Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula: Gallery of Labyrinth (悪魔城ドラキュラ ギャラリー・オブ・ラビリンス?, lit. "Devil's Castle Dracula: Gallery of Labyrinth"), is an action video game developed and published by Konami. The game was released on November 16, 2006 in Japan, and in the US on December 5, 2006 for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. Portrait of Ruin is the first Castlevania to feature a cooperative multiplayer gameplay mode and the first handheld Castlevania to have English voice-overs.
Portrait of Ruin features a 2D side-scrolling style of gameplay. One of the main features to the gameplay is that players can switch freely between two characters, Jonathan and Charlotte, similar to the "Julius mode" from Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Jonathan and Charlotte can combine their powers to perform a powerful attack together known as "Dual Crush", and their combined abilities are needed in certain parts of the castle for them to solve puzzles and progress through the story. For example, the player must have both characters board two "motorcycles" and alternate between them to dodge obstacles to have both motorcycles intact to crash through a wall.
Aside from Dracula's castle, Jonathan and Charlotte explore other environments such as Egyptian-like deserts and London-like towns via paintings dispersed throughout the castle. During the adventure, the heroes encounter 155 different enemies, which are kept track in a bestiary. Many enemies from previous Castlevania titles make appearances either as standard monsters or bosses for the sections of the castle and paintings. As they progress, the duo learn new skills and acquire equipment and items which allow further exploration in the game.
In "Sisters Mode", the player controls Loretta and Stella Lecarde. This mode serves as a prologue to the storyline in Jonathan's Mode. They have different controls compared to the normal gameplay in that attacks are controlled completely with the stylus. Loretta is able to use an ice spell which is aimed with the player's stylus, and Stella is able to damage enemies and objects that the player passes the stylus over. Instead of reaching Dracula, the game ends when Brauner is reached. Richiter mode allows the player to control Richter Belmont and Maria Renard, in the first time as a playable character in an American or European release. There are a few minor differences in the control scheme, and they begin with all of their mobility upgrades, which allows the player to explore the castle freely from the beginning. 'Richter' is also misspelled as Richiter within dialogue boxes in the main game. In Old Axe Armor mode, the player controls the Old Axe Armor enemy. Because there is only one character, the player is unable to switch characters as in the other modes. The character also lacks any magic spells and has only two sub-weapons.
Portrait of Ruin takes place in the fictional universe of the Castlevania series. The series' premise is the conflict between the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the immortal vampire Dracula. The story occurs in Dracula's castle and is set in 1944 Europe during World War II. In addition to the castle, the main characters explore various different paintings that have been constructed by Brauner, a villain. The paintings act as portals to new areas and feature a distinct look that is different from the main castle.
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