Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

What if Dracula isn't the only hope for salvation, and that hope is a mysterious symbol carved into the back of a young warrior? Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia closes out the trio of DS entries in the series and is the darkest, the most demanding, and by many accounts the best of them. The lead role belongs to Shanoa, a member of the Ecclesia order, who wields glyphs, magical symbols absorbed from enemies and the environment alike.

The glyph system is the heart of the game. Instead of conventional weapons, Shanoa assigns glyphs to each hand and combines them into attacks, spells, and devastating Glyph Union abilities. The structure also differs from earlier entries: part of the game consists of standalone locations scattered across the countryside, and only later does the traditional sprawling castle open up. The difficulty is noticeably higher, and boss battles demand precision and patience.

Behind the game stands Konami and the team around Koji Igarashi. Order of Ecclesia returns to a more serious, more melancholic tone and places greater emphasis on challenge, as if answering the voices of fans who found the previous entries too forgiving. The artwork of both the characters and the environments ranks among the most visually accomplished of the entire generation.

Culturally, this entry reinforced the reputation of the DS Castlevanias as a refuge for fans of demanding, deeply crafted metroidvanias. Order of Ecclesia regularly appears in lists of the best games of the genre on the console and is often called the most mature of the Igarashi-era DS titles.

For players seeking a true challenge and a dense atmosphere, this is a clear choice and a dignified farewell to the era of hand-painted metroidvanias on a pair of screens.

Why play: The most demanding and most melancholic of the DS Castlevanias, with an original glyph system and a heroine you won't forget.