I don't like the character-switching, but it's still a great game.
User Rating: 9.8 | Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin DS
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is more of the same great Castlevania formula. More of the same weapons, items, enemies, etc. Even though many things are the same, the game is amazing. The 2D Castlevania formula is perfect, it does not need to be tampered with, but some people like some new things to keep them interested in a long-running series. This is definitely included in this game. Instead of one person with a whip running around, you have two characters: Jonathon and Charlotte. Jonathon is basically the Belmont of the game (even though he is not really a Belmont, but that is beside the point) and Charlotte is a spellcaster. You can switch between them at any time or use both at once. The AI for your partner is surprisingly intelligent. Jonathon uses weapons and subweapons (like the axe, bible, shuriken, etc.) that are either bought or found around the castle. The subweapons are equipped and take up MP. Charlotte uses spellbooks for her weapons. When you attack, weapons or other things come out of her book. She also casts spells. I'm an old-school Castlevania player, so I did not find this two-character system to be very useful at all. I never really used Charlotte for anything other than a backup attacker. There are special dual-crush attacks that use both characters and deal devastating damage, but it's not like the second character is necessary for these attacks to be performed. I think the one-character system is much more robust and works much better. In terms of graphics and sound: This game includes more of the beautiful, 2D, hand-drawn graphics that we have known and loved for several games. As for the music, I did not think it was that great. It's very repetitive. They used a different compuser for this game than the one they've used in the past. Some of the music from Castlevania: Bloodlines can be heard in the game. Also, after you beat the game, you unlock more characters to play the game with, as well as a hard mode, so the game does have a very high replay value. The Wi-Fi modes in this game are nothing special, just a co-op mode that isn't very long, and a shop where you can sell items that you have found. Like I said, nothing special. 
