• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

LTTP: Portrait of Ruin

K

keanerie

Member
Picked this up last week as it was $20 shipped on Amazon, and goddamn was it worth it. This might be my favorite IGAvania thus far (
I just got Sanctuary and cured Vincent, am about to go cure the sisters after getting the bad ending
). Graphics and character designs are both great (though I can see why people would dislike them) - personally I think Jonathan and Charlotte are great - though red and blue have always been a favorite color combination of mine.

I know a lot of people panned the level design for being uninteresting and repetitive, but I personally don't need every level to be super crazy (and come on, Nation of Fools? that was awesome) and it doesn't matter as much when the action is as good as it is here. I'm also a big fan of the frequent warp points, cuts down on the backtracking. The whole game seems to move at a brisker and more interesting pace than DoS. I worried that the "portrait" areas would make the game disjointed, but I've found they add a little variety when things start to border on tediousness. And I'm glad the Soul system is gone so that I'm not constantly soul grinding, and I find so many more abilities (like the stat buffs, the magic spells/barriers, etc, summons) to be so much more interesting and useful than the ones in DoS. Great weapons, less tedium, awesome music, GREAT bosses...all in all, just a damn good game up til now, Iga and Capcom did a damn fine job with this, and I can't wait to finish it.
 
F

Forgotten Ancient

Banned
keanerie said:
Picked this up last week as it was $20 shipped on Amazon, and goddamn was it worth it. This might be my favorite IGAvania thus far (
I just got Sanctuary and cured Vincent, am about to go cure the sisters after getting the bad ending
). Graphics and character designs are both great (though I can see why people would dislike them) - personally I think Jonathan and Charlotte are great - though red and blue have always been a favorite color combination of mine.

I know a lot of people panned the level design for being uninteresting and repetitive, but I personally don't need every level to be super crazy (and come on, Nation of Fools? that was awesome) and it doesn't matter as much when the action is as good as it is here. I'm also a big fan of the frequent warp points, cuts down on the backtracking. The whole game seems to move at a brisker and more interesting pace than DoS. I worried that the "portrait" areas would make the game disjointed, but I've found they add a little variety when things start to border on tediousness. And I'm glad the Soul system is gone so that I'm not constantly soul grinding, and I find so many more abilities (like the stat buffs, the magic spells/barriers, etc, summons) to be so much more interesting and useful than the ones in DoS. Great weapons, less tedium, awesome music, GREAT bosses...all in all, just a damn good game, and I can't wait to finish it.
Click to expand...


You obviously haven't gotten to the second half quite yet. I felt about the same as you did until the great disappointment began. :(
 
J

JRPereira

Member
I felt that the game was convoluted even before you approach the fork where you could get the bad ending.

The characters and their voices were awful, the skills weren't that interesting, the subweapons did crap for damage. There were WAY too many items, repetitive levels, uninteresting music, etc.

I will say though, that it was still better than most of the games I've played, and it was a solid castlevania game as far as gameplay functionality was concerned. If they changed the art, characters, and story around a bit, and modified some of the game values/got rid of the excess items, it would be great.


Or maybe I'm spoiled because dawn of sorrow got it right the first time.


Oh, also, despite it being a breeze to beat,
richter mode and the nest of evil are actually the shining rewards for sticking with the game for the first full playthrough and make it worth it.


Don't forget to hold L when picking an option from the main menu to get the japanese voices.
 
S

Sagitario

Member
I liked it a lot... it did not disappoint me but I can see its flaws and why some people didn't like it...

Just a note: I liked DoS better...

JRPereira said:
... uninteresting music, etc.
Click to expand...

What?
 
S

Saitou

Banned
Screw the haters, PoR is awesumsauce.

The fact (for it is a fact) it is repetitive at times is completely overturned thanks to it's amazing replay value. And I'm not talking Dawn of Sorrow "lol get all the souls with 0.65% drop rate" replay.
MUTHAFACKING RICHTER BITCHES
, Hard Mode lvlcap 1, Nest of Evil, etc etc.

I fully agree that the English voices are crap, with the exception of the Sisters and Brauner.

