Every Castlevania game basically tells the same story. In this case, you play as Juste Belmont, a smartly dressed descendent of Simon from the original Castlevania, who arrives at Dracula's castle to help a friend of his on a rescue mission. The pair splits up, leaving you to travel around the sprawling castle on your own, defeating its dangerous inhabitants using your trusty whip. As you might expect, the plot really doesn't figure prominently into the game--it only serves to set up another romp through another version of Dracula's castle. It's all the excuse anyone would need. Harmony of Dissonance is in some ways a simpler game than last year's Castlevania. Juste mostly relies on his whip to deal with his enemies, and though you can upgrade it, the whip's attack itself remains basically the same throughout the game--you don't have access to other main weapons like you did in Circle of the Moon. That game also featured a surprisingly robust magic system that allowed you to combine pairs of special cards for dozens of different effects. It was strange that seemingly so much effort went into the system, many of whose effects were either too subtle or more interesting than useful. Harmony of Dissonance streamlines things by giving you the chance to discover just a handful of different not-so-secret elemental magic books that imbue your secondary weapons with their powers. Castlevania's classic secondary weapons, from the boomerang-like cross to the axe to the holy water, all return here (plus a new one that makes Juste lash out with a flurry of punches), but now each has a unique effect when coupled with a spell book. You still can carry only one secondary weapon at a time, so while you'll only be able to choose from a few different magic attacks at any point, you'll still end up having access to a good variety of different powers. Juste has a number of classic Castlevania moves, as well as a few new ones. Juste has some unique abilities, as well as some that you'll recognize from other games. Fans of Super Castlevania IV for the SNES will be pleased to know that Juste can lash out in different directions with his whip when you press and hold the attack button and push the D pad in the desired direction. Unfortunately, this move is mostly useless in practice, and it doesn't even look particularly good since Juste stands frozen like a statue while his whip flails about. One far more effective technique is Juste's ability to execute a short, quick dash forward or backward when you press either shoulder button. Rapidly tapping these lets you cover a lot of ground quickly, and doing so is less cumbersome than having to double-tap the D pad to get Circle of the Moon's Nathan to run, though here, you just might end up wearing down your GBA's delicate L and R buttons. Like Nathan or Alucard, Juste needs to find relics throughout the castle that provide him with certain necessary abilities, which is how the game limits you from being able to go anywhere in the castle right off the bat. Some areas won't be accessible until you learn the double jump, others won't be reachable until you can slide through small gaps in the wall, and still others will require the use of a super high jump. If this sounds like Circle of the Moon or Symphony of the Night, that's because Harmony of Dissonance makes use of the same general formula. Which is fine, because that formula works great, though it bears mentioning that it does date back at least to 1997's Symphony of the Night or possibly to 1986's Metroid, so don't go in expecting anything other than a tried-and-true nonlinear side-scroller.
Other Helpful Reviews for Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
I don´t really like IGA at all but i have to be honest he can make good games and this is the proof, the music, story, graphics,characters, bosses and stages are state-of-art in the castlevania series. The game plays ... Read Full Review
Harmony of Dissonance is the second Castlevania title to grace the screen of the GBA, and it is a welcome addition to the series. In Harmony of Dissonance you take control of Juste Belmont as he seeks to rescue his frie... Read Full Review
