Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is the third Castlevania game released for the Nintendo DS handheld platform. Though developed by the same team that created Portrait of Ruin, it has dropped the anime inspired artwork of its two predecessors in favor of a more traditional gothic style. It is also notably the first canonical game to feature a female lead (due to popular demand), who is known as Shanoa.

Releases
This game is confirmed to be released on October 21st, 2008 in the US and October 23rd 2008 in Japan on the Nintendo DS.

Gameplay
The basic gameplay is like all other "Castleroid" style games. The system for this game is known as the Glyph System. Shanoa is able to absorb the powers found in glyphs found throughout the castle and within enemies. These glyphs gain her magical weapons and abilities and consume her magic meter, which automatically replenishes itself. She can equip a glyph in her right hand, her left hand, and on her back, marking a return to the two-handed weapon style only seen in Symphony of the Night. Each usage of glyph absorbs magic meaning simple attacks use magic. However, equipping certain glyph combinations in each hand will give the ability to activate a "Glyph Union", which will execute a powerful special attack that consumes hearts instead of magic. Enemies will simply "drop" glyphs and she will have to absorb by holding up. Additionally, there are Glyphs that affect the environment, although details on this are virtually non existent. Recently it has been shown that there are glypes that allow Shanoa to transform into monsters (the only three seen so far are a harpy/succubus form, a cat-women form and werebat form).

Plot
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia takes place after Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, sometime in the mid 1800s. As the Belmont Clan had vanished by that time, several organizations are created in order to research countermeasures against Dracula and his army's eventual return. Between these organizations, the most promising was the Order of Ecclesia who created a triad of magical glyphs based on Dracula's own power named "Dominus". Shanoa is a young lady chosen by the order's leader, Barlowe, as the human vessel for Dominus, but just before the ritual is performed, the glyphs are stolen by Shanoa's best friend Albus, and she embarks on a journey to retrieve them, unaware of his true intentions.

In her pursue, Shanoa arrives in the deserted Wygol Village and finds out that Albus kidnapped its inhabitants and keeps each one of them imprisioned in a different location. As Shanoa rescues them throughout the game, she learns that Albus captured them to perform some kind of experiment in them which involved draining samples of their blood. Each villager rescued provides Shanoa with tasks that once completed, provide new rewards. Although completing the tasks is not required to complete the game, its final areas are only unlocked when all villagers are rescued.

In two occasions, Shanoa manages to track down Albus, who willingly lets her retrieve one of the Dominus glyphs in each one of them. But when she finds him possessed by the power of the third glyph, she is forced to battle him. If there are villagers left to rescue at that part of the game, Shanoa retrives the final piece of Dominus after killing Albus and immediately returns to Ecclesia to perform the ritual. The game ends with her death and Barlowe's plan completed.

However, if all villagers are rescued before Shanoa's final confrontation with Albus, his conscience fuses with hers when she absorbs the final glyph and she learns that Albus true intentions were to find a way to defeat Dracula without Shanoa using Dominus, as he knew that it would cost her life if she used it. He also reveals that the reason he experimented on the villagers was because they were the last descendants of the Belmont Clan, and he (erroneously) believed their blood would have the power to help him control Dominus without it consuming him. As for her lost emotions and memories, he revealed that Barlowe used them to create the glyphs, a fact he hid from her.

Confronting her master after learning the truth, Shanoa hears from him that his true objective all this time was to bring Dracula back to life using her as a sacrifice. After Barlowe is defeated, he ends up offering his own life to fulfll his ambition. With no memories left, no emotions left, and with the death of those who were most precious to hers, Shanoa sets for Dracula's castle to put him back into his eternal slumber, and complete the task she has spent her whole life preparing herself for. Shanoa goes through Dracula's castle and confronts him. She successfully defeats him using Dominus, but seemingly at the cost of her own life. However, Albus appears and reveals that only a soul has to be offered. He gives up his own in Shanoa's place, but not before he asks her to smile for him. Castlevania crumbles into dust and Shanoa escapes.

Cast
Members of Ecclesia Villagers
 * Shanoa
 * Albus
 * Barlowe
 * Nikolai
 * Jacob
 * Abram
 * Laura the Jeweler
 * Eugen
 * Aeon
 * Marcel
 * George
 * Serge
 * Anna
 * Monica
 * Irina
 * Daniela