Played it to death. Love it. Will be playing it for a long time.
 
F

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
Wario64 said:
That's what you get for not buying new games at launch. Owned
Click to expand...
I think it's more of a case of Konami being pissed that people kept thinking Capcom made it.
 
A

Aokage

Pretty nice guy (apart from the blue shadows thing...)
Not to be off-topic (I'll add my two cents: PoR is the best Metroidvania since SotN for many reasons), but I'm very very curious why Konami=Capcom on GAF. Does anyone know how that meme originated?
 
K

keanerie

Member
Aokage said:
Not to be off-topic (I'll add my two cents: PoR is the best Metroidvania since SotN for many reasons), but I'm very very curious why Konami=Capcom on GAF. Does anyone know how that meme originated?
Click to expand...

Because Capcom is responsible for many great Castlevania games, and they deserve credit. It's only fair.
 
S

Saitou

Banned
keanerie said:
Because Capcom is responsible for many great Castlevania games, and they deserve credit. It's only fair.
Click to expand...
Pfft, balderdash.





I think I would have heard if Konami made any Castlevanias, thankyouverymuch.
 
I

Iam Canadian

and have the worst user name EVER
I don't understand the dislike people harbour for this game. The action and combat are as fun as they ever were and I think this game easily has the most challenging bosses out of any post-Symphony Castlevania, barring a few Circle of the Moon bosses. And the music was simply wonderful...one of the best Castlevania soundtracks, I honestly think. Finally, the level design complaints make no sense to me. The level design was the same basic thing in Dawn of Sorrow, except that Portrait had the benefit of greater visual variety in its environments.
 
W

womp

Member
There was a party?

I thought this was one of the worst 2D Castlevania games ever and a big disappointment. I'm probably done with the series now....Thanks Iga! Seriously I had more fun with Harmony on GBA...At least I felt compelled to finish that.

Felt rushed, I hate the turn of the art design, half the rooms in the castle were vacant and even then it was just recycled sprites again...I found the character switching to be crappy too. Only good thing IMO was the music.

Death looking like a Fisher Price version of Skeletor basically says it all for me.

:::shrugs::: Then again, I don't circle jerk the series like a lot of GAF does either. Personally I'd prefer a return to form (Belmonts FTW, no ^_^ anime BS) which is what seems is going to happen on the PSP for it.

I always preferred classic Castlevania (NES-SNES) over Metroidvania although I did enjoy Dawn of Sorrow outside the artwork. Can you tell I am not an anime fan?

More of this:

v2.jpg


Less of this:

81231-2-2.jpg


Seriously? WTF is that?
 
D

Durante

Member
Incidentally I'm also LTTP on this, currently about 5 hours in. I'm loving it so far, in particular the dual character/switching mechanic and the visual/design freedom afforded by the painting levels.

The castle does seem a bit more empty than in earlier installments, but I can easily forgive that in exchange for the additional settings.

One nice thing for me - as I just played Dawn of Sorrow a little while ago - is that, playing almost exclusively as Charlotte, the whole gameplay is markedly different from the Castlevania standard. I find myself mostly killing normal enemies with various spells and seldom resorting to normal attacks. Another nice thing about PoR is that it has been quite challenging a few times so far. The only time I was truly annoyed was that swimming boss, the "stay up on the water" part of one of his attacks controlled horrendously IMHO.
 
I

Iam Canadian

and have the worst user name EVER
You enjoyed Harmony of Dissonance more than PoR and you complain about vacant rooms in PoR's design? Heck, 90% of HoD's map was just flat horizontal corridors with one or two monsters. And to be fair, Castlevania's been recycling sprites since...um...Castlevania 2.

However, I agree with you whole-heartedly regarding art design. I'll take either the NES cover style or the Symphony of the Night art style but I'm not a fan of this anime motif.
 
P

Pureauthor

Member
There are flaws to PoR, to be sure, but those flaws are inherent in just about any IGAvania ever created. If you could deal with them then, you can deal with them now.

I enjoyed it, but I was a bit disappointed with the endgame content. Particularly -
The Dracula/Death combo fight was an enormous disappointment
.
 
