Future Classic: Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia

Why you should get reaquainted with Iga’s final game for the DS

The Castlevania series has a rich history, which was established through its time spent on the NES. Did Konami extract the best bits from Simon’s Quest and Rpg-style Castlevania games, to produce the definitive finale to the Nintendo DS trilogy? THE BACKGROUND

After the release of 2006’s Castlevania: Portrait Of Ruin, the development team at Konami sought to once again take up the Vampire Killer whip, and have another swing at re-evaluating what the ultimate Castlevania experience should be. Yet, instead of trying to put another spin on the beloved Playstation classic Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night, Iga’s team seemed to turn towards Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest on the NES for further inspiration. The game was well received at the time, but has since gained a somewhat mixed reception from fans due to a few shortcomings, such as complex level design and townspeople that give confusing hints about where to go next. However, instead of throwing out the parts that didn’t quite work from Simon’s Quest, the minds at Konami made them shine on the Nintendo DS hardware.

Taking the remodelled elements from Simon’s Quest and combining them with the framework of the 1997 Playstation classic Symphony Of The Night might have seemed absurd to anyone who had played the original NES trilogy back in the day. Castlevania II: Simon’s

Quest had nonlinear level design and tough Nes-style difficulty, but Konami managed to knock it out the park when combining both styles together. The result of these efforts was Castlevania Order Of Ecclesia.

THE Game

Getting straight to the story, the Belmont Clan has vanished, and in its absence the Ecclesia organisation has taken up the centuries-old mantle of keeping Dracula at bay. Ecclesia’s weaponry comes in the form of Glyphs: magical runes which are a coalescence between weapons, skills and the Dual Crush system which will be familiar to those who played the previous two DS games. Luckily, Ecclesia also has a useful ally in the form of warrior Shanoa, the only member of the organisation able to harness Glyphs to their full capacity.

Unfortunately, during a ceremony to bind Ecclesia’s most powerful Glyph ‘Dominus’ to Shanoa, fellow disciple Albus steals the Glyph, leaving Shanoa with a bad case of amnesia and a lack of emotions. Taking control of Shanoa your task is clear: track down Albus, reclaim the Dominus Glyph and stop Dracula’s return.

The elements in this game that appear to be inspired by the black sheep of the series Simon’s Quest include the return of a town setting populated by NPCS. Thankfully their cryptic clues have been replaced by far more useful quest opportunities. At a certain point, players are presented with a level map to select their next stage. It’s here where the game takes a more linear approach than its predecessors, but don’t get any ideas that this is a limited Castlevania experience with small and enclosed levels. This Nintendo DS entry is polished and caters to both casual players and those who seek to explore.

The Glyph system enables Shanoa to arm herself with up to three Glyphs. The combat system flaunts its biggest improvements to date: Glyph Unions, and applying combined attacks by being able to use both arms. Experiment with the Glyphs you acquire and you’ll be able to conjure up icy blizzards or even vaporise your demonic foes to bits with a huge laserblade. These additions ensure that the flow of combat always feels fast-paced and varied, where it may have been a little slow in previous games due to most main characters only having a single slot to equip a weapon.

Soundtrack and audio-wise, Order Of Ecclesia continues to set the bar high. Standout tracks like Prologue, and the adventurous Rhapsody Of The Forsaken set a standard that remains consistent.

Order Of Ecclesia has a steeper difficulty curve than its predecessors and caters towards more experienced vampire hunters. You need to be strategic with your attacks as this game contains a combat system where all regular attacks sap magic power due to Shanoa’s weapons being formed from the Glyphs she absorbs. Bosses are also significantly tougher compared to previous outings and possess punishing patterns of attack: one of which requires you to switch between three sets of Glyphs on the fly. For the hardcore vampire-slayers among you, Boss Medals can be earned for defeating each boss without receiving any damage – a challenge worth undertaking, if you ask us. This feat takes some practice and encourages players to observe and exploit enemy weaknesses – often exploring new combat options.

Replay value pops up in the form of various modes, outstanding villager quests, two end-game secret locations and Ecclesia’s various Guides lists. New modes include several Hard Mode options for those seeking even greater challenges, a Boss Rush gauntlet, the Sound Test and Albus Mode which is arguably the most interesting.

Why IT’S a future CLASSIC

In simple terms, Ecclesia is a Nintendo DS game that built on the success of Symphony Of The Night.

It took some average ideas from Simon’s Quest, improved them and added a dash of Eighties arcadestyle difficulty reminiscent of the original Castlevania.

This is a well-delivered conclusion to the Nintendo DS

Castlevania trilogy. The inspirations drawn from the series’ NES origins are well developed and integrated seamlessly into the series established framework that began with 1997’s Symphony Of The Night.

The innovations are all here: a mix of classic and new enemies, polished and refreshing fast-paced combat with fluid animations, a ton of replay value, and a renewed focus on providing the player with a sense of challenge. For a series with a strong theme of legacy, perhaps Konami’s last Nintendo DS outing for the series was designed to be a return to what made the original such a big hit back in the Eighties.