Aria of Sorrow... 🌒🧛

[WesternYokai]

The best thing of Circle of the Moon are the Nathan and Hugh portraits

 

[bigstinkie]

it has my favourite version of sinking sanctuary the bass roars like a monster

 

[andubandu]

What do you all think of the ending of the game (the true ending, not the bad ending that is)

definitely one of my favorite endings in all gaming (partly influenced by nostalgia). i believe it to be soma's test of identity and later redemption. a theme i hold dear to me in media.
the liminal space of the forbidden realm, in which chaos resides, provides soma with the proper environment in which he confronts his jungian shadow.

"does that mean they all know that i'm dracula?"; "no, not at all! rveryone believes you'll get through this."
-acceptance of the self (and the shadow) by the community (hammer, yoko, mina, arikado) which is an crucial step towards healing.

"i feel like the castle is still calling out to me. maybe the castle is where i truly belong?"
-the seductive allure of evil and how temptation disguises itself as destiny or as a calling, a pull towards the forbidden.

"the evil in this spirit comes from those who seek chaos and destruction. so we need to cut off the source of the chaos influencing the spirit. this castle is a product of dracula's magic. it's a spiritual world. my point is this, a stream of chaos exists within this castle as well. there is a place where only you, dracula, can go. that's where the chaos is!" -alucard being a true mystic with this one right here

now acceptance as most have heard a million times is the first step towards healing.
chaos here is the parasitic essence which resides inside the "castle". castle being the product of somacula's magic - the castle being soma's inner sanctum where only somacula can go... that's where the chaos is!
with dracula no longer being an external force (which i think, plotwise, was great writing to integrate and merge the antagonist into the protagonist for the more intricate lesson to be provided later) he has to dive deep into his own heart... that's where the chaos is!

Post automatically merged: May 1, 2025

Post automatically merged: May 1, 2025

hell yeah i leveled up with this post

 

[Michael Frank]

Ah...Aria of Sorrow, that Clock tower theme will live rent free on my brain until i die.

 

[_-_AceDragon_-_]

yes circle of the moon is a good game in its own right and it really is harder than the rest.
one thing that stood out from Harmony of Dissonance was the weird (but cool) outline around Juste and this banger:

you probably are possessing this knowledge already but the outline around juste and the generally brighter colour palette for harmony of dissonance was due to fans saying that circle of the moon was a difficult game to view unless you were under strong lighting

yes i know the reasoning behind it. circle of the moon was really lacking in terms of brightness and contrast and would have really sucked to play without frontlight or backlight (the first frontlit gba was the SP AGS-001 in 2003, CotM was released in 2001). game was really bland visually to be honest... plotwise also. but the gameplay was alright.
harmony of disonance had its charm with the bright visuals but felt too happy for a castlevania, it's beautiful tho.
View attachment 64671

I'm sure you're all aware of this but just in case, there's a few colour/sprite hacks:

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Recolor (Hack) GBA ROM - RGT Repository

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Recolor (Hack) GBA ROM Download. Languages: English. For the GameBoy Advance.

retrogametalk.com

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Aesthetic Animation) GBA ROM - RGT Repository

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Aesthetic Animation) GBA ROM Download. Languages: English. For the GameBoy Advance.

retrogametalk.com

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance - Definitive Edition (Hack) GBA ROM - RGT Repository

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance - Definitive Edition (Hack) GBA ROM Download. Languages: English. For the GameBoy Advance.

retrogametalk.com

 

[nostyle118]

I love Aria of Sorrow. Very close second after SOTN. Is it weird to say that I love the bad ending more than the real ending?

 

[starseeker300]

I love Aria of Sorrow. Very close second after SOTN. Is it weird to say that I love the bad ending more than the real ending?

View attachment 65116

I would ask you to explain why before making any judgments

 

[nostyle118]

I would ask you to explain why before making any judgments

Just love the callback to SOTN. Soma's sprite in that scene looks pretty badass, too, esp with the background.

