I really love 2D Castlevania games. My invitation to this "horrible night with a curse" of a franchise was through Order of Ecclesia. I'm pretty sure my experience with the other two DS Castlevania games contributes to my judgment of this one. With that said, I see no reason to drag out the fact that I don't like Dawn of Sorrow much at all. I feel that it is truly the weakest and most lackluster DS Castlevania, and probably the weakest Castlevania yet (I haven't played Harmony or Circle of the Moon, which get similar claims). Before I get into it, let's reflect on Aria of Sorrow, shall we?

Ironically, I LOVE Aria. It has great game play, amazing music, and the introduction of a cool new protagonist (post Dracula era) and soul system set this game on the map. I mean, most were pretty bummed out with the "lackluster" Harmony and Circle of the Moon; the very graphics of Aria alone rejuvenated everyone's love and hope for 2D Castlevania....on the GBA anyways. There was clearly no competition between it and the other two. There was this new look, feel, gimmick, protagonist, and game play abound in the GBA's swan song Castlevania game; it hit every mark with its presentation. It did have its moments, like its incredibly stupid designs, for example, of not being able to sell ANYTHING after you've reached the maximum amount of money accrued ($999,999), which forced you to clutter your inventory with whatever you happened to pick up, to the poor streamlining of the water navigation mechanics (boy, did I NOT enjoy constantly having to switch souls just to bob, swim, and walk on water).

The difficulty wasn't exactly its greatest point either, especially for a Castlevania game, let alone a game from Konami. With those and a few other hiccups aside, it was a fantastic game that introduced very appealing audio and game play mechanics, as well as a great character and story that didn't involve the whoring of Dracula's resurrection once more, for once. Many hold it as one of the best Castlevania games since Symphony. Now, let's fast forward a few years later to what I feel is an unnecessary chapter to that rather tainted gem of a game.

Story:

The story essentially consists of Aria's concept of a story - once more, the nameless Dark Lord must once again arise, much like he did in Dracula's era because....the antagonists feel and say so. Having failed this just a year ago, new "bad guys" enter the scene to try and fill this void. The story, without spoiling too much of it for those who probably haven't gotten around to playing this game, is essentially a varied constant from the first game, if that makes any sense. If you've played the first game, nothing about the story should surprise or amuse you here. Personally, I think the story is just your usual generic plot device designed by the bad guys to nag and possibly manipulate the good guy into playing along for the sake of giving him and the gamer a mundane activity to play with. You're literally doing nothing more than replaying the previous game's plot device, but with a new list bad guys. Whoopee.

Music:

Now, this is one area where the game shines. The music is incredibly great. It's not amazing, let alone Aria of Sorrow amazing in my book; what's there, however, are quite a few tracks you might consider downloading to your I- or Android device. Just sample a bit of the game's tracks and see what I mean. YouTube is your best friend here.

Game Play:

Ah, now this is where things take a turn for the worst. The whole time I was playing the game, only one word came to mind: dull. When stomaching the depressingly slow pace of the game play, I can only think of one word: geriatric. Soma controls like one. The game play, which is only uplifted by the rather wonderful audio, is just plain bland. You're literally following the same concept from the first game: Experience the typical Castlevania game play wrapped around Soma's ability to do the Dracula thing, or show off the soul system of this game. I wouldn't mind this so much if the challenge in it all, even in "hard mode", wasn't so damn non-existent. Just pick a soul and/or weapon, be overpowered, and simply press buttons. Save a few bosses, this classic run of the mill "beat 'em up" tactic is still just as effective. That's just not appealing game play to me, especially when the other DS Castlevania games put up more of a fight in their game play's challenge department and hard modes.

Speaking of souls, unless you acquire that beloved soul eater ring, you're going to be painstakingly and depressingly grinding for them, if that's your sort of thing. Yes; they're still utterly scarce to get; having to grind for even a mildly decent one doesn't make things better, either. Needless to say, this could have used a bit of streamlining. Just like most other things from Aria, it's like they just copied and pasted this terrible hiccup of the soul system over to this game with a face lift. Then comes the "weapon system" of this game, know as "weapon synthesis". You see, souls aren't just for Soma to dominate at his will; this game also gives you the DISpleasure of synthesizing them with the few weapons you can actually find in this game, effectively upgrading the weapons.

