Castlevania: The Retrospective Part 5

The concluding chapter of That Gaming Site's history of the beloved action-horror franchise, from Curse of Darkness to The Adventure ReBirth!

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Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (released in 2005 for the PS2 and Xbox)

The Story
With his defeat at the hands of Trevor Belmont in Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, Dracula casts a terrible curse upon the land, leading to famine, pestilence, and mob violence.  At the same time, one of Dracula’s powerful Devil Forgemasters, Hector, betrays the evil Count and flees his service for a normal life of peace. Three years later in 1479, Hector’s former ally and fellow Forgemaster Isaac sets events in motion that lead to the execution of Hector’s wife.  Seeking revenge, Hector again takes up his dark Devil Forging powers as he pursues Isaac into Dracula’s former domain.

The Game
The second 3D Castlevania game for the PlayStation 2 (and the first for the Xbox), Curse of Darkness gave players control over Hector, with many new gameplay features.  Hector wielded a massive array of weapons, including swords, axes, punching claws, and more.  A Steal ability allowed Hector to obtain various rare items from enemy monsters; these items and other raw materials randomly dropped by slain foes allowed Hector to build his own weapons and armor.  The game’s most significant feature, however, was Hector’s Devil Forging.  With this ability (a vast expansion of Alucard’s familiars in Symphony of the Night), he could create a variety of creatures to do his bidding: combat-focused Battle types, magic-using Mage types, healing Fairy types, glide-capable Bird types, and more.  By picking up different colored Evolution Crystals from slain foes (each color based upon the weapon class in use), the Devils could be evolved to take many different forms, each with distinct abilities, looks, and personalities.  Once the quest was completed, players could then take on the adventure with Trevor Belmont, who used his own unique combat and whip abilities to fight through the game world.

In My Opinion
Curse of Darkness starts out slow, and that isn’t helped by the game’s one major problem: the entire adventure is plagued by long, boring pathways and scads of wide-open areas that all look the same.  Map coverage is the name of the game, and it feels like a huge chore when Hector runs so slowly.  This is the same issue that seriously tainted its PS2 predecessor Lament of Innocence, but is made worse in that each level is vast with virtually no platforming or environment interaction.  You know there’s a problem when jumping up out of a hole makes your heart leap with joy.  This glaring issue aside, Curse of Darkness is a huge improvement over Lament, and if allowed to gain momentum is very engaging and hard to put down.  The combat is fun, with a huge and constantly changing array of weapons to wield.  Each weapon class has its own basic combo patterns that vary depending upon the buttons pressed, and these combos grow and vary further as more powerful weapons are obtained.  Speaking of obtaining weapons, the weapon and armor creation is one of the game’s best aspects.  Creating every possible armament from a constantly growing list of recipes is addictive, and gives you a compelling reason to track down and fight the huge number of material-dropping enemy monsters.  Stealing is another awesome element, as each enemy has its own conditions to meet to open up its “Steal window”; some Steals are extremely tricky to pull off but necessary to get the rare materials needed to build the best weapons.   Without a doubt, however, the Innocent Devil-evolving is Curse of Darkness’s best feature.  It’s very rewarding to evolve your creatures in different ways with lots of different end results to explore.  For instance, a Battle type could evolve into a hulking robot whose pounding fists do punishing damage, or a fast and agile armored corpse that attacks like a maniac.  Fighting alongside your Devils is an exhilarating experience, as they truly kick enemy butt and unleash some spectacular abilities which vary depending upon their evolution path, and grow as they gain experience.  Some of their powers will even allow you to access blocked or hidden areas of the game world for secret items and upgrades.  Managing which Devil to use at which time and in which way requires strategy and helps keep the action fresh.  With so many fantastic gameplay mechanics, Curse of Darkness could easily have been in the top echelon of the Castlevania series.  Unfortunately it’s weighed down by its sluggish level design and may require too much patience for the average gamer.


Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS)

The Story
It is 1944. World War II rages on and the souls of thousands of the dead wander the planet, hurt and angry.  This concentration of spiritual energy revives Castlevania, the legendary castle of Dracula.  With the Belmont clan gone, Jonathan Morris is the current heir of the Vampire Killer whip, though he is unable to unlock its power.  Teamed up with spellcaster Charlotte Aulin, the two are sent to investigate.  Soon they discover it is not Dracula who controls the castle, but a powerful vampire called Brauner who uses his paintings to manipulate the dark magic of Castlevania to his own ends.  While contending with Brauner and his deadly twin daughters, Jonathan and Charlotte receive help from the good spirit Wind, whose mysterious past is interweaved with that of Jonathan’s father John Morris (hero of Castlevania: Bloodlines).  Only by learning Wind’s secrets will Jonathan finally rise to truly claim the Vampire Killer whip as his own and save the world. 

The Game
Another in the long line of 2D “Metroidvania’s,” Portrait of Ruin’s gameplay consisted of exploring the vast castle while obtaining upgrades, experience leveling, and finding relics to access new areas.  What set it apart from the others was that the player controlled two heroes, Jonathan and Charlotte, simultaneously.  Jonathan made use of a large variety of weapons, including swords, spears, axes, whips, punch rings, and more.  He also used a number of sub-weapons and secondary attacks, from throwing knives to flurries of punches, at the cost of collectible hearts.  Charlotte’s strength was in magic, using weapon-sprouting spellbooks as her primary attack; her secondary attacks consisted of chargeable spells like poison bubbles, flame blasts, and shooting shards of ice.  The two warriors could be used in a variety of ways beyond simply switching between who was currently active.  For instance, one comrade could follow behind acting on AI for attacks, be assigned to cast spells or use sub-weapons at the player's command, or be used for a boost in a jump to higher ground.   The spirit Wind was a central element of the game, assigning a large variety of sub-quests to complete (hunting down a particular enemy, collecting specific special items, incurring certain status abnormalities, etc.) in return for new skills or weapons.  Another unique feature was that Brauner’s paintings, found throughout the main castle, were gateways to self-contained realms.  These realms, including a mummy-infested pyramid and a demonic circus, also had to be explored and conquered.

In My Opinion
Out of the vast number of “Metroidvania’s” in the series, Portrait of Ruin is my favorite only behind Symphony of the Night.  The visuals, music, and action are energetic and the storyline is very cool.  It takes the sparse narrative of Bloodlines and acts as a sequel of sorts, offering intriguing insights into why the Morris family was entrusted by the Belmonts with the mystic whip and the charge to fight Dracula.  There are many startling revelations to be had, mixed in with the battle against some truly fascinating villains.  The dual-hero gameplay gives the 2D formula a welcome shot in the arm; it’s a blast to use both Jonathan and Charlotte’s unique abilities, giving you twice as much upgrading fun and options as in previous entries.  The adventure is also populated by creative challenges where both heroes must be used, like working together to slow an oncoming train, defending Charlotte while a tricky spell is cast, and breaking each other out of deadly enemy traps.  Wind’s sub-quests are refreshingly fun, varied, and useful after the amusing but ultimately pointless exercises of past entries (i.e. furniture-collecting in Harmony of Dissonance and chair-collecting in Curse of Darkness).  The somewhat tiresome map-coverage formula is also given new life with the inclusion of the “portrait worlds.”  After scores of games wandering through the typical castle, the sand-swept Egyptian and Victorian England realms, among others, are a godsend.  The addition of unlockable characters, including Richter and Maria from Rondo of Blood, Brauner’s vampiric daughters, and even an Axe Armor, is nice, but it would have been better to see Bloodlines heroes John Morris and Eric Lecarde make a playable return.  This is nevertheless a great Castlevania game you should definitely check out.