In a few ways, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is a bit of a return to the series' roots. The exploration elements introduced with Symphony of the Night are still around, though the overall structure feels more like a marriage of Portrait of Ruin and Simon's Quest. Meanwhile, the combat system has been revamped, introducing new strategies to slay hordes of monsters.

Order of Ecclesia ditches the anime look that has become the visual trademark of the handheld Castlevania titles in favor of a style that is much closer to Symphony of the Night. Though it doesn't look nearly as sharp as Dawn of Sorrow, the backgrounds and enemy designs still stick out when compared to other DS games. As always, it's the smaller details, like animation, that sell the experience. Even commonplace effects like fog or Shanoa's "absorb" animation push everything along. The visual designs are complimented by excellent music and sound design. Really, there's no other way to say it other than the game looks and sounds great.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia once again pits you against Dracula, though this time you won't have access to the Belmont clan's legendary whip. In fact, you aren't even a member of the Belmont clan, but instead you play as Shanoa, a young girl with the ability to absorb glyphs, including one that has the ability to keep the head blood-sucker at bay.

Levels are scattered across a map and most of your equipment is purchased from a town. Since you are no longer limited to the confines of a castle, there is more opportunity for variety in levels. The new system is one of the game's strengths. New levels are introduced through the story, eliminating the need to search for that one random weak wall to unlock a new path and tedious backtracking. With a few exceptions, the only time you really need to backtrack is if you decide to take on optional side-quests. Occasionally, you will need to rescue townspeople who, once free, will return to town and offer up new items in the shop once you complete side-quests. These are rarely more complicated than finding certain items, but considering most items are random drops, expect to do a little grinding. Not going for side-quests won't handicap the overall experience, but it will make things much easier if you decide to put in the effort.

One of the pitfalls of the new level layout is that early on the game feels limited, especially when you consider the steep difficulty. You can only travel to a handful of areas and it isn't uncommon to feel like you're stuck. Luckily, the structure becomes much more open and forgiving later in the game.

Multiplayer feels like a last-minute afterthought, though the ability to set up your own online store and sell items for in-game gold makes a return.

One of the more common complaints about the last few Castlevania titles was the lower difficulty. In response, Konami has gone back and upped the difficulty level considerably. While I'm tempted to say that game isn't completely unfair, I can't say I never felt like a particular death was cheap. One-hit pushovers from previous games can now take a few more hits, while bosses require multiple restarts before you can get the pattern down - and even then victory isn't a guarantee. On one hand, the difficulty plays right into the hands of the combat system and forces you to think about your equipment. At the same time, the initial slate of weapons feels a bit awkward and unbalanced. The initial level offerings already feel limited, but when you're constantly restarting or grinding enemies to gain a few extra stat points, it can feel outright restricting.

Combat sounds much more complicated than it really is. The glyph system works similar to souls in Aria of Sorrow; after defeating certain enemies, a symbol appears that Shanoa can then absorb. Once captured, she can equip the glyph like a weapon. From here, the system isn't much different than the old combat system only every time Shonoa attacks, a little MP is drained. However, unlike past games, MP regenerates quickly, though it does force you to think about how you'll approach combat. The limitation keeps you from randomly swinging at enemies and even forces you to think about which weapons you'll use in each area. Early in the game, you earn the ability to equip three sets of glyphs, offering more options. It also reduces the hassle of constantly pausing into a menu to switch gears.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia brings the house when it comes to difficulty, but don't let that scare you away. Order of Ecclesia is an experience that shouldn't be missed.