Every time I put a new card into my favorite handheld, I find a new
experience. Genre by genre, the DS has revived my interest for gaming.
First Meteos more or less initialized my faith in puzzles, then Advance
Wars renewed my enthusiasm for strategy, but now it's time for a
different genre. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow proves once and for all
that 2D action/adventures still have a lot to offer, and that the DS is
a perfect place for them to come to roost.
Sure, you've had Metroid Zero Mission, Gunstar Super Heroes, and games
like that, but the latest sidescroller from Konami is something
completely in its own league. The next game in the storyline of
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, arguably one of the best of the entire
series, is a great credit to its heritage, and expands it in every way.
The game pulls you in right from the start with a compelling story. You
are dropped into the shoes of Soma Cruz, the reincarnation of Dracula
himself, returned from the events of Aria. It's a full year after the
last venture into old Drac's castle, and things have gotten nice and
quiet. You mysteriously lost your "Power of Dominance", which allowed
you to capture the souls of defeated demons and monsters and use them
in battle, but more on that in a moment. Of course, things take a turn
for the worse, as the leader of a cult bent on the return of a dark
lord by any means pays you a visit in the middle of a romantic
conversation with your "friend", Mina. Since Soma is the rightful heir
of Dracula's powers, he must be destroyed before one of them can become
the dark lord.
Of course, rather than allow the professionals (a mysterious character
with dark powers, and a professional vampire slayer of the Belmont
clan) to do their jobs, Soma decides to take it upon himself to do the
job. After all, what kind of a hero would just sit around the house
when there's demons to be slayed? Sure, he's risking the fate of the
world with his presence, but at least it's for a noble cause.
The story ties in perfectly with the gameplay, as your aforementioned
Power of Dominance is the center of your abilities. Whenever you kill a
monster, you have a chance of gaining a monster's "Soul", which, when
equiped, allows you to use some of its abilities, gain power ups, or
even summon it as an ally. Every single monster has a unique soul, and
some are even crucial to beating the game.
The game uses a strong RPG element, that allows you to contort stats
like the best of RPGs to make your character a reflection of your
strategy. You have all the basic statistical tracking you'd expect from
any RPG, like Attack, Defence, and Intelligence, and you can quickly
switch between an extremely helpful Metroid-style map and a very
detailed stat screen on the upper screen of your DS.
The souls give the game even more depth than you'd think, as you can
upgrade most souls by getting multiples, making them more powerful,
less costly, or one of various other advantages they bring. This time
around you can even fuse them with weapons to create potent new ones
with much more power than their weaker forms. Your selection of weapons
is quite diverse as well, with over a half-dozen types, including
daggers, swords, handguns, spears, and plently more, most of which are
upgradeable. Thanks to a helpful upgrade you get early on, you can even
switch between weapon and soul sets at a tap of the X button.
The enemies themselves are some of the best I've seen, 2D or not.
There's dozens and dozens to find and destroy, and some are more worthy
adversaries than many bosses in lesser games. Each is chock full of
character, making it shockingly easy to remember the name of each and
every one. It's that much more rewarding when you manage to capture a
soul that lets you summon one. Every enemy will stick in your memory
for quite a while, especially with the characteristic sounds of each.
The bosses themselves are suprisingly diverse. Even though deep down
you're just repeating a pattern or task to defeat them like any other
game, it makes you feel like you're really fighting tooth-and-nail to
take them down. Many are returns from old Castlevania games, but many
are brand new enemies, with brand new attacks and souls. Even the old
ones have been remade to make it a new experience. With such creative
boss fights like the puppetmaster, you're sure to like them. Each boss
has unique music that is suited for its own battle perfectly, and just
like all the normal enemies, unique sounds as well.
Ah yes, the sound. Ever since the 8-bit era, Castlevania has been
credited with amazing multi-channel sound, even with the most pitiful
of capabilities. This remains true today, with a variety of music. In
fact, there are nearly thirty beautiful tracks that are instantly
recongnizable whenever you hear them, and are extremely atmospheric. On
top of that there's the unique sounds for each enemy, many of which are
very creepy or disturbing when you first hear them.
The graphics may not be anything groundbreaking, but they do their job,
and they do it well. They well exceed the GBA graphics, and add some
great effects to the mix. You'll never see a bit of lag in any part of
the game, no matter the level of activity. The majority of the
backgrounds are hand-drawn much like in the previous games, but most
are multi-layered, and many have cool 3D affects to make them come to
life. Every part of the sound and graphics is excellently done to
create the classic Castlevania atmosphere.
How does it use the special features of the DS? Well I'm glad you
asked. Of course, there's the extremely nifty top screen use for quick
reference to maps and stats, but the coolest feature is in the touch
screen. Once you weaken a boss, you must use the touch screen to draw a
"Magic Seal", once and for all sealing the monstrosity away. Of course,
if you fail to draw it correctly or quickly enough, the monster will
come back with some health, so you'd better be quick on the "draw".
Multiplayer is not a major feature of the game of course, but it can be
pretty fun. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow's multiplayer has two modes,
both of which revolve somewhat around the Soul system. In the rather
self-explanatory Soul Trading mode, you connect with a friend in order
to trade up souls so that you can speed your soul collection, or add
some power to your friend's lineup. The other is a more classic
multiplayer experience, called Vs Mode. You can set up a five-room
competitive gauntlet to subject your friends to. Simply use the touch
screen to place them on the screen where you wish them to appear. Of
course, you must have the soul of a monster to place it on the field,
and you have a point limit for monsters per room. Once you boot it up
with a friend, you each select one of your premade tracks, and you and
your friend race to the finish. You won't actually see your opponent,
but it will show his map location on the top screen. It's not an
enormous addition, but it is an excellent one.
Even with all this, the game nearly doubles its replay value with
several additions. First you have several alternate endings, and I
don't want to spoil it for you, but they're well worth it. You've also
got an entire secondary game mode that Aria fans will recognize, and
probably forsee, which is an excellent touch. Collecting souls and
exploring the large areas of the castle that aren't 100% required to
beat the game are all great ways to add to the longevity of the game.
So, with all this great content, gameplay, and replay value, what could
possibly stop this from being the game of the year for the DS? Well,
there's really only one downside to the game, and that's the difficulty
level. There are several conspiring factors that cause this, and
suprisingly they are also the game's strongest points. The RPG system
can be abused to make the game much quicker, since just like any RPG,
you can spend time leveling up to make your progress much easier. The
soul system is well balanced enough that it rarely contributes to the
problem, but there are certain combinations that can ease your progress
just a tad too much. The only real way to avoid this completely is to
do a minimalist speed run if you're just that hardcore.
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Graphics - 8/10
They're not spectacular, but they do the job, and they have their moments.
Sound - 9/10
Spectacular. So much diversity in the tracks, and each is chock full of quality.
Gameplay - 9.5/10
It can't get much better than this. Classic Action/Adventure with lots of the new and old.
Lifespan - 8.5/10
The somewhat low difficulty level shortens it, but thanks to soul
collecting and some very cool extras, it will last for a long while.
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Bottom line
Despite the slightly low difficulty level, any action fan would be in
trouble if they missed this one. The RPG system is both concrete and
skillfully implemented, as is the soul system (for the most part) well
balanced and incredibly diverse. Don't let this one slide just because
it's 2D, keep an open mind. After all, the DS is becoming the
embodiment of both new ideas and the complete renewal of old ones. This
is just one of those games that is far more than the sum of its parts,
and you'd be giving yourself the short end of the stick by missing it.
