Castlevania Dominus Collection answers the question of how to port the DS games by presenting the screen as a set of three images, with the gameplay as the main image while the map and status screens are off to the side. It works extremely well and manages to not be overwhelming on the eyes. As for the other issue of the touch screen, that has been relegated to the second control stick, although the Switch version still has access to the touch screen options. It needs to be stated though that these are not emulated versions of the games but rather full new ported versions that take advantage of the modern consoles and PC hardware.
The games within Castlevania Dominus Collection are considered some of the best and we also have been given the inclusion of Haunted Castle and Haunted Castle Revisited. As mentioned, we already reviewed Haunted Castle Revisited, but to go over the original Haunted Castle, this is not a good game. The controls are stiff and unresponsive and the animation of the characters is off. It should be mentioned that this is the Japanese version and not the American release known as version M, which was the most difficult version of the game. This release is a lot more playable, but still not great and is best played just for comparison to see how good Haunted Castle Revisited is.
I was debating which of the three DS games to play first, as Order of Ecclesia is the most different, while Portrait of Ruin seemed interesting and Dawn of Sorrow is the immediate sequel to my favourite game of all time. I initially decided to save Dawn for last and go with Order of Eclessia but ended up going in order of release and starting with Dawn of Sorrow. I am glad I did that as it made the overall experience a lot more enjoyable for me.
When playing Dawn of Sorrow, the first thing that came to mind was that the developers were trying to recreate Symphony of the Night as best as possible and they did a good attempt but did not quite pull it off. The game is much larger than Aria of Sorrow and the Tactical Soul System is more involved, but that is not necessarily the best thing. I found many of the new soul mechanics such as weapon forging to be more trouble than it was worth, especially since unique one time souls were sometimes required to get the best weapons and sometimes the end result of a weapon forging chain was not worth the effort. I did like the fact that absorbing multiples of a soul made the effect stronger, so there was some tradeoff there.
Dawn of Sorrow used the touch screen of the DS heavily when it was released, both for some souls and for dealing with the bosses, where you would need to draw a seal on the screen to defeat them. This has been reworked for the Castlevania Dominus Collection, as you can use the second analogue stick for the touch screen interactions that use souls, while the seals are now down via a quick time event with button presses. If you have the Nintendo Switch version, then you can still use the touchscreen as you see fit for these reasons.
One thing that stuck out to me about Dawn of Sorrow is that I could see why it was the last pure Metroidvania entry in the series. The Castle is too big for its own good and it is very easy to get lot and be unsure what you need to do. In Aria of Sorrow it was easier to figure things out, and so that is one point I need to take away from Dawn of Sorrow. I will also note that while the music and visuals are indeed vastly better, I disliked the new anime art style that, while not the first time the series had done such a thing, felt out of place after several games with amazing gothic visuals.
More to the point, Dawn of Sorrow just was not as fun as I was hoping it would be, and did not live up to the hype I had built up about it in my head for years. It is a good game but falls short of its predecessor by trying to be bigger and better and making things too complicated as a result. One area where it does stand tall above the other games is Julius Mode, the bonus mode, which is by far the best in the series.
This is a full alternative campaign that recreates some of the best elements of Castlevania III, while maintaining the RPG elements and creating an excellent alternate story. Apparently this mode has been made harder for the Castlevania Dominus Collection, but I did not play the original and so cannot judge that. What I can say is that no other bonus mode lives up to this game’s Julius Mode.
Portrait of Ruin marked a turning point as the series became more experimental and shifted to a hybrid style of a hub castle with individual Metroidvania levels you could access via paintings. it was a welcome change, even if it was not perfect, and Portrait of Ruin is perhaps the most connected of the three games to the larger Castlevania series. This is a direct sequel to Castlevania Bloodlines and stars two characters that you control at once, Jonathan Morris, the whip wielder, and Charlotte the mage.
Both characters can actually equip a variety of weapons and equipment, with Jonathan having not just the whip but also many other weapon and sub weapon options, while Charlotte has spell tomes and spells she can use. You can switch between each character on the fly or use them at the same time, and characters will need to be positioned right for certain puzzles to be solved. It is a great twist on the series and other developers have followed suit in their Castlevania homages like Inti Creates with Gal Guardians.
Portrait of Ruin has a decent challenge even if it is still easy to find a good build and become powerful, and the story is one of the better ones in a Castlevania game. The bosses and enemies are well designed and will even interact differently depending on which character you are using, which I found interesting. The use of a hub world Castle and separate Metroidvania worlds is handled well here as it allows for some great environmental experimentation compared to previous Metroidvanias, while the Castle itself is still worth exploring in its own right.
There are a variety of side quests you can undertake that will let you access new abilities and weapons and learn more of the game, and some of the optional quests help to further tie this entry to the rest of the series. I enjoyed Portrait of Ruin far more than I expected to, and while I don’t think it had a flawless handle on its take on Metroidvania gameplay, it was a needed change. With some of the best music and gameplay variety in the series, Portrait of Ruin stands among the best entries. If only its bonus modes were as good as Julius mode in Dawn of Sorrow, but while they were interesting, they fell short of what came before.
