As a hardcore fan of Bloodlines, i really liked Portait. It felt very respectful to John and Eric's legacy and a great continuation to their story. That being said, the game feels heavily rushed. The portrait mechanic is underutilized (no warp rooms to the castle, recycled themes) and the castle is clearly incomplete. I am sure of that, as there is one third of the map empty and there is no solo Loretta bossfight. It could have been so so so amazing, because mechanicaly the game is wonderful. I wish we could port it to the SOTN engine once the decomp is completed and expand the original idea
@@ThrillingDuck yeah, for me that is the strongest stuff pointing to an incomplete map. Some areas feel really underdeveloped too, like the water tunnels or the mines. I think the original idea was to fill the upper left part of the map with sections, but they couldn't make it. Some paintings could be placed there instead of being awkwardly thrown in one room
@@alescano3504 Thats because Konami was busy making 3 Castlevania games on DS. This is because Castlevania games individually don't sell well by Konami's standard, so they make up for it by making alot of Castlevania games. For example Order of Ecclesia and Judgment were made in the same year, and with the same director.
oh i see part 2 means i gotta watch sorrow first alright JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN >steps outside , it's snowing >"wait what the fuck!?"
oh yeah another thing that would have been worth mentioning for the nicer aesthetic direction is the talking to your partner in the menu o: , everyone remembers the cleopatra boss scene lol....
Lol how canon is that artwork exactly? Because I thought the armor enemies were supposed to be hollowed out, possessed suits of armor, like Alphonse Elric.
My first impression of this game was that it's somewhat bland... but that's because it's compared to Aria/Dawn of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia. The most fun I had was a charlotte-only run, I wish she had more spells to play with. I eagerly and patiently await the third gush of gothic goodness
I wish people didn’t always trash the anime aesthetic as “low budget” or “bad.” Honestly, they fit so much better with how the characters are written in these games. They feel like anime characters the whole time, and that was also true in Aria of Sorrow. The difference is that characters would say some silly anime dialog in Aria right next to a gothic painting-style portrait image, and my brain would SCREAM “cognitive dissonaaaaaance!”
This is an interesting take! I totally see what you're saying, but I think that most fans (myself included) just prefer that gothic art style for the character portraits. It's one of those touches that helps set Castlevania apart and add to its unique identity. I also don't feel that cognitive dissonance just because I think most Japanese games and anime have... questionable dialogue and writing quality anyway lol, so I'm kinda desensitized to it at this point. I respect your opinion though.
For Dawn of Sorrow i don't like the anime style since we got Ayami Kojima before it in Aria of Sorrow, but for Portrait the anime style looks really good, the characters are better looking than in Dawn and got designed from the beginning with this style.
But what if Jonathan Charlotte was Charlotte Johnathan? No, it's just Johnathan. Because Darts. Until Toads, and then it's just Charlotte, because of THE BOIS. Be Toad, Cast Toad, Toad.
I could never get into PoR. I love the metroidvania castlevanias (dos, aos, sotn). PoR seemed to me to be way too linear. Maybe its time to go back and try it again
I'm not gonna tell you it's not pretty linear for the genre (it is), but depending on your priorities, it's honestly one of the most fun Igavanias I've ever played.
Wait what? I can play as Richter and Maria in Portrait of Ruin? And on top of that I can also play as Stella and Loretta!? Shit, I never knew that when I was playing the game back then...
Yup! All you have to do is finish the regular Jonathan/Charlotte campaign one time. After that, you can select the other modes whenever starting a new game :)
another perfect score nice hheehHEHHEHHHEhahHAHAHAHAHA wh-WHy did you make that out of order edit of the intro animation wh-h-h-h-yyy X'D??? wooow it's been so long that i actually forgot that little narrative bit about the prediction for the next time dracula will be resurrected in 1999 o: i didn't even know that was referencing another already made game >-and portrait of ruin is just really really cool you guys XD can i steal this line and make that the entirety of my review for this game XD ? >assuming you don't take a small eternity to grind YES XD OOOO it's all so painful because it's true all of your complaints about the game XD , fun personal fact i was so fed up with the game after beating it's final unlockable hardmode old axe armor on level cap 1 , that i re-named the save file 99hourwaste which i still have on my cart XD oh no , like i know the unlock conditions for everything in this game are ridiculous , but i forgot , what did i have to do as a teen to get old axe armor XD ??... "tella and lorreta are bey"? what?... geez you voice acting is pretty on the mark for that saturday morning cartoon vibe lol
As a hardcore fan of Bloodlines, i really liked Portait. It felt very respectful to John and Eric's legacy and a great continuation to their story. That being said, the game feels heavily rushed. The portrait mechanic is underutilized (no warp rooms to the castle, recycled themes) and the castle is clearly incomplete. I am sure of that, as there is one third of the map empty and there is no solo Loretta bossfight. It could have been so so so amazing, because mechanicaly the game is wonderful. I wish we could port it to the SOTN engine once the decomp is completed and expand the original idea
Yeah, it did always strike me as odd that Loretta didn't get a solo fight lol.
