Castlevania: The Retrospective Part 4

Exploring Konami's horrifying legacy from Harmony of Dissonance to Dawn of Sorrow!

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Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (released in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance)

The Story
In 1748, fifty years after Simon Belmont broke Dracula’s curse by burning the Count’s remains (in Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest), Juste Belmont is the current heir of the Vampire Killer whip.  His best friend and rival Maxim returns after two years training abroad, his body covered with injuries, and tells Juste their childhood friend Lydie has been kidnapped.  Fighting amnesia, Maxim leads Juste to where he thinks she is being held, a mysterious castle surrounded by fog.  Is this Castlevania, the legendary fortress of Dracula?  And who is responsible for Lydie’s disappearance?  All of Juste’s questions can only be answered inside.

The Game
Like Symphony of the Night, Harmony of Dissonance combined action with adventure elements such as castle exploring, experience leveling, collecting items, and finding relics that allowed access to new areas.  Main hero Juste Belmont’s primary weapon was the traditional whip, which he could flip around or use as a shield like Simon in Super Castlevania IV and Richter in Symphony.  Finding special whip attachments gave the weapon elemental properties like ice, wind, and fire; some even added new techniques, like breaking certain barriers.  The new Fist joined the traditional line-up of sub-weapons, which again used hearts as ammo.  Upon locating Spell Books, Juste could switch to the Spell Fusion system, where sub-weapons were combined with the various books for elemental attacks that spent magic rather than hearts.  From the beginning, Juste had a forward and backward dash move, allowing dodges and speedy movement through the castle’s many corridors.  Another interesting feature was the furniture-collecting sub-quest, where found adornments like candlesticks and paintings were later arranged in a special room.

In My Opinion
After the small character sprites and dark, somber backgrounds of the series’ last handheld title Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance’s big, bold and colorful visuals are a breath of fresh air.  The action is also more dynamic than before.  Whereas Nathan’s mobility was somewhat sluggish in Circle, Juste controls more smoothly, his fast dashing ability making navigating the castle much less of a chore.  His Spell Fusion attacks are dramatic and exciting to watch, with a large variety to unleash.  While there are almost no smashable walls (a break from series tradition), there are many fun interactive elements.  Favorites include knocking a giant into spinning gears before taking his armor, and racing a rolling ball through a convoluted maze to reach the escape in time.  In a variation of Symphony of the Night’s upside-down castle, the adventure’s length is doubled with its two castle “layers,” accessed back and forth through special portals.  Not only is it an interesting story concept, but it also introduces the cool dynamic of your actions in one layer of the castle (like smashing a barrier) affecting things in the other layer (the wall is now also gone there).  The furniture collecting is an odd but strangely engaging feature, and the abilities to play through the game as Maxim and as classic 8-bit Simon Belmont in boss rush mode are wonderful.  The multiple endings also keep you coming back.  The game’s major fault, however, is that it lacks any real challenge, with flashy but insultingly easy boss fights and overpowered Spell Fusions.  The music also sounds jarringly low quality compared to Circle of the Moon’s, though you get used to it after a while.  Those complaints vented, it’s a fun adventure with a lot of charm, and is definitely worth playing.


Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance)

The Story
It is the year 2035.  Soma Cruz, a foreign exchange student staying with his friend Mina Hakuba in Japan, goes with her to the Hakuba family shrine to watch the first full solar eclipse of the new century.  Suddenly he passes out, and upon recovering, finds himself and Mina trapped inside Dracula’s castle.  A mysterious stranger, Genya Arikado, informs Soma that Dracula was ultimately defeated in 1999 by the combined efforts of many heroes, who sealed his castle inside the solar eclipse.  As Soma looks for a way to escape, he discovers that he possesses “the power to rule,” allowing him to use the abilities of monsters he vanquishes.  Adding further to the mystery, a missionary named Graham Jones tells him of a prophecy that Dracula’s powers will be inherited by a new vessel in 2035, and that time is running out…

The Game
Aria of Sorrow continued the tradition of “Metroidvania’s,” with the player controlling new hero Soma Cruz in his effort to escape Dracula’s castle.  Like Alucard in Symphony of the Night, Soma was unrelated to the Belmont clan and used a large variety of weapons, armor, and accessories in his castle-exploring quest.  Aria of Sorrow introduced a whole new dynamic to the Castlevania universe with Soma’s soul-collecting power.   Upon defeating any enemy in the game, its soul (dropped randomly) could be absorbed, giving Soma that creature’s powers.  These powers ranged from throwing a flying skeleton’s spear, to transforming into a bat, to status boosts.  To this end, the classic sub-weapons were rolled into Soma’s extensive possible list of powers, with collectible hearts replenishing his magic meter.  Some “relic-souls” were collected at specific points in the game, giving Soma abilities crucial to fully exploring the castle and advancing the adventure.

In My Opinion
While Symphony of the Night remains the best “Metroidvania” in the series, Aria of Sorrow is nevertheless a solid game, and the “soul-collecting” mechanic breathes welcome new life into the franchise.  This feature alone keeps the “castle-exploring” format from becoming stale (at least so far), making every enemy not only a potential threat, but also a potential game-changing upgrade.  Finally you can use the Minotaur’s huge axe, command Death’s floating sickles, and transform into a giant Devil.  Those patient players who love collecting everything will have hours of gameplay to enjoy, as some enemy souls are extremely rare and fiendishly tricky to obtain.  Those who simply like playing through the adventure will find every playthrough is different, depending on what souls are randomly dropped.  This extensive list of potential abilities gives you tons of options on how to tackle each boss battle and other dangerous sequences.  The large array of weaponry also keeps things interesting, from spears to hammers to swords (and even handguns!).  The visuals are equal to and the music is much better than that in Harmony of Dissonance.  Aria also boasts one of the most intriguing storylines in the series, with a large cast of interesting characters to give the story an epic feel, and a killer twist-ending.  Rather than being an amusing little "side-story" (i.e. Harmony of Dissonance, Curse of Darkness, etc.), it brings a whole new direction to Castlevania’s rich storyline, shedding light on the series’ biggest question: is it possible to ever truly defeat Dracula for good?  And if so, what happens afterward?  The story is also notable in that it pulls fascinating Japanese mythology into the classic gothic horror of the series.  Add to the game the hero Julius Belmont as an unlockable playable character (though without the full trimmings of Soma’s quest), and Aria of Sorrow is one entry well worth experiencing.