Review
Release Date: 09.21.2002
Platform:
Game Boy AdvanceDeveloper:
Konami Computer Entertainment TokyoPublisher:
Konami of America, Inc.Reviewed by
Christian Kontul on 4.23.2003
| Review Rating: 5/10 | User Rating: 7.77/10 |
Koji Igarashi really wanted to make another Symphony of the Night. In interviews prior to Harmony of Dissonance's release, he complimented Konami's Kobe Studio on an honorable attempt at making a SotN-esqe Castlevania game; but, well...They just fell a little short. The graphics were too dark, they weren't very pretty, the Dual Set-Up System (DSS) was kinda worthless...
Nope. Circle of the Moon was a good Castlevania game, but not a great one. The game Igarashi was making, though...This game, this White Night Concerto, this Harmony of Dissonance...This is what everyone has been waiting for.
Look! The hero looks like Alucard! He was even designed by the same artist...
Someone needs to tell Igarashi-san that looks aren't everything. While Harmony of Dissonance does share some superficial similarities with the Playstation classic, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, it fails to mimic the most important aspects.
Admittedly, it's not fair to compare one game to another, especially when one is on a CD-based console and another a cartridge-based handheld. It's just not good review policy. But consider the following points; first, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance shamelessly apes its PSone predecessor; second, when compared with any classic Castlevania game, HoD is disappointingly average.
No, despite the fact that everyone else in existence would seemingly have you believe this is a portable version of Symphony of the Night, Harmony of Dissonance more resembles a cacophony.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance tells the tale of Juste Belmont and Maxim Kischine. Juste is the son of legendary vampire hunter, Simon Belmont, and it appears that the protagonist has inherited his father's remarkable skills. Two years before the events dictated in the game, at the young age of 16, Juste earned the prestigious title of "vampire killer;" soon after, his childhood friend and fellow hunter, Maxim Kischine, departs on a training journey.
As HoD opens, Maxim returns to Juste a bruised and beaten man. He informs his old friend that another childhood acquaintance, Lydie, has been kidnapped. Maxim, unfortunately, doesn't remember anything else about his adventure, so the two head off to find their missing companion. After stumbling through a thick and mysterious fog, the duo arrive at a large castle with remarkably familiar implications...
Typical of all recent Castlevania games, Harmony of Dissonance contains minor plot elements but the focus is definitely on gameplay. Unfortunately, this is where this installment's biggest weakness lies.
Certainly, all previous Castlevania games that combine RPG and adventure elements have been on the easy side, and HoD is no exception. For the most part, difficulty isn't really an issue; core gameplay and interesting stages are more than enough to captivate anyone for an extended period. Who cares if it's easy to kill some enemies if the game is fun to play, right?
Strangely enough, Harmony of Dissonance isn't very fun.
While the game unquestionably features gameplay similar to previous Castlevania games, HoD apparently met with some problems during its design. First and foremost, the castle is a mess of similar-looking corridors and massive, empty chambers that do nothing more than confuse the player into thinking that the game is longer than it actually is.
And on a somewhat related note, enemy design and placement are just as dimwitted. Some antagonists are in positions that make no sense, as it's easy for Juste to just saunter by without any interaction. Different monsters, on the other hand, can be right on top of Juste and do nothing; there are actually creatures that hop around on pitchforks that deal no damage unless Juste jumps up into them.
On top of that, bosses are a complete pushover. Strategy is thrown out the window, as the only skill that's required when fighting one of HoD's many brain-dead monsters is the ability to hit the "A" button as fast as possible.
Secondary weapons make a standard appearance, with the boomerang, once again, being disproportionately strong. In addition, Harmony of Dissonance replaces Castlevania: Circle of the Moon's Duel Set-Up System with a Spell Fusion system, which allows the player to combine one of five spellbooks with each auxiliary weapon for a total of 30 magicks. Unfortunately, the mechanics, while theoretically interesting, are completely worthless. The game is too easy to warrant exploring all the possibilities, even for the first few tomes the player discovers. It's best to just find the boomerang, and keep the boomerang.
Most frustrating, though, are the large rooms that have absolutely nothing in them; picture, if you will, a massive chamber that's separated into two sides, with platforms to ascend on one half, and then descend on the other, but with no items, monsters, or hidden passages. It's a big room just for the sake of having a big room, just for the sake of making Dracula's castle bigger; and there are several of them.
Frustration ranks at its highest early in Harmony of Dissonance, and things begin to get a little more bearable later in the game when Juste has more abilities. Unfortunately, finding new relics is no longer fun; right after the protagonist gains another ability, it's off to find the next one as soon as possible, just to make exploration a little less annoying.
Having said all that, though, it is fun to run through the castle and explore nooks and crannies for hidden items near the end of the game. It's just a shame that Konami felt the need to add so much time-absorbing emptiness in Harmony of Dissonance's opening hours.
It's also unfortunate that they had to sacrifice good music due to cartridge limitations. No matter the format, composers at Konami somehow always managed to produce the finest tunes; Harmony of Dissonance sounds a lot like a game that may have appeared on the Nintendo Entertainment System. For their time, the NES CV games featured some decent music but it just doesn't measure up today; also, the songs themselves aren't particularly inspiring.
Thankfully, the sacrifice isn't made in vain; Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance undoubtedly features some of the most impressive visuals on a handheld system yet. Juste is very well animated, and even has a trailing effect similar to Alucard, the protagonist of Symphony of the Night, that changes colors depending on which cloak he's wearing. Enemies, particularly bosses, look incredible; some are even made up of several independent segments that fill the entire screen. Environments are detailed and exhibit bright colors and several layers of background parallax, though one isn't wholly distinguishable from the next.
Most importantly, though, it's possible to actually SEE what's happening onscreen. One area that Harmony of Dissonance improves upon its GBA predecessor immensely is in its visibility; Igarashi and his team knew that Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was way too dark, even in direct sunlight, so they purposely used brilliant colors to make each environment viewable. The effort is greatly appreciated.
In the end, though, it takes more than a game that looks like SotN to recreate that classic's magic.
Does Harmony of Dissonance even compare to its PSone predecessor? No.
Is it a good game in its own right? Barely.
Even though Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance suffers from some flaws, it's still more playable than a majority of the portable software currently on the market and worth a look for gamers starving for an action/RPG that'll provide around 10 hours of gameplay. People looking for the second coming of Alucard, though, will be in for a disappointment.
