Castlevania is a gaming franchise that is basically two separate franchises in one, both equally fun in their own rights. First, we have the Classicvanias, the tight and linear platforming gauntlets focused on deliberate action-platforming and console-pushing setpieces. For me, that subset of the series peaked with Rondo Of Blood, a game I've already raved about. But then, there's the Igavanias, a subseries of metroidvanias with RPG elements mostly produced by Koji Igarashi. These games tend to be pretty consistently great, to the point where I can see any of them (aside from Harmony) being someone's favorite. But for me, it's Order Of Ecclesia, hands down.
Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia was the last Igavania to come out prior to Igarashi leaving and making Bloodstained. It's also the last truly mainline Castlevania game we ever got, and while I'm not sure if it was ever intended as such, I can't say it doesn't feel like a summation of everything great about the series as a whole.
Order Of Ecclesia tells the story of Shanoa, a member of the titular Order Of Ecclesia which is tasked with fighting Dracula in the place of the Belmonts. This immediately makes Ecclesia stand out as it's one of the rare Castlevania games alongside Bloodlines and Portrait Of Ruin to not be about the Belmonts, and Shanoa is a pretty cool protagonist, even looking past her sick design. Despite losing her memories, despite being tricked into reviving Dracula, despite having to fight her brother who proceeds to die to protect her, and despite not being credited or remembered for anything she did throughout the game, Shanoa spends the entire game staying true to her goal of taking down Dracula with the same tenacity and determination of any real Belmont. While I think the Sorrow games probably have the best story in Castlevania, Ecclesia is definitely up there for me for just how emotional, tragic, and lovably gothic it can get.
Order Of Ecclesia has what is probably the most mechanically rich gameplay in the franchise, and that's saying something considering how fun the tag-team mechanic in Portrait was. In Ecclesia, you don't have standard weapons. Instead you have Glyphs, which are basically an evolution of the Souls mechanic from the Sorrow games in that you collect them by killing enemies. There's a wide variety of different Glyph weapons and spells, and not only can you dual-wield Glyphs, but you can also carry three sets of Glyphs that you can swap between at will. This essentially means that Order Of Ecclesia allows you to carry and use six weapons at a time, and that's just as fun and freeform as it sounds. The one caveat is that every Glyph uses up MP, but that's really not as bad as it sounds. It's more like the MP limit in Touhou Luna Nights where it's more there to discourage sloppy play and spamming attacks. On top of the weapon Glyphs, you also get some incredibly fun movement Glyphs across the course of the game like being able to slingshot yourself across magnetic fields and a super satisfying dash move, so between that and the incredible combat, this is easily the best a Castlevania game has ever felt to play.
Order Of Ecclesia also takes a unique approach to its level design, splitting itself into two distinct halves. The first half of Ecclesia is level-based in a similar fashion to something like Shantae And The Pirate's Curse. Areas are often linear paths, but you may have to backtrack to them to take different routes with your new abilities so while it's structurally a lot more like a Classicvania, it still has a good amount of metroidvania-esque elements as well. Once you enter Dracula's Castle, though, the game opens up and we get the more exploratory Igavania style fans know and love. It's a really interesting way to blend together the design sensibilities of both Classicvanias and Igavanias, and I think it really paid off here. In general, Order Of Ecclesia just feels like the ultimate Castlevania experience. It's got the complex combat of Portrait Of Ruin, the fluid movement of Symphony or late-game Aria, the brutal difficulty of Circle Of The Moon, the collectible attacks of the Sorrow games, and more linear obstacle courses like in the Classicvania games. And I mean, you saw the Castlevania II reference, right?
Speaking of brutal difficulty, I haven't even talked about the bosses yet! Order Of Ecclesia has hands down the finest roster in the series, they are all so fun, creative, and challenging. Even what could've been a pretty standard fight against a Giant Skeleton is elevated by a striking prison setting which has both you and the boss illuminated by stoplights. Brachyura is another early highlight, a giant crab you fight in a cramped vertical shaft, culminating in Shanoa telling it to "go to hell" before dropping an elevator on it. Still one of the coolest finishing blows in gaming history. The midgame fights against Albus and Barlowe rank as some of the best in the series for balancing emotional heft with legitimate challenge, Wallman and Blackmore have some of the trippiest visuals in the series, and the final fight against Dracula completely shatters conventions by having him challenge you to a fist fight.
As far as presentation goes, I can't really say that Order Of Ecclesia does much to stand out compared to its predecessors on the DS. They all boast some fluid spritework and striking background designs, but I will say I really like the overall darker and more gothic vibes Ecclesia is going for specifically. Just look at the boxart, which contrasts the cold blues of Shanoa and the harsh reds of Dracula's Castle with the pale white of the full moon to striking effect. As for the soundtrack, it's freaking incredible. I'm not sure if it tops Rondo Of Blood for me, but it comes damn close, and it manages to do so entirely on its own. Castlevania has a tendency to remix tracks a lot, especially Vampire Killer, Beginning, and Bloody Tears, so Ecclesia having a 50+ track soundtrack with the only remixes of note being fairly niche like The Tower Of Dolls and RIDDLE is such a breath of fresh air. And the original tracks it introduces are absolutely incredible, with some of the many highlights including A Prologue, A Clashing Of Waves, Emerald Mist, Wandering The Crystal Blue, Unholy Vespers, Sorrow's Distortion, Lament To The Master, and of course, the absolutely sublime An Empty Tome.
As I keep mentioned, Order Of Ecclesia feels like the complete package as far as Castlevania games go. It has one of the best combat systems in any 2D platformer I've ever played, leans on the gothic vibes harder than any other game in the series, packs in one of the best boss rosters out there, bridges together both styles of Castlevania to great effect, and charts entirely new paths for the series with great new characters, music tracks, and gameplay ideas. If this truly is the final mainline Castlevania game, I couldn't have asked for a better sendoff.
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