Review
Release Date: 08.25.2005
Platform:
Nintendo DSDeveloper:
Konami Computer Entertainment TokyoPublisher:
Konami Co., Ltd.Reviewed by
Mikey Dowling on 9.17.2005
| Review Rating: 10/10 | User Rating: 9.21/10 |
It has been a year since the events of
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. Soma Cruz has fought his destiny in becoming the reincarnation of Dracula by destroying Chaos. One day while in town with his close friend, Mina Hakuba, the two are attacked by an unknown woman who summons a skeleton. At this time Arikado Genya shows up and tosses Soma a knife.
After a fight with the skeleton and two more enemies, and aquiring his first three souls, the woman reveals herself to Soma as Celia, the leader of a cult that wants the resurrection of Dracula to take place. She tells Soma to meet her at Castlevania, and that's where the adventure begins.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow plays much like its predecessors, but it has a few new play mechanics added in along the way. The core of the game that made
Aria great is still there: get new weapons, fight enemies, get their souls, use them on other enemies, get area-specific souls, use them in said areas, repeat. But the process never seems to get tired, and you get a real sense of accomplishment when you finally do get the soul that you have been trying to get for over twenty minutes.
There have been a few changes made to the gameplay, though. And I believe that they are for the better.
First is the use of both screens of the DS, and not just in the obligatory, "Here's your map" way. The map is there, but it serves its purpose well - it's on the top screen while all of the action happens on the bottom screen. It's the classic map that has been used since
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but having the ability to always have it viewable so you're not constently switching screens to figure out where to go is a vast improvment.
By pressing the Select button you can also switch the top screen to a mini stats screen. It will tell you your level, your stats--such as strength, luck, constitution, attack, etc.--how much experience you need until your next level, how much gold you have, which souls you have equipped, and finally, enemy stats. This is one of my favorite new features. Whenever you first attack an enemy, its picture and a sort of mini-bio will go on the top stats screen. When you defeat an enemy, the top screen will display its weaknesses and strengths, what items it drops (the enemy must drop the item first, otherwise it just displays ???), how many of its souls you have aquired, and how rare the soul is to get based on a star system. One star is not rare; three stars is really rare. And for the most part, when going for a three-star soul, you'll be working at getting the soul for awhile.
Another addition to the gameplay is the Magic Seal system. You've probably heard about it before if you've read about the game. But if not, it's pretty simple. Spread throughout the castle you will find magic seals (although the first one is just given to you). These will open the doors to boss layers, and, when you get a boss's energy down to 0, you must draw the seal on the screen to seal the boss away. If you mess up, the boss will get back more energy and you must repeat the seal process until you have done it correctly. The seals are basic at first, but get more complicated as the game progresses. Don't worry, though - if you're not quite sure how you should draw the seal, you can practice it in the pause menu. Very helpful indeed.
Continuing with the new features, there is now a weapon upgrade system implemented into the game. Now there is actually something to do with all of those extra souls you capture! Take them to Yoko's shop in the first area, and there, she will combine them with a weapon that you have picked up to make that weapon even stronger. The only downfall to this is that, since I was playing it in Japanese, I only limited myself to synthesizing weapons with souls that I had 2 or more of. But none-the-less, I still found it to be a most enjoyable addition to the mechanic of the game.
Next up in the changes is the animation level. Every character, from Soma to a normal bat has been given a face lift in terms of their sprites. Soma's jacket still sways in the breeze, but it now also flows when he is attacking, adding a sense of realizm to the character. Soma himself has different animations based on the size of the weapon he is using. There are a lot of little things that impressed me as well, such as being able to see Soma's breath in the first area where it is snowing and seeing the necklace that Soma wears move and sway while he walks and when he ducks. Little things like that brought me into the game even more and I commend
Konami and Iga for taking the time to put them into the game.
The music is another high point for the game. While not exactly on par with the soundtrack to
Symphony of the Night, all of the songs are well done and sound good coming from the DS. The songs match each area perfectly, and there are even some classic songs to the series that were snuck in. Just another great aspect to this great game.
Dawn of Sorrow offers vast replayability. The game has a total of three different endings, and a bevy of modes that are unlocked for getting the upper two endings. However, actually getting to the other modes might be a challenge to some, as the game is so intriguing that you might just want to go through it one more time. But for those who do play the other modes, you won't be disappointed. In one mode, we even get a series fan-favorite character to play as, and to those who are savy with the GAF news, you'll know who I'm talking about. The other mode is the obligatory Boss Rush mode, and it's fun. But it pales in comparison to the aforementioned mode.
I really can't recommend
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow enough. It's the finest in the handheld line of
Castlevania games. While not as grand as
Symphony; with the space it has, it does it's job well as a great piece to an outstanding franchise. When the English version comes out, I'll also be there to pick it up and do it all over again. It is that good.
