Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (Nintendo DS, 2008)

I consider myself a fan of the Castlevania series, having played nearly all (if not all) of the games released in North America. I was there as the series transformed from a linear experience with extra lives and continues to a more RPG like experience complete with equipment/item screen and level-up/save progression.



I felt this transition made the series far more accessible to new players and ensured that, with enough time spent grinding levels, that anyone could get to the end of the game and enjoy the full experience their money bought them without the hair pulling frustration of being bumped into a pit and starting the whole level over again, and over again, and over again.




While this level of challenge may be fun for some, for others it was just frustrating. This game should be a common ground for both parties. I had read the reviews and heard the word of mouth going into this game that it was "harder than the rest". Which meant to me that either this was going to be the hardest game on the planet (being harder than some of the older Castlevania games almost doesn't seem possible) or the hardest of the more accessible level-up series that began with Symphony of the Night. It turned out to be the latter. That being said, the game still incorporates items and leveling up so while I have noticed that some of the bosses are incredibly tough, they are by no means unbeatable with the right combination of items, strategy, and proper level.





I don't find the difficulty a turn off, but it does seem the bosses are made slightly more difficult as an effort to extend your time with the game, but that's really not such a bad thing as going through these games over and over is something I enjoyed anyway, now I just have a reason to.




Moving on to the game's set up, it's different than what you've come to expect from the other DS Castlevania offerings. Your main character Shanoa fights using a variety of glyphs which are basically just weapons you would find in any Castlevania game. I came across an "Axe Glyph" which allowed her to throw axes as the generations of Belmonts have before her. I feel this takes away a bit from the rich depth provided in the other games when it came to weaponry. Where Alucard and the guys from the DS games would find a whole armory full of weapons with unique descriptions, all I've come across as Shanoa are a handful of different glyphs with such lackluster descriptions as "A Rapier Glyph" and "A more powerful Rapier Glyph". Not very engaging, but they are rather to the point.






Combat is slightly different in this game than the others. The "magic" bar is gone in favor of what seems more like a "Stamina" bar. Each swing with a sword or toss of an axe depletes the bar ever so slightly but pausing for just a moment allows it to refill completely. As far as the difficulty of the game is concerned, this aspect really hasn't had a negative impact on my experience thus far. Hearts are still collected in order to perform special moves that differ based on the glyph equipped.



There's a lot here for fans of the series to enjoy, as long as they don't mind being forced to work a little for the ending, but it's still way easier than remembering the placement of every bat and medusa head to keep from being bumped into a pit and having to start the entire level over. My advice, if you're up to the challenge pick it up and save often. Very often.

I am a huge fan of the Castlevania series and own almost every single game. This is the third establishment of Castlevania on the ds, and although it is as not as good as the other too, it is still a great game. Although this game lacks the amazing storyline many of the other games have it still provides a new story aspect of the series, dealing with an organization known as Ecclesia, who's goal is to destroy Dracula (like in all the other games). An aspect of this game that can be taken as either good or bad is the extremely difficult gameplay. You may not notice this at first, but when you play the game for half an hour and make it to the four part boss right after fighting several difficult enemies, you may understand. If you are not a serious gamer, you will struggle with the game and you won't enjoy it. If you play a lot of Castlevania games and you enjoy a challenge, you will probably enjoy this game. If you are interested in buying this game and you do not own the other two Castlevania games for the ds: Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow, I would suggest getting those first. Otherwise, if you're feeling up to the challenge and you do not frequently get angry at games when you die, you should definitely buy this game. I gave this game a 4/5, because although it is very difficult, overall, it is a very good game.

Castlevania: Order of the Ecclesia is the latest in the Castlevania series released by Konami, and for the first time ever does not feature a whip-wielding protagonist descended from or somehow related to the line of Simon Belmont. Instead, due to the loss of the bloodline the Order of Ecclesia was founded to offer an alternative means to combating the evil of Dracula, who is never fully destroyed, only thwarted in his many attempts to dominate the world of the living. You control Shinoa, who has the unique ability to absorb sigils which then give her mystical weapons and spells that she can use to combat evil. Her primary goal is to regain the lost Dominus sigil, which she will ultimately use to face and defeat Count Dracula.

What makes this Castlevania special is a perfect combination of story, quests, puzzles and monsters. Confrontations with boss monsters are challenging but not impossible. The map system allows you to easily visit any area you have traveled, and there is a home base of sorts with the local village and you unlock new items and equipment by rescuing villagers and performing tasks for them. There is something for every type of player.

Furthermore, unlike many of the previous Castlevania games, this is a game that is easy to play, and difficult to master. Easy to play in that my 3 year old daughter is able to play the game - difficult to master in that she periodically comes to me and asks for help.

I have not yet made it entirely through the game, but I already have found this to be far more enjoyable than the previous 2 Castlevania games released for the DS (Portrait of Ruin & Dawn of Sorrow), and a significant improvement compared to Castlevania: Circle of the Moon for the Gameboy Advance. I recommend this game to anyone - if you have a DS you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy and give it a try.

This is one of the most difficult games I have played in recent years. I love it, finally a challenge in a Castlevania game that I have not been able to beat in ages. Congrats Konami, I love this game. If you are a fan of the series, then this is a must buy. But make sure your patience is good, because you will die, many, many times before you finish this game.

This castlevania game is the shortest of the 3 ds castlevania games but if you read that and you are thinking that means its the worst you would be wrong. Think of it this way would you rather have a lot of some thing that's horrible or a little of some thing that's perfect. The first ds castlevania game Dawn of sorrow was longer but it was annoying because every time you beat a boss you didn't actually beat him unless you drew a ruin really fast and accurately, the ruins got more complicated and this became really annoying, plus you ended up having to draw the more complicated ones even faster. Portrait of ruin the second was longer then Order of Ecclesia not by much but it was by no means a better game. Portrait of ruin was horribly glitchy it would some times crash for no good reason which made no sense after having Dawn of sorrow run perfectly at all times. You were forced to use input commands like there would be in a classic fighting game like street fight but no its not as bad as I'm making it sound right? NO your wrong it is here's why you have to get it right or you can't move forward in the game you don't get it then learn it on your own accord you are trapped in a tutorial until you get it right. Sometimes just talking to the man who teaches you these moves crashes the game or even entering the room or saving. Finally and most important there was nothing wrong with Order of Ecclesia it did one thing a little differently it had you use magic as weapons and sub-weapons this meant you had to be more strategic when attacking because you would need to allow some time for your magic to accumulate, which is does pretty fast any way. Using all of your attack in fell swoop would usually fails against the tougher bosses unless you leveled a lot so you have to use a little more logic when attacking. You still have hearts in the game they are used to combine the two weapons you are using, which can act like spells melee attacks or classic sub-weapons, the are specific combinations of course such as holy plus sword. Personally I liked this new dynamic and the game had a pretty okay story and the gameplay didn't have any huge road blocks like having to draw a ruin after beating a boss before it can recover or crashing for no reason.