I was very impressed by Dawn of Sorrow, the first DS Castlevania, so got hold of the next one to see how it held up without the addictive soul-collecting system. It’s another Metroidvania-type free-explore-y one (ie. the ones I’m interested in), and the gimmick this time is the partner system. You have the vampire hunter Jonathan Morris and the mage Charlotte Aulin, so it’s a bit like DoS’s Julius mode. But this time you can have both on screen at once, fighting together! It’s a good feeling, a bit like playing Ice Climbers in Smash but with different skills between your characters.

This, along with a variety of equippable weapons (although not enough variety for Charlotte) and sub-weapons/spells gives you a good range of options… maybe too many. As in DoS, I had a bit of analysis paralysis when choosing skills, and changing them for different situations requires menu-wrangling; the partner system has superceded DoS’s dual equipment setup. Still, eventually I figured out how they all work and which few to stick with.

The partner thing is kind of a theme for the game. Your antagonists include a pair of vampire sisters who are also a fighter/mage combo, and *spoilers* even Death and Dracula team up for the final battle. Cool! This one is set during World War 2, a unique setting with potential, but much like DoS’s near-future setting isn’t used too much to inform the game itself, unfortunately. More significant to the game’s layout is the magic painting system: like Mario 64, you reach different worlds through paintings, including an Egyptian pyramid, a spooky forest, a dimensionally-twisted circus or something, and an English town. This is a neat idea that gives you variety in locales and smaller self-contained maps to explore. On the downside, the castle hub feels rather plain in comparison.

It’s also a sequel to the Mega Drive’s Bloodlines, a fact which didn’t resonate much with me. It’s worth reading up a bit on the backstory but the game explains itself quite well without playing that one, which features the previous generation to this. The plot is developed fairly well for this type of game as you play through and the characters are mostly appealing.

The game looks nice; since each map looks different and has a unique design, they feel fresh. Sprite animation is as great as ever, but there is sometimes that odd mix of 3D polygons with the mostly 2D spritework, mostly for backgrounds and the occasional enemy. (I like it and it’s used sparingly.) The enemies are also the usual mix of cool monsters with the sometimes cute or humorous one, although some sprites are jarringly recycled from the previous game; fair enough.

Portrait of Ruin has in total 4 extra playable modes including Hard mode, which I think is a lot (although I haven’t played too many of these yet). It really extends the life of the game and each one plays differently enough to be interesting. You’ve got Richter & Maria as a team, which I gather is based on their playstyle from Rondo of Blood on the PC Engine; the secret and demanding Old Axe Armor, which is more basic but satisfying; and my favourite, the vampire sisters who are controlled entirely with the touch screen. This latter is very inventive and also the easiest.

So, PoR is really great. But is it better than Dawn of Sorrow? Well, there’s more modes here, which works well with the self-contained maps as you can master each of them. This fragmentation can get tedious though, with 9 areas in total, and they tend to be more sprawling compared to DoS’s relatively compact design. The soul-collecting system has been replaced by the enemies sometimes dropping a new spell or weapon, which is not as satisfying to me; in DoS, every single enemy was potentially a useful new skill or ability, and each one was necessary for completion. The new quest system here is a good idea, and the complicated weapon synthesis system has thankfully been axed. I also really liked the partner dynamic with its feeling of cooperation, which carried through most of the extra modes too. So I’ll give the edge to Portrait of Ruin, with its evolution in game design even if there were some compromises with the different core mechanic and level design. Hooray!

I’m really digging this Castlevania thing, yeah. The GBA ones are coming out now on the Wii U’s Virtual Console, so I might check those out next so I don’t spoil myself with the more technologically advanced Symphony of the Night or Order of Ecclesia. But those 5 are all the Metroidvania ones left! Konami, forget this dumb 3D Lords of Shadow bollocks and make some more sweet 2D exploratory action! No problem.