Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Review by The Successor

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he Gameboy Advance Castlevania run was a highpoint of the series, and this is the final installment of that trilogy. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.

Though Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance reaped critical acclaim from numerous reviewers and magazines, most agreed that there were a few nagging flaws that if corrected, would have made the already marvelous game even better. Castlevania producer, Koji (IGA) Igarashi took note of the critiques and almost immediately set out to perfect the formula, thereby making an even better game than his brainchild, Harmony of Dissonance.

Does he succeed?

In some respects, yes, and in others, no, but all the same, the result is nothing less than incredible.

IGA takes the series' storyline in a radically different direction from the traditional Dracula hunt. Instead of this game's setting taking place in one of the classical eras, the year is 2035. You needn't worry, though; IGA handled this situation gracefully and in a way that doesn't at all detract from Castlevania's beloved aesthetic. Even so, as is usual, some hypercritical purists may have a problem with this, teamed with the characteristics of the game's hero, Soma Cruz.

Soma is not a buffed up, fearless vampire hunter who's been training his whole life for the moment when he'll brave Castlevania, nor is he an adventurer of any sort. Rather, he's a high school foreign exchange student studying in Japan. Therein lies the appeal of this newcomer.

One night, when Soma and his friend, Mina Hakuba, are going to view the first solar eclipse of the 21st century, they are both mysteriously knocked unconscious and later awaken to find themselves trapped within Dracula's Castle. Soon after, Soma receives the revelation that he has the power to absorb the souls of slain monsters; and in so doing, he inherits their abilities. The young man learns that the only way to escape the looming castle and rescue himself and his friend is to reach the Master's Chamber. Thus, the race to the Top Floor of Castlevania begins.

Japan? A schoolboy hero with some bizarre power? 2035!?

This story may sound bizarre and out of place in the Castlevania saga, but it is arguably the most engaging and alluring chapter in the whole series' narrative. Being cast into the shoes of this typical teenager enchants this entire adventure with a genuine sense of wonder and curiosity. Aria's especially intriguing supporting characters augment this even further, since Soma seems to be the only one who doesn't know what's going on.

Soma and Mina aren't the only ones in the castle who aren't among Dracula's undead legions. Along your journey, you will meet a number of others who are wandering about, and it's up to you to try to sort out who is friend or foe, as their agendas are somewhat ambiguous.

With story movement, IGA has sharpened himself with each effort up to Aria's point. Symphony of the Night had captivating characters with memorable, quotable lines, but so much more could have been made out of them. Characters like Death, the Succubus, and Shaft had only one or two scenes with little dialogue. Additionally, some things were left up in the air without much or any clarification, like the upside down castle. What is it exactly? Where did it come from? Why did it come? Why is it. . . upside down?

Harmony of Dissonance mended some of those problems by showcasing more of the supporting cast and having the plot revolve around them to a greater extent, instead of being so centered on the main character. The story sequences were more frequent and associated with past events that had taken place in the game, in contrast to Symphony's less focused scenes. And unlike Symphony, reasons behind the alternate castle's being were made clear.
Nevertheless, even if it did improve on them, Harmony borrowed some components from Symphony's story, (such as the 'good guy turns bad' deal and the second castle) rather than being completely imaginative.

Aria does not suffer any of those faults. This story is completely new and unique, with no recycled elements whatsoever (which is saying a whole lot for a Castlevania game). The characters are given enough screen time and distinctive personalities that make them easy to identify with. The story is also pretty deep for Castlevania, and it'll actually surprise you a great deal. Seeing what is in store for Soma Cruz and how he ties in with the Castlevania mythos is a riveting experience.

The story is very entrancing, and a great motivator to keep playing, but what makes this game a real winner is the remarkable game play. AoS follows the free-roaming trend that was set by SotN in 1997. At first, Soma's paramount goal is to reach the Throne Room, which is established amidst the uppermost vicinity of the Top Floor. Getting there is easier said than done, though, as there is usually some height you cannot reach, or some obstruction that impedes you.

Just like a Metroid game, what this really boils down to is a pursuit for power-ups that award Soma new abilities, which empower him to get past particular obstacles and open up new areas of the castle to delve into. Instead of a straightforward climb to the top, Soma must journey all throughout the castle, from the peak of the Clock Tower, to a hidden subterranean battle arena, and everything in between, looking for a means to reach the greatest heights of the castle.

This game isn't as unrestricted as Harmony of Dissonance, meaning that while you can still investigate certain areas at will, the paths do not deviate as much. Harmony had many branching points that gave you the decision on how to traverse the castles, which opened up plenty of opportunities for sequence breaking and varied possibilities. Aria has moments like these, but considerably less so.

Players who prefer to disentangle things themselves and blaze their own trails will appreciate HoD's open-ended structure more. Conversely, others who were intimidated by HoD's loose design and felt it was either too aimless or too intricate for its own good will feel more comfortable with AoS. As a huge fan of the original Metroid and the sense of freedom and being lost that it grants players, I prefer Harmony's broader structure. But some found this difficult to navigate, so course plotting has been simplified in Aria of Sorrow with a stricter path.

