Castlevania Dominus Collection

About

Castlevania Dominus Collection is a single player arcade role playing game. It was developed by KONAMI and was released on August 27, 2024. It received very positive reviews from critics and overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

The Castlevania Dominus Collection includes Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin, where players can explore the gothic-horror world in 2D graphics and face dangerous enemies. Dawn of Sorrow features a unique weapon-creation system through soul-combining, while Portrait of Ruin allows players to switch between two heroes, Jonathan and Charlotte. Additionally, Haunted Castle Revisited is introduced, offering both the original and redesigned versions of the first Castlevania arcade game. These games come with new features such as rewind, quick saves, and exclusive art.

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Play Modes

Single-Player

Castlevania Dominus Collection screenshot

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95%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,450 reviews

music52 positive mentions

grinding45 negative mentions

The collection features three of the best Castlevania games, each with unique gameplay mechanics and engaging stories.
Quality of life improvements, such as the removal of the touch screen drawing mechanic in Dawn of Sorrow, make the games more accessible and enjoyable.
The inclusion of Haunted Castle and its remake adds extra value to the collection, providing both nostalgia and a fresh experience.

Some players experience performance issues, including slow frame rates and crashes, particularly on certain hardware setups.
The lack of customizable keyboard controls is a significant drawback for players who prefer using a keyboard and mouse.
The original Haunted Castle remains a frustrating experience, contrasting with the improvements made in the remake.

