Castlevania Dominus Collection

The Castlevania Dominus Collection is not one, but three games sold in a bundle. This lets gamers interested in exploring the Metroidvania genre get a good idea of what these games are like. Despite each game being from the same designer, they all sport a little twist that makes them unique.

The bundle includes Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, and Order of Ecclesia. On top of these frontrunners, the Castlevania Dominus Collection also includes a copy of Haunted Castle. This is a much older game, but the game has been remastered and reworked.

A Unique Gaming Challenge

The beauty of this gaming collection is that each game manages to offer something unique while still keeping in the Metroidvania genre. Dawn of Sorrow for example, continues the story of Auria of Sorrow. The new main character, Soma, must avoid becoming the new dark lord—or being killed so a different dark lord can take his place.

The game features exciting gameplay such as the Magical Seal system, which requires players to use the DS Stylus to draw a magical seal as part of gameplay. It was considered one of the best games out there in 2005.

Portrait of Ruin is the continuation of Castlevania: Bloodlines, and has a historical theme. It also features two of the characters from Dawn of Sorrow. In this game players are allowed to switch freely between two players, Jonathon and Charlotte. (In Dawn of Sorrow, players can also switch between two characters in its “Julius” mode.) Finally, Order of Ecclesia offers RPG elements as well as action-adventure. The main character, Shanoa, can be equipped with Glyphs that make her stronger and faster. There are 20 locations in the game to explore, ranging from forests to mountains. An overworld map helps make exploration easier.

Haunted Castle isn’t nearly as well developed as these other games, but it’s a fun little addition and the remastering genuinely helps the game in terms of aesthetics and function.

Together, these games provide very different experiences, but still make sense as a group. They are all Castlevanias, all from more or less the same genre, but represent that genre in very different ways.

Hours of Content

This bundle offers many, many hours of gameplay. That gameplay doesn’t get old because each game is fun and unique. If you don’t like one game, simply move onto the next game. The generous number of games, and the hours of gameplay each game offers, makes this a truly competitive bundle.

Fiddly Game Controls

One minor problem with this bundle is that the games have been reworked from the original two panel system, and there are a few touch-specific moments in the games that are difficult to handle because of these changes. These touch-specific sections can be worked around, but it is annoying and challenging, especially compared to the rest of gameplay.

Pros:

• Vast number of gameplay hours in one bundle
• Different gameplay types within the same genre

Cons:

• Touch-specific sections can be difficult