More DS Castlevania: 'Order of Ecclesia,' first screens
by Randy Nelson 
{ May 15th 2008 at 3:30PM }
Order of Ecclesia stars a new female heroine who is a member of the ... wait for it ... Order of Ecclesia, a group out to destroy -- who else -- that vile Count Dracula fellow. The game introduces a new Glyph system that Konami promises will offer "more than 100 different combinations" of weapon and spell attacks. These attack mash-ups enable players to unleash two blows simultaneously. Buying and selling items and weapons via the Nintendo WFC is also pegged for this latest, characteristically beautiful addition to the classic 2D franchise.
Gallery: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kendall B @ May 15th 2008 3:38PM
I really love these games, but none of them ever seem to capture what SotN did. I think for me it was the variation in weapons and the special attacks for certain weapons and weapon/shield configurations. They haven't accomplished something like that effectively in the GBA/DS games.
Kael @ May 15th 2008 5:03PM
I used to think to myself that Symphony of the Night couldn't be outdone. I realized I might have been the victim of nostalgia, though, so I tried to look at the games again and be more objective. I found that while Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance didn't threaten the top spot on my list, Aria of Sorrow did and the games have been getting better and better. So in my mind, Portrait of Ruin takes the lead. I had so much fun with that game, I replayed it more times than I can remember (though I can say the same for all the recent Castlevanias).
It's been a while since Portrait of Ruin; I could use a fresh dose of Castlevania, for sure! I'm so eager to play it, it can't come out soon enough.
Curtis the Claw:PSN-ctclaw @ May 15th 2008 3:42PM
It would be awesome if they would change it up a little bit, I'm getting tired of the same gameplay every time.
Cian @ May 15th 2008 3:48PM
Wasn't this originally a cell phone game or something? And personally at the SotN comment I think Dawn of Sorrow was actually the superior game if you ask me. But both are jaw droppingly awesome.
MasterInsan0 @ Jun 30th 2008 9:30AM
Yeah, Dawn of Sorrow was pretty awesome. The only thing I didn't like about it was the gimmicky seal system, because I would always screw them up and then the boss would make short work of me with its renewed life.
I never really played it "on-the-go", though, because I found that the music was made significantly better by pumping it through speakers.
Vidikron (FU) @ May 15th 2008 4:01PM
I'm all for another sequel. The previous are all among my favorite DS games. I just hope they don't recycle as many of the enemies as last time.
Hamblasto @ May 15th 2008 4:13PM
At least the art has gotten better since the first two DS Castlevanias.
Jomolungma @ May 15th 2008 4:14PM
At last, a reason to pick my DS back up again... games have been a little slow for my tastes recently...
hydralisk456 @ May 15th 2008 6:34PM
The World Ends With You. One of the greatest games to come out this year. You need to try it.
Jomolungma @ May 16th 2008 8:19AM
I've been hearing more and more good things about that game. I might pick it up when I'm out today...
DangerMouse @ May 15th 2008 4:19PM
I hope it's good, and not a bore like PoR was. Also, Konami needs to ditch the anime crap. Either provide a decent story, or don't even bother. The dialogue in the past few games sound like they're written for saturday morning cartoons. Then again, they're probably targeting it towards kids, but the Castlevania fans are players from way back.
I would love to see the game take a more darker turn. SotN stayed true to the older games, with dreary settings and such. That was the last (good) game to use that kind of mood.
And to be honest, the Castleroid gameplay has been running stale as of late. They should revisit the old schools style Castlevania, and just load it with secret exits, hidden areas that requires enough searching to get 100%. Kind of like how Castlevania 3 was, just much larger with that kind of difficulty.
chez @ May 15th 2008 4:20PM
Now this looks good.
Dawn of Sorrow was possibly the best game I've ever played. I never even thought there could be a better platformer than Mario World. Wasn't keen on Portrait, crappy character swapping system and the music wasn't as good as DoS.
Do want!
