Hey all, I’m back with one of my favorite Metroidvanias for this week’s Retro Game Friday. It’s Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.

Plot: The plot of this game takes place during World War II and revolves around the titular Castlevania appearing. The story is decent and revolves around the Vampire Brauner and his two daughters Stella and Loretta taking over the castle using various painted portraits housing worlds of their own. Frankly, I enjoyed the story of Portrait of Ruin more when I was younger than the later Order of Ecclesia, though the latter has grown on me over time.

Gameplay: This Metroidvania game revolves around the player controlling two characters which was a pretty innovative idea that hadn’t been in the mainline games since Castlevania 3 outside of Dawn of Sorrow’s special Julius mode. Jonathan is the melee and physical damage dealer specialist who can use various sub-weapons like older Castlevania protagonists, and Charlotte can cast various spells to defeat enemies who are more vulnerable to magic. You could also have the characters come together to perform a Dual Crush attack which had both characters combine their attacks for devastating damage. Honestly, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin’s gameplay is extremely solid, and I enjoyed the heck out of it.

Art: The graphics have aged fairly well, though that’s not a surprise given they were mostly done with pixels. There are some 3Dish backgrounds in certain areas of the Castle and the various portraits, and at least one of the enemies, the Peeping Eye has a 3D model, but the rest is all stuff that aged very well.

Music: The music was pretty good, and it was definitely fitting.

Overall: One of my favorite Metroidvanias. This is a must play for those who love the genre or the series.

For those who like: Metroidvanias, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Drama, Solid Gameplay, Great Plots, and Awesome Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above