Miscellanious

The game comes with several alternate modes, some unlocked from the start, some unlocked in-game somehow.

New Game+

A feature carried over from many other Castlevania games, this allows you to carry over all your items- and in a unique addition, all your levels, too. This allows you to experience the game’s story again without feeling like you’re losing progress by restarting. Other things carried over are the shop inventory (though you can redo quests) and the map layout you’ve uncovered.

Albus Mode

After beating the game’s good ending, the player unlocks the ability to play as Albus. He’s fast and can attack from afar. Holding down Y rapidly shoots bullets from his gun (slash). Pressing X unleashes the wide-ranged Optical Shot (dark/light). UP + Y/X casts Max Shot (Acerbatus, dark/thunder). R is Torpor (ice, petrify), which is unchanged from Shanoa Mode. A is Quadruple Ignis, a close range leaping jump which deals fire damage for each frame of contact while also giving Albus temporary invincibilitiy. The touch screen allows for teleportation, and he also comes with a super jump (L).

Albus also is equipped with two Master Rings and Moonwalker Boots. There is no way to change this equipment, so it’s likely that you’re meant to take these bonuses as innate traits of this character mode- Albus has better backdashing, and his attribute points accumulate 4x faster.

Boss Rush

Boss Rush is unlocked after completing the good ending. It is split into two courses. The first includes all bosses that are encountered outside of the castle, and the second are the bosses that lurk within. The rewards for a good time are the R. Eye of Devil, in Course B, which slows down time when equipped, and the L. Eye of God, in Course A, which displays the amount of HP an enemy has left when they’re damaged, instead of the damage that you had dealt. For slower times, you receive one of many helmets that changes the glyph union you cast, even if you don’t have the glyphs for it equipped- for example, the Shield Helm will make it so you always cast the Scutum union even if you have Secare equipped.

For the boss rush itself, you’ll carry over glyphs and equipment from your in-game file, so I would recommend preparing a bit beforehand. At least one glyph sleeve should have Magnes, for the first course, as it’s an element in some of the boss fights, but you can also replace it with Volaticus.

Hard Mode

Another feature unlocked by beating the game’s good ending. When you start a new game or a New Game+ file, you’ll be given the option to play Hard Mode, and be asked to select a level cap- level 50 or level 1. I would highly recommend only doing this on a New Game+ file. This changes enemy layouts, boosts damage inflicted to the player while reducing damage output, caps your level, and changes a few puzzles here and there. It’s an engaging (and brutal) challenge and the rewards are the Queen of Hearts, a powerful equippable item that halves Heart consumption (for the level 50 cap), and the ability to level past 99 to a max of 255, as well as the ability to play Hard Mode with no level cap (for the level 1 cap).

Shop Mode

Allows you to sell items to other players, and a feature that debuted in Portrait of Ruin. Since DS wifi no longer exists, you can only do this with other players locally. You set the items in-game, and then can sell and buy from each other by opening a “room” for up to four people to join the host. It is worth noting that any item you buy but haven’t found in-game won’t be added to your item completion percentage.

Race Mode and Practice Mode

Essentially lets you race through one of three courses against someone over wireless. As DS wifi no longer exists, you can only do this locally. In each of the courses there are various things you can pick up that can help or hinder you, including boots, that boost Shanoa’s speed, a feather, that boosts your jump, a shield that temporarily renders her invincible, and the skull and crossbones, which either heal her by 100 HP or give her a status effect. The goal is to gain as many points as possible by killing the various enemies in the course, and getting a good time, as well as the amount of hearts you have. You carry over any equipped items, and glyphs you have equipped to your arms, but otherwise you always have Magnes as your back glyph, and your HP is always 520. Practice Mode is the same as Race Mode but without a competitor. I recommend going in with Winged Boots or Mercury Boots to boost your speed. I also recommend equipping Redire to a glyph sleeve. Additionally, defeating monsters gleans more points than just getting a good time, so make sure to focus on both.

Connecting with Judgment

Connecting with the Wii game Castlevania Judgment gives the player the same rewards as they would for beating Hard Mode- the Queen of Hearts and unlocking leveling up to 255. In Judgment, this unlocks Shanoa as a playable character early as well as unlocks some customization items for the player.

Sound Mode

Self explanatory. Allows you to listen to voice lines and music.