music
137 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
60%
2%
The music in this collection of Castlevania games is widely praised for its quality, with many reviewers highlighting the remastered soundtracks and the inclusion of a music player that allows for customizable listening. The remixes, particularly of the Haunted Castle soundtrack, are noted as standout features, while the overall presentation of the music across the games is described as divine and a significant improvement over previous versions. However, some users reported occasional audio bugs and wished for more tracks, but these issues did not detract from the overall positive reception of the music.
- “The remake is short and sweet with great redesigns of haunted castle's levels, with forgiving but still challenging difficulty, and absolutely banger remixes of haunted castle's soundtrack.”
- “Gorgeous, high-quality pixel art, divine music, big maps to explore with plenty to do, much content, the value of this collection is astounding.”
- “The graphics and music, as expected, have been given a great makeover, with the soundtrack having the best official version of 'Bloody Tears' I've heard.”
- “Sometimes the music and sound effects will even cut out for a few seconds as the screen freezes.”
- “I'm not big on the endgame and the soundtrack is... just okay.”
- “The other nitpick is that some music tracks wouldn't play in the haunted castle remake when I was playing on the Steam Deck.”
gameplay
116 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
64%
14%
The gameplay across the three Castlevania DS titles is generally praised for its unique mechanics, such as the dual-character control in "Portrait of Ruin" and the refined button-based magic seals in "Dawn of Sorrow." While the touch controls have been adapted well for modern platforms, some mechanics, particularly the magic seal system, remain contentious. Overall, the collection offers smooth gameplay with notable improvements, though some design choices may detract from the experience.
- “The gameplay changes (rewind function, button press QTE instead of timed trackpad scribble for the magic seals in Dawn of Sorrow) are a breath of fresh air; the shiny new version of Haunted Castle also included is just a delight.”
- “Each game also offers its own unique style of gameplay, like the glyph system for Order of Ecclesia, or the dual character control of Portrait of Ruin, for example.”
- “It looks breathtaking with fantastically detailed pixel sprites and the gameplay is fine-tuned to perfection.”
- “The biggest point of contention was the infamous magic seal mechanic where you had to draw symbols on the DS touch screen in order to kill a boss for good; otherwise, they regain some of their health and you have to try again.”
- “Dawn of sorrow: probably the weakest experience in the collection, not bad, but the map has a very confusing path progression and it had an annoying DS mechanic where you had to draw seal circles to kill bosses. If you don't get them right, you have to fight the bosses for a bit longer before it gives you a hint on how to draw the circle. Very honestly, you don't draw the circle enough to remember; kind of annoying.”
- “But the issues are pretty detrimental to the gameplay.”
story
93 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
74%
4%
The story in "Order of Ecclesia" is praised for its emotional depth and complexity, particularly in exploring themes of generational vampire hunters and the absence of the iconic vampire killer weapon. While some find the narrative simple and linear, it is considered one of the best in the series, with engaging character interactions and a well-integrated quest system. However, criticisms include its brevity and occasional lack of clarity in plot progression, particularly in relation to side quests.
- “The story in 'Order of Ecclesia' is one of the most emotionally resonant in the series, and as an older brother myself, Albus remains one of my favorite Castlevania side characters to this day, with Shanoa being my favorite protagonist possibly not just in Castlevania, but from any Metroidvania I've played.”
- “The story, while simple and sparse, is still up there in the upper echelons of the series and explores the idea of fighting Dracula's army without the vampire killer in a way that made the experience stand out from most of the other games in the series.”
- “Order of Ecclesia has some of the best story and best boss fights in the series.”
- “The story of this one is the worst of the three... it's actually kind of bad, especially when we find out that [spoiler]the sisters are not really Braum's daughters[/spoiler].”
- “I do have some gripes about the plot of Portrait, namely the way the game poorly explains why Jonathan can't use the vampire killer whip.”
- “One criticism that is understandable is that, within the context of the story, Shanoa does not have emotions.”
graphics
93 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
72%
3%
The graphics in this collection are generally praised for their crisp fidelity and enhancements, particularly in the remastered versions of classic titles like "Haunted Castle." However, some users express disappointment over the lack of graphical options and filters, leading to a hyper-pixelated appearance that detracts from the intended visual experience. Overall, while the art styles vary and some may clash, the collection showcases impressive visuals, especially in the updated remakes, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of the genre.
- “Three of the best metroidvania games ever released bundled together with crisp graphical fidelity, uncompressed audio, near zero input delay, button and screen customization options, best rewind feature in any game, and on top of that a brand new remaster of the Japanese Castlevania 1 arcade release, all this for $25 or equivalent.”
- “This collection also has Haunted Castle; a Castlevania arcade release known for its unfair difficulty but really impressive graphics and music.”
- “The graphics and music, as expected, have been given a great makeover, with the soundtrack having the best official version of 'Bloody Tears' I've heard.”
- “No in-game graphics screen filter options, so you have to look at hyper pixelated visuals which I don't think was the intention, despite what some would have you believe.”
- “A big downside unfortunately is that it doesn't have graphical settings as far as I can tell, so I can't put it in borderless window as of typing this review.”
- “Thus you cannot expect any graphical options whatsoever regarding graphics improvement.”
grinding
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in these games is a polarizing aspect, with many players noting the excessive time required to achieve 100% completion due to low drop rates and tedious side quests. While some enjoy the grind for building character abilities and experimenting with the soul system, others find it frustrating and time-consuming, often suggesting that players either use mods or accept a more casual playthrough without extensive farming. The introduction of features like rewind has been praised for making the grinding process more manageable and enjoyable.
- “The only reason I don't rate this higher is that luck is a bugged stat and grinding to 100% can take a silly amount of time.”
- “The optional quests are grindy and frustrating.”