Aria's two GBA forerunners each featured their own unique magic system, and this game is no different.
The Tactical Soul System (TSS) is the main game play innovation in Aria of Sorrow, and quite an innovation it is. As was mentioned earlier, Soma has the innate power to harvest the souls of monsters that he kills. Aside from a select few near the end of the game, each enemy has a soul that can be collected.

There are four different types of souls.

Bullet Souls (red) take the place of sub-weapons. You can press up + B to fire a distinct attack depending on what soul is equipped. Given that there are 55 singular Bullet Souls, you aren't near as limited as you were with the six or so usual sub-weapons. But, as you may have guessed, with such a large number, many of them become obsolete pretty quickly, while others are there merely for novelty's sake, whereas each sub-weapon has a true purpose that will come in handy at the right time. Out of those 55 souls, I grew really attached to about 15 or 20 of them.

Guardian Souls (blue) have a consecutive effect that diminishes magic points until it's deactivated. These are conveniently turned on and off with the right shoulder button. Instead of just unleashing attacks like the bullet souls, these souls allow Soma to do all manner of things, such as float, fly, hover, summon familiars, or let loose a continuous barrage of projectiles.

Enchanted Souls (yellow) constantly affect Soma without taking a toll on his MP. They serve as stat boosters and have other uses as well. And then there are the Ability Souls (silver), which grant Soma new capabilities, such as the slide, back dash, and double-jump. Unlike the other souls, of which you can only equip one of at a time for each type, you may have all of your ability souls activated during the same time.

The Tactical Soul System is the deepest, most creative, refined, and enjoyable magic system that Castlevania has ever had.

Circle of the Moon's Dual Setup System granted many useful possibilities, but it was convoluted at times, because the descriptions in the menu would not inform you what the card combinations did until you activated their effect. This is more frustrating than it sounds, because some card pairs require you to execute an obscure button combination that the game magically expects you to know, or get hit by a specific type of attack. It is not uncommon to go through the entire game with handfuls of card pairs that appear to be utterly useless, because you can't figure out what they do. Some may say it is fun and challenging figuring this out, but I discourage the 'mystery meat' tactic when it comes to magic systems.

Also, similar to the TSS, the magic system revolves around random monster drops. But CotM has no bestiary to help players keep track of what monsters they've collected from and which they haven't. This makes gathering the cards a much bigger chore than it should have been, when it was already quite a chore.

The idea behind using some weird cards with creatures on them was odd, too. I suppose the inspiration behind it was the monster card-collecting craze that was going on at the time in the anime world, with such things as Card Captor Sakura, Yu-Gi-Oh, and some others.
But that really has no place in Castlevania, especially since the game did not bother to explain the cards or their origin at all.

Harmony of Dissonance's Spell Fusion demonstrated dazzling graphics, which, unlike CotM, were able to faithfully depict some classic Item Crash techniques. Though it didn't have as many capabilities as the DSS, it was much easier to use, easier to manage, and was ultimately more fun to me. It was also nice to see the Spell Books from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse return. The problems with this system are that it is too overpowered, which made HoD easier than it should have been, and almost all of the effects are offensive.

The TSS has more capabilities than the DSS, and the effects are just as beautiful as Spell Fusion's. It is also really fun hunting down the souls, and it makes the enemies more than things you just kill because they're in your way. All of the lesser enemies have souls that you can collect and even trade with another player via game link cable.

Yes, this is sounding more and more like Pokémon. There's no denying that the influence is there, but it's been incorporated into Castlevania ingeniously, and in a macabre fashion that fits with the series. The only error of this magic system is the abundance of near pointless souls, but they, too, are fun to collect.
Besides, a reason why there are so many is because different people have different playing styles. You may have a certain set that you're particularly fond of, but someone else's could be entirely unlike it.

While the TSS gives you more variety outside of weaponry, the assorted types of weapons that Soma can use are very notable, too. As his leading weapon, Soma is not bound to just a whip like the Belmonts are. He uses a wide range of swords, spears, gloves, and even a few guns. Many of the weapons have their own exclusive effects, such as Milican's Sword's petrifying consequence.

The various weapon types will come in handy at different situations. To illustrate, swords that Soma swings vertically will be useful when going up towers where enemies loom overhead; while swords swung horizontally usually have more speed and forward range to them, which allows Soma to hit enemies while at a comfortable distance. With all of the diverse armor, weapons, accessories, items, and souls to collect, use, and trade, Aria offers copious room for customization and ensures that there will still be plenty to do after beating the game.
Borrowing an aspect from Chrono Trigger, Aria even has a New Game Plus feature, which allows players to carry over most of their equipment and souls to a new game. This way, you won't have to lose all of your hard earned collectibles if you choose to start the adventure all over again.

Aria presents some very nice controls. Everything is dexterous, tight, and quick to respond. Some fans have grumbled about Juste from HoD not being able to alter directions in the air after whipping. Aria now offers total control of your character while performing aerial attacks. On the whole, the control scheme is still set up very well.

While there is nothing like HoD's inventive no-menu use for Spell Fusion, there are some advances. Bringing out an example, Aria uses Circle of the Moon's idea of using up + one of the shoulder buttons to perform a super jump. Though not extremely cumbersome, HoD and SotN's method for carrying out super jumps (down, up, jump) was clumsier. In general, much like the rest of AoS, there's very little to complain about here.