Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is a great entry in the Igavania saga. Sure, it might have had a troubled development, some corners were cut, and a few bugs remain, but whatever. It might even be my personal favorite of the Nintendo DS games. I think my favorite aspect is the rich combat mechanics. There are a lot of tools to play around with. The damage-stacking exploit is also lovely. Normally tough enemies exploding under the weight of a number geyser is absolutely wonderful. Shame the partner system doesn't quite reach its full potential. Charlotte just needed a little more flexibility, a proper dive-kick, mid-air spells... Well, at least romhacks have done a fine job of fleshing her out.
Today's hack isn't one of them. Instead, this is the Maria (and Byakko) show. Maria was already playable in the original, so here she received main character treatment. Now she can equip weapons, armor, and Jonathan's weapon skills. I'm aware of at least a couple of hacks that change the numbers around, so Jon can't immediately master the shuriken & dart to trivialize the game, but that wasn't the case here. If anything, this hack leans into the fact that Maria Renard is one of the most overpowered individuals to ever become a vampire hunter. Just to give a random example: you know how Jon can wield Zweihanders and other two-handed swords, but he has to sacrifice speed for raw power? Maria doesn't believe in sacrifice. In fact, she throws heavy blades around as if they were as light as her trademark doves. This is a boss-killer all on its own.
Taking Charlotte's place is Byakko. There are few things cuter than a spell-flinging feline, and that's exactly what he brings to the table. As a bonus, he isn't hamstrung with Charlotte's poor movement tech. Once the requisite abilities are acquired, the cat can perform diving somersaults, slide kicks, and other fun maneuvers. His claws are also quite effective, especially if you take the time to hunt down upgrades. Being cat-sized allows one to more easily dodge enemies and even engage in a little sequence breaking. You may recall the frog form in the original Portrait of Ruin. It's still here, but you won't need it since Byakko (and Maria?!?) can fit into tiny crevices just fine. No matter which character you favor, there's plenty of versatility to go around. Certain moves also have a ton of i-frames, so feel free to slide or back-dash through the danger.
It also has to be mentioned that the drop-rate for EVERYTHING is at least 12%. That's insanely high by Igavania standards, and I love it! If I'm after a certain item, I don't have to loop a specific enemy for several minutes just to (maybe) get it. The romhack was clearly designed for the duo to have easy access to all of the toys. Builds that rely on particular skills no longer require farming. It's a beautiful thing.
You're probably wondering if the castle and its minions have changed to meet this new opposition. That is absolutely not the case, I'm afraid to say. Brauner's forces probably could've used some boosted stats or greater numbers, but what's here is totally in line with the default game. Anyone with Portrait of Ruin experience is going to stomp massive holes into the opposition, and that's without digging into the damage-stacking exploits. I had a fight with Keremet - that slime boss in the cauldron - where it kept trying to target Byakko and failing miserably. The one-sided slaughter only increases in one-sidedness towards the end of the game. Final Guards will drop the Moonlight Greatsword. Yes, the same sword that appears in all those From Software titles. It's a light element blade, and almost everything in Portrait of Ruin is weak to light. If for whatever unholy reason that still isn't enough, you can fight Richter to unlock Maria's enhanced doves. I took these feathered fiends to the Death & Dracula finale, and the results were disgusting.
I have to mention that Portrait of Ruin has a very fluid approach to difficult. There's a hard mode, and players are welcome to apply a level cap to challenge themselves further. If you're feeling especially saucy, you can choose to go without the overpowered stuff. I on the other hand love breaking the enemy into tiny tiny pieces. The creator of this romhack understood the assignment. Maria in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was an anomaly. If there were any rules governing 1792 Transylvania, none of them applied to her. She was the anime protagonist crushing legions of undead with her animal friends. Catslevania continues on that trajectory, giving her even more power as well as introducing a partner who mastered every spell in the book. What follows is quite simply, a damn good time.
If you love Portrait of Ruin and want a fast-paced adventure with a fun duo who kicks comical amounts of butt, then you should check this romhack out ASAP.
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