This time around, you control a female protagonist, which is fairly rare in the Castlevania series. Her name is Shinoa, and she is a member of the Order of Ecclesia, one of many organizations that were formed to fight Dracula after the vampire-hunting Belmont family went missing.
The game is laid out very much like its two predecessors, with a large map that must be thoroughly explored and items that must be collected in order to proceed to new areas. In an effort to expand the environment, you can also travel around to new places in larger world maps. Once you select a location to explore, the more familiar map pops onto the screen.
There are, of course, hordes of nasty monsters to fight, and Konami is very excited about the new combat system, which has been dubbed the Glyph System. As you explore the world, you'll come across glowing shapes (the glyphs) that Shinoa can absorb to gain new attacks and abilities. Just like standard weapons, the glyphs must be equipped to your left or right hand before you can use them. Just remember that any weapon that is the result of a glyph is magical, so attacking with it will drain your magic meter. The meter quickly recharges, but getting a little overexcited with your glyph attack can leave you defenseless when you're in a tight spot.
If you need a little extra boost, you can equip the glyphs to both hands. This speeds up your attack and allows you to pull off an extra-powerful move. Occasionally, you'll find that enemies will create glyphs within their bodies as they attack. When you see a creature begin to glow, that's your cue to absorb their glyph power right out of their body.
Glyph Notes
The first couple of glyphs that we saw in action were relatively bland. One resulted in a rapier weapon, and the other formed a sword. The third one was much more interesting. A circular magnetic field appeared around Shinoa, and when it came into contact with a metallic sphere on the wall, she immediately became tethered to it by a magnetic band. From there, you could freely move her around the sphere or slingshot her off of it to reach a higher ledge. You could also chain the move to continue grabbing onto new points to fling yourself higher.
Although this feature wasn't on display in the demo that we saw, Konami tells us that the game will allow you to compete against a friend over Wi-Fi. You'll also be able to use Wi-Fi to buy and sell items and equipment that you collect. The setup will presumably be something similar to what we saw in Portrait of Ruin.
One thing that some Castlevania fans have complained about with the two previous DS titles was that the artwork was redesigned to give the characters more of an anime look. Konami apparently took these criticisms to heart as the art has a very different look this time around. The character designs still have a very Japanese feel, but they look like more mature illustrations as opposed to the shonen cartoons that we've gotten in the other games.
Even if the past few "Metroidvania" titles have all felt somewhat similar, it's hard not to get excited about this new one. The games are always filled with interesting level designs, great power-ups, and some horrifying enemies (this one includes a giant crab boss with an oddly human-sounding roar). We like what we've seen so far; now we just need a chance to play it for ourselves.
