Portrait of Ruin, which is, oddly enough, set during World War II and is a direct followup to Castlevania: Bloodlines on the Genesis, attempts to address various issues in Dawn of Sorrow as well as introduce some new elements that take advantage of the capabilities of the DS. Those capabilities, however, do not include the touch screen; Dawn of Sorrow's seal-drawing and obstacle-destroying touch screen mechanics are nowhere to be found this time around. IGA's team has tapped into the 3D graphics offered by the system, with many of the game's floating or flying creatures being rendered in realtime 3D rather than as 2D sprites. As in most Castlevania games, the enemy roster is a motley collection of misfits; these 3D enemies include creatures such as flying eyeballs with tails and enormous floating jellyfish. In a particularly nice touch, some of the game's larger environmental elements, such as buildings, are in 3D, which makes for an appealing perspective effect as they pass by in the background. DS' online capabilities have also been tapped for this games. Dawn of Sorrow's Boss Rush mode, which has players cooperatively competing to kill enemies and bosses, returns. This time, you'll be able to play with a buddy through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. It's no full campaign co-op mode, but it's a start. There is also a "Shop Mode" that will be online-enabled, allowing players to sell and trade items they have found in-game. Konami has not yet showed this mode publically, but it most likely works just like it sounds.

Part of Portrait of Ruin's story is that Dracula's castle has once again been resurrected, this time by a vampire named Brauner. Brauner also happens to be an artist, and as some part of his undoubtedly convoluted plot, he has created a series of magical paintings in order to harness the power of the castle. These paintings serve as portals through which the player characters Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Orlean can travel. This gives the game a bit of room to expand out to more varied locales. Though of course the castle still comprises a great deal of the game, players will also be battling evil in forests, Egypt-inspired deserts, European-style towns, and so on. As usual, the 2D backgrounds are extremely attractive, and it's nice to see more variety.

One of the major new elements in the game is the presence of two protagonist characters. Jonathan Morris, son of Bloodlines' vampire hunter John Morris, is the typical combat character, wielding weapons such as blades and, of course, whips. Charlotte Orlean is a magic user, and is much more delicate than Jonathan; she does much less physical damage, and can take much less of a beating herself. She makes up for these deficiencies by having access to much more powerful magic than Jonathan's, both in the form of attack spells and defensive spells. Unlike Jonathan, her magic points charge up continuously when not being used, so she is able to cast magic much more frequently. The player can swap between the two characters at any time with the press of a button, or both can be used simultaneously with the CPU controlling one of the pair. There are also a variety of combos that can be equipped, including a basic move called Rush which has both characters tag-team the enemy with powerful attacks. Unfortunately I was not able to find additional combos in my limited time with the game.

Portrait of Ruin breaks with Dawn of Sorrow by not including the former's soul-based ability system. This game returns to the more traditional item-based system, by which characters gain access to new abilities simply by equipping items found throughout the world. Each character has eight equipment slots, including categories such as weapons, armor, accessories, and so on. Some of Charlotte's spells I was able to use include Pillar of Ice which, like the name suggests, summons one or more destructive columns of ice; Burst of Flame, which is basically a magical flamethrower; and Gale Force, which shoots one or more damaging bursts of wind. All of the spells can be charged up before casting, and the longer the charge, the more destructive the spell. For example, charging up Pillar of Ice or Gale Force actually summons multiple pillars or gales, while charging up Burst of Flame will result in a longer stream of fire.

The inclusion of two simultaneously playable characters allows for some new puzzle potential as well. One fairly basic example Konami presented had Jonathan standing on top of a pillar being pushed by Charlotte, giving Jonathan access to a hard to reach area he wouldn't have been able to access alone. As it turns out, Charlotte actually has much less pushing power than Jonathan, so it would have been easier to put her on top of the pillar. When you reach that point in the game and you pass that puzzle more efficiently, don't forget who helped you out. A Konami rep was quick to point out that this was only a basic example of such a puzzle, and that they get more interesting as the game progresses.

Completionist players will have a little more to do in Portrait of Ruin. Early on in the game, Jonathan and Charlotte meet a mysterious spirit named Wind who is apparently bound to Dracula's castle against his will. He will send you on various exploration and hunting missions, most of which are not essential to the game's completion but which may unlock previously inaccessible areas or confer unique items to the player. Wind seems to start out with fairly low expectations; his first mission simply has you walking one screen to the right and coming back. Again, however, Konami promises that they become much more involved, having the player explore distant areas of the castle or fighting more difficult enemies.

IGA has always been a big proponent of 2D gameplay, and with the DS he seems to have found the modern system that will allow him to continue pushing the genre forward. Portrait of Ruin doesn't reinvent the successful Castlevania formula, but it does expand on the many good bits of Dawn of Sorrow while trimming some of the game's unnecessary features. Look for the game later this year.

Konami plans to ship Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin in Q4 2006.