Sometimes the side quests are as easy as performing a special move. Other side quests involve killing a number of enemies.
As I mentioned, the side quests are optional, but they are fairly important. New abilities, weapons and items are obtained by completing side quests.
I enjoyed this part of the game because it gives backtracking a purpose. Yes, you are traversing potentially the same area that you’ve mapped out previously, but at least you are looking for something and have a goal.
Portrait Hopping
The whole portrait mechanic was a really neat idea. Rather than traversing a single castle, Jonathan and Charlotte find large ornate portraits that they can jump into (think Super Mario 64 except morbid Castlevania type stuff). Each portrait is different from the others and has its own map to clear. This is also where the majority of the side quests can be completed and where bosses reside.
My favorite painting/stage and probably the wildest stage in any Castlevania game had to be the Nation of Fools stage. The stage is one big square and is filled with scary clowns, devil fireballs and fleamen. The stage itself is made up of structures that have been demolished and turned upside down. And right smack dab in the center is Legion, a big ball made up of dead corpses. In the middle of Legion is a tentacled being who shoots laser beams from their appendages. It’s an unforgettable stage and an unforgettable boss.
What I didn’t like
I don’t have a lot of complaints here. Portrait of Ruin is a very solid game. It has great animation, humorous and interesting characters, a cool two player mechanic, cool stages, great music and an interesting story. If I were nitpicking, the game is a tad lengthy for a Castlevania game. But if you’re enjoying the game, that doesn’t matter much.
Overall Thoughts
This is one of the best titles in the Castlevania series. It has all of the standard stuff: great music, great gameplay, wonderful visuals. But it also adds in the ability to swap characters on the fly and has side quests. I don’t have any complaints with this game, it’s just a really well-made video game. I would like to see more of Jonathan and Charlotte. It is disappointing that we didn’t get more games with these characters.
Where Can I Play This?
Unfortunately, Portrait of Ruin hasn’t yet been re-released on any modern platform. So, if you want to play this game, you’ll have to find a copy of the DS cartridge or emulate.