 

[starseeker300]

Just love the callback to SOTN. Soma's sprite in that scene looks pretty badass, too, esp with the background.

ok thats a decent reason

 

[hitsugi]

Also a big fan of AOS, my first Castlevania game. That Julius fight was hard, but I guess it's not impossible ^^;

 

[andubandu]

Also a big fan of AOS, my first Castlevania game. That Julius fight was hard, but I guess it's not impossible ^^;

julius deserves his own game

 

[starseeker300]

julius deserves his own game

Castlevania 1999 wen

 

[Bacon Eater64x]

Blah, I prefer the original Dawn of Sorrow artwork.

A lot of people rag on it but i think DoS's Artwork of Soma encapsultes his personality and role better. To me Soma was wasn't an "Aloof mysterious edgelord" like Hector and Alucard and instead he is more like "Average Joe put in a situation he wants no part of"

 

[Cantarella]

aloof edgelord? He looks like a secret ABBA member in Aria.

 

[Gyakon]

Harmony of Dissonace was my first Castlevania (I never finished it back then) but Aria of Sorrow is my top one favorite (Yes, even from other consoles)
Music is perfect, sprites and background seems cleaner and sharp, story is simple but straightforward and interesting, gameplay is fun and replayable... Everything is excellent
One of my favorite "monster" is Persephone, it's really funny a maid that keeps her polite demeanour but is a kung fu master and beats you hard once she welcomes you

 

[Darklink]

Aria of Sorrow is great, easily in contention for best GBA game. Music is amazing, the sprite work is great, the level design is solid, there's a wide variety of powers. The story could be better, but it's mostly out of the way so it's at least not intrusive and annoying. The bonus Julius mode is pretty fun as well.

If I had to say what the game's major weakness is, it'd probably be the sheer amount of RNG needed to get all the souls, or even most of them.

 

[GardeniaSky's icon GardeniaSky GardeniaSky]

I 100% this game without a guide back in the day. Took me way too long to figure out all the little puzzles and hidden stuff.

 

[FrootyLoopsSamurai]

A lot of people rag on it but i think DoS's Artwork of Soma encapsultes his personality and role better. To me Soma was wasn't an "Aloof mysterious edgelord" like Hector and Alucard and instead he is more like "Average Joe put in a situation he wants no part of"

I really disliked the art style change in Dawn of Sorrow. I can see people not vibing with Aria's art style, but it feels a lot more distinctive than most of the series. It reminds me of Kazuma Kaneko's designs for the Shin Megami Tensei games. In Dawn everyone looks like a 2000's era blandime.

Perhaps I wouldn't care as much if they both had the same art style. There have been multiple other Castlevanias that use an anime style typical of their time. Rondo of Blood is anime as hell, and I really like the designs there. It's a stark contrast playing through Aria and then playing through Dawn. Also Soma is the reincarnation of Dracula. He should totally be edgy.

Viewed side by side, the contrast feels even more jarring.

 

[Male Nerdity]

I bought the GBA Compilation of Castlevania on Switch last year and took my time playing through all of them. I agree with your assessment that Aria of Sorrow was the best one of the bunch, but I did enjoy all of them thoroughly.

This was an example of great games I missed out on by not being a handheld gamer. I stuck to consoles so I'm really happy going back and playing through a lot of these games thanks to the Switch emulation and the compilations they have put together.

 

[_-_AceDragon_-_]

I bought the GBA Compilation of Castlevania on Switch last year and took my time playing through all of them. I agree with your assessment that Aria of Sorrow was the best one of the bunch, but I did enjoy all of them thoroughly.

This was an example of great games I missed out on by not being a handheld gamer. I stuck to consoles so I'm really happy going back and playing through a lot of these games thanks to the Switch emulation and the compilations they have put together.

Kind of jealous if you're only just discovering the GBA. So many great games to enjoy.