Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night

Take control of Alucard, son of Dracula, and experience Castlevania in a whole new way.

JP release: 16th July 2010
NA release: 16th July 2010
EU release: 16th July 2010
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Destructoid Review: 3.5/5
Platforms: Windows Phone, iPhone
Version Played: Windows Phone

A puzzle game based on Castlevania for smartphones? I certainly didn’t have high hopes for this one but, thanks to a Windows Phone version and an emulator for Android, at least I can actually play it. What I discovered when I played it pleasantly surprised me.

Let’s start with the puzzle mechanics. This is just Puyo Puyo, two blocks fall at a time and you orient them to try and match combos of 3 of a kind. Get combos and dud blocks will be dropped on your opponent (you can also get dud blocks in your regular pairs). Completing a set next to one of these blocks will turn it into a regular block, so they can actually be useful for some high chains.

I wasn’t expecting to get very far in this game, but it’s not just about the puzzle itself, as it’s also a turn based combat game. You and your opponent will take turns doing damage, and the puzzle allows you to deal extra damage. There are also spells that can help you deal more damage, avoid damage, heal yourself or make pairing blocks more difficult for your opponent. On top of this, there are also items (mainly healing) which appear as a block, and scoring next to them will trigger its effect

All this is essentially the combat system for the main story mode. Here, you explore the castle from Symphony of the Night by moving from room to room on a map. Some trigger battles, while others will have items. Other rooms will be inaccessible until you have a specific ability. While you don’t have real movement, this is still a Metroidvania style game where you’ll need to backtrack to access new areas.

As you battle, you’ll also level up, and you can pick and choose which stays to increase, either base stats like strength or magic to unlock new spells. This does mean you’ll need to do plenty of grinding later on, especially if you’re not too good at puzzle games. You’ll also find items which grant stat boosts and other abilities.

One issue I do have is how random victories can feel. Quite often, I would face an opponent, reload (the game saves per room) and utterly trounce them before I’ve even done anything significant. Until near the end, you can often progress by just trying again and getting lucky. That is, until you approach the end.

Once you have the bat transform, you can reach Dracula’s Keep bad fight Richer – although you don’t want to do that just yet, as you’ll want to find the Holy Glasses first. One boss you encounter for this is the Succubus. Just like you can perform spells, so can a few enemies (the Imp is just as annoying as the game, blocking you from moving a piece for your own drop), and the Succubus can turn all your new blocks into dud blocks for a while.

Which means a ton of grinding at the end of the game. While there’s still a good and bad ending, there’s no full inverted castle – instead you have a straightforward level called “Demon Corridor” with some very tough bosses. For what was originally a sub £5 mobile puzzle game, it’s already done far more than it needed to, and a full second castle would be a bit too much. Considering the DSi was out and the 3DS was out the following year, I’m very surprised that this didn’t get a digital release for that, I think it would have done very well.

Fun

Without the issues surrounding the use of screen space and controls, Castlevania Puzzle would have been a phenomenal title. They really nailed the presentation, and I have no doubt that this game plays like a dream on the iPad where there is ample real estate for proper puzzling. I would snatch this game up in a heartbeat for XBLA or PSN if it were released there as well.
Sean Carey, Destructoid

Remake or remaster?

It would be great to have a remaster of this in a proper Symphony of the Night remaster.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night