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Castlevania Portrait Of Ruin (DS) thread

Anyone else noticed quite a bit of slowdown in Portrait of Ruin? In particular on
Legion
but also in some other places.
 
Captain N said:
I'm about two hours in and not feeling it just yet. I liked DoS a lot more..this one feels like circle of the moon.
Click to expand...

My feelings summed up precisely.
 
A_Lee_N said:
Anyone else noticed quite a bit of slowdown in Portrait of Ruin? In particular on
Legion
but also in some other places.
Click to expand...

Yeah that happened to me a few times. Not a lot though.

Captain N said:
I'm about two hours in and not feeling it just yet. I liked DoS a lot more..this one feels like circle of the moon.
Click to expand...

I hope your experience ends up better than mine.. because the game never really clicked with me. Sure i liked a few things here and there, but still...
 
How do I beat the
Dracula / Death combo?
Maybe not beat but at least some solid strategies since whatever I'm doing isn't working well. Do I absolutely require unlocking
the Vampire Killer whip?
I was hoping that by beating them without it I unlock a special ending or something.
 
TekunoRobby said:
How do I beat the
Dracula / Death combo?
Click to expand...
I didn't find that there were any special "tricks" to it. Just dodge and attack when you can.

Or you could just cheap it and spam them with Greatest Five over and over and they'll be done pretty quickly. The double-team attacks totally break the game. :lol
 
I think I'm gonna just trade this game in.

No one seems to like it. I must be wrong about it. I hate to play games that nobody else but me like.
 
Pedobear said:
I think I'm gonna just trade this game in.

No one seems to like it. I must be wrong about it. I hate to play games that nobody else but me like.
Click to expand...

I enjoyed this game a lot more.

It's more direct, action oriented.

Dawn of Sorrow's soul bullshit pissed me off. I was micromanaging the game more than I was ****in playing it.

This game is more linear, shorter, more replay value, and slightly more challenging and easier to grasp. It's less about collecting shit than it is about pure strategy.

Game is still easy as ****, but at least it's harder than DoS.
 
They kinda dropped the ball on the
Death/Dracula
fight too. All you have to do is keep hitting
Death because he's easier to hit than Dracula, him being so huge and taking up a lot of the screen and all, and the damage you do to Death apparently counts for Dracula as well.
Weak.

Still a "cool" fight.
 
Got this on Friday, only had a chance to play for about an hour. Cleared the first portrait and just been going around trying to fill in the map on the castle, or what I can access now, anyway.

I like it so far, but I play a lot of Castlevania usually anyway. I don't like the main duo's dialogue so much, but I didn't like Soma much either, so I'm not letting that keep me from enjoying yet another good Castlevania.
 
Dawn of Sorrow was a better game overall.

However, this one feels more "pure" in its approach versus the Pokémon-esque collection of DoS. I like the increased difficulty and using warp points to traverse outside of the castle. I liked being able to collect magic from monsters and I even dug the whole gimmicky dual character aspect. What this game was sorely lacking and really needed was much stronger level design.
 
It is basically fanservice Castlevania, and I did like DoS better so far, but it's still a really awesome game. And the preorder bonus made it more than worthwhile. The battle with
Legion
was ****ing awesome, it was nice to see him again.
 
Why do people like DoS so much? It seems bland compared to PoR and the soul system sucked. Plus Soma is pretty homosexual in appearance.

In all seriousness, I like PoR, but I fear it might be too short. I've already
cured the sisters, and now I have 4 more portraits to go through, yet they seem to be palette swaps of the four previous paintings. WTF konami, stop being lazy, they should have been brand new themes!
)
 
MoxManiac said:
Why do people like DoS so much?
Click to expand...

It has some of my favorite assortment of levels, atmosphere, and bosses in a Castlevania game. Music as well. The soul system was a bit tedious -but- when all was said and done, it offered more to do in the game if you wanted; the option was there. I can see the next few posts saying "well blah blah blah I didn't want it!" but it's there nonetheless and it did put more game time on my clock so whatever. Plus it led to the AWESOME weapon synthesizing feature which I loved.
 
MoxManiac said:
Why do people like DoS so much? It seems bland compared to PoR and the soul system sucked. Plus Soma is pretty homosexual in appearance.

In all seriousness, I like PoR, but I fear it might be too short. I've already
cured the sisters, and now I have 4 more portraits to go through, yet they seem to be palette swaps of the four previous paintings. WTF konami, stop being lazy, they should have been brand new themes!
)
Click to expand...
yeah that's the game's biggest flaw. probably because it was rushed, they should stop releasing castlevania every year and just take time to make one.
 
Error2k4 said:
yeah that's the game's biggest flaw. probably because it was rushed, they should stop releasing castlevania every year and just take time to make one.
Click to expand...
Pretty much. As much as I enjoy this game so far, I think I'm going to skip the next one when it comes out, and maybe pick it up down the line used. I don't want to support Maddenvania anymore.
 
