When you think of Castlevania as a game series, you probably think of hot vampires, whips, folklore, and maybe ever so slight levels of homoerotic tension. When I think of Castlevania, I think of high schoolers, long fur trench coats, soul stealing, guns, and some of the funniest writing decisions ever in a game that takes itself so seriously. We simply aren't the same.

I adore Aria of Sorrow, it's such a fun time. There's no greater pleasure in the Castlevania series than playing as a high schooler who's actually the soon to be reincarnation of Dracula running around with a Positron Rifle summoning cats to gnaw the ankles of my enemies. It's truly incredible.

Genuinely the only issue is if you're looking to 100% it, there's a lot of grinding to get to that perfect soul completion, but goddamn that aside is it one of the best games on the GBA and one of the best Castlevanias outside of SOTN and the glorious pachinko machines....