DS Castlevania question

[Nando]

Haven't played any of them. Looking to pick one of those three up. They all look interesting.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I love all 3, but I think I had the most fun with PoR.   I think most though consider OoE to be the best, but I consider it the low point of the DS games personally.

[jeffhlewis]

I own all three, beat DoS and got halfway through PoR. I just got burned out after completing the 3 games on GBA then jumping over to the DS series. DoS is legit though - great game.

[bob]

thanks for this thread.  i was currently curious about these as well.
are there any major differences in the three?  are they all standard castlevania 2d fare?
i am dumb to the GBA ones too.

[Nando]

From what I can gather so far  Dawn is a "sequel" to Aria on the GBA, and if I am reading things right, they have Rondo/SoTN like gameplay.  Anyone else know if this is right?

Portrait has you changing through casts members to solve puzzles and areas.

Ecclesia doesn't have a Belmont and it uses some sort of Glyph system for weapons.

Still gathering info.

[jeffhlewis]

From what I can gather so far  Dawn is a "sequel" to Aria on the GBA, and if I am reading things right, they have Rondo/SoTN like gameplay.  Anyone else know if this is right?

Portrait has you changing through casts members to solve puzzles and areas.

Ecclesia doesn't have a Belmont and it uses some sort of Glyph system for weapons.

Still gathering info.

DoS is a continuation of Aria's story. I'm honestly torn between which one I like more (between DoS and Aria). DoS obviously has better graphics and sound quality; the graphics honestly are on par with or exceed Symphony of the Night in certain places. It's a pretty game.

DoS has a kind of forced touch screen component - when you beat a boss you have to draw a "seal" on the touch screen to finish the fight. If you fail the boss gets a little bit of life back and you have to keep going until you successfully draw the seal. It's like they were forced to add a touch gimmick to the game at the last second. But it's a small complaint.

You really can't go wrong with any of these games, they're all amazing.

[DragonmasterDan]

From what I can gather so far  Dawn is a "sequel" to Aria on the GBA, and if I am reading things right, they have Rondo/SoTN like gameplay.  Anyone else know if this is right?

Portrait has you changing through casts members to solve puzzles and areas.

Ecclesia doesn't have a Belmont and it uses some sort of Glyph system for weapons.

Still gathering info.

DoS is a continuation of Aria's story. I'm honestly torn between which one I like more (between DoS and Aria). DoS obviously has better graphics and sound quality; the graphics honestly are on par with or exceed Symphony of the Night in certain places. It's a pretty game.

DoS has a kind of forced touch screen component - when you beat a boss you have to draw a "seal" on the touch screen to finish the fight. If you fail the boss gets a little bit of life back and you have to keep going until you successfully draw the seal. It's like they were forced to add a touch gimmick to the game at the last second. But it's a small complaint.

You really can't go wrong with any of these games, they're all amazing.

DoS has a bit more content than Aria and I consider it to be a slightly better game overall. SotN, Aria and DoS are three of the best Metroidvania type games ever.

[jperryss]

It was a tough call for me, but I'd put PoR slightly above DoS. OoE is fun also but tough as nails.

You really can't go wrong with any of them.

[Mzo]

From what I can gather so far  Dawn is a "sequel" to Aria on the GBA, and if I am reading things right, they have Rondo/SoTN like gameplay.  Anyone else know if this is right?

That's right.  You're in a huge, interconnected castle that you explore just like in SotN.  In this game, when enemies die there's a chance they'll drop their soul, which gives you either an attack, a passive ability or an ability of some sort.  You can equip three of them, one of each type, at a time.

Portrait has you changing through casts members to solve puzzles and areas.

PoR has two protagonists, Johnathan and Charlotte.  They say the other person's name every time you switch characters, so expect to hear a lot of CHARLOTTE JOHNATHAN CHARLOTTE JOHNATHAN CHARLOTTE.  Johnathan uses the Vampire Killer (badly) and can learn some sweet moves.  Charlotte is a witch that can learn a few different spells.  Again, this is one big map that you explore like SotN.

Ecclesia doesn't have a Belmont and it uses some sort of Glyph system for weapons.

