Castlevania Portrait Of Ruin (Part 5): The game that no one seems to remember the characters names.
0Ah, Portrait Of Ruin... A game that I want to think is absolutely perfect, but is just held back by two massive flaws, the story and art design. The game is great, don't get me wrong, but the story is every nonsensical anime trope you can think of and the anime art style does it no favors. Especially coming from a series with a dark, gothic tone, the change to a light hearted (or as light hearted as a Castlevania game can be) and colorful art style is jarring to say the least. Everything else though? It's a masterpiece. Fantastic gameplay, one of the best soundtracks in the series, and THE best boss fights. Topped it off with a difficulty that is hard, but fair, and it is easy to understand why this one is a favorite amongst a lot of Castlevania fans.
We wrap it up on this part and my final thoughts? It's still one of the best playing Castlevania games out there. There is a lot to love here, but on the flip side, there's a bit to hate. I did not like the art direction this game took (same for Dawn Of Sorrow) and it shows with, what could be, the dirt worst Dracula design in the series. The characters and story are also not that great which is shocking considering this is a "sequel" to Bloodlines, arguably the first real Castlevania game with a plot more than kill Dracula. The positives do outweigh the negatives though, and it is definitely a game to check out. The whole collection is really.
8/10