E3 2008: Hands on with Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia on DS

Back in May we had our first look at Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, the newest instalment of Konami's long-running action series, but today we finally got out hands-on with the game. As we expected, it's shaping up to be another entertaining evolution of this never-tiring franchise.

Our time with Order of Ecclesia started at the very beginning where heroine Shanoa receives advice from her mentor, Barlowe. What ensues is a short tutorial that instructs on the basics of the glyph system we outlined in our first look. Glyphs enable Shanoa to perform a wide range of attacks via magic. Essentially magical runes, you can absorb them from the surrounding environment or fallen enemies.

Equipping them to Shanoa's left or right hand enables you to execute their effect with presses of the X and Y buttons, respectively. When you have glyphs equipped to both arms, you can execute a glyph union by pressing both X and Y, as well as up on the D-pad. Doing this not only strengthens your attack power, but also combines the effects of whatever glyphs you have equipped.

After learning the ins and outs of the glyph system, Barlowe tasks you with finding a former pupil of his. Named Albus, the rogue understudy has possession of the powerful Glyph Dominus. Barlowe tells you to recover the glyph. Tracking down Albus means navigating a variety of locales from a castle, town, and massive galleon. Of course, there are plenty of horrific creatures to slay along the way including zombies, lizard men, and series standby the living skeleton – we killed plenty of those, to be sure.

Building on the previous instalment's multiplayer functionality, Order of Ecclesia brings back item trading via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Even better, a head-to-head competitive mode can be played locally. We weren't able to try it out, unfortunately, nor confirm whether the mode will support online matches.

Konami did outline that the game connects with the upcoming Wii fighter Castlevania Judgment, though. Linking the two games up allows you to access bonus characters in the Wii title.

Although we weren't able to get as far into the game as desired, we're extremely excited about Order of Ecclesia. The glyph system is not only interesting and flexible, it represents an innovative change for the series. An autumn release in North America ensures you'll get to try it yourself soon enough (a European release hasn't been determined yet).