Can somebody tell me how to access the bonus area? You know, the
Demon's Den or whatever? I found that large gold cross, I'm guessing that's the entrance, but I don't know how to get in. I've been ignoring the quests, maybe that's my problem?
I have 100% of the maps on all the portraits.
 
That's another reason I like DOS more than POR. I can replay DOS and not have any issues, but the not one or two, but FOUR
repetitive portraits
just kill any idea of a replay for me.
 
hitsugi said:
has the whole "mastering" thing been explained here, if not.. how the hell do you go about that?
Click to expand...

I don't know the details, but I used the Axe as my subweapon for most of the game, and I mastered it right near the end. I wasn't expecting it, but one time after killing an enemy the word "MASTER" was written in blue above where I killed him.

So it seems like you just have to repeatedly use something, a ton of times. Not sure if other variables are involved.
 
hitsugi said:
has the whole "mastering" thing been explained here, if not.. how the hell do you go about that?
Click to expand...
Each enemy has a SP value. Hit them once with a subweapon, and when it dies, their SP is added to your skill level.

Kill a 3 SP enemy with the knife. Bam..+3 SP. Hit a 50 SP enemy with the knife then kill him with with normal weapon...+50 SP anyway.

Another thing is...Javelin subweapon for example. Grab scrolls off Armor Knights who drop the skill. Each scroll is +100 SP.
 
apparently you gain levels of mastery with the sub weapon you have equipped by killing things in general.. doesn't have to be done with the sub weapon.. now i just wonder how much of a difference 2 master rings will make
 
You can quickly reach mastery level by using your subweapons on bosses at least once. I already have four weapons mastered and I'm working on the Javelin without using a single master ring.
 
AWWWWWW HELLLLLLLLL NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWHHHH

So I get over 3 million monies and a quest is like lol come back when you have no money

**** YOU IGA
 
:lol :lol That quest made me laugh. I decided to come back to it after I build up enough capita to purchase my first mastery ring (non cheating method). Anyways you'd lose what, maybe 30 minutes building up your fortune again using the Wind glitch?
 
brandonh83 said:
AWWWWWW HELLLLLLLLL NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWHHHH

So I get over 3 million monies and a quest is like lol come back when you have no money

**** YOU IGA
Click to expand...
That's what you get for exploiting the quest bug to gain money :D
 
ok, I'm at 990%... and, all I know is that I'm missing tiny corners in the damn pyramid levels. Probably missing a few % from other spots, too.. but those areas are driving me nuts and I really don't now how to access the upper corners or whatever D:
 
Need a little help. My friend never got the Strength Glove Relic and is stuck. I got it somewhere along my travels and don't remember where. Anyone remember where this thing is?
 
hitsugi said:
ok, I'm at 990%... and, all I know is that I'm missing tiny corners in the damn pyramid levels. Probably missing a few % from other spots, too.. but those areas are driving me nuts and I really don't now how to access the upper corners or whatever D:
Click to expand...

Just
turn into the owl and fly up there? Or use the L button uppercut to jump really high? I'm not trying to be a jerk, but is that what you're talking about?

Tell me this, how did you get 990? I currently have 897, how can I be missing almost 100%? Is it
the Demon Den
? I haven't done it.
 
brandonh83 said:
It has some of my favorite assortment of levels, atmosphere, and bosses in a Castlevania game. Music as well. The soul system was a bit tedious -but- when all was said and done, it offered more to do in the game if you wanted; the option was there. I can see the next few posts saying "well blah blah blah I didn't want it!" but it's there nonetheless and it did put more game time on my clock so whatever. Plus it led to the AWESOME weapon synthesizing feature which I loved.
Click to expand...
I feel the same. I mean, I can see how people could find the souls "too Pokemon" or whatever, but I enjoyed it and it did force me to stick with the game and keep having fun. Plus, many of the souls caused some awesome effects when used and trying all of them out to see what was gonna happen was great fun in and of itself.

This game, though, has neither souls nor weapon-making. It just has a quest mode that is mostly just stuff you'd do anyway! Like "get broke", "get high stats", "kill tons of monsters", "go to place X and use function Y". It's unimaginative and lame, nothing but trying to artificially prolong the game's life. There's no fun exploration of the items, like the aforementioned souls, either. Very few of the weapons have unique critical attacks (basically the only ones I've seen have them are Alucard's Spear, Nebula and one of the axes), so there's no fun exploration of your inventory this time around either. Lame.

hitsugi said:
apparently you gain levels of mastery with the sub weapon you have equipped by killing things in general.. doesn't have to be done with the sub weapon..
Click to expand...
Not true at all. Like others have said, the sub-weapon has to be used to gain any "SP".

hitsugi said:
but those areas are driving me nuts and I really don't now how to access the upper corners or whatever D:
Click to expand...
Just jump up to the corners. There's nothing there, but you don't get the percentage for just walking through the rooms. It's a (lame) incentive for exploration.

Ancestor said:
Is it the
Demon Den
?
Click to expand...
Yes. Probably not every last bit of percentage you're missing (the total is 1000%, FYI), but a decent chunk of it. Do you know about the "Eye for Decay"? It's a rare drop from Peeping Eye, that lets you see breakable walls.
 