K

keanerie

Member
I'm sure this is kind of a long shot, but does anyone want to get on Shop Mode and sell me some items? I'm in need of Thick Glasses and a Nun's Habit to finish some quests. I knew never should have sold anything, that always comes back to bite me in the ass in any game.
 
R

rollingstart

Banned
as bad as the art for PoR is, its still better than DoS if only because AoS had such great art and you knew that there was a time when Soma didnt wear kneepads
 
F

Forgotten Ancient

Banned
Just wanted to hop in and say that while I thought the core game was pretty stale and the character switching was pointless other than having a little company while you progressed, the Nest of Evil + Richter mode do make this one of the better "Metroidvanias". As for the music, I thought it was quite good though not overly memorable.

Anyone LTTP missed out on the awesome 20th anniversary pre-order bonuses. The extendable stylus and compilation CD are badass.
 
M

:Motorbass

Member
I just bought it because it came out in Europe only last week.....

I'm after the sisters fight now and really liking it. I loved the soul grinding. Have every soul 9x and everything maxed out. Thanks to the subweapon mastering there is still grinding in the game. yay. And those weapons do enough damage at least at this point. Too bad that I'm playing Jonathan for like 90% of the game. Leveldesign is okay. At least you get around quickly and that Jack's 360° house is cool.

I'll drop my FC when I get home for some shopping and Coop-action!
 
S

Sagitario

Member
:Motorbass said:
I just bought it because it came out in Europe only last week.....

I'm after the sisters fight now and really liking it. I loved the soul grinding. Have every soul 9x and everything maxed out. Thanks to the subweapon mastering there is still grinding in the game. yay. And those weapons do enough damage at least at this point. Too bad that I'm playing Jonathan for like 90% of the game. Leveldesign is okay. At least you get around quickly and that Jack's 360° house is cool.

I'll drop my FC when I get home for some shopping and Coop-action!
Click to expand...

I think you're mixing DoS and PoR...
 
M

Magicpaint

Member
Iam Canadian said:
I don't understand the dislike people harbour for this game. The action and combat are as fun as they ever were and I think this game easily has the most challenging bosses out of any post-Symphony Castlevania, barring a few Circle of the Moon bosses. And the music was simply wonderful...one of the best Castlevania soundtracks, I honestly think. Finally, the level design complaints make no sense to me. The level design was the same basic thing in Dawn of Sorrow, except that Portrait had the benefit of greater visual variety in its environments.
Click to expand...

I agree. I do think at this point, a lot of people are noticing the flaws a lot more because they're so used to the formula now. However, PoR is still the best of the 'Metroidvanias'. The design is tighter, the action souped up to a more challenging and satisfying level, the replay value is enormous and the music is stellar. One of my favourites of last year.
 
B

big_z

Member
I just played through PoR and then right after DoS. I was surprised at how much is recycled between the two games but overall PoR was far better. Sure it sucked that some of the levels are resused in the second half but...

-the warp points are in far better locations
-no enemies atacking you right after you enter a new screen
-closer to a standard story than the super cheesy shit anime in DoS
-much better menu system
-far more interesting spells
-shit music is less shit
-chicks with vacuums lol

DoS sucks harder than dracula....
 
M

Magicpaint

Member
PepsimanVsJoe said:
Decent game but I'm tired of Igavanias. Level design is probably the worst in the series too.
Click to expand...

Nations of fools disagrees with this statement. What did AoS or DoS have to counter that? :p
 
P

PepsimanVsJoe

Member
Magicpaint said:
Nations of fools disagrees with this statement. What did AoS or DoS have to counter that? :p
Click to expand...

One bright spot. The rest of the levels were some of the most bland and repetitive designs I've seen in quite awhile.

I probably wouldn't call it the worst if it wasn't for the fact that the team has done what...seven games? You'd think they could make some improvements over time but eh whatever. I would like to think we're beyond the "long hallways with two or three large monsters wandering around x1000" maps of the Igavania series but meh.

And to think there will probably be another seven or more of these games..and to think I used to love them. :/
 
M

Magicpaint

Member
PepsimanVsJoe said:
One bright spot. The rest of the levels were some of the most bland and repetitive designs I've seen in quite awhile.

