Playing Order Of Ecclesia gives the impression Konami shot itself in the foot with Symphony Of The Night – its formula was too clean, too perfect.

Symphony was ten years in the making, a process of gradual refinements over seven games. In the DS titles we have Symphony three years in the unmaking – gradually chipping the single castle into the standalone levels that once defined the series.

Where Portrait Of Ruin warped you from the castle to external arenas, Ecclesia is castle-free for a good portion of the game. Any excuse for Konami’s talented art team to create exotic locales should be welcomed, although the level design often forgets that Castlevania once held platforming and combat in equal regard. No matter how eerie the background, a long flat straight does not make an interesting environment.

Repetition is Ecclesia’s greatest crime. Item collection has always been a grind, but before it felt voluntary, aimed at the completionists who desire every last weapon or skill. A new side-quest system sends you scavenging for rare items in order to fill the shops in the central village hub with even the most basic goods. No health potion for you until you’ve killed 300 mermen in the hope that one happens to have a fish scale on him.

Combat benefits from a mechanics overhaul. All attacks are performed with glyphs, magical tattoos that are tempered by their need for attack energy. Your energy bar refills generously but, with up to ten enemies on screen, the balancing act between attack and recharge takes some thought. And, disappointingly, the glyphs are derivative of past adventures (does anyone ever actually use the cat transformation?), with new spells only arriving in the last few hours of play.

The latter point is indicative of Ecclesia as a whole; the game doesn’t get going until eight hours in when, ironically, it resorts to becoming Symphony Of The Night again. Once you’ve passed Dracula’s doorstep you discover more powerful skills (flight, walking through walls) and the jump button is dusted off.

By this point the grind has you armed to the teeth and ready for the endgame, and bosses aside, there’s little the Lord of Darkness can trouble you with. It is a shame that Konami so overinflates the experience through early chores, especially as it has struck the balance between hardcore fans and casual explorers so well in the past.

Admiration for even the most impressive technical feat will wane if it’s presented too many times. The sight of an Owl Knight falling to his knees to weep for his slain feathery chum should be the DS highlight of the year; watch the exact same knight repeat the performance 20 times over and his woe seems a touch insincere.

Symphony Of The Night was always going to be a tough act to follow, but Order Of Ecclesia just acts tough.

6/10