Few franchises are prone to inducing more cases of déjà vu than Castlevania. Whether you're running though a castle collecting souls, or simply stabbing Dracula in the face, the majority of Castlevania titles lately seem to blend into one long jaunt through a demonic castle overflowing with hellspawn. Thankfully, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia bucks that trend with an old-school, level-oriented presentation with unrelenting difficulty, making it one of the most refreshing experiences to be had on the DS this holiday season.

The game tells the tale of Shanoa, the chosen member of the latest anti-Dracula organization, Ecclesia. As the one person who can withstand the spells strong enough to vanquish the King of Darkness, Shanoa has quickly become the favorite of Ecclesia's leader Barlowe. Just minutes before absorbing the last glyph to make her transformation into the ultimate Dracula killing machine complete, her once-friend Albus rips her glyphs, and her memories, right out from under her. As the only one who can truly withstand such power, it's your duty as Shanoa to find Albus and eventually put an end to Dracula through whatever means necessary.

It's hard to spend five minutes with Order of Ecclesia and not notice how beautifully detailed and varied the entire game is. From the elegantly designed character profiles, to the impressively ornate backgrounds and enemy designs, this is a breathtaking game. Even though it borrows enemies and settings from the Castlevania canon (like every other title in the series), Skeletons and Axe Warriors have rarely looked better than they do here. Likewise, control is as tight as ever, and those disenchanted with the clunky controls of Richter in the PSP Dracula X Chronicles remake will relish in the comparatively cat-like responsiveness of Shanoa.

Even though the series is known for keeping the status quo, Order of Ecclesia switches things up a bit by giving you a village to populate with characters you find stranded along your journey. Almost every villager you find will give you a series of fetch-quests to embark on for new armor, accessories, and items, and help you find new areas to explore. While the location of the villagers and their items could be a bit more clearly defined, it all works out to be a very welcome and worthwhile addition to the series.

The last few Castlevania titles have focused on collecting some intangible thing from enemies along the way, and Order of Ecclesia sets itself apart through its own special twist on collecting something similar to Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin’s souls and abilities. This time around, Shanoa focuses on collecting glyphs: a sort of weapon/soul hybrid that can be absorbed from enemies and assigned to the X, Y, and R buttons for easy access. Instead of buying spells, weapons, or uncovering familiars, enemies will occasionally drop a glyph ranging from swords to spiders for you to absorb and use along your way, While this eliminates the wide array of weapons found and created in previous games, the unique manner in which glyphs are used (as well as their multiple uses strengths) never leaves you wishing for another system.

Instead of simply attacking or using hearts for magic, glyphs use their own special MP meter that decreases as they are used. The gauge refills itself automatically once you stop using your glyphs, and brings along an additional level of challenge to combat throughout the game that has been missing from many of the current Castlevanias. While most regular enemies don't require too much MP once you figure out their attack pattern, one of the first things you must master is how to strike a balance between attacking and pausing in boss battles to refill your MP gauge; all in hopes of staying alive long enough to inflict that final blow.

I say "hopes," because this is one seriously challenging game. I'm not sure if it's just series director Koji Igarashi's ire at the leisurely pace of the last few games, or simply the programmer's devilish desire to haunt players with the "game over dragon," but this game has absolutely no problem sending you to your death. A lot. Old-school gamers raised on the classic NES games will absolutely love the level of challenge present here, while casual gamers who can't handle a little death might want to think twice about this one, as almost every area and boss will take a few tries to get right.