Order of Ecclesia

[Roderick]

I just finished Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia on the DS. As could be expected from a handheld Castlevania, it was very well-produced and a joy to play. Nevertheless, having finished it I have my reservations...

The best parts about Ecclesia were the boss battles. This time around, they really forced you to think about what you were doing and act strategically. In all the previous games, I would simply spam my biggest attack on them and quaff healing potions until it died, or I did. Ecclesia's bosses all have very powerful special attacks though, that you'll have to avoid or neutralize if you want to survive. So, that's good. Spectacular at times, even.

But there's a bitter taste to it. More than in other castlevania's, I felt a grind here. That was something I never really felt in previous titles. But in my obsessive quest to get all the items off of all the monsters, there were a few times I just spent hours farming a particular enemy before it would drop, and I'd catch myself not enjoying it one bit. That's crossing the line, there.

I also miss the giant castle. It's really good that they've tried something new here with the different levels and the outside world, but I really miss the intricate, claustrophobic mazes of yore. I think Portrait of Ruin's painting-dimensions were as far as they could go. Ecclesia's cut-off lands just feel disjointed. Especially in the endgame you're zipping from level to level, and something got lost there. I yearn for the weird dual shadowcastles from Harmony of Dissonance, or the elaborate hidden endworld of Dawn of Sorrow.

Ecclesia is still a superb platformer that easily held my attention for 15+ hours. But next time I'd like to get back into an impossibly large castle filled with secrets and mysteries. Though I'm a little frightened that after 6 handheld versions in about as many years, I may just be getting a bit tired of Castlevania. Oh dear

[Tanukitsune]

I know what you mean about the grinding... I had to grind for hours to get the ingredients for the villagers, specially for the Merman Meat and Mandragora.

I felt the bosses were too cheap, so taking half of your health bar with one hit! And that giant crab battle was way too annoying...

What I liked about the old Castlevania: SOTN is that if you explored enough you could get items and weapons that made the game easier, I didn't find any super spell or armor in this game.

I did like the online shop part, if you were lucky you could buy hard to get items.

I do believe the game was a bit overhyped for me since they told me it was the best Castlevania since SOTN.

[Roderick]

Well, that should mean that this game was better than Dawn of Sorrow, which wasn't the case at all.

It did have great, exploitable powers though. Even Dracula becomes a piece of cake with the right equipment and glyphs.

[Tanukitsune]

I just remember the thing that bothered me the most about the game... The Glyph fusion system. It uses hearts, the only thing you CAN'T recover in mid battle, at least not much.

Have you noticed that you have several items for recovering lots of magic, something you'll never need to do, but only the heart refresh and some items that only give you a few measly hearts?

Are you talking about the Death Rings? I had to hit Dracula with the Light and Dark Glyph equiped with the Death ring to kill him...

[Roderick]

Yeah, recovering magic is completely useless since it replenishes extremely fast. The hearts don't, which is necessary to ensure players don't spam the glyph union attack though. But granted, I don't feel nearly as powerful or awesome as I did in the endgame of the previous titles. I remember Soma (or Jonathan?) had some sort of aura that enabled him to dash continuously and deal damage. You'd be able to destroy weaker enemies by running through them. That's awesome. And though Shanoa can fly with wings, Jonathan was able to blast himself upward, which has so much more impact.

There's a cheap suicide trick to use with Dracula. Equip Nitesco and Melio Falcis in your hands (making for a huge light sabre union), the Dominus for the right shoulder (which enhances union glyphs), the Death ring for double damage, the Judgement ring (which, again, boosts union glyphs), and put the rest all on damage (say, wearing Barbarian armour). If you start spamming the union attack when Dracula appears, you'll deal 1500+ damage easily per hit and Dracula will perish before finishing his first attack.

Hehe. Totally Gamefaqed this though.