In theory, this sounds amazing; then, you realize that you have to sacrifice those already scarce souls, most of which are actually useful, to do so, all the while undergoing an additional scavenger hunt for the required weapons since you can't find weapons like you normally can in another game like this, or another Castlevania game in general. Even then, the weapons you do painstakingly find are at their weakest until you give up those precious souls to make them worth a damn. Yes; this is the only way to accomplish such a thing and turn all of that gruesome and cumbersome work into ONE useful weapon! Needless to say, this is yet another cumbersome and poorly designed feature introduced in this game that could use some work.

Conclusion:

So what did I like about this game? Uh, not too much, other than the aforementioned music honestly. This game, to me, comes off as a rehashed concept and design from the previous entry with a DS face lift. Everything you did in Aria is what you're essentially doing in this game. Every concept and feature you came to know and love from Aria is here, with little to no improvement whatsoever. The new features, while they are nice ideas, could have used better design and streamlining. Come to think of it, and speaking of streamlining, I do appreciate them at least fixing the "swimming" issues and the inability to sell something after acquiring the maximum amount of money that Aria suffered from (seriously, those are remedial design flaws)....

Other than that, the story was just an unnecessary debacle rehashed from Aria with different bad guys clinging to the same goal. Gee; I haven't heard of a story like that before....just add different bad guys for dramatic effect, won't ya, Konami? I've finally got around to playing all three DS Castlevania games; this game, to me, is easily the weakest of the three considering the fact that its ails are far more polished in the other DS Castlevania games. I honestly don't see why, other than Soma fan boys maybe, that this game gets SO much praise....if you're not painfully and depressingly grinding for souls, whether you're keeping them or synthesizing them into weapons, you're braving the forgettable story and controlling the geriatric Soma in the process. I mean damn; this is why they invented the mercury & winged boots in the other games, along with a few skills that also sped up the painfully slow pace of the Castlevania games, since most of the characters, despite their physical and mental prowess otherwise, suffer from severe arthritis and bursitis apparently....that's just another snooze to any game's game play in my opinion.

With all of that said, this game is easily the weakest in my eyes; it's just a bland Aria of Sorrow rehash with a DS face lift that attempts to reproduce the game play and concepts of said game with little to no real improvements whatsoever in Aria's concepts. There's literally nothing left to do once you've managed to slug through the already mollusk paced, dull, and remedial game play. Just sit back, relax, and listen to those rather cool tunes from the game which are sadly more appealing than its game play and story.
I really love 2D Castlevania games. My invitation to this "horrible night with a curse" of a franchise was through Order of Ecclesia. I'm pretty sure my experience with the other two DS Castlevania games contributes to my judgment of this one. With that said, I see no reason to drag out the fact that I don't like Dawn of Sorrow much at all. I feel that it is truly the weakest and most lackluster DS Castlevania, and probably the weakest Castlevania yet (I haven't played Harmony or Circle of the Moon, which get similar claims). Before I get into it, let's reflect on Aria of Sorrow, shall we? Ironically, I LOVE Aria. It has great game play, amazing music, and the introduction of a cool new protagonist (post Dracula era) and soul system set this game on the map. I mean, most were pretty bummed out with the "lackluster" Harmony and Circle of the Moon; the very graphics of Aria alone rejuvenated everyone's love and hope for 2D Castlevania.... on the GBA anyways. There was clearly no competition between it and the other two. There was this new look, feel, gimmick, protagonist, and game play abound in the GBA's swan song Castlevania game; it hit every mark with its presentation. It did have its moments, like its incredibly stupid designs, for example, of not being able to sell ANYTHING after you've reached the maximum amount of money accrued ($999,999), which forced you to clutter your inventory with whatever you happened to pick up, to the poor streamlining of the water navigation mechanics (boy, did I NOT enjoy constantly having to switch souls just to bob, swim, and walk on water). The difficulty wasn't exactly its greatest point either, especially for a Castlevania game, let alone a game from Konami. With those and a few other hiccups aside, it was a fantastic game that introduced very appealing audio and game play mechanics, as well as a great character and story that didn't involve the whoring of Dracula's resurrection once more, for once. Many hold it as one of the best Castlevania games since Symphony. Now, let's fast forward a few years later to what I feel is an unnecessary chapter to that rather tainted gem of a game. Story:

The story essentially consists of Aria's concept of a story - once more, the nameless Dark Lord must once again arise, much like he did in Dracula's era because.... the antagonists feel and say so. Having failed this just a year ago, new "bad guys" enter the scene to try and fill this void. The story, without spoiling too much of it for those who probably haven't gotten around to playing this game, is essentially a varied constant from the first game, if that makes any sense. If you've played the first game, nothing about the story should surprise or amuse you here. Personally, I think the story is just your usual generic plot device designed by the bad guys to nag and possibly manipulate the good guy into playing along for the sake of giving him and the gamer a mundane activity to play with. You're literally doing nothing more than replaying the previous game's plot device, but with a new list bad guys. Whoopee. Music:

