Latin, despite being called a "dead" language, is still used in many technical fields today. Castlevania Dominus Collection takes its name from the Latin term for "Master", and it indeed is a masterful collection of Castlevania titles.

Some background first. Castlevania Dominus Collection is a collection of all the games released in the Castlevania franchise for the NintendoDS, now ported to run on other systems. The original games were tailored for the specific mechanics of the DS, such as their split screens and stylus functions. The Dominus Collection features a modified emulation of their original ROM data patched to work on other platforms without needing DS-specific code. As for the Castlevania franchise, it's a series about defeating Dracula and every other monster one can crib from public domain fiction. The DS titles are some of the finest and regrettably some of the last unreservedly praiseworthy titles in that franchise before the series degenerated and stagnated afterward. Most are playable in multiple language versions, including US, European, and Asian releases.

The plot of the included games is as follows. Dawn of Sorrow takes place after Aria of Sorrow, where Dracula is confirmed defeated for good, and attempts to take up his mantle are foiled. However, not all who would attempt this have learned the folly of this madness, hence Aria hero Soma Cruz must make sure the powers of Dracula never fall into evil hands once again.

Portrait of Ruin goes back in time somewhat to 1945. While World War II rages, Johnathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin, as agents of the Church, must prevent Dracula from being reborn. In the process, they will settle old debts stemming from the plot of Castlevania Bloodlines, its prequel.

Order of Ecclesia is something of a "Gaiden" game, or a side-story game that is not essential for the canon to make sense, but still is considered a canon entry. Taking place several centuries before the other two mentioned, the aforementioned Order is trying to perfect ways to defeat Dracula when the Belmont Clan is not available to stop him. Shanoa, the most promising member of that order, is chosen to wield the Order's powers, which is meant to stop Dracula. In the process, she learns quite a bit not only about Dracula but also about herself.

As a bonus, both the original "Haunted Castle" and an enhanced port of the same (both being an original arcade game for the Castlevania series as opposed to the arcade port of the first NES game) are included. Haunted Castle is a brutally hard platformer game in classic arcade style, with an enhanced port featuring improved resolution and display fixes.

The three main titles of the collection are of the "Metroidvania" style, a term referring to the exploratory world structure of the Metroid games and the theming of the Castlevania series. In these games, the player has access to all parts of the world, with more opening up as the player finds new abilities. They can revisit older areas to discover new secrets and paths, and several endings are possible in these games, with the best endings requiring heavy searching of all possible areas for how to unlock them. In all three, the player must slay various monsters, visit a "hub" area where they can recover health and purchase items, and ultimately defeat the overarching villain of the story after getting past a variety of levels and bosses.

Each game has a different signature series of abilities. In Dawn of Sorrow, Soma can use the abilities of various monsters as his own. In Portrait of Ruin, both Charlotte and Johnathan have their own special abilities and select weapons, with some that can be used for combination attacks. Shanoa has a tweaked version of Soma's powers that can be mixed and matched for varying situations like in Portrait of Ruin. While Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin are not overly difficult games, be advised the difficulty of Order of Ecclesia is quite high and should be played much more carefully than the first two.

Graphically, all three games are set in 2D, with the first two featuring a hand-drawn anime style for character portraits, and Order of Ecclesia opts for a harsher, more Westernized art style for character portraits. All three share a similar 2D anime style for settings and backdrops, though the third has darker tones for its colors than the other two. The ports of these games are rendered with a main screen and split screens for the map and other information to the side (though this can be modified as the player prefers). The scaling from the small resolution of the Nintendo DS to much larger screens is generally competent and they all look just as detailed as their original versions.

These games all feature synth, orchestral, and some gothic instrumental music. There are some limited voiceovers, mostly grunts and the odd phrase or two. The quality of the originals was very high by DS standards, and the sound quality on these ported versions is about the same or even better, especially since on PC especially the speakers are much better.

These games are all best played with some sort of controller. The developers even have a warning screen to this effect when you first start. They are playable with a keyboard and mouse, but the keys cannot be rebound and this is not very optimal for play in any way. As long as you use any form of supported controller (I used an Xbox One controller), all of these titles will play smoothly.

As for stability, these games did receive some fixes, and some of the show-stopping bugs that could crash games and corrupt saves were fixed. A few are still present, as I got a random crash at rare intervals using certain combination attacks in Portrait of Ruin (a bug from the original not entirely fixed), but otherwise these games load and run well. The system requirements are quite modest and this will run well on Windows. This title is rated as Playable on the Steam Deck and also runs well out of the box on Linux via Steam Proton. In terms of port quality, all three of the main titles of this collection are upscaled and ported admirably. All details render well at high resolutions, the gameplay mechanics unique to the DS have been ported as smoothly and pragmatically as possible, and the gameplay of each remains as excellent as their original versions, just far more accessible for modern players.

One last note for those who may wish to extract the ROM data of the games for use on the Nintendo DS emulator of one's choice. While entirely possible and legal, the ROM data has been altered and may not work on either real hardware or most emulators, so bear that in mind.

Given the premise of these games, some moral concerns need addressing.

Violence is action style, where the player must use a variety of weapons and powers to take down monsters, both humanoid and otherwise. While there are some displays of blood, remains disappear after death. All violence takes place in the context of self-defense against malicious beings who are threats to humanity. Worth noting some monsters do look pretty disgusting before dying, with rotted flesh and entrails on display, though the low detail mutes some of the horror.

Language is going to be mildly earthy. D*mn and h*ll are mentioned generally in a religious context, though there are some rare mentions of a** and b**t**d, though the latter has an entirely innocent usage in referring to the style of sword one can wield.

There are some nude-looking female monsters (succubi and related), but typically no explicit details are shown. A few voiceovers from the same have some mild innuendo, but that's about it. For the most part, the protagonists wear entirely sensible outfits appropriate to the time and setting of the games in question.

Being a game about Dracula and every other undead and demonic being rolled into one universe, there is a heavy supernatural and necromantic presence, albeit these are all portrayed as clearly evil and worthy of destruction. Some of the protagonists can use some of the same powers as the monsters, albeit they do so for "fight fire with fire" reasons, with their uses explicitly sanctioned by the Church for humanity's defense. It's worth noting it's possible to get a bad ending in Dawn of Sorrow when you do become the villain, and the "Julius Mode" branches off this ending, where the playable characters from that must now stop your fallen hero.

From a moral standpoint, there is generally little to complain about. The protagonists work with the Church and other responsible authorities to defeat horrors from beyond the grave and other threats. The Church in general is portrayed positively. Portrait of Ruin especially has commendable themes of family relations, and similar themes appear to lesser degrees in the other two titles as well.

If you are a Castlevania fan who wants to see the DS titles playable in modern times, this collection is worth the investment. Morally, it's got concerning themes given the premise of Dracula and other monsters, tempered by positive portrayals of the Church. As a fan of Castlevania back during the height of its run, I definitely recommend this title.