Poll: Box Art Brawl: Duel - Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia

Action pose Shanoa against the moon is my vote.
Though both are very lovely.

....hey, this might be in my top 3 favourite videogames ever made btw. If you haven't played Ecclesia yet.... well, good luck getting it on eBay.

Tough one, I think I mentally prefer the US one, just because I have that one still and prefer the slimmer black boxes over the fat see-through European boxes. So not actually because of the artwork.

So I might lean towards Japan, it has the European artwork (which I THINK I like SLIGHTLY more) and the thin black box. But I can't read that one...

Still not voting.

I like both but I feel the one with solo Shanoa is a bit more dynamic so if I have to choose I'd say that's one I'll go with.

Superb game by the way, I really should replay this at some point though at the same time I'm kinda holding to hope that this'd get released on non-portable systems at some point.

I really like the NA artwork and the contrast between the two characters.

I get the whole "sex sells" angle that they were going for with the Japan/Europe art, but I find it to be rather unappealing.

One of the best Castlevania games imo. Konami needs to release a DSvania collection so more people can discover how good it (and Portrait Of Ruin) is.

Both box arts are great but I gotta go with the action pose for the Europe box, it's just way more clean.

Great game and awesome artwork on all versions very tough decision but I went for Europe as it’s familiar to me but I do really like the North American version too

Play Order of Ecclessia for the first time last year and loved it.
Had to go with the European/Japanese boxart.

North America. Shaona's back and her looking towards the camera is much more interesting. The guy with the sword and pistol going on an adventure also sells this game, even though you don't actually play as him.

@Sisilly_G i found the NA version much sexier with the open back, raven black hair flowing in the wind and mysterious smile rather than "woman ambushing you from above".

Both are awesome. Went with Europe this time, even though I regretted it as America has more of a gothic feel to it.

@StAmbrosius mhhh didn’t play the game but doesn’t it say in the text that Albus is an unlockable character?

Japan/EU looks like it inspired Bayonetta 3’s box art.

Fantastic game, a true gem. Went with NA cover because I'm a sucker for that castle against the moon image.

Unusually, I really like both. The EU/Japan one is dynamic, and has almost a Bayonetta feel. But love the art style of NA, and the backless dress. Winner - just

Both are great but I like the NA one more.

I prefer north america version, both are good but the western version is better because there's a background that's explained the setting (the dracula castle).

Absolute best "Castlevania", ever! Voted for the Europe/US-Cover. Worth to hang at the wall in a frame.

Europe/Japan, though I like both. Less characters, but more action IMO. I really like the heroine's pose.

@EarthboundBenjy This game is criminally underrated. It is easily the 2nd best Castlevania game, and selling my copy many years ago is a huge regret of mine. If this ever gets ported to modern consoles it would be an insta-purchase for me.

@StAmbrosius : 100%. I meant that in the sense that it looked cheap (for wanting of a better word), while the NA artwork managed to be sexy in a way that didn't forfeit the IP's signature motifs.

They're all really good this week, but I went with Japan/EU this week due to the more dynamic pose.

Small nitpick/suggestion. Whenever a game has the same art in multiple regions, the region of origin should get top billing (so in this case, instead of being listed as Europe/Japan it should be listed as Japan/Europe), as the "other" region is likely reusing the origin region's art rather than the other way around.

The best game of the Series, maybe this is pure nostalgia but i'd go with the North America cover

The European/Japanese boxart gets my vote.

@EarthboundBenjy Who needs eBay when emulators exist 😏 there's always a way to get free versions of these old games.

@NinjaNicky
That's absolutely fair. I've been playing some emulated fan-translated RPGs these past few weeks anyhow, so I'm no snob.

For Nintendo DS specifically, though, I do generally prefer playing it on the actual DS - especially games that involve the touchscreen during gameplay, like Albus does when you're playing as him in this game.

