They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Fittingly enough, the percentage completion rating for
Portrait of Ruin is 1000%
My first write up involving the Dominus Collection was in fact, more of a to the point headline piece involving the launch trailer. Nothing wrong with a quickie mind you, as I sometimes just very unfortunately do not have the time to get much done in the way of the creative before my day job proper but after my sleep deprived ass finally gets some well earned shut eye. I did however, waste a perfectly good article name that I thought was far more deserving of a much greater piece of conceptual execution, hence why The Belmont’s Day Off moniker continues to get some mileage.
To be fair, so did their lineage..
the bastards have been around
for 1000 years, mind you
My first write-up ended up being more of a quick recap of the fall of the series itself, and in a weird twist of irony, spoke about the ways in which the other two titles, Dawn and Order, were more unlike Portrait of Ruin, the game of which was originally suppose to be my main focus of writing. The article ended up having some excellent fruit to bear, so I let it ride. A further irony involving the Dominus Collection was how slow of a burn it has been in enjoying the games, which comes as a shocking revelation when one considers just how long I’ve been awaiting the titles seeing the light of day once more. I nearly didn’t even pick the collection up on top of everything else, as it was not made available for the PS4 (I still don’t have a PS5), and I do already have a healthy little pile of Castlevania trophies on the system I was wishing to throw a few more onto.
Same vibes
To be honest, writing directly about Portrait of Ruin has me feeling antsy for some reason, and I can’t necessarily pin down why that is. I normally love sharing my thoughts about gaming and infusing some humor and philosophy in my approach at deconstructing any virtual reality set before me, so feeling a bit beside myself in crafting an article specifically about Portrait is definitely a head scratcher, to say the least. Perhaps the game is evoking some seriously nostalgic sensibilities within me, which has been something of a regularity in the past on ATE, so I’m led to believe it is not entirely just that element. I do know that PoR does what any good game should do to me when I task myself to write about it: and that’s wanting to play it more than wanting to write about it, and that does prompt me to wonder how many and or what kind of games fall into which category in that regard.
I can’t help but feel he’s involved somehow with that sentiment
I also feel like I’m kind of in a strange energy of a creative fervor, where I have a load of thoughts in my brain that I just want immediately out and onto the screen, but seemingly don’t have the patience to do so, not unlike how illegible my handwriting gets due to my writing speed not being able to match the pace at which my brain works. I am self-aware enough that my penchant for speed running often gets in the way of my ability to maintain orderliness, but this is starting to get out of hand. So in the spirit of just how massively discombobulated both myself and this write up are now currently being reflected upon as, and in turning my back on any proper etiquette I may have cultivated over the years as an editor proper, I am just going to word vomit onto this keyboard and hope for the best.
Really missing out an a Typing of the Dead high score opportunity
with that kind of approach in mind
At this point I’m half tempted to just continue writing a massive ramp up only to end up *not* talking about Portrait of Ruin, in some weird schadenfreude level of comradery with the reader. Laughing now at the one person who came here because they’re like the #1 PoR fan, totally fan-personing out over the idea of getting a fresh take on one of their favorite games of all time just to be devastated that what they’re met face to face with instead is some surly son of a bitch taking the piss about Dracula related affairs. This does bring up a great point about the idea of inherent value in writing and in sharing conceptual worth just on some basic, visceral level. Like, maybe if I had advertised a killer pumpkin pie recipe and then went on a 1000 word tangent about the absence of a dusty clan of vampire hunters gone M.I.A only some blood sucking, sweet toothed maniacs would be giddy with glee about, both as Dracula enthusiasts and baked good devotees, who know a good pumpkin pie recipe when they read one.
In a fun twist: it would still be Castlevania related, I contend.
(Thank you Curse of Darkness for being positively absurd).
But I guess this is all very much on point for me with Portrait of Ruin, as it is with much of the Dominus Collection. The Belmonts are very much nearly not there, just haunting the hollowed grounds that set the wheels of current events in motion, which is kind of where I’ve been with writing about the collection thus far. Perpetually at a distance, being a relevant player behind the scenes, while simultaneously doing my civic duty to support the awesomeness that is ensuing, one day at a time. I will leave you with at least one final thought related to the main qualitative value of Portrait of Ruin: historically reflective.
Next time on Active Time Event: Portrait of Ruin
(With the follow up having 1000% more analysis)
~Pashford
Active Time Event 