Well, I highly recommend...
Nintendo DS
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
This new entry in the Castlevania series is by far one of the funnest games I've played on the DS, for a long time. Not only does it offer countless hours of exploring, item collecting, monter hunting and quest findings, but the gameplay in it's self is highly fun and adds more to the Castlevania series.
(Also, there is a ton to unlock!!!)
The games graphics are fairly fine, but the thing that kills the game, is it's level design. If anyone has played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, one can see that there are individual details in every part of the castle, which makes the place unique... Well, in PoR, things are overly tiled at times and I feel like it detracts from the experience somewhat. As for the individual sprites? Well, the new ones are quite well done, though there is still a lot of sprites that have been ripped from Rondo of Blood, SotN and DoS.
Now the music is absolutely superb, though in all it isn't quite as refined as Dawn of Sorrows, it still has an excellent track. Most of the music for the environments fits perfectly and if you know some of Castlevania's past music, you can distinguish some similarities that are present in Michiru Yamane/Yuzo Koshiro recent works. My favorite tracks consist of:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Protolink
Crucifix Held Close (People who have played the arcade game, "Haunted Castle" will recognize this song.)
Hail from the Past
Invitation of a Crazed Moon
The Gears Go Awry
Silent Prison
Jail of Jewels
Gaze Up at the Darkness (Very reminiscant of "Leons Theme" from Lamont of Innocents.)
Victorian Fear
The Hidden Curse
Overture (Anyone who has played one of the 3 past Castlevania's will instantly recognize this song. You can figure out what Castlevania it came from, I don't want to spoil.)
And much more, in which I wont list due to spoilage.
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This game also pays major homage to the series as a whole and builds on the story line of the Sega Genesis
Castlevania: Bloodlines, along with
many other nods here and there.
(Which I really can't describe without spoiling.)
So if
anyone is looking for a well polished, fun, fluidly good paced 2D game of quality. One may want to pick up Portrait of Ruin, I sure won't regret doing so... : )