Ancestor said:
Just
turn into the owl and fly up there? Or use the L button uppercut to jump really high? I'm not trying to be a jerk, but is that what you're talking about?

Tell me this, how did you get 990? I currently have 897, how can I be missing almost 100%? Is it
the Demon Den
? I haven't done it.
Click to expand...

yes, the last hundred 100 is
demon's nest
. i'll check the pyramids again, but i could swear that i didn't fit into these little cracks, even with the
owl form
D:
 
hitsugi said:
yes, the last hundred 100 is
demon's nest
. i'll check the pyramids again, but i could swear that i didn't fit into these little cracks, even with the
owl form
D:
Click to expand...

OK, thanks. I need to do that, sounds cool.

You can double jump up to most places there, I do remember one or two that you needed to
fly to reach
.

One more question, is the
Demon's Nest somehow connected to the little area under Drac's staircase? I can't figure out how to access that
.
 
I just killed
Brauner, without the Vampire Killer at its "true power"... then I saved. Was I supposed to do that, or would it have made a difference? Did I just screw up any chances of getting the best ending?

PS: are there ANY walkthroughs for this game?
 
brandonh83 said:
AWWWWWW HELLLLLLLLL NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWHHHH

So I get over 3 million monies and a quest is like lol come back when you have no money

**** YOU IGA
Click to expand...

Just got that. I was like...lol okay konami, you've officially lost a sale next year when you shit out the inevitable "Concerto of Endless Agony" or "Procession of Angst" on 360/PS3, and I will be forbearing the next 2d game unless they really do something different.

I replayed SCIV in its entirety today...rocks so hard.
 
ok, I'm liking the game but it does get kind of repetitive. I like the lack of soul hunting, but some of the quests are annoying me, plus the shopping is annoying. I just hate that I accidentally sold a quest item and now I can't get it again without finding it through shop mode...

I also used shop mode some and made some good money. Selling the Royal Sword and some other rare stuff is great. I think I may have gotten Charlotte's best armor, too.

e: Also the quest setup is annoying for me. It seems really random what quests you get after completing others, and this whole "master the javelin" thing is going to get on my nerves, I'm sure. I wish I could either take whatever quests are available.
 
Y2Kevbug11 said:
Just got that. I was like...lol okay konami, you've officially lost a sale next year when you shit out the inevitable "Concerto of Endless Agony" or "Procession of Angst" on 360/PS3, and I will be forbearing the next 2d game unless they really do something different.

I replayed SCIV in its entirety today...rocks so hard.
Click to expand...

It's amazing. It really, really is. The level design, the bosses, the music... god I just don't know why they can't do something like that again. It was on the DAMN SNES. Not that I'm belittling the SNES but seriously we have much better technology and I would like to see the same level of inspiration and creativity that we used to see way back then these days on the tech we have now.
 
brandonh83 said:
It's amazing. It really, really is. The level design, the bosses, the music... god I just don't know why they can't do something like that again. It was on the DAMN SNES. Not that I'm belittling the SNES but seriously we have much better technology and I would like to see the same level of inspiration and creativity that we used to see way back then these days on the tech we have now.
Click to expand...
because IGA didnt touch CV4

anyway this game isnt as bad as some of you make it out to be. specially y2k the game is still fun for me.

but I agree this formula is old and stale needs something new and refreshing pumping a castlevania every year doesnt help.
 
I think Portrait of Ruin is a fine game. I really like it. Problem is, I love most Castlevania games. I don't love this one. Nonetheless, it was still worth the wait and is a solid entry into the franchise.
 
Error2k4 said:
because IGA didnt touch CV4

anyway this game isnt as bad as some of you make it out to be. specially y2k the game is still fun for me.

but I agree this formula is old and stale needs something new and refreshing pumping a castlevania every year doesnt help.
Click to expand...

It's still fun, don't get me wrong. I won't play a game basically to completion if I don't think it's fun
unless its a compilation of FFVII game lol!11
, but I really think the whole design concept is starting to show its age and highlight the weaknesses associated with IGA's design decisions.

If you're going to do IGA/Metroidvania, it is essential that you have spot-on level design. This game is really uninspired in its design, so it has a lot of issues. That Pyramid level was probably the worst level I've played in any Castlevania game...it was literally a straight line from beginning to end and then had verticality in some areas that really never really led anywhere.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's bad, and of course it isn't "broken," but it is probably a 7/10 game. I like lots of 7/10 games, so that's fine with me...I guess it's general staleness is kind of exacerbating the problem in my eyes. For me, 7/10 is "good," and that's exactly what I'd consider this game.

I think DoS (and AoS before that) is a much stronger entry, which I would give a 9/10 for "great." I loved the music more...and I thought the castle just tied together so much more strongly. Here it's like...yeah, we're giving you these neat varied environments, but with no real justification for each environment being what it is....oh, and our main castle kinda sucks, sorry.
 
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