Now, this is one area where the game shines. The music is incredibly great. It's not amazing, let alone Aria of Sorrow amazing in my book; what's there, however, are quite a few tracks you might consider downloading to your I- or Android device. Just sample a bit of the game's tracks and see what I mean. YouTube is your best friend here. Game Play:

Ah, now this is where things take a turn for the worst. The whole time I was playing the game, only one word came to mind: dull. When stomaching the depressingly slow pace of the game play, I can only think of one word: geriatric. Soma controls like one. The game play, which is only uplifted by the rather wonderful audio, is just plain bland. You're literally following the same concept from the first game: Experience the typical Castlevania game play wrapped around Soma's ability to do the Dracula thing, or show off the soul system of this game. I wouldn't mind this so much if the challenge in it all, even in "hard mode", wasn't so damn non-existent. Just pick a soul and/or weapon, be overpowered, and simply press buttons. Save a few bosses, this classic run of the mill "beat 'em up" tactic is still just as effective. That's just not appealing game play to me, especially when the other DS Castlevania games put up more of a fight in their game play's challenge department and hard modes. Speaking of souls, unless you acquire that beloved soul eater ring, you're going to be painstakingly and depressingly grinding for them, if that's your sort of thing. Yes; they're still utterly scarce to get; having to grind for even a mildly decent one doesn't make things better, either. Needless to say, this could have used a bit of streamlining. Just like most other things from Aria, it's like they just copied and pasted this terrible hiccup of the soul system over to this game with a face lift. Then comes the "weapon system" of this game, know as "weapon synthesis". You see, souls aren't just for Soma to dominate at his will; this game also gives you the DISpleasure of synthesizing them with the few weapons you can actually find in this game, effectively upgrading the weapons. In theory, this sounds amazing; then, you realize that you have to sacrifice those already scarce souls, most of which are actually useful, to do so, all the while undergoing an additional scavenger hunt for the required weapons since you can't find weapons like you normally can in another game like this, or another Castlevania game in general. Even then, the weapons you do painstakingly find are at their weakest until you give up those precious souls to make them worth a damn. Yes; this is the only way to accomplish such a thing and turn all of that gruesome and cumbersome work into ONE useful weapon! Needless to say, this is yet another cumbersome and poorly designed feature introduced in this game that could use some work. Conclusion:

So what did I like about this game? Uh, not too much, other than the aforementioned music honestly. This game, to me, comes off as a rehashed concept and design from the previous entry with a DS face lift. Everything you did in Aria is what you're essentially doing in this game. Every concept and feature you came to know and love from Aria is here, with little to no improvement whatsoever. The new features, while they are nice ideas, could have used better design and streamlining. Come to think of it, and speaking of streamlining, I do appreciate them at least fixing the "swimming" issues and the inability to sell something after acquiring the maximum amount of money that Aria suffered from (seriously, those are remedial design flaws).... Other than that, the story was just an unnecessary debacle rehashed from Aria with different bad guys clinging to the same goal. Gee; I haven't heard of a story like that before.... just add different bad guys for dramatic effect, won't ya, Konami? I've finally got around to playing all three DS Castlevania games; this game, to me, is easily the weakest of the three considering the fact that its ails are far more polished in the other DS Castlevania games. I honestly don't see why, other than Soma fan boys maybe, that this game gets SO much praise.... if you're not painfully and depressingly grinding for souls, whether you're keeping them or synthesizing them into weapons, you're braving the forgettable story and controlling the geriatric Soma in the process. I mean damn; this is why they invented the mercury & winged boots in the other games, along with a few skills that also sped up the painfully slow pace of the Castlevania games, since most of the characters, despite their physical and mental prowess otherwise, suffer from severe arthritis and bursitis apparently.... that's just another snooze to any game's game play in my opinion. With all of that said, this game is easily the weakest in my eyes; it's just a bland Aria of Sorrow rehash with a DS face lift that attempts to reproduce the game play and concepts of said game with little to no real improvements whatsoever in Aria's concepts. There's literally nothing left to do once you've managed to slug through the already mollusk paced, dull, and remedial game play. Just sit back, relax, and listen to those rather cool tunes from the game which are sadly more appealing than its game play and story.