review: castlevania - aria of sorrow (GBA)

Working title: Symphonic Aria of Dissonant Sorrows (A Nocturne)

I honestly think Konami has to start coming up with some more imaginative titles. Every Castlevania game after the critical and commercial success of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night has been similar sounding. Nothing against the games themselves, but the naming scheme is becoming a bit tired. Not to mention of course the Final Fantasy-eque unisexing of the main hero - I mean looking at the box for Aria of Sorrow I could have sworn it was a girl, but apparently that's your character. Yeah, he's supposed to be male. And where do they come up with the names? Honestly...Soma Cruz? I thought I would die laughing. I guess something was lost in the translation. But I am reviewing a game here, not the foibles of Japanese game developers.

The story behind this adventure takes place in 2035, and apparently Dracula's castle is inside a solar eclipse. You mysteriously find yourself at the castle gates after visiting an ancient shrine. Other than that the plot kind of fades into the background. I'll be honest here and say that I skipped most of the dialogue because it was pretty boring and so god awfully scripted. For example:

Very Bad Guy: "I was born on the very day that Dracula was destroyed...So, in short, that means I AM Dracula!"
Soma Cruz: "That can't be right?! You've been so kind and friendly to me!"

...and so on. The game itself is basically just wandering around a giant castle killing monsters and finding new equipment. The RPG elements are pretty hands-off. The more levels you have, the more HP you get and the more damage you do. Traditionally, though, that's the way these games always were and I suppose it's just my PC gaming background that expects a bit more. I'd compare this style of play with something like the Metroid series, as there are areas that are "locked" until you gain certain powers (eg. a platform that is too high until you get the double-jump ability). The castle design is quite good, though, so there isn't much backtracking involved. Save points, as much as I hate them, are well placed and do not prove to be too much of a hassle. The "sleep" feature I appreciated, which allows you to save anywhere, but once you restore from that point the savegame is deleted. It's a great feature that allows you to play at your own pace.

The graphics in this game are excellent. The sprite animations are fluid and the spell/soul power effects blew me away. For example, the soul of the Manticore changes you into this enourmous devil beast, where you can cut across the room leaving bloodshed in your wake. There is also a good variety of powerful and unique weapons and items, and most of them can be found in the Castle's many secret areas. The different sub-levels within the Castle were a bit clichè, but never uninteresting. My favorites were the Clock Tower and of course the Top Floor that leads to the final battle. However, there were only a few things that actually hinted at it being set in the future. Otherwise it looked just like any other Castlevania setting. So much for this being "futuristic". The sounds and music are very well done, and were a joy to listen to in full stereo sound. There are even little voice clips that Soma may utter when he does a particular type of attack or is damaged. They were subtle touches but made the game that much more interesting to play.

The soul powers system, which is unique to this installment of the Castlevania series, is fun. Every time you kill a monster there is a chance you can "steal" their soul, which can then be used for special abilities. This means that every single monster in the game has the potential to give up their soul for a new power. This leads to ultimate replayabiltity. In fact, even though there is no multiplayer you can link up with a friend to trade souls, which is a great idea. I think co-op multiplayer would have been nice, but I guess that's too much to ask.

I finished this game after playing it for roughly 20 hours. My saved game timer actually clocks it in at around 9 hours, but I know there were a few tougher areas that took more than one try to beat (Death was the toughest boss in the game). It was a bit short, and I was a little sad to see it end. Once you beat the game though you can start a new game on the "Hard" setting, or, the developers put Julius Belmont in as a playable character. You can start again and play as him, but you won't get any of Soma's Soul stealing abilities.

I consider myself a pretty big fan of the Castlevania series, and I was extremely pleased with this adventure. I haven't played any of the previous GBA adventures, but I have a feeling they won't really compare. Some people have even called this game the true sequel to Symphony of the Night. Whether you're a fan of the series or not, I'd highly recommend this game to any owner of the GBA. It's fun as hell.