- “I'm sorry, I'm not a big fan of grinding.”
optimization
35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
57%
9%
Overall, the optimization of the games has received mixed reviews. While some players report smooth performance with no major issues, others have experienced significant frame rate drops and bugs, leading to refunds. Recent updates have improved performance for some users, but the lack of adjustable settings remains a concern.
- “100% worth the price of admission for the haunted castle remake alone, in my opinion, on top of the stellar performance with emulating these games, and some really cool, never-before-seen concept art.”
- “From my experiences, the games run smoothly and the touch-screen implementations are not intrusive.”
- “Edit: performance issues are gone, and there's a native fullscreen option now.”
- “There's no way to adjust the performance settings for the game, so I'm not sure how to fix it yet.”
- “I want to play this so bad but this is my message to them; we really shouldn't have to throttle our hardware to meet a 2024 released game's specs for nominal performance to take place.”
- “If you feel that the game performance is noticeably slower when playing Castlevania Dominus Collection.”
stability
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
71%
Overall, the stability of the game collection is generally positive, with minimal bugs reported at launch and no significant visual glitches or frame dips. However, some users have experienced occasional freezes, crashes, and audio cutouts, suggesting that while the collection performs well, there are still some issues that Konami may need to address. Additionally, certain glitches from the original games have been retained, which may appeal to speedrunners.
- “So far, Dawn of Sorrow runs great. The quality of life features are excellent and it's way better than playing it on a Nintendo DS.”
- “Please, Konami, and thanks for the amazing collection! The games are great; I just finished Order and so far everything looks fantastic. The games run smoothly, and the rewind feature has saved me a couple of times since I don't have the time to watch a screen and reset at save points.”
- “(2.7 hours played) So far, Dawn of Sorrow runs great. The quality of life features are excellent and it's way better than playing it on a Nintendo DS.”
- “Sometimes the music and SFX will even cut out for a few seconds as the screen freezes.”
- “I experienced two random freezes/crashes and saw some other reports in the review section, so I think that Konami should look into and address these types of problems.”
- “5th edit: crashing, visual glitches, ungainly save states.”
emotional
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its deeply resonant story, particularly the character development of Albus and Shanoa, which resonates strongly with players, especially those with sibling relationships. Many reviewers express a strong personal connection to the narrative, considering it one of the most impactful in the series. Overall, the game successfully balances emotional depth with engaging gameplay mechanics.
- “The story in Ecclesia is one of the most emotionally resonant in the series, and as an older brother myself, Albus remains one of my favorite Castlevania side characters to this day, with Shanoa being my favorite protagonist possibly not just in Castlevania, but from any Metroidvania I've played.”
- “Haunted Castle Revisited: this remaster feels like a heartfelt bonus, balancing difficulty and refreshing visuals.”
- “The story in Ecclesia is one of the most emotionally resonant in the series, and as an older brother myself, Albus remains one of my favorite Castlevania side characters to this day, with Shanoa being my favorite protagonist possibly not just in Castlevania, but from any Metroidvania I've played.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its absurdly bad default controls, which lead to comical situations, such as characters shouting their names in a chaotic manner when rapidly switched. Additionally, the irony of Konami preserving older games adds to the overall comedic tone, making for a lighthearted experience.
- “A perfect example of how to preserve older video games from Konami of all companies, which is pretty funny.”
- “The default binds are also absurdly bad to the point where it's funny.”
- “Which quite famously causes the character you’re switching to shout their name, leading to a funny cacophony as you rapidly switch between them.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users praise the character development of Shanoa in "Order of Ecclesia," highlighting her top-tier character design as a standout feature.
- “I've always thought Shanoa in OOE had a top-tier character design.”
- “+ Great character design”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
Users highlight that the games, particularly "Portrait of Ruin," offer significant replayability, making them essential experiences with high replay value.
- “Especially 'Portrait of Ruin' is a must-play game; all of them have incredible replay value.”
- “This does a lot for the replayability of these titles.”
- “Especially 'Portrait of Ruin' is a must-play game; all of them have crazy replay value.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game was unexpectedly released on Steam and other platforms without prior advertising, leading to mixed reactions regarding its monetization strategy.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
Reviewers highlight that the atmosphere of the games is a key element that sets them apart from many metroidvania clones, emphasizing that it contributes significantly to the overall enjoyment and immersive experience. The unique atmosphere is seen as integral to the gameplay, enhancing the fun and engagement of the original titles.
- “The games themselves are amazing and really fun to this day; most of the soulless Metroidvania clones still fail to grasp the gameplay, atmosphere, and feeling of these games.”
- “The games themselves are amazing and really fun to this day; most of the soulless metroidvania clones still fail to grasp the gameplay, atmosphere, and feeling of these games.”

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91%Critics’ scoreBased on 3 critic reviews

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9h Median play time

12h Average play time

7-30h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 9 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Castlevania Dominus Collection is a arcade role playing game.

Castlevania Dominus Collection is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

On average players spend around 12 hours playing Castlevania Dominus Collection.

Castlevania Dominus Collection was released on August 27, 2024.

Castlevania Dominus Collection was developed by KONAMI.

Castlevania Dominus Collection has received very positive reviews from players and very positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its music but disliked it for its grinding.

Castlevania Dominus Collection is a single player game.

Similar games include Castlevania Advance Collection, Castlevania Anniversary Collection, Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection, Mega Man X Legacy Collection, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and others.

Castlevania Dominus Collection

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