(...and yes, i also know that there are ways to play unofficial ROMs on the actual DS too)

I think both are good but I love the fierce look of Shanoa in the foreground so that gets my vote.

like the back to back but JP's detailed background makes theirs pop better, hmm.🤔

@StAmbrosius
btw Albus is not holding a sword, he's holding the stair banister.

NA

• +has moon
• +has bats
• +has MC
• +has castle
• -has a guy

EU/JP

• +more minimalistic
• -without NA compontents couldn't really tell what franchise it is without reading the title, which kinda makes it more generic

I like North America box art more. Shanoa's back is the best part of this art.

I feel the NA version is cluttered with Albus there, but I also don't exactly love Shanoa's pose in the Japan/EU version. I grudgingly picked the latter, but honestly they both have room for improvement. Probably would have made Shanoa more prominent on the NA cover and Albus more in the background personally.

At any rate, one of the best Castlevania games ever. I was just playing through it recently. Shanoa is beautifully animated and the game is challenging but fair with lots of areas to explore. The broken up miniature zones made for a more compelling journey than one big castle map IMO.

The best part of that game was Shenoa’s beautiful back.

I like them both, which is refreshing. This comes down to composition. The Europe/Japan cover is dynamic, but I don't think it works as well as a cover image, especially with the logos added to it. The logos detract from the image because of how dynamic the art is which is obscured somewhat by those logos. I find the composition of the North American cover to be better as a game cover. The NA cover isn't as dynamic, though it doesn't feel static either due to the artist's style and Shanoa's hair blowing in the wind, but I think it's still quite interesting to look at. The logos don't hurt it in any way. Looking at it here, I feel more enticed to play the game again, which is what a good cover should do.

They're both really well rendered, but I went with Eu/Jp for that more dynamic pose.

I like both but gave the edge to JP/European. I like the dynamism a bit more in Shanoa's pose more, plus the framing of the moon behind her.

NA is very classic Castlevania with the hero and castle in the background. Nothing wrong with it and the art is lovely.

Castlevania box art is almost always incredible with very few exceptions and that's no different here with both of these. NA art just barely wins for me since I can't help but love the framing of Shanoa and Albus in front of the moonlit castle.

I picked the American box art for this one as I like the backdrop better and again I’ll always say the more characters the better. Again I gotta say if I saw this as a kid I would pick it up just solely based off how cool I think Shanoa looks like. But also for me the Europe and Japan boxes look like they would be a Bayonetta Box art even if it’s 2 years before the original Bayonetta released.

The action pose of Europe/Japan is too cool

both are great. I own NA, but I'd vote EU/JP on this one.

Too much dude on the NA box. EU/Japan is all girl, no sausage. Gets my vote.

This one was hard, but I felt the JP/EU artwork was more exciting. A nice departure from the traditional artwork for the series. This is the one game in my favorite series that I failed to get at launch and now am required to pay $100.00 USD for. Ugh. I still have yet to play it. Here is hoping we get the REQUIEM double-pack soon on Switch and the DS collection in the future. Can't wait to pre-order my physical copy of the Advance Collection.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 59

Japan: 60

North America: 66

Australia and New Zealand: 1

They're both pretty nice. But I went with north America.

Which one is the Belmont?

@switchscreenshots May have inspired Miriam too?

@Tempestryke
The premise of the plot is that there are no more Belmonts around to deal with Dracula's next revival.
The Order of Ecclesia is an organisation that has been training Shanoa to wield the Dominus Glyphs, a powerful magic that was developed by Ecclesia to be the ultimate weapon versus Dracula in the absence of a Belmont warrior .

So yeah. No Belmonts on this cover artwork.

This just reminded me I desperately need Castlevania DS collection.

@EarthboundBenjy Oh, thanks for the info Benjy. Also, bummer.

EU/JP. There's too much stuff in the NA cover and I like things simple.

Didn’t get to vote until today (one day late), I hope it counts.
Box Art Brawls rule!!!

NA is lovely, but JP/EU is even more lovely.