A brief but ceaselessly enjoyable adventure/platformer with style and substance to spare.
The story in Dawn of Sorrow is passable but not terribly engaging, and it assumes quite a bit of previous knowledge about earlier GBA Castlevania games (especially Aria of Sorrow) in order to really feel complete. Still, the story elements are of only minor significance to the overall enjoyment of the game and enough can be inferred from the context to allow those unfamiliar with previous games to at least follow along.
What really makes Dawn of Sorrow is the expert blend of platforming, adventure and role-playing elements into a cohesive, addicting game experience. There is something here for nearly all types of players: Collection-hounds will find joy in the soul acquisition system where you periodically earn a creature's soul for defeating it which grants Soma a special ability. Souls can also be fused with various weapons to create improved weapon types, and since each creature has a distinct soul and some creatures appear in relatively few locations throughout the game, plenty of time can be spent trying to capture that one elusive soul.
Platform-fiends will find there is loads of great hack-n-slash combat and tricky rooms to navigate. The level design is at times fiendishly clever, stashing the all-important transport rooms and save rooms in not-quite inconvenient locations making your path through the various castle areas fraught with tension as you try to cling to enough life to escape to relative safety.
Role-players should be intrigued to know that there are dozens of various items, weapons and armor options to choose from, an experience and levelling system to augment your character along the way and plenty of customization options with the soul system. Adventure fans can find plenty to love here as well since a lot of the game involves some pretty heady pathfinding as you try to work your way past an assortment of passages that sometimes require a certain soul-ability to pass or need to be approached from various angles. Some hunts for specific souls can be quite a quest in and of themselves, especially when you're looking for a certain rare creature.
What is perhaps most impressive is the variety in the combat coming from a 2D side-scrolling game: Soma's moves are mostly limited to one basic attack, a sweep-kick slide maneuver, a bullet-type soul ability and an active soul ability. Somehow, between these four actions and the swappable souls, combat never feels bland or repetitive. A big part of that comes from the widely varied enemy types, everything from tiny imps and bats to classic baddies like flying Medusa heads to gargantuan, screen-filling monstrosities (who aren't even bosses).
The somewhat infrequent but immensely enjoyable boss encounters add the right touch of challenge to the game and some of the areas you'll gain access to can be brutally difficult until you raise your level enough through fighting the new, higher-experience-granting foes to take them out with greater ease. Backtracked areas offer less challenge but still remain worthwhile for soul collection and to return with new abilities that allow access to previously closed-off sections. None of it seems like a chore and fighting straight through the game is satisfying and tough but not frustrating.
The visual presentation of the game is handled with some sharply animated 2D sprites and some really stunning backgrounds. The game looks great for the most part although a few rooms have oddly unfinished-looking art (for example the bitmappy and drab transport rooms) and a couple of the enemies are recycled from weaker foes with new color schemes. Considering the large variety of monsters in the game, a few of these shortcut techniques are forgivable. Nearly all of the boss monsters are suitably massive and grotesquely terrifying and the large monsters like golems and suits of living armor that stalk the castle's halls look awe-inspiringly imposing. Aside from the great art design the game animates everything very smoothly and has plenty of detailed touches everywhere that shows a great committment to quality by the designers.
The audio in the game is good for the most part although some of the samples are repeated quite a bit. The creature sounds aren't quite as pervasive as one might hope and in many cases don't seem like they quite fit the monster type or really aid in adding to the visuals: Some rumbling monster roars from some of the golems or chilling howls from the werewolves would have maybe been better, but at least the included sounds don't actively detract from the game experience. Where Dawn of Sorrow's audio really shines is in the stellar music that plays throughout. Nearly all the area themes are catchy and mood-appropriate and sound great on the DS' stereo speakers.
The DS controls are fairly minimal, consisting mostly of a couple of special powers such as breaking crystal blocks with a touch of the lower screen and some pattern-drawing Seals that must be used to finish off the bosses. Still they add a nice garnish to the game that doesn't really add much to the overall product but certainly don't hinder it in any way.
Whether you like platformers, adventure games, role-playing games, are looking for a fun and engaging DS title or are a longtime fan of the Castlevania games, Dawn of Sorrow has a lot to offer and is a great addition for any DS owner's library.