It's often been said, "You can never have too much of a good thing", but sadly, that doesn't apply when playing Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Really though, it's not Order of Ecclesia's fault, either. Unfortunately, we've all been so spoiled by excellent Castlevania games leading up to this point that OOE just seems like a fairly pedestrian retread of the same old concepts we've been accustomed to since Symphony of the Night.Poor Order of Ecclesia.
Although this game does have enough to make it stand out. For starters, you play as a female, only done once before in a Castlevania game, named Shanoa. Set in the early 1800s, Shanoa's task as a member of Ecclesia, a group dedicated to the eradication of Dracula, is to recover the stolen pieces of Dominus from fellow Ecclesia member Albus, who seeks to use the Dominus to resurrect who else...Dracula. Along the way you'll learn both the purpose behind Albus' plot and the mystery behind Shanoa's dark past as well. The story, while fairly simple, works well enough to keep you entertained, and Shanoa's mysterious behavior and back story are enough to keep the player interested and there's just enough plot twists timed at the proper moment to hold that interest. The story doesn't particularly impress, it's just that many other Castlevania games have plots that follow the same formula. Some evil guy gets something with which to revive Dracula and the main character must stop said bad guy from reviving him, eventually revealing their tie to the whole plot and discovering something about themselves that they either forgot, or didn't realize altogether. Sound familiar? It's the basic outline for every Castlevania game since Symphony of the Night. As a result, most players will feel a grand disconnect despite the game not having any glaring flaws in its narrative.
Poor Order of Ecclesia.
The game itself does absolutely nothing wrong in the gameplay department either. From a design standpoint, the game is arguably the most refined out of any of the Castlevanias on the DS. The weapon leveling system from Portrait of Ruin and the Soul System have been combined into one to form the Glyph system used in OOE. In a change of pace, the need to equip weapons has been completely excised in favor of equipping these glyphs. Glyphs have many different uses and purposes. Some glyphs are swords for stabbing and piercing attacks, some glyphs are hammers for slow, powerful attacks, etc. You can equip one of these glyphs on each hand and by alternating between both the X and Y buttons; you can attack quickly in succession. You can keep this up for as long as your stamina meter allows. Pressing both X and Y at the same time will yield a special attack that consumes hearts. The attack varies depending on which combination of weapons you have equipped. Glyphs purposes don't stop there though. Some Glyphs are also magic glyphs that allow you to perform various magic spells. Some allow you to emit lightning from your fingertips; some recover your health slowly. There's a gamut of possible uses and combinations with the glyphs for you to experiment with. Much like the Soul System, most glyphs can be obtained by defeating enemies. Other, more important ones that the game requires you to obtain can be found in specific areas. You'll definitely need to experiment with all different possible combinations in order to enjoy success with the game, particularly when it comes to the bosses. The game boasts some very interesting and challenging boss encounters that force the player to think rather than swing their weapon over and over until all their health his depleted. Many boss fights will have you stumped in learning the proper strategy on how to defeat them. It may seem frustrating at first, but it's an ultimately rewarding experience when you do figure it out. The game's innovations don't stop with the battle system either; most of the game takes place outside of Castlevania, and similar to Simon's Quest, there's a village that serves as a central hub, where assisting some of the townsfolk will net you various items and information to aid you in your quest. Unlike Simon's Quest however, the game's different areas are connected together via a world map where you just select where you want to go and you're instantly transported there rather than having to trudge through interconnecting areas to progress. Exploring existing locations will eventually open up new areas and getting the proper items or glyphs will allow you to return to an area previously explored and open up a new path that wasn't there before. Sound familiar? That's because it is. Ultimately, the game, despite its little nuances, is exactly the same kind of Castlevania game they've been making for over 10 years now. Koji Igarashi has gone to this particular well many times and Order of Ecclesia may have just drained it of every last drop. The game does everything well. It's a perfect refinement of the formula we've come to expect from Castlevania now. Ayami Kojima returns after being absent for the first two DS games to design some absolutely stunning and gorgeous characters and locations. Michiru Yamane returns to score a fabulous soundtrack. The piece, "An Empty Tome" takes its place among the all time Castlevania themes. However, throughout the entire game experience, right up until the credits roll, in the back of your mind you can't help but feel and overpowering sense of sheer apathy towards the whole thing, despite the fact that you just played a great game. You can't shake the feeling that no matter how great of an experience it is that you've already experienced greatness that is similar or equal to this before. It's the same problem that a franchise such as The Legend of Zelda currently faces. Each subsequent experience is less intriguing or engaging than the last. Not because of any faults within it's design, particularly, but rather because of the company it keeps.
Poor Order of Ecclesia.
Sad, but true. Order of Ecclesia's main problem is that well, it exists. It's not the game's fault that it's simply another Symphony of the Night offspring in a family that has grown too large. Hopefully, the game will be seen as the end of an era. This game will hopefully represent for the SOTN era of Castlevania games that Rondo of Blood did for the originals. Order of Ecclesia could be, and really, should be, the proper send off to the Symphony of the Night style of Castlevania. I'm not saying that the series is dying or that no future Castlevania games need to be made, but rather I'm issuing advice towards its creators. Guys, take heed of the lessons from franchises like Mega Man.; that sometimes, too much of a good thing and lead to just too much of something, period. It's obvious that the series, and indeed Koji Igarashi himself may have burned themselves out by making so many games in such a short time frame. That being said, I still encourage all to check out Order of Ecclesia if they haven't yet done so, as it's a really fantastic game that has a sad, unfortunate fate of being bundled with equally excellent brethren and that’s what keeps it from being classified as simply good, rather than truly great.
Poor Order of Ecclesia.
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