Glitches and Fun Facts
The Greatest Sprites: Sometimes you just can't replace the classics. Jonathan and Charlotte's successful trek through the Nest of Evil will net them the "Greatest Five" Dual Crush, which summons forth five legendary heroes (Richter, Leon, Trevor, Juste and Simon) whose combined might deals to enemies a devastating blow. Though heroes have been reimagined in animating this incantation, the developers threw in a bonus for longtime fans: The two NES-attached heroes, Simon and Trevor, will on occasion appear in their classic 8-bit forms. (Contributed by Amar Youkai.)
Death for the Dead: One of the series' basic RPG elements introduced and made standard in Symphony of the Night was "Enemy Weaknesses." Dark enemies would fall to light, icy foes to fire, watery adversaries to lighting, and so on. Portrait closely follows the blueprint but adds a tangible result to the use of fire-based weapons against the undead; mainly, Zombies--in addition to suffering extra damage--actually shed their flesh and become your basic bone-throwing Skeleton. This mechanic affects all enemies of the type, including normal Zombies, Wights and Ghoul Kings. (Contributed by Danny.)
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A Falling Out: The Revenge: If in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow you were the intense soul-collector, you'll recall that you could put your Persephone ability to "good use" and torment the demon of the same name. Perhaps still stinging from the experience, Persephone years later turns the table and now assaults the heroes in much the same way. (Contributed by Sr. Lan Belmont.)
Manners Over Mutilation: The enemy known as Zacchino will plunge his Cutlass sword into the heroes Jonathan, Richter and Old Axe Armor as much as look at them. The nobleman shows his true colors, though, when in the presence of a female warrior--in this case Charlotte Aulin or Maria Renard. Upon sight of either young maiden, the blue blood Zacchino will drop to one knee, declare his reverence ("I love you!"), and present to her a rose. A heroin can respond to this disarming gesture by ignoring it, simply turning her back ("To which he'll lament, "Oh, no!" or "Don't reject me!"), or by more likely chopping him to pieces. (Contributed by Sr. Lan Belmont.)
Birthday Blues: Didn't get that new video-game system you wanted? No one showed up to the big birthday bash? Don't fret--throw yourself a party by changing your DS' system settings to the current date. Start up the game, select any of your mission files, and head straight to Vincent's shop, whose cache will now be increase by one item. Your friend in pain, the understanding yet still capitalistic Vincent, will offer you a birthday cake for 3,000 in currency. What a pal. (Contributed by Amar Youkai.)
Wasting Time in Style: What has always been a simple mechanic in games prior--holding up on the digital pad to coerce your hero friend to strike a steadfast pose--is taken up a notch thanks to the antics of Jonathan and Charlotte. To get the most out of our attention-deficient heroes, head on over to Vincent's shop and strike said pose by holding up on the d-pad. After a few seconds, the concerned Vincent will comment on the heroes' lack of action, to which they'll respond with respective taunts: Jonathan will whip out an air guitar, rocking out in thunderous silence while Vincent shows interest in the availability of the unseen Charlotte, who responds; Charlotte, more collected, will toss her hands and cape over her shoulders and comments, "Not bad, huh?"--Vincent, until alerted to his presence, fearing for the unseen Jonathan's life. If both are present on-screen, Vincent will comment more cautiously; he'll instead hint that they'd be the "perfect couple," to which they'll respond in their respective feisty ways.
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Painting to the Soul: Brauner's words aren't just true about his approach to battle, an artistic assault worthy of a demonic painter--it's the very trademark of his dimensional portraits, which are just as alive as the forces that created them; a painting will show its first sign of life, its display whimsically swirling about, whenever a hero places him or herself within its vicinity. More than discovering its true nature as a portal, you can actually tell whether or not its boss guardian is still present within; if so, the swirling of the painting's contents will transition into a skull head and back. When the boss is defeated, the skull head will also relieve the portal of its presence. (Contributed by Kev.)
Heart Donor: Isn't it enough that poor animals were slain, skinned, mutilated, diced and processed? Not if your name is Jonathan or Charlotte. Our callous heroes want only to finish "ripping out the heart" of these poor, deceased delicacies. They'll do so in the City of Haze, the game's first "Portrait" area, home to a meat shop with a room-wide display of its fleshy product. If you're desperate for a quick magic fill, head to this room, unequip your striking weapon, and attack the pig remains, which under this condition will always drop hearts as they explode. (Contributed by Danny.)