T.H. @ May 15th 2008 5:09PM
The DS is starting to show it's age a bit. As much as I love the Castlevania series, ever since the original on the NES, the DS Castlevanias are starting to show the wee bit lack of power on the DS.
Don't get me wrong, I've had way way more fun on the DS than on my PSP but I think it's time for the DS "Advanced" to come out with a larger color palette and more 3D processing power. All while keeping the same battery times as the original of course.
Yourself @ May 15th 2008 5:23PM
I swear, these screens look a lot more like GBA graphics than DS. It might be just because it's been a while since I've looked at blown-up DS sprite-art, but these look terrible.
Hopefully the music will be good again in this one: Aria of Sorrow had my favorite soundtrack of any Castlevania, and though DoS had a great one as well, Portrait of Ruin was a little lackluster. I guess Portrait was just a little lackluster in general. I missed the soul-system and Jonathan's items were essentially a dumbed down replacement.
P.S. Dawn of Sorrow > Symphony of the Night
Vidikron (FU) @ May 15th 2008 5:43PM
What? No. You need to go look of some pictures of the GBA games and compare them side-by-side with these. The GBA games level of detail is clearly below these.
chez @ May 15th 2008 5:47PM
Agree on DoS>SotN and agree you should put the DS and GBA screens side by side. DS one looks miles better than the GBA version, especially when it comes down to effects.
Hope this game doesn't have 3D enemies. WTF 3D Bugbear looked crap.
/rank
Yourself @ May 15th 2008 7:26PM
Yeah, looking again, it really was just that on IGN (where I saw this first) the screens were like 2x size and it made them look awful. Still, there's something about that lifebar...
billavi @ May 15th 2008 6:03PM
I wish they'd release this for the PSP as well. Why is it that EA can port "The Simpsons" to 50 different platforms, but Konami can only make Castlevania games for one platform?
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ May 15th 2008 6:39PM
Because Konami isn't EA.
chez @ May 15th 2008 6:46PM
Why can't Konami bring MGS4 at least to the PC?
I DID GO THERE.
Seriously though, it's best on the DS. Even the ghosting on the PSP Slim makes scrolling games look fugly.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ May 15th 2008 6:38PM
I should really try out the series for once. Heck, if they made a platinum edition bundle with all 3 DS games, I'd get it.
HighFiveJesus @ May 15th 2008 7:10PM
i will buy it full price. The combo of old school style gameplay with a fresh new little idea now and then is hard to get wrong, plus i loved the first two ds castlevanias, i hope there's a neat pre-order with this one too.
Abscissa @ May 15th 2008 7:43PM
I am SOOO sick of these SotN-followups being portable-only.
Kyattsuai @ May 15th 2008 8:05PM
Hold it, this is post-Belmonts? That must mean it takes place after the Sorrow games. Does this mean Shenoa's going to have to fight [Dracula's incarnation who I shan't mention in case it's considered a spoiler]?
Clegg Holdfast @ May 15th 2008 8:07PM
Which is considered the best of the GBA Castlevanias?
Kyattsuai @ May 15th 2008 8:16PM
I think it's Aria, though I missed collecting all those "HP up" and "Hearts up" items. Yeah, I'm petty like that.
chez @ May 16th 2008 11:05AM
Aria without any doubt, though Dawn kinda pisses on Aria.
Alaric @ Jun 30th 2008 8:55AM
I suppose it's inherently subjective, but I have to disagree that either of the Sorrow games holds a candle to SotN for a couple of reasons. First, once you got some of the very rare items in SotN, Alucard could kick monster hind-quarters like Soma could only dream about (magic aside... I'm more of a melee judge of character when it comes to a character's bada** factor). Second, SotN ranks so highly in my book (and in the opinions of many of the "top 100" evaluators) because of it's ability to innovate. Say what you will in favor of the Sorrow games (and there's much to be said that is positive about them... they are fantastic games), innovation is not one of its dominant (or even present) characteristics.