First Thirty: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)

By Stephen Munn | October 22, 2008

As a huge Castlevania nut, it’s not too often I say something like this, but I’m not sure I like Order of Ecclesia. While all the elements are there that fans ask for, such as quality graphics and music, fancy effects like voice acting, lots of gross monsters and the like, there’s something about the game that’s lacking. I’m a couple of hours in at this point and I think it may have something to do with the fact that this is a “non-Belmont” Castlevania game like Aria of Sorrow, which the game reminds me of very strongly. However I do harbor some concern that it has a little more to do with the fact that I’ve been playing the far more audiovisually impressive Dracula X Chronicles on PSP.

I find myself somewhat at odds with the disconnect between the hardware capabilities of the DS and the PSP. The impressive detail and animation in the sprites in Order of Ecclesia still don’t really stand up to the 2.5D shine of the older PSP game. That said, I can appreciate the mechanics of the glyph system in Ecclesia. It combines the soul-stealing concept from Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow with a weapon system, which is a really interesting turn. I also like the fact that the protagonist is female, which is unusual for the series. We haven’t seen that since Juste Belmont (zing!).

Knowing my history, I’ll be through the game within a week and I’ll have a review for everyone. In the mean time, if you’re not a wacko for the franchise like I am, you might wait for that before buying.