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.