I probably wouldn't call it the worst if it wasn't for the fact that the team has done what...seven games? You'd think they could make some improvements over time but eh whatever. I would like to think we're beyond the "long hallways with two or three large monsters wandering around x1000" maps of the Igavania series but meh.

And to think there will probably be another seven or more of these games..and to think I used to love them. :/
Click to expand...

Not with tight budget constraints. :/

I don't play metroidvanias for level design though (they've never been good, IMO), so it's almost never a concern for me. One thing that's constantly improving though is the gameplay mechanics. PoR's is the tightest and most varied so far.

Pureauthor said:
Uh... what?
Click to expand...

Probably doesn't like Castlevania music.
 
Haunted

Haunted

Member
I'm just playing through the game for the first game and I'm liking it a lot. I don't really care for the anime artwork, but the sprite art and animations are first class. Its castle design and the painting levels are much more straightforward than DoS's castle imo, which is why I prefer PoR by a large margin.
 
S

Saitou

Banned
Meh, I thought just about every piece in PoR was forgettable. Not bad, mind, just not good.

That's why i always put Simon's Theme on \m/
 
M

Magicpaint

Member
Saitou said:
Meh, I thought just about every piece in PoR was forgettable. Not bad, mind, just not good.

That's why i always put Simon's Theme on \m/
Click to expand...

I thought the opposite. I think I can hum just about every single piece of music in this game, that hasn't happened for me in a Castlevania since SoTN (which is omg best music ever). The music is like a throwback to the old school style of Castlevania music. Intense, upbeat and yet sometimes creepy.

Simon's Theme is awesome though...but somehow I prefer the SCIV and Bloodline's versions.
 
W

womp

Member
Iam Canadian said:
You enjoyed Harmony of Dissonance more than PoR and you complain about vacant rooms in PoR's design? Heck, 90% of HoD's map was just flat horizontal corridors with one or two monsters. And to be fair, Castlevania's been recycling sprites since...um...Castlevania 2.

However, I agree with you whole-heartedly regarding art design. I'll take either the NES cover style or the Symphony of the Night art style but I'm not a fan of this anime motif.
Click to expand...

I said I had more fun but it wasn't THAT enjoyable, Harmony is easily a weak title as well. But in any case the reuse of the sprites seriously needs to stop. Its no wonder they popped the game out in a year. Most of its recycled art with new backgrounds and a dash of anime (UGH).
 
M

Magicpaint

Member
womp said:
I said I had more fun but it wasn't THAT enjoyable, Harmony is easily a weak title as well. But in any case the reuse of the sprites seriously needs to stop. Its no wonder they popped the game out in a year.
Click to expand...

They've been resuing sprites since CVII. PoR is hardly the sole culprit. Even SoTN used tons of sprites from RoB and SCIV.
 
W

womp

Member
Magicpaint said:
They've been resuing sprites since CVII. PoR is hardly the sole culprit. Even SoTN used tons of sprites from RoB and SCIV.
Click to expand...

Yes but that doesn't forgive anything man. Just because they've been doing it for years now doesn't mean they can't STOP doing it and reinvigorate the series from the ground up. SoTN although the best of the current crop was kind of a downfall for the series from that point on, thats not to say that SoTN wasn't a great game though but seriously the formula is busted. Iga needs to go.
 
Y

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Magicpaint said:
They've been resuing sprites since CVII. PoR is hardly the sole culprit. Even SoTN used tons of sprites from RoB and SCIV.
Click to expand...

I don't think there are any SCIV sprites in SotN. RoB though for sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Sekiro Needs A Remake
2
92
4K
Rhazer Fusion replied
LTTP: Lords of the Fallen (2023) | Great potential, bad design decisions
Opinion LTTP
17
1K
Portugeezer replied
LTTP: COD MW2 (2022) PS5
1
367
Codes 208 replied
I was wrong about Hades
31
2K
GymWolf replied
LTTP: Fallout 4 (and Fallout franchise in general)
LTTP
4
415
Agent_Nobody replied
Top Bottom