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If there is a downside, it's that the game is very tough at times--definitely harder than the terrific previous DS offering, "Portrait of Ruin". Glyphs are a great combination of spells/weapons and and your character, Shanoa, can equip 3 at once. "Castlevania Order of Ecclesia" is one of the highlights of an outstanding series from Konami, dating back to the late 1980s. So although very challenging, it is not impossible. To sum up, it's just very fun to play and look at with a definite challenge thrown in. Some enemies take a long time to kill here. In this case, the glyph magic system.
Practice absorbing them, as that can take some time to do correctly. The graphics are beautiful(check out the underwater levels), sound very good, gameplay responsive, length impressive, and storyline interesting. They are fun to experiment with and produce some nifty effects. However, with patience and practice--the game is very playable. Like Portrait's clever use of dual characters, Ecclesia also has somthing new to offer. Glyphs are a definite improvemnt over Konami's previous card system used in Circle of the Moon. You can't go wrong with any 3 of the DS Castlevania entries (or the 3 GBA games) and Order of Ecclesia is top notch.
During the ritual, however, Albus steps in and claims the piece of Dominus for himself, and Shanoa loses her past memories. Of course, you can always switch to the Japanese dub, if you want.OverallCastlevania: Order of Ecclesia shows that, even with several iterations, the series still has what it takes to be very engaging and fun. The face buttons are essentially attack glyphs, while the R glyphs are for transformation, stat boosts and special abilities. The glyphs are easy to use and figure out how they work.As with other games, you can level up Shanoa, upgrade her equipment and so forth. Thus begins her journey to reclaim all three pieces, discover Ablus' motives, and stop Dracula.The Castlevania games aren't exactly known for deep storytelling, and while this one does better than some previous efforts, and there are some occasional plot twists here and there, no one really plays a Castlevania game for the deep storyline, which it usually doesn't deliver.DesignThe main change Order of Ecclesia has over other recent installments is the fact that it has individual levels, rather than setting you up in a huge castle from the start. A number of them have very punishing attacks if they hit you. While this change may be unusual somewhat, there are quite a bit of abilities to unlock.As you progress, you rescue villagers, which when you go back to the main village, they will assign you quests to take on. Shanoa was asked to be the bearer of the Glyphs.
Since then, a number of handheld installments have been following that formula, like Circle of the Moon for the GBA and Portrait of Ruin for the DS. She absorbs glyphs which take the form of weapons, special attacks, and skills. She can magnetize from certain areas to launch herself, go through certain walls and so forth. You absorb glyphs sometimes on the field, steal them from an enemy, or even gain them from a fallen one. After quite a number of these, however, the series needed to change at least a bit, since it was in danger of possibly becoming stale.
The Castlevania franchise has been around since the days of the NES. The clan, however, has died off, and a number of organizations were frantically searching for a way to counter Dracula when he is resurrected again. The music is also excellent, which is to be expected, being this is a Castlevania title. In addition, you can assign glyphs to two of the face buttons and R (default controls). The levels themselves, though, still have some of the same maze-like feel you may be familiar with, though some of them are actually just straight paths. Shanoa will traverse mountains, go into a lighthouse, and so forth.
From something as simple as a sword to something as complex as being able to transform into something else is controlled by these glyphs. This change ends up giving the title some much-needed diversity in the environments. Enter Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, the third DS title in the franchise which manages to separate itself from the others in many ways.StoryThe Belmont clan has vanquished Dracula many times in the past titles. Of course, in case you can't, you can always customize the controls to your liking. There are oftentimes secret passages you can find by breaking walls that allow you to get secret items and such. Most of the time, you can get them by doing quests or simply just looking all around the areas. The second half of the title has a bit of a twist in the scenery, which fans of the franchise might recognize right away.Another major change is how Shanoa uses weapons (case in point, she uses none). The sound effects fit as well, and the voice acting (what little is there) is pretty good.
Each one has a pattern that you can learn to dodge and avoid their punishing assaults. In 1997, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was released on the Sony Playstation, It was the title that shared simularities with Super Metroid, hence why fans dubbed it `Metroidvania', while adding in some RPG elements. at least at first. The enemies sometimes swarm you, so you do need to keep on your toes.The bosses, however, are unbelievably tough.
Most games utilize the A button for jump, so for some people, that may take some getting used to. Before that, however, expect to die quite a number of times before you finally get that boss.The game is just very fun to play, and is quite polished as well. Thankfully, the rewards make it all worth it.GameplayOne of the initial hurdles you might have to get passed is the fact that B is jump instead of A. Order of Ecclesia member Barlowe discovered a way to do so with Dominus. The attention to detail is really something for a DS title.
Each time she uses a glyph, she uses up some of her MP, indicated by a green bar, which refuels automatically when you're not using a glyph. These are essentially fetch quests which require you to backtrack and kill certain enemies until it drops a needed item (which is oftentimes rare) sometimes or just locate it out in the open. Expect this one to last at least 12 hours, with an additional unlockable character and a Hard difficulty mode to keep you going.PresentationOrder of Ecclesia has excellent sprite work, quite a bit of animation, and excellent art. It is one of those titles that will keep you playing and loving the experience.For Shanoa delivering such an awesome experience, I give her 5 glyphs out of 5, making it highly recommendable to DS owners.
The separation of the different levels (as opposed to the game being one giant level) makes reaching previously visited areas much less tedious.My only gripe about this game is probably more based on the DS limitations than the game itself. This game is really good if you like games similar to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The equipment, glyph, and item system really make this game interesting to play. The controls can sometimes be difficult. Since there are multiple attack buttons, it can be difficult to jump with the B button and attack with the X button at the same time.Other than that, great game.
This will be quick.Love Castlevania. Buy this game. It's not as expansive as it's console brethren but, it's a great game.One Warning though It is quite the challenge.Great art style, Music is alright,(SOTN spoiled me back in the day).Gameplay is Castlevania with a few twists.If your a Fan,you will find satisfaction with the latest iteration of this "undying" saga.
superb 2d platformer. if you don't know Castlevania, it's time you did.5 stars.
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