Hello, Halloween friends!
I finally managed to finish my Castlevania game pick from August’s JOL Day: Order of Ecclesia. And while it may not be the best Castlevania game, I think it’s probably my personal favorite. I know that’s high praise when Symphony of the Night exists and is #1 on many lists, but I figured I’d explain myself with a little mini-review.
First, I loved how this game managed to combine the best of old and new school Castlevania. If you ever played any of the NES originals or Super Castlevania on the SNES, you’ll remember that they were broken up into smaller levels as opposed to one big area like with Symphony of the Night and all of the newer games. This game takes the old school approach and brings back the map with smaller levels that you must beat in order to progress to new, larger areas. The cool thing is that you can return to any level at any time to explore more (and you will have to), but you’re still given the large Dracula’s Castle area to navigate at the end. There’s also a town like in Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest!
The “glyph system” is really engaging and a neat way to kind of recycle the “soul system” introduced in Aria of Sorrow. Essentially, by defeating certain enemies, a “glyph” will be left behind which your character can absorb, and at that point you’re able to use the weapon or ability of the monster you defeated. You can equip three glyphs at a time and switch between them on the fly, and you can combine most of the glyphs to pull off a satisfying combo attack. As you progress towards the end of the game, the glyphs (and enemies) scale up in power, so you’ll find yourself actively trying to defeat certain more difficult monsters just to grab a better glyph. It keeps the combat engaging, and additionally glyphs can be used to solve puzzles and do other neat things. There are even some “secret” glyphs that you can find by exploring every nook and cranny of each area.
Finally, I also really liked the enemy designs in this game, and the depiction of Dracula here is maybe the best out of all the games. In Portrait of Ruin, he looked rather cartoonish, like a caricature of Bela Lagosi’s famous depiction. Here he looks more menacing, intimidating and more like Vlad Tepes Dracula, and without spoiling anything, the final battle is superb. The other monster designs lean more towards Halloween territory without dipping too far into horror. Earlier Castlevania games had some pretty grotesque creatures, almost to the point of revulsion. Not so here. In fact, another famous Halloween character is featured prominently (no spoilers)!
Other closing thoughts: The music is top-tier, except for one area that is super repetitive and gets old quickly. Mercifully, you don’t spend much time in that level. I’d say the difficulty is also a bit unbalanced, with the beginning of the game throwing everything at you, forcing you to “get good” rather quickly, while the latter portion of the game gets much easier, especially if you’ve been rabidly collecting glyphs the whole time. Even still, the game is not as difficult as Portrait of Ruin. Also, the length of this game is perfect. I love Symphony of the Night, but there’s a lot of “cruft” in that game that makes it artificially longer. Order of Ecclesia doesn’t overstay its welcome, and the requirements for getting the best ending of the game aren’t grueling like many other entries in the series.
Now: On to the “big” one, Symphony of the Night, for Halloween this year. It’s been a long time since I’ve played it, so I’m looking forward to picking it up again. Maybe I’ll change my mind about Order of Ecclesia after diving back into Symphony…but there’s definitely a high bar set.
Thanks for reading my early morning ramblings! Have a great day!
