Aria of Sorrow may just be the best Castlevania game ever, and all because of one key ingredient!! Variety!!!
Now let me get one thing clear! I bought the Double Pack Cartridge which has this game and "Harmony of Dissonance". So the reason why I'm not reviewing the Double Pack is because of how I do my reviews which is to explain the games in detail one at a time so if I review the Double Pack, I'll be doing it until next year. Now enough of that. Let me tell you of the game itself! Now "Aria of Sorrow" is the third and final Castlevania GBA title, being released way back in 2003. So do the people speak the truth of this game being a masterpiece? Well, on with the review!!
The Story takes place in 2035 (Wow. I'll be 38 by that time!). Soma Cruz and his childhood friend, Mina Habuka (Mina. hmmm...Bram Stoker anyone?) go to the Solar Eclipse event in Habuka shrine but mysteriously they end up in Dracula's castle and get attacked by monsters. Eventually a Japanese agent named Genya Arikado holds them off. Mina eventually blacks out. Arikado then tells Soma about his powers and how he can save Mina from a gruesome fate. Soma, determined to rid himself of his dark powers ventures into Dracula's castle alone. (Note that Dracula perished completely by the hand of Julius Belmont in 1999 so Soma will face a different enemy who wants to inherit his power.)
The Controls are a little complicated at first but you will get used to it eventually. You use the control pad to move, press A to jump, B to attack, R to use a soul, L to back dash, up+B to use sub soul weapons. Okay, so the controls are a little complicated but it works so perfectly that you can get used to them within 5 minutes of play.
The Graphics look much better than both "Circle of the Moon" and "Harmony of Dissonance". Soma looks better than both Juste Belmont and Nathan Graves. He animates beautifully and the moves he does looks pretty cool. The environments themselves look pretty Gothic and dark with a few futuristic touches and I like the feature. The enemies may be borrowed yet again but there are a few original ones like Minotaurs and Rock throwing enemies. Overall, good graphics that push the GBA to it's limits!!
The Gameplay is actually alot like "Symphony of the Night". As Soma Cruz you have to go through a MetroidVania like environment killing monsters, doing side quests, meet new faces and earn new abilities and level up. In many ways, I think that the gameplay in "Aria of Sorrow" looks a little more action packed and a little more frantic than "Harmony of Dissonance" was. Soma can equip himself with a variety of weapons so you actually feel you are playing another version of Alucard. Also "Aria of Sorrow" has a lot of strategy into it e.g: which weapon should use, which will be the best soul to deal with an enemy. Speaking of souls, this game allows you to absorb the souls of killed enemies! Talk about Onimusha fused with Castlevania!! Basically, Soma can collect souls of enemies and use their powers against them! How cool is that! It's an awesome replacement for the Spellbook and Card systems! The Castle is a lot easier to navigate because there is not much forks in the road as there was before! This time challenge comes from the enemies which is a little bit of a mixed bag, but at least it's not as frustrating as moving around castle in "Harmony of Dissonance". Soma can earn new abilities like double jumping and slide tackles like the two previous protagonist. There also a lot of Swords and weapons and armour to collect throughout the Castle. To sum it up, fantastic gameplay that has been refined!! Oh and did I mention that there are portals that transport you anywhere in the Castle? How awesome is that!! And it also prevents frustration because you are progressing through the game quicker!!!
The Music is forgettable but it's at least better than the crappy soundtrack from "Harmony of Dissonance"! The voice and sound effects are once again very good and I like Soma's Japanese voice!
The Downsides I found were these: Dracula barley bothered to remodel his castle, so now it looks like an echo from the past when it was meant to be a new gen Castlevania in the official timeline. Also, where is Dracula? I know there is a different villain but still!! Not having Dracula in the game just sucks! Anyway, onto verdict!!!
Castlevania Aria of Sorrow is a fantastic game and probably the best handheld Castlevania by far!! Dawn of Sorrow owners, if you have a DS lite, play this game to explore Soma's origins!! Let's overview the facts shall we?
The Good: There is loads of Variety, better music and sound, Soma's voice is very good, gameplay is a little more sleeker, soul stealing system is awesome, futuristic setting is very cool, graphics are better, a lot like "Symphony of the Night", Castle is easier to navigate, portals are a good feature!!!
The Bad: Dracula barely refurbished his Castle, Where the Hell is Dracula?!!, you need to get the double pack to get this game cheap.
Title: This game is destined to be supremely perfect!!!