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[VIDEO GAME
FAVORITES]
=>AMIGA =>ATARI
=>COMMODORE =>NINTENDO
=>PLAYSTATION =>SEGA
=>SNK =>TURBO =>XBOX |
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CASTLEVANIA: DAWN OF SORROW BY: KONAMI
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::RATING::
Graphics: 5
Sound: 5
Control: 5
Depth: 5
Overall: 5 |
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Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is the first portable game in the series to stand “toe to toe” with the best of its console counterparts. The direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow on the Gameboy Advance, the game is once again set in the future and features Soma Cruz as the main character.
Following the ‘Metroidvania’ design of Symphony of the Night, Dawn of Sorrow takes place inside Dracula’s castle with many areas unreachable until your character acquires various abilities. You’ll fight various monsters in each section, until you reach a boss monster and likely gain a new skill after defeating them.
The graphics in Dawn of Sorrow are beautiful and compare to Symphony of the Night on PSOne. The enemies are great, but not quite as good as in Symphony. However the castle may be the best yet. There are a lot of little details, and it’s varied enough that it almost feels like a small town!
The music is very good, but can’t top the CD based score of Symphony. Still, top marks for a cartridge.
Like a Role Playing game, your character gains levels and you will find and equip various armor and weapons. There is a shop where you can buy and sell items. You’ll find various save rooms that also recharge health and eventually find teleporter rooms to allow you to traverse the castle more quickly.
As the game is on the DS, it does make some use of the system’s unique features. The map is always available on the top screen, which is quite convenient and keeps the game moving.
The touch screen is also used in a few ways. You’ll draw magic seals to “seal in” boss monsters. This can be tricky, but it adds tension to the fights. Later on you gain the capability to destroy certain blocks with the stylus. Finally, once you gain familiars, you can use the stylus to direct their attacks. Overall, stylus use is novel without being gimmicky and is used sparingly.
As established in Aria of Sorrow, you capture the souls of your enemies and gain “their souls” (or abilities). New to the game is the ability to hot swap between two soul and equipment sets as well as being able to forge souls and weapons to create stronger weapons.
The difficulty, controls and gameplay are just about perfect. My only complaint is the previous game—Aria of Sorrow—actually has a better story.
The ‘Julius’ mode that unlocks after you beat the game is a pretty sweet extra. You play through the castle again with the whip as Julius Belmont, as well as switch to either Alucard or Yoko the magic user. It plays much more like classic Castlevania III and is just as fun as the game itself.
While Symphony is more stylish, this is the best Castlevania game made in the last ten years. Will Portrait of Ruin top it? Only time will tell…
-Ben Langberg
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2008 ben langberg, all rights reserved.