Anyone who had a Nintendo DS back in the day knows that it boasts a little selection of Castlevania games that are some of the very best in the series — and the latest collection from Konami finally gives PlayStation loyalists a chance to sample their delights.
Dominus Collection brings together Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, and Order of Ecclesia as mainline entries, along with a remastered and reworked version of the older arcade game Haunted Castle, retooled to be more playable by modern standards. It's a generous package that feels generously priced, and offers hours of fun exploration, secrets, and boss fights to uncover.
Each of those three main DS games is a delight to rediscover, and they all bring their own little twist to the table. Dawn of Sorrow sees returning protagonist Soma able to absorb demonic powers to mix and match his loadout of spells, and its castle hides plenty of optional extras. Portrait of Ruin has you hot-swapping between a melee or magic-focused character to give you real flexibility and range for fun puzzles. Order of Ecclesia, meanwhile, is possibly the most rounded and accomplished of the three and gives its hero Shanoa SOMA-like absorption powers with the addition of hybrid attacks. Haunted Castle isn't quite as chunky an option, but it's still a fun little addition.
The games are now presented in one main panel on the left of your screen, with two additional squares on the right comprised of the game's map and your stats to replace the information that would have been on the DS' lower screen. It works very well, and it's only on rare occasions that some touch-specific moments require an awkward workaround for you to get past.
With gorgeous pixel graphics, weapon builds to learn, and enemy designs that continually delight, plus some excellent maps to explore and uncover, this is a fantastic little collection that should please any Metroidvania fan. That each adventure is a little more digestible compared to 25-hour epics from recent times is an added bonus.
Comments 12
Got this on the switch myself, but at the price it's at, it's a great buy on any system.
I don't know why Konami shadow dropped this without any pomp and circumstance. Saved on the advertisement budget and passed it on the price, i guess?
Still a trailer announcement and some social media posts aren't exactly expensive.
Thankfully the game speaks for itself.
Playing this on switch a it's just priceless if you are a castlevania fan. Incredible awesome fun. The touch stuff workaround is passable, the rest is just great.
It took a little while to get used to the second screen implementation, which is functional but not exactly elegant, but I’m finding this collection as addictive as the last one. It’s become my go to portal game for bite sized monster slaying.
The second best Castlevania collection after Dracula X Chronicles on PSP (Rondo remake with ports of OG rondo and SOTN). The NDS era was the peak of this style of Castlevania game.
I recently got a Switch and even though it makes more sense to get this collection for a system where the touch screen controls are in tact, I got it for PlayStation anyway. That's where all my other Castlevania games are afterall.
Really loved dawn of sorrow and liked portrait of ruin. Never did play order of ecclesia but it might be time to change that...
This one wont have PS4 version?
@DeepEyes Yeah for some reason konami skipped it
I've been wanting to play order of ecclesia for a long time so looking forward to eventually getting this. And the other games are a bonus too
I can't believe it's not on ps4. I still check everyday on the store, we never know.
Not sure why it's not on PS4. It's not like it needs more processing power for NDS graphics lol.
I love Order of Ecclesia though. Sadly the NDS copy is pretty expensives, especially if you try to found a CIB.
Looking forward to it! I hope the map doesn't cause screen burn in mind.
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