Ecclesia's MC is Shanoa, who is awesome.  Instead of enemy souls she gets glyphs, but it's fairly similar.  I like that she can dual wield different weapons.  The game structure changes in this one:  there are different locations to visit, each with their own smaller map.  Shanoa can find items inside treasure chests, and there are special ones that respawn when you revisit a map that have a chance to drop important weapons and armor, making you farm them out a bit.  This game is like the link between the other Metroidvanias and the XBLA free-for-all grindfest.

I liked all three but OoE was my favorite.  Shanoa is awesome and the game is actually somewhat difficult.

[Nando]

Awesome feedback. Thanks all!

[OldRover]

Portrait Of Ruin is the best of the three in my personal opinion. The other two are good, but PoR just edges them out a bit. DoS loses points for the touchscreen gimmick. OoE feels kind of rushed and unbalanced but is still a good play.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Yeah, if anything drags down DoS for me, it's the mandatory touch screen stuff, otherwise, it's great, & ofcoarse has a great soundtrack, as does PoR & OoE!

[munchiaz]

I love all the GBA and DS castlevania games. I personally feel that OOE is the best of the 3 on the DS. DoS is great but i feel Aria is better. PoR is great as well, but i wasn't feeling the whole 2 character thing. OOE has a great story, a grest OST, awesome characters, and the combat system is really good. It reminds me the most of SOTN.

[Nando]

Obviously the only course of action is to get them all, eventually. Lol

Man, which to get first?

*first world problems

[Tatsujin]

hmm..can't remember which was the best. getting all mixed up, since played them last many years back already.

[majors]

I love all the GBA and DS castlevania games.

^ Truth.

I never felt the order of playing them was important. If you see a good deal on a copy, get it. The first GBA game, SotM, does take some time to get into, but well worth it. I think the order I played was:  AoS->HoD->DoS->PoR->SotM->OoE

Main reason I got a DSi was to play them all (with backlight )

[xcrement5x]

I played Ecclesia a while back and it was fun but really hard.  Character designs of Shanoa are pretty nice though ;)

[Nando]

I played Ecclesia a while back and it was fun but really hard.  Character designs of Shanoa are pretty nice though ;)

I watched a bit of gameplay videos and I concur. I like the main character designs for Ecclesia and the bosses, holy crap the boss designs are awesome.

DoS does have that Rondo/SoTN vibe.

[jeffhlewis]

HoD was really disappointing IMHO. Soundtrack was such a downgrade from Circle of the Moon.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I totally loved HoD, I played thru it multiple times!  I loved the music, very NES/TG sounding, for lack of a better word.  That's not to say I wouldn't have loved something that sounded more like CotM or AoS.

[Tatsujin]

I love all the GBA and DS castlevania games.

^ Truth.

I never felt the order of playing them was important. If you see a good deal on a copy, get it. The first GBA game, SotM, does take some time to get into, but well worth it. I think the order I played was:  AoS->HoD->DoS->PoR->SotM->OoE

Main reason I got a DSi was to play them all (with backlight )

what's SotM? do you mean CotM?

still think the GBAs AoS is the best of the post SotN dracs

[Tatsujin]

HoD was really disappointing IMHO. Soundtrack was such a downgrade from Circle of the Moon.

this was the worst of all of the new dracs by a far landslide. the sound really fucked on my ears very bad times.

it really does justice to its title name.

[CrackTiger]

I loved the GBA Castlevanias, but I gave up on Dawn of Sorrow when I hit a stylus mini-game after a streak on un-fun.

[roflmao]

I've only played AoS, which I loved.  This thread is tempting me to get as DS so I can play the rest of the series!

[munchiaz]

I think all of the games GBA and DS are good. Some better than others. But if you enjoy SOTN style castlevania titles, then you can't go wrong with any of them. Just stay away from the 3DS castlevania. That game is ass

[majors]

what's SotM? do you mean CotM?

Well "Circle".../ˈsərkəl/ You got me, my mistake.

[Nando]

Thanks to bartre I have DoS coming my way. I did read about the funky, enter the sigil to trap the monster idea. Interesting, but does one have to have bandido wild west, draw yer gun, like reflexes to do this? Or does the game give you plenty of time? Regardless, I am looking forward to playing it.

[Mzo]

Plenty of time.  It's just dumb that you have to fish out the stylus to do something in a game that requires no other touch input.