Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is the second title of a three game Castlevania series released for the Nintendo DS, which was preceded by a game trilogy for the GBA.The story takes place in the year 1944, during the horrors of WWII, Dracula's castle rises once more, soummoned by all the death and chaos the war has caused.Jonathan Morris, son of John Morris from Castlevania: Bloodlines, and Charlotte Aulin, a mage descendant from the Belnades clan and Jonathan's best friend, are sent ot investigate if Dracula has indeed resurected.Once they arrive they discover that the castle apparently has a new master, a vampire artist by the name of Brauner and his twin vampire daughters, Stella and Loretta, but whenever the castle appears, Dracula is never too far.The gameplay follows preatty much what previous instalmets of the series have marked, as you will still have to explore the castle, wich is divided in several areas, while battling foes to gain experiense and level up to become stronger, search, or buy, new weapons and equipment and face fearsome bosses to continue the stroy.While the game still contains this elements, Portrait of Ruin adds some new features.The main feature is the partner system, in this game you control two charcters, each with their own strenghs and weakness, Jonathan is an expert with weapons and physical strenghs but lacks magical abilities, while Charlotte is the magic powerhouse, but not very good in terms of physical stats.You will be able to switch between characters at any moment or have them both active at the same time, one controled by the CPU of course.In additon of the partner system you can also master several other forms of special skills, such as sub-weapons in Jonathan's case and magic spells for Charlotte, aswell as special skills called Dual Clash, witch is performed by both characters.While the castle is still divided in several areas, be it the Entrance or the Master Keep, the main levels are accessed via portraits located all over the castle.This levels are something compleatly different from the castle, like the pyramid in the middle of the desert in the Sandy Grave or the abandoned university in the Dark Academy.The game is allso very challenging, as the enemies and bosses keep getting stronger and stronger as the game progesses, forcing the player to increase their level and find new strategies than only rellaying on brute force to survive.While the game still made in 2D graphics, the animations and level designs are very fluid and great looking overall, but it also adds some nice 3D effects every now and then in the background, giving a great visual experinece.The music is also great, as it is mixture of great new themes and copuleted with classic songs from games like Bloodlines.In addition of the music, the sound effects are also very well done and have an excellent voiceovers acting, making it feel more alive and, in ocasions, funny.In terms of controls the game is also very solid.They are simple and easy to handle, and while the partner system might seem a little complex, it's easy to learn and get comfortable with.What really adds to this game it's the replay vallue.Once the game is beaten with Jonathan and Charlotte, the player has the option of replay it in hard mode or better yet, with new characters, like the twin sisters Stella and Loretta or the duo of Richter Belmont and Maria Renard.The player can even play as the enemy Old Axe Armor if certain conditions are met.Castlevania: Porttait of Ruin is an outstanding game that boasts in excellent graphics, fantastic music and sound, great challenge and an amazing gameplay and replay values.It's easy one of the best games, not only of the series, but in the DS game library aswell.