Order of Ecleessia is a game I have changed my opinion on a few times now. After initially playing it, I felt it was a great game but not necessarily a great Castlevania game, as it felt very different from all the other entries. After giving it some time and playing some more, I now feel it is my favourite of the three games.
You play as Shanoa, who fights using glyphs absorbed from enemies much like Soma absorbs souls in the Sorrow duology, but there is a difference. Shanoa only uses Glyph abilities to attack and while she can quip multiple to change up her attacks, any glyph ability uses the magic meter, meaning you will always need to be careful and strategic in how you attack. This is separate from the hearts meter, which is now used for special attacks which vary based on which glyphs are equipped.
There is no way around saying this but Order of Ecclesia is the hardest Metroidvania game in the series and may surprise many with how hard it can be. This is not a game to be tackled lightly and you will die over and over, yet that is part of the charm. Order of Eclessia somehow blends the old school difficulty, with the new style of gameplay.
The game is now broken down through a map in which you select various stages, some of which are Metroidvanias like in Portrait of Ruin, but some are just linear areas that pose a challenge like the classic games. You can return to any stage once completed, and often there will be more to see and do once new abilities are achieved. This was a great solution to the problem the Metroidvania games found themselves in, though to be honest, I feel IGA needed one more game to fully perfect the idea.
Order of Eclessia is a very dark entry for the series, and increases the overall horror atmosphere. This is helped by a shift back to a gothic art style that is far more suited to the experience, as well as music that manages to fit the theme of the game perfectly. With some of the most challenging levels, difficult bosses that will test your skills, and a compelling amount of side quests, I really came to enjoy Order of Eclesssia and feel it was a bold new direction that the series could have gone in. The bonus mode is not anything special, but there are additional new game+ modes you can unlock for a harder challenge to test yourself.
Overall, I found Castlevania Dominus Collection to be a masterpiece of a collection. There is a good amount of bonus content to access and the music player has some of the best tunes in the series. The amazing ports and the addition of Haunted Castle Revisited easily make this stand as one of Konami’s best collections. Now if only we could get a collection of the 3D games and The Adventure Rebirth, then things would be perfect. Castlevania Dominus Collection is highly recommended.
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Ryan’s Thoughts
Going off of what Jon stated in his review, I can see his points of view, though I wouldn’t say I agree.
So for me, I played a lot of Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclasia, with a little bit being played of Dawn of Sorrow; at least back when the games were originally released on the DS.
Coming back to this trilogy of games on the Switch, I have mixed feelings about them. They aren’t as fun and enjoyable as they once were. I feel like for me, I had a huge set of nostalgia glasses on when I first saw this collection being released. On the DS, these games were pretty good, even rather enjoyable, but with this re-release, they kind of lost their fun factor.
Out of three main trilogy of games on the DS that are found in this collection, I found myself playing a lot more Portrait of Ruin than I did the other two. It’s the one game that felt the most comfortable to play and I enjoyed switching back and forth between the two protagonists, the gameplay and the writing was fun too. Order of Ecclasia and Dawn of Sorrow to me felt dated and didn’t feel like they belong on modern platforms. I appreciate the dedication and hardwork M2 and Konami put into this collection, but I feel it was nothing but fan service.
For those that have never played any of these three games in their original form, I would say that this is a good collection to pick up. But if you grew up playing the original releases on the DS, I would suggest playing them on their original platforms if you’re able.
Moving on to the most surprising inclusion in this collection is Castlevania Haunted Castle Revisited, I was just simply blown away. I never played the original that is also included in this collection, as Revisited just looked like the better way to experience the game.
Revisited feels like a mixture of Castlevania Bloodlines and Altered Beast. Now why did I mention Altered Beast? Well I only mention it because of how large all of the enemies are and they tend to stand out in a good way from their environments, much like one would find in the Altered Beast Arcade game. That’s really the only similarity to Altered Beast that this game posses. Revisited has the same charm that I felt Bloodlines has and is just a wonderful entry in the Castlevania series.
With the inclusion of Castlevania Haunted Castle Revisited, I am hoping that we will eventually see the likes of Harmony of Despair and Castlevania Adventure ReBirth either in it’s original form or with a new look, not unlike we got with Revisited. The last games I would like to see released on modern platforms as a collection would be Castlevania 64, Castlevania Legacy of Darkness, and Castlevania Resurrection. The later having originally been developed for the Sega Dreamcast, only to never be completed or officially released.
Though this collection was less than stellar (Haunted Castle Revisited being the best part) and given we have had some amazing sets released before this one, I am hoping that Konami and M2 will continue to bring us these amazing collections for the rest of the series, as they are some awesome games that would do well on modern platforms.
Disclaimer: Review keys were provided