@@ThrillingDuck yeah, for me that is the strongest stuff pointing to an incomplete map. Some areas feel really underdeveloped too, like the water tunnels or the mines. I think the original idea was to fill the upper left part of the map with sections, but they couldn't make it. Some paintings could be placed there instead of being awkwardly thrown in one room
@@alescano3504 Thats because Konami was busy making 3 Castlevania games on DS.
This is because Castlevania games individually don't sell well by Konami's standard, so they make up for it by making alot of Castlevania games.
For example Order of Ecclesia and Judgment were made in the same year, and with the same director.
That call to action at the end of the video was so cheesy but effective. New sub. XD
Lol thank you!
oh i see part 2 means i gotta watch sorrow first alright
JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN JONAOTTE CHARLTHAN
>steps outside , it's snowing
>"wait what the fuck!?"
oh yeah another thing that would have been worth mentioning for the nicer aesthetic direction is the talking to your partner in the menu o: , everyone remembers the cleopatra boss scene lol....
Easily my top 3 favourite Castlevania games
@@akhandtripathipyz9888 As much as I love SotN, honestly same.
But old axe armor is a cutie under the armor
Lol how canon is that artwork exactly? Because I thought the armor enemies were supposed to be hollowed out, possessed suits of armor, like Alphonse Elric.
@@ThrillingDuck i thought so ar first but i rather just let be my headcanon so i actually play the mode which is janky fun
@@Crim-kun Fair enough haha
My first impression of this game was that it's somewhat bland... but that's because it's compared to Aria/Dawn of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia. The most fun I had was a charlotte-only run, I wish she had more spells to play with.
I eagerly and patiently await the third gush of gothic goodness
As a fan of spellcasters, I do enjoy maining Charlotte actually lol
Love it! Great job
I wish people didn’t always trash the anime aesthetic as “low budget” or “bad.” Honestly, they fit so much better with how the characters are written in these games. They feel like anime characters the whole time, and that was also true in Aria of Sorrow. The difference is that characters would say some silly anime dialog in Aria right next to a gothic painting-style portrait image, and my brain would SCREAM “cognitive dissonaaaaaance!”
This is an interesting take! I totally see what you're saying, but I think that most fans (myself included) just prefer that gothic art style for the character portraits. It's one of those touches that helps set Castlevania apart and add to its unique identity. I also don't feel that cognitive dissonance just because I think most Japanese games and anime have... questionable dialogue and writing quality anyway lol, so I'm kinda desensitized to it at this point. I respect your opinion though.
Anime is literally a lower budget way to animate by practice.
For Dawn of Sorrow i don't like the anime style since we got Ayami Kojima before it in Aria of Sorrow, but for Portrait the anime style looks really good, the characters are better looking than in Dawn and got designed from the beginning with this style.
But what if Jonathan Charlotte was Charlotte Johnathan?
No, it's just Johnathan. Because Darts. Until Toads, and then it's just Charlotte, because of THE BOIS. Be Toad, Cast Toad, Toad.
sorry for doing the 🤓, but death actually talks to Juste in Harmony of Dissonance too.
@@maxsayo This has come up before lol. You’re absolutely correct! That was my bad.
I could never get into PoR. I love the metroidvania castlevanias (dos, aos, sotn). PoR seemed to me to be way too linear. Maybe its time to go back and try it again
I'm not gonna tell you it's not pretty linear for the genre (it is), but depending on your priorities, it's honestly one of the most fun Igavanias I've ever played.
Portrait also has one other thing for it. Portrait has the difficulty of the non sorrow games.
Wait what? I can play as Richter and Maria in Portrait of Ruin? And on top of that I can also play as Stella and Loretta!? Shit, I never knew that when I was playing the game back then...
Yup! All you have to do is finish the regular Jonathan/Charlotte campaign one time. After that, you can select the other modes whenever starting a new game :)
There's also an axe armor mode
7:42 they are the same and the worst Defender as Por they use a lot of Sprite from CV Rob
another perfect score nice
hheehHEHHEHHHEhahHAHAHAHAHA wh-WHy did you make that out of order edit of the intro animation wh-h-h-h-yyy X'D???
wooow it's been so long that i actually forgot that little narrative bit about the prediction for the next time dracula will be resurrected in 1999 o: i didn't even know that was referencing another already made game
>-and portrait of ruin is just really really cool you guys XD
can i steal this line and make that the entirety of my review for this game XD ?
>assuming you don't take a small eternity to grind
YES XD OOOO it's all so painful because it's true all of your complaints about the game XD , fun personal fact i was so fed up with the game after beating it's final unlockable hardmode old axe armor on level cap 1 , that i re-named the save file 99hourwaste which i still have on my cart XD
oh no , like i know the unlock conditions for everything in this game are ridiculous , but i forgot , what did i have to do as a teen to get old axe armor XD ??...
"tella and lorreta are bey"? what?...
geez you voice acting is pretty on the mark for that saturday morning cartoon vibe lol
Old Axe Armor mode sucks ass. I hated it. Old Axe Armor is so weak, not only in power and defense, but also in skills and movements.