Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Overview

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is a 2006 action role-playing game developed and published by Konami for the Nintendo DS handheld system. The game is the first in the Castlevania series to feature a cooperative multiplayer gameplay mode and the first handheld entry to have English voice-overs, outside of its original Japanese release.

The game is a continuation of the events from Castlevania: Bloodlines, a 1994 Sega Genesis title. Set in Europe during World War II, the story follows Jonathan Morris, the son of John Morris from Castlevania: Bloodlines, and Charlotte Aulin as they attempt to stop a vampire from resurrecting Dracula. The game expands on the two character gameplay found in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and adds new cooperative online functionality while foregoing much of the mechanics involving the Nintendo DS touch screen.

Portrait of Ruin received an overall positive critical response and several awards as one of the best Nintendo DS games. Critics praised the game's soundtrack, story, and cooperative mechanics, while some criticism was directed towards the gameplay. The game's two protagonists later appeared in the 2010 multiplayer focused title Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. In 2024, Portrait of Ruin was re-released as part of the multi-platform Castlevania Dominus Collection alongside Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, and Haunted Castle Revisited.

Game details

Genres

Platform, Role-playing (RPG), Adventure

Developer

Konami

Publisher

Konami

Series

Castlevania

Platforms

Xbox Series X/S, Windows, PlayStation 5

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

Yes

Co op

No

Release dates

Playable today

Credits

Publisher

Konami

Developer

Konami

Released

2024-08-27

Region

US

Time to beat

about 9.1 hours