In the 19th century, Dracula has returned, and it's up to the Order of Ecclesia to stop him. Unfortunately for the main character in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Shanoa, her jealous collegue Albus has made the hunt for and fight against Dracula more perilous by interrupting an important ritual and causing her to have amnesia.
In this side scrolling adventure game for the Nintendo DS, Castlevania goes for more of an illustrative style. It is the first game to have a female main character in the Castlevania series, and right now it's sounding like it will have tie-in functionality with the Nintendo Wii game Castelvania: Judgment.
Instead of using the iconic whip, Shanoa is armed with up to three glyphs. Glyphs can be activated on each arm and one as a "black glyph". The combination of glyphs will give different powers when used together, including some non-combat ones such as a magnetic glyph. Glyphs rely on a quickly regenerating power of Shanoa which does mean that players cannot just spam the attack button.
There's also multiplayer support in the game. For instance, players can trade items wirelessly between each other, and there is also a timed race mode to see who can get through a level faster.
While there have been mixed reactions to Konami's other Castlevania release this E3, players looking for a new turn of the classic play style should be happy to have a shot at Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.
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I'm really excited about this game. Rarely does Konami disappoint with a portable Castlevania game. The fact that this has been in development for about 2 years makes me so much more happier than if it was released last year shortly after Portrait of Ruin. It looks awesome! Viva exploration and vampire killing!