The Nintendo DS is undoubtedly one of the heaviest-hitting portable gaming consoles. While Konami delivered only one epic search-and-find Castlevania with Symphony of the Night on PlayStation; the DS got three. Each game was utterly massive and featured pixel art and animation comparable to what the PlayStation could do… within the DS’ 256 x 192 resolution of course.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection was a fine compilation of the 8-bit and 16-bit titles. Castlevania Advance Collection combined the trilogy released on Gameboy Advance, plus Castlevania: Dracula X on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Castlevania Dominus Collection compiles Order of Ecclesia, Portrait of Ruin, and Dawn of Sorrow making them playable on a single screen, freeing them from the DS for the first time.
How did Konami let the boys at M2 make these DS games playable on current platforms? What kind of features can fans expect? Have old issues been addressed? What is with the extra fourth game included in this collection? Find out in our Castlevania Dominus Collection review!
Castlevania Dominus Collection
Developer: M2, Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Release Date: August 27, 2024
Price: $24.99
Dawn of Sorrow is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow and further explores the dark destiny of Soma Cruz. A cult of Dracula worshippers is determined to make him complete a ritual to become the lord of shadows. There are two endings, one of which is a bad end which depends on the player’s actions.
Succumbing to evil unlocks a bonus mode where players control Julius Belmont, Yoko, and Alucard in a showdown with evil Soma. Dawn of Sorrow is a pretty epic Castlevania that refined many sloppy aspects seen in Symphony of the Night. Better equipment is earned logically and there are much less worthless items.
Soma’s ability to absorb the souls of monsters is where the game allows players to experiment and tinker with combinations and even gear load-outs. Some abilities are used for exploration, many are for combat, and there are plenty of amusing joke powers too.
Regretfully, the Luck stat is still bugged in the Dominus Collection. The drop rates are infinitesimally low and while trying to acquire a piece of equipment or enemy soul, you’ll end up over leveled from the grind. In a way, it does foster unique experiences for players. Not everyone will be able to get everything. This was a problem in the original game and it’s still an issue in this collection. Despite this flaw, Dawn of Sorrow is one of the best entries in the Castlevania franchise.
Portrait of Ruin is set during World War II. Jonathan Morris, a vampire hunter and bearer of the vampire killer, and his assistant, Charlotte Aulin, a cute witch come face to face with Brauner, a demented artist in Dracula’s castle. Using his magical art, he can harness Dracula’s powers into his paintings which become worlds for Jonathan and Charlotte to explore and exorcise the evil within.
Of the three titles in the Dominus Collection, Portrait of Ruin has the deepest gameplay thanks to the two-character gameplay mechanics. Players will tag-team between Charlotte and Jonathan mid-battle and sometimes use both characters to solve environmental puzzles. Both have their strengths and weaknesses and can harness enemy souls, using them differently. Some boss battles will turn the tables and have players face two bosses at the same time… it’s pretty epic.
Portrait of Ruin‘s level design takes the metroidvania elements and turns them on its head by breaking up areas into zones, connected by a hub area. This helps the game distinguish itself and fosters more variety in the level design, while also keeping exploration manageable to prevent confusion about where to go. It’s a lengthy adventure packed with content, alternate endings, and multiple unlockable playable characters. Portrait of Ruin is worth the price of admission by itself.
Order of Ecclesia was the final Castlevania released on Nintendo DS and the last time Koji Igarashi worked on the franchise before Konami rebooted it with Lords of Shadow. The Belmont clan has vanished and only the Order of Ecclesia can prevent Dracula’s inevitable resurrection. Shanoa is one of the Order’s agents and follows a trail of incidents and kidnappings leading up to the dark lord’s return.
Shanoa’s game is a mixed experience compared to Dawn of Sorrows and Portrait of Ruin. It takes some risks by having the protagonist focus almost exclusively on glyph magic she inherits from foes over traditional gear. In most regards, its design is a precursor to what Bloodstained would ultimately become. The level design takes a step backward featuring linear layouts and a bigger focus on combat over platforming.
The change in focus is slightly disappointing coming off of the prior two entries, but Order of Ecclesia is still a fine Castlevania game. While the boring level design is unfortunate, the pixel art and animation are some of the best the franchise has ever seen and pushed the Nintendo DS to its limit. Just like the other titles in the collection, Order of Ecclesia features a wealth of unlockable modes and an alternate playable character.
Castlevania Dominus Collection also includes the 1987 brutal arcade game, Haunted Castle and an all-new remake, Haunted Castle Revisited. The remake is completely rebalanced to be more fair, giving players infinite continues and redesigned sequences. The new pixel art and animation are excellent and resemble what Castlevania might have looked like as a 3DO game. This is a neat extra and is an awesome cherry on top of a wonderful collection.
All of the games included in the Dominus Collection are some of the best DS games, but how could they translate as single-screen experiences? M2 found a way and the solution is simpler than you’d think: have all screens fit on a 16:9 aspect ratio. The map screen, character stats, and enemy info are always displayed on the right side of the screen. It is an effective solution and makes it so players don’t have to pause to look at the map.
Other touchscreen elements like the glyph signs in Dawn of Sorrow are reimagined as quick-time events. Tapping to break the ice is done with a cursor like a point-and-click game. Mercifully, most of the touchscreen gameplay is relegated to Dawn of Sorrow. By the time Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia came around the developers dropped all the gimmicks.
Like all Castlevania games, all the titles in this collection rock. Since they are DS games, the sound quality is not going to be on par with the likes of Symphony of the Night. These were games designed with a bitrate range between 16kpbs and 320kpbs, so some compression is expected, but it is nowhere near as crushed as the Gameboy Advance games as heard in the Castlevania Advanced Collection.
Castlevania Dominus Collection features a ton of production art and full scans of all the manuals across all regions. The menu is slick and displays fully animated intros from each respective game. A rewind feature comes in handy and is more evenly designed here where it can’t be abused too much due to the limited rewind range, forcing players to learn how to play.
Another quality-of-life feature is the option to save anywhere. This is a staple in almost every retro revival since not every game back in the day allowed saving. Its inclusion in the Dominus Collection is less forward-thinking since all of the DS games already had a feature. It is handy if you find yourself needing to stop and the protagonist is a long distance from the save room but is otherwise an easily overlooked feature.
Every game in Castlevania Dominus Collection is a winner, and you get Haunted Castle Revisited to shake things up. It must have been tricky for M2 to get the dual-screen game design to work on one screen, but they nailed it in the most pragmatic way possible with the slickest presentation.
The value gamers get in the Castlevania Dominus Collection is unbeatable, and each title included offers something unique. Whether it is Dawn of Sorrow‘s touchscreen gimmicks, Portrait of Ruin‘s tag-teaming, or the savage difficulty of Order of Ecclesia, you can expect to have a grand time with any of them. They’re masterworks all, you can’t go wrong.
Castlevania Dominus Collection was reviewed on a PlayStation 5 using a code provided by Konami. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Castlevania Dominus Collection is now available for PC (via Steam), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
