Every year we like to recognize the best in gaming on Nintendo consoles.
DS - Best Action Game
After a decade of playing minor variations on the Symphony of the Night forumla, Konami finally brought the funk with this year’s excellent Order of Ecclesia.
In many ways, Ecclesia brings the franchise back to its roots with its brutal difficulty and stage-based game progression. But plenty of Symphony elements still remain. Ecclesia retains the RPG structure of its predecessors, and includes a giant castle as its final level.
Combat, however, feels completely new, and players can tailor three different sets of Glyphs for any situation. The ability to wield two weapons at once really opens up your options, and spell-finding isn’t the monotonous grind-quest it was in Aria and Dawn of Sorrow.
It also helps that the game looks drop-dead gorgeous. The production values have never been higher, with epic backgrounds, a whole slew of new enemy sprites, and wonderful particle effects. Shanoa, the game’s heroine, is the best Castlevania protagonist in years, and her story is tragic but ultimately uplifting.
Runner-up: Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
