Simon Belmont would be proud.
With that out of the way, I feel I can share my thoughts on the DS game Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. The game starts off with an amusing relationship between Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin; two aspiring young whipper-snappers looking into what's going on at Dracula's castle. Jonathan is the wielder of the legendary "Vampire Killer", which we all should know as being the whip, except he is not able to release it's true power to which he blames his father for not teaching him. Charlotte grew up with Jonathan and what seems to be a best-friends relationship, and she is beyond gifted in magic, to which she is most useful in the game.
The actual game kicks off by helping you understand how to control both Jonathan and Charlotte (That's right. You are two people.). You have the ability to have one person trailing the other or going one person at a time. In true Castlevania fashion, weapon and armor upgrades are found and purchased as the game progresses, as well as significant personal advances; double-jump, slide, certain spells, etc. An evil being by the name of Brauner has temporarily taken over Dracula's castle, to which his powers were awakened. He controls his powers and locks it into multiple paintings throughout the enormous castle map, allowing for a more in depth game and having a series of maps as opposed to just one giant castle map. This easily gives the game tons of playtime as you continually warp yourself around the castle from painting to painting as you disband enemies and bosses left and right. But, from a story, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin actually allowed the player to have the option of having multiple different endings depending on what they did in their quest. Certain healings and killings allowed for different outcomes, and in true game fashion, the more difficult options led to the more interesting endings. The Wi-Fi multiplayer is fun, but not nearly as filling as the actual story-mode. You are only given a couple maps to conquer with a friend, and it simply leaves you hanging. But with the unlocking of new items upon completion and the ability to have alternate endings, Portrait of Ruin brings a high replay value to the game and a continual joy as you find more and more as you explore the enormous maps throughout the game.