Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
 

http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm

According to Magicbox, the latest Castlevania game has been announced for a November 16th release, and it titled Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Based on the subtitle, I think it can be implied that it will be different from the Aria/Dawn of Sorrow series. I, for one, can't wait, since Dawn of Sorrow is my favorite DS game.

Yeah, lets hope it stands up to Dawn of Sorrow, that game is one of DS's best, and is the closest thing to Symphony of the Night quality ever (I kinda like it more, but its hard to choose). I wonder if they'll use the touch screen more, or if they should even bother with this game...

- WraithTwo -

Great news, without a doubt. I don't own Dawn of Sorrow yet, though I've seen enough to warrant an imminent purchase. The fact that it retains some good ideas originally showcased in SotN, that alone marks this product and this oncoming sequel as two rather appetible titles.

Because SotN is still quite *the* game, to me.

Shit, sounds really nice (at least about the release of a new Castlevania game for the DS). I loved DoS, except that there was that crap about upgrading weapons by using souls and then you pretty much had crap weapons until you beat Abaddon (if you wanted Chaos Ring). It was nice though, because you could still beat the game with a knife from the beginning, which is what happened to me.

Still, good news. I thought that after DoS they weren't gonna make anymore. Didn't the DoS do fairly poorly? Don't know, which is why I'm asking.

Ooh exciting. I wonder if it will be a continuation of stuff that's happened with Soma, or be totally different. DoS was pretty awesome, so if they still use the soul concept, then I hope they put a whole bunch more, whether or not they are useful.

a wise man once said,

"i heard that this was gonna be the 1999 battle where julius finally defeats dracula."

-me

Hm... I seriously think that Konami is milking themselves with Castlevina and MG/MGS serises.

If the games got progressively worse, I would agree with you. I, however, ejaculate everytime a CV game is announced :biggrin:

Yea, some of CV was REALLY horrible. BOTH of CV for PS2 was HORRIBLE.

They're going to work on two DS titles at once, apparently.

Ehhhhhh I wouldn't say HORRIBLE. They pale in comparison to the 2D games, but Lament was great overall, and Curse of Darkness had an incredible soundtrack and badass story. They weren't complete wastes.

I hope so, a Julius game would be awesome.

color me wrong.

This is great news! Aria of Sorrow is my favorite handheld game of all time, and Dawn of Sorrow was great as well. Even one new game would be great, but two would be fucking awesome!

The only thing I worry about is the developers stretching themselves too thin. I hope the next two games aren't too similar. This is truly a series that I would hate to get stagnant right now. DoS was excellent.

Man, another game that's grabbed my interest. I haven't played a Castlevania game since 64 (i loved it, hit me how you will). I really need a good place to start from. Where's the best place to start with the recent titles?

The game sounds awesome, i can't wait to start with this franchise again.

This is very good news indeed. Dawn of Sorrow was one of my first games for the DS and my first Caztlevania game as well. Since then I got AoS, HoD, SotN, CotM, and CVIII, so I'm looking forward for another helping of CV. My only question about it is what kind of gameplay gimmick they'll use for the Julius game. He seems just like any other Belmont but just a bit stronger than most others.

If you have the GBA, grab Aria of Sorrow, and then follow it up with the DS's Dawn of Sorrow.

If you haven't played Symphony of the Night, get out and dont come back until you do :biggrin:

The 3D CV games are OK, but nothing comes close to the 2D experience. Lament of Innocence is the better of the 2 PS2 games, but Curse of Darkness has the better soundtrack and story for longtime CV fans like myself.

The other 2 GBA games are good and I recommend them, they're just not nearly as polished as Aria.

Honestly, you can't go wrong.

Or better yet, buy a DS because they play GBA games as well!

Aria of Sorrow is a great game. Albeit, the bosses are pretty lame, especially Balrog and Dracula, but the soul system and level design is top notch. You really can't go wrong with the Castlevania titles, unless you step into the mysterious world of the 3D Castlevania's, and then there's no telling what could go wrong in there. If one of the DS titles turns out to be 3D, I'll be sad.

