Written by Matt Cabral, 10/27/2008
Played on:
DS
Few franchises find me glued to a portable platform like the enduring Dracula-slaying series Castlevania. Its three Game Boy Advance efforts—Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow—were some of the portable platform’s best titles. And now, the DS is similarly graced with an outstanding trilogy of gothic, vampire-thwarting titles; following the superb Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin comes Order of Ecclesia, a game that not only shines on the tiny hand-held hardware, but could also give franchise fave Symphony of the Night a run for its satchel of gold coins.
At first glance, Ecclesia looks like the same old competent but familiar offering of side-srolling action, exploration, and RPG-style leveling, but like previous entries in the series, it boldly changes up the tried-and-true by injecting a unique combat angle. Like the soul-sucking mechanic of Dawn of Sorrow or the character-switching element of Portrait of Ruin, Ecclesia evolves the combat-heavy formula, this time with the all-new “glyph” system. Marking one of the series’ more inventive combat change-ups, absorbing these mystical marks (by holding up on the D pad) grants you their unique powers. So, a sword glyph will give you effective blade-based melee attacks, a magic glyph might enhance your ability to crush enemies through mystical elemental means, and others may up your acrobatic abilities with new moves.
This may sound like merely a new way to grant gamers many of the tricks they had in previous games, but it actually digs much deeper than that. You see, glyphs absorb a regenerating MP bar, so a new strategic element comes into play as you carefully select glyphs (and there are tons of them waiting to be discovered) that not only best suit each enemy encounter, but also don’t leave your MP consistently sucked dry. Additionally, three glyphs can be equipped at once—two weapons, mapped to the X and Y buttons, and a third ability-based one triggered by the right shoulder button. This dynamic alone would make for some of the richest and most cerebral combat the franchise has ever enjoyed, but throw in the ability to pull combos by mixing up your X and Y weapon attacks, and you’ve got a system that makes those Belmont boys’ whip-crackin’ combat look darn right ancient.
Furthering this more strategic approach to kicking ghoul ass is the power to combine your equipped glyphs for a suped-up special attack; these more effective game-changers are balanced by their limited supply, inventoried by how many hearts you collect. So, long-time fans will continue to reveal collectible hearts through combat and crate-crackin’, but now they’ll be applying them to Ecclesia’s new glyph system. Of course, this new combat mechanic is further enriched by the game’s rich RPG elements—leveling your character, upgrading weapons, collecting armor—that allow players to tweak their Drac-hunting badass to their liking.
Speaking of your glyph-absorbing avatar, Ecclesia welcomes a brand-new, non-Belmont female to the mix. In a series known for testosterone-pumping whip-wielders and androgynous pretty boys, it’s nice to have a hottie take center stage. Shanoa, a sexy demon-slayer with flowing black locks and amazing moves, will sell you on her starring turn the very first time she sweeps her hair aside to a reveal the glyph-powering tattoo on her bare back. And believe me, her slick animations are only the beginning, as Ecclesia delivers the best visuals of the series’ DS entries. Beasts and baddies are detailed with plenty of appropriate creepiness, the environments are nicely varied and, as always, the screen-filling boss battles steal the show with visual splendor and silky smooth animations that I can only assume are pushing the DS to its technical limits.
If I found any fault in Konami’s latest vampire hunting effort, it’d be in its level design. It’s far different than the expected exploration-encouraging layout players are accustomed to. It’s not bad, mind you; and, in fact, some of the changes—like the very RPG-ish village and over-world hub design—are welcome additions, but those expecting the usual trek through a sprawling castle may be a bit disappointed. (In some ways, it mirrors the disappointment gamers felt in the move from the first Castlevania on the NES to the hub-based, less structured sequel) The game, especially in its first half, is separated into smaller, more linear chunks that, while deviating from the expected, do lend themselves nicely to more diverse design; this time out gamers will get to explore the creepy confines of an old prison, hit the high seas on a haunted pirate ship, and explore the depths of a cursed forest.
Ecclesia can also be a bit hardcore. Sure, it’s expected that the bigger boss battles might take you back to the “game over” screen a few times, but even many of the low-level menaces will test your mettle (and patience) in this extra-challenging effort. That said, this increase in difficulty only strengthens the appeal of the new combat mechanics; I found myself spending much more time experimenting with the glyphs and honing by monster-mashing skills than I have with any other Castlevania combat system.
I’d notch Konamis’ (and, more specifically, Castlevania mastermind Koji Igarashi’s) latest as one of the series' best efforts. It likely won’t unseat Symphony of the Night as fans’ all-time fave, but its inventive gameplay, outstanding visual presentation, and haunting music—always a high point in the franchise—easily make Ecclesia as good as the series’ DS debut Dawn of Sorrow. Unseasoned slayers would actually be better served by starting with the less taxing Sorrow, but anyone who’s spent the last decade dodging floating medusa heads, sending merman to their watery graves, and whipping the hell out of fire-spitting skull pillars should start sharpening their stakes.