Bloody Tears: Stella and Loretta have had a rough go of things: They at an early age lost their mother, Gwendolyn; they were later turned into vampires, whence they forged a relationship with the undead Brauner, who they loved like a father before they found out the truth about him; and they then, after being healed of this condition, lost their real father, Eric Lecarde. They'll sometimes be reminded of this fate anytime the unlockable pair should perish during their mission--a special "Game Over" screen, picturing a "crying woman" (perhaps Gwendolyn?), will randomly appear. (Contributed by Sr. Lan Belmont.)
A Falling Out: The Final Insult: Perspehone may have waited all those years to turn the table on clothes-wrangling heroes, but you don't have to wait as long to extract revenge. No--instead, switch to Charlotte, hunt down a Persephone, and use the"Tempest" spell while in her vicinity. The demonic maid will momentarily struggle against the violent wind storm, forced to hold onto her dress to avoid having it torn off. While the event is short-lived, it sends the dark forces a clear message that involuntary strip-searches should be administered only by heroes. (Contributed by Santos Strife.)
City Connection: Castlevania composers love to pay homage to the series' history by rearranging its most-classic tunes, we know, but it's also true that occasionally they like to give nods to music from other Konami franchises. They do so in Portrait of Ruin, whose two Forgotten City themes (Sandfall and In Search of the Secret Spell) are actually rearrangements of two separate stage themes from King's Valley 2: The Seal of El Giza for the MSX2. Specifically, they're rearrangements of the tracks Demo Among Pyramid and BGM 5.
Breaking the Spell: You're a hero, man, which means you don't have time for things like conversation, proclamation or any form of narrative. Put your hurried nature to the test by collecting a spell while at the very moment attacking a nearby enemy. If you pass the test, the result of which a rare occurrence, you'll be able to move about even while the game is providing its alleged game-freezing description of said spell. (Contributed by Amar Youkai.)
Out and About: It seems that Symphony of the Night's out-of-castle glitches were all the rage with hackers and exploration-hungry scamps alike. This practice continued with the future titles created using its mold. It continues here thanks to Charlotte and Jonathan's toad morph ability, which must first be secured. The power in your inventory, head to the Great Stairway and to a top room where you can see outside the castle and specifically a sloped roof (left side). Put Jonathan in the lead and on a platform whose bottom is parallel to the roof's tip, press up against the wall, have Charlotte use the Toad Morph (by hitting "R"), and then have Jonathan use the Rocket Slash sub-weapon; this will result in a rather bouncy hero now free to roam the castle boundaries. This will work in any area where there's a thin sloped wall. To thereafter return to the castle, use a Magical Ticket. Be warned, though, that suspending and returning to the game while "out and about" will result in the game freezing. (This glitch, contributed by Amar Youkai, is not present in the European version.)
Givin' Drac a Hard Time: This glitch requires a specific process. First copy a cleared-game file to another slot and then start a new game using the copied file. When the game begins and you first catch sight of Vincent, immediately switch off your DS, then restart the game and select your new file. If done correctly, you'll find that the heroes' mission-starting stats now match the high-level stats as procured in the previously cleared file; you'll have in your possession all of the items and quest-clearing abilities, a completed map plus you'll start right from the very same save room. The contributor, Amar Youkai, notes: "This will not help you get the bonus item(s) that are normally unlocked by completing the Hard Mode; all it does is tell you that your file is on Hard Mode levels 1, 25 or 50, with your previous file's statistics." (Note: This glitch is not present in the European version.)
Raising the Dead: The Sandy Grave-inhabiting Amphisbaena--the half-woman, half-beast snake creature--will momentarily retreat when under heavy fire. There are times, though, when the former Diplocephalus just wants to get as far away as possible, game mechanics be damned. Put this sentiment to the test by attacking Amphisbaena's upper body with the knife subweapon until it backs itself into the room's right wall; if at this point continually struck, Amphisbaena will actually begin to float in the air, apparently trying to escape northward. (Contributed by Amar Youkai.)
Tiger Knee: Jonathan is sure to procure the Knee Strike sub-weapon, which will allow him to dash at enemies with a vicious knee to the nether-regions. Why not conjure up and tap into the athleticism of the past Richter Belmont and take this attack to the next level? Do this by first equipping the sub-weapon before placing Charlotte as the lead character; have Charlotte jump and before double-jumping hit the "R" button to activate the partner-assist attack. That is, Jonathan will dash forward, his knee outstretched, and attempt to emulate Charlotte's movement by ascending into the air and off the screen. He'll disappear offscreen but automatically return to her side. (Contributed by Amar Youkai.)
