One of those games that are always welcome to the gaming community are the Metroidvania games, unfortunately we lost one franchise that is not with us anymore. Today I’m going to talk about the game that without knowing became the last goodbye of the 2D Castlevania. I’m referring to Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the Nintendo DS. Let’s get started!
This Castlevania has something in particular that attracted me: the complete absence of the Belmont Clan and the Vampire Killer as well. The Belmont Clan always appeared on each game of the series before the game launched, at least being a secondary character. For example, Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow, Richter and Julius have a secondary role in those games.
With the absent of the Belmont Clan, many organizations appeared to replace them. One of those organizations is Ecclesia, which had a powerful weapon called Dominus, capable of destroying Dracula, but made with the rests of him. Our protagonist, Shanoa, lost all her memories and feelings thanks to the failed ritual of being vessel of Dominus. Shanoa's best friend and fellow Ecclesia member Albus, stole all the three parts of Dominus. You have to retrieve them.
The game reminds me of the classical Castlevania format: you have to cross from side A to side B of certain number of levels. And the modern Castlevania (like Symphony of the Night onwards) which you have to explore the castle as the final level. They made a great combination of the modern and old days Castlevania.
One thing I must highlight is the difficulty; this game is considered the hardest of modern Castlevania. When I played Symphony of the Night, without being arrogant, it was some kind of… easy to me, well the inverted castle was a little bit hard, but not big deal, even was my first Castlevania on beating. However, in Order of Ecclesia your abilities and experience on the series are tested here, the levels and bosses are insane, especially the castle and their bosses, but satisfying after you beat them.
Order of Ecclesia is an excellent game, a must-play for the players who like the Metroidvania genre, with good gameplay, amazing plot twists, and a lot of replay. This is the best and the last of the series, unfortunately, maybe we won't see another Castlevania, at least in a long time... I hope...
My score: 9/10