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Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is an action / adventure video game released on Nintendo DS on December 5, 2006. This is the latest opus of the Castlevania series on the DS after Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.

The story takes place in 1944 while the Second World War was raging. This time we take control of not one but two heroes, Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin. Jonathan is the new owner of the legendary whip Vampire Killer of the Belmont family. But Jonathan is not a direct member of the family Belmont so he can't use the full power of the whip. His childhood friend Charlotte Aulin, descendant of the Belnades family and skilled magician, help him in his adventure using magic spells.

This time, our two heroes will have to thwart the plans of the Vampire Brauner, current owner of theCastle of Dracula, who uses the souls of soldiers dead during the war on dark purpose. Brauner is a painter and has concealed in several places paintings containing his power. Jonathan and Charlotte will thus have to enter each painting and eradicate the evil at its source. Each painting contains a level, bringing a wide variety of decors ranging from an arid desert to a macabre funfair.

We are in the vein of the Castlevania games developed by Igarashi since Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. We have to move through the castle and the various universes of the paintings, fighting the monsters standing on our way. Jonathan and Charlotte gain experience and can level up which increase their abilities. Charlotte can learn spells throughout the adventure, providing her new powers, such as the invocation of monsters or support spells. Jonathan fights with melee weapons and can equip different weapons as knuckles or swords.

Then we take control of two heroes who can interact with each other in order to advance in the game. They can for example leg up or activate mechanisms. But in this episode the stylus is only used for placing markers on the map. However, it will have its usefulness in a bonus scenario released at the end of the game.

Even more beautiful than the previous opuses with incredible sprites, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin does not disappoint. The fact of taking control of two characters at the same time and the variety of sceneries make this episode very pleasant to play and any fan of the series must possess it.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin reviews