After playing the non-traditional Castlevania title, the Wii exclusive Judgment, I had a chance to clense my gaming-palette with some hands-on time with Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the DS. Not surprisingly, the feels and looks incredibly familiar, following the basic “Metroid-vania” formula we’ve come to love.
You’ll be playing as Shanoa, a female member of Ecclesia, an order formed with the sole purpose of defeating Dracula. To aid in this task, you’ll absorb Glyphs by holding up on the d-pad. Once absorbed, you’ll control the power of the Glyph which will translate to various weapons and other powers. The first Glyph I snatched up was a Rapier Glyph, which when equipped allowed me launch sword attacks; glyph powers can be attached to both hands, allowing you to unleash various combos attacks that vary, depending on what you’ve chosen.
In the area I explored, I was able to find and equip Magnes, a Magnet Glyph that allowed me to connect to magnetic points in some rooms. Once attached, I was able to pull Shanoa back and launch her in the opposite direction (think a rubber band) to access new areas. This power came in handy when evading attacks of an early boss, a twisted crab creature with a human-like face.
Order of Ecclesia looks sexy, sounds great, and feels familiar, which is all good news for fans of the series. The new glyph system looks like it’ll add an interesting amount of depth and collection to already established gameplay. The game also features the Wi-Fi head-to-head and trading mode, similar to Portrait of Ruin.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia comes to the DS on October 21, just in time for Halloween.
