The Successor's review of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin's soundtrack, on Chapel of Resonance

glennmagusharvey

Courtesy link: http://www.chapelofresonance.com/media/portrait.html

This person (whom I will assume is male for the sake of having a pronoun to use)...he dislikes the intensely rhythmic but chaotic boss theme DESTROYER, but likes the boring area theme The Hidden Curse.  He dislikes the glorious hamminess of Great Gate of Darkness, and dislikes two great remixes of older tracks--the stormy Crucifix Held Close (previously known as "Cross Your Heart") and the great action track Iron Blue Intention, but he thinks that the opening-FMV theme Gallery of Labyrinth is nice.

At least we agree that opening-area theme Invitation of a Crazed Moon, the melancholy Silent Prison, and dramatic and tonally-creative VICTOREAN FEAR are nice.

Strangely, he doesn't even mention Jail of Jewels.  I don't think it fits its area very well (interior hallways and the castle treasury), nor its title, but it did take a while to grow on me and I actually like it as an action track.

(NOTE: Strangely capitalized track names are actually part of the original soundtrack's formatting.)

glennmagusharvey

I just posted a comment to his review...but it doesn't seem to show up.

So in case it doesn't get put up there, I'm going to post it here:

Hey there!

Great review, and I agree with a number of your points--
* Invitation of a Crazed Moon is a great intro track that's actually quite refreshing (as opposed to Ruined Castle Corridor sounding a bit like a rehash of Dracula's Castle from SotN).
* Silent Prison is a surprisingly enjoyable track given the rather boring area that it's used in.
* VICTORIAN FEAR is great with both the "punch" (as you put it) of intensity as well as with its complexity in tonality.  A great first-area theme that gives off a sense of danger.
* Dance of Sadness definitely depicts the two sisters well, by combining feelings of elegance and tragedy.

That said, I gotta disagree with a few others:
* I really like DESTROYER, as I feel it delivers strong rhythmic intensity alongside harmonic instability and that's useful for some bosses--perhaps not someone like Keremet, but The Creature wouldn't be too far off the mark.  It actually kinda recalls the Archenemy boss theme from Harmony of Dissonance, another boss theme I quite enjoyed.
* I think that Crucifix Held Close has a stormy atmosphere to it--especially the intro--that well matches the Dark Academy.
* The Iron Blue Intention remix is great, and makes what was a great track even better.  Perhaps its area could have used more clockwork traps and the like, especially since its original usage came along with that.
* Great Gate of Darkness is a gloriously hammy track that fits Abaddon to a T, as well as DoS Death's laugh as you enter that boss arena.  I think it's great for bosses that are the "overwhelming presence of evil" sort--think back to SotN's "Death Ballad" and remember how nastily huge Legion was--but with more malice.  So, it fits both evil and demented or overwhelmingly evil bosses.
* I was never very entertained by The Hidden Curse.  For some reason it always seemed kinda boring, like a generic action track.

I'm a bit surprised you never mentioned Jail of Jewel/Jail of Jewels.  I don't think it really fits its areas or its title, but it's gradually grown on me as a nice action track that just takes a while to build up--but build up it sure does.

And finally, no mention of The Gears Go Awry?  It's one of the better clock tower themes I've heard--instead of trying to imitate SotN the way Aria's clock tower theme did, it goes for its unique feel.  The track could be tonally more developed and have a longer loop I think, but otherwise, I think it's excellent.

At first I thought that Dawn's soundtrack was better, but after several months of not playing either game, Portrait's soundtrack gradually grew on me.  I don't really like Portrait the game that much, but the soundtrack turns out to be quite nice in my opinion.

(That's not to say that Dawn isn't great itself--it's got Dracula's Tears, Subterranean Hell, and others.  And to compare the corresponding top area tracks from these two games, I think Demon Castle Top Floor is better than Gaze Up at the Darkness.)

MadassAlex

My general issue with Castlevania soundtracks is their lack of instrument-quality separate release.

For what it's worth, I didn't find Portrait of Ruin's soundtrack that memorable, probably because I was spending too much time getting my ass kicked by everything. 

glennmagusharvey

Well you'll be even more meh to Ecclesia's since it's even more likely to kick your ass.  That said, Portrait's two-character controls are a bit wonky...

also lol @ me playing as Charlotte all the time because it was just more convenient.  And she's cuter.  And she has stone circle, which makes everything easier.

(I also hate Portrait's premise, but whatever.)

My general issue with Castlevania soundtracks is their lack of instrument-quality separate release.

There actually is an "orchestrated" version of the Portrait soundtrack.  That's what the second CD of the OST contains.  Here are some samples:
* Invitation of a Crazed Moon:
* Chaotic Play Ground:
* DESTROYER:
* Iron Blue Intention:

And you know how to use related videos.

MadassAlex

Hey, shit, awesome!

I tended not to use Charlotte much, since I am extremely simplistic and the concept of using a non-hitty character breaks my fragile intellect.

glennmagusharvey

She hits things too.  With books and things that magically come out of them, albeit.

MadassAlex

I can read the words, but the sentence doesn't make sense.