I've yet to play Symphony of the Night, but that's because my PS2 is incapable of reading burned PS1 discs. Well, no, wait, I lie. I've played up to the first real boss in SotN, but that didn't really go far.

You could play your burned SotN on your PC with a PSX emulator, though, assuming your computer is halfway decent.

I was late to the GBA game, so Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow were long off the market by the time I needed them. A couple of months ago, though, both games were released on a single cartridge. It was nice getting to play through AS before playing DS. Well worth the $25 I paid.

Whoa, what? Circle of the moon was a VERY successful leap to the GBA, and sports the music that is the most symphonic in any of the latest portable Castlevania games, including Dawn of Sorrow. Also, the bosses were more unique and awe inspiring in comparison to either of the Sorrow games (Seriously, Andramelech was one bad-ASS).

Also...

Why have there been no games like Simon's Quest? Honestly, I liked traveling to different towns and finding weapons and going on an adventure. If they can fit 2 Castlevania GBA games onto 1 cartridge, they sure as hell aren't making the games as big as they ought to be. I mean, why do you HAVE to be in pretty much the same goddamn castle EVERY time (that has a: dance hall / guest room, clocktower, chapel, underground reservoir, underground cemetary, highest tower / observation tower, and chaos realm). This is especially stupid when in Dawn of Sorrow you're in the cult's castle, not Dracula's, yet they are still the same.

I really hope they improve the battle system for the upcoming Castlevania games. This is particularly bothersome when they made the weapon-swings in Dawn of Sorrow slower than Aria of Sorrow. I mean, really, why does Soma have to stop every time he attacks? Can't he walk and attack at the same time?! Such a stupid limitation just makes me come up with equally stupid ways to negate said limitation, like land-canceling, backdash-canceling, and crouch-canceling. I want strategy! I want mobility! The recent 2d Castlevania games have been way too easy and feature NO strategy whatsoever, and I find myself simply pressing the attack button over and over again.

Don't get me wrong. I really like the Castlevania games. I bought Dawn of Sorrow because I knew it would be fun, and I know that I can expect the standard of quality for the Castlevania series to be higher than most any other sidescrolling action-rpg games. It just pains me to see when a great opportunity is missed, especially when the GBA games could have been way more than they are.

Again, I never said they were bad, I'm just saying that Aria is more polished. CotM had the best music, but it's visuals were bland. HoD had amazing visuals but the music was god-awful (the melodies were great, the sound itself wasn't). Aria took the best of both games, plus added the GREAT soul system. It is clearly the most well-rounded of the GBA games.

Could Soma move and attack at the same time in Aria, because I don't remember him being able to. I don't think any hero in any CV game could move and attack at the same time. I think the land canceling and all that stuff is good strategy and adds to the game. it makes it more difficult for you since you can't move, so you need to figure out better ways to do it yourself.

Dang, I still have two Castlevanias to play (one of the GBA ones and the one on the DS). Nevertheless, I can't wait to play this. The series has been ridiculously fun lately on these portables.

More like Castlevania: More of the Same right?

I mean sure it'll be a good game, It's like a cake, even if you stuff it up it's still cake and still tastes good. But in ten years we wont be able to remember which Castlevania game was which or what order they came out in.

I don't know about that, Symphony of the Night has always stuck out over the rest.

I found screens recently of Konami's Castlevania which was in progress for the Dreamcast, which just puts me off the thought of 3D Castlevania titles. I've yet to buy (or play, for that matter) Dawn of Sorrow but it's looking nice. But this is good news, because playing as Julius in Aria wouldn't be half as fun as him having his own storyline and game.

That's not really fair to say "more of the same". It happens with almost every game that follows a series. They are either too alike or too different. No one seems to be very good at striking a balance these days.