Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is the sequel to the GBA game Aria of Sorrow. DoS is considered to be the second best game in the franchise, closely following the masterpiece Symphony of the Night. I bought the game because I love the series, but before this I've only played the first 4 games. making this my first RPG Castlevania. Here are my thoughts on this masterpiece.
Graphics- 5/5
The graphics in this game are just great. They're everything you’d expect from a great Castlevania game. Sure, they aren't incredible for today’s standards, but compare it to any other platformer of its style and they don't come very close to matching it.
The animation on the characters and enemies is very fluent, making the game more realistic. Even enemies that are 8 pixels tall (no I didn't count, just guessing) have some pretty decent animation
Definitely a sight for sore eyes.
Sound/Music- 5/5
The music is just what you'd expect from a Castlevania game. From creepy, Baroque-style organ melodies to a somewhat upbeat, rock-ish song, you'll be humming these tunes all day. Every song fits the area of the castle perfectly and creates a haunting atmosphere throughout the whole game. The boss music is intense and cranks up the adrenaline. Best of all, the game’s soundtrack features Bloody Tears, pretty much the series theme song.
The sound effects are very good, too. Everywhere you go, the sound effects match up to their, um, things, I guess you could say, perfectly.
Great music for a great game, I suppose.
Story- 1.5/5
When this game comes to the story, it falls flat on its face. There isn't much of it, and what is there is actually pretty bad.
I’ll try to explain it without giving too much away: Dawn of Sorrow happens one year after the events of Aria of Sorrow. It follows Soma Cruz, who in the earlier game was supposedly the reincarnation of Dracula. He is attacked in his hometown of Tokyo by a witch named Celia, who is the leader of some cult called the Church. She’s trying to transfer Dracula’s power into one of two men, Dario or Dmitrii. And pretty much, Soma has to stop this from happening.
Pretty bad, I think. This is the
only category that fails to match up to Symphony.
Gameplay/Fun Factor- 5/5
Well, if you like slashing your way through endless hordes of monsters, fighting giant bosses, and generally wreaking havoc, this game is definitely for you. You have many obstacles to go through, over a hundred enemies to fight, and I guess this is the perfect time to mention the soul collecting aspect.
Sometimes when you kill a monster, you get its soul. This allows you to use a special ability or attack. Some are for damage, some are for boosting stats, some are just for fun. Collecting more souls upgrades the attack or power. Collect 9 souls and you completely upgrade a soul, but some you can’t upgrade.
I just love running around, blasting enemies 8 times your size with a giant laser or blowing enemies to pieces with a supercharged bomb.
All in all, the gameplay is extremely
fun and addicting.
Length/Replay Value- 5/5
This is an enormous game. There is so much to do, collect, find, whatever. It took me about 15 hours total, just to beat the game. I'm currently at 35 hours, and still working on it.
You have to complete a map of probably the biggest castle in videogame history, fight about 20 bosses, collect all 100-something souls, and anything else you can do. There’s a timed boss rush mode, which when completed in under 5 minutes unlocks a bazooka. I’m not making this up. You can level up all the way to level 100, if you want. There’s a hard mode, and a mode where you play as another group of characters. If you complete all of this, I bet your total time altogether will be about 120 hours. That’s ridiculous.
Well, if you're looking for a game that'll
last a long time, here you go.
All in All- 4.8/5
Dawn of Sorrow is truly a masterpiece. While not Symphony of the Night, it still deserves its title as one of the best handheld games ever. Though lacking in the story department, the gameplay, sound, and graphics make up for that, and I actually found myself sort of ignoring the story all together. This game will appeal to the occasional gamer or a hardcore fan of the series. It’s one you really should check out.
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