We're back to reusing Rondo/SotN sprites baby! Woohoo!
Dawn of Sorrow kicks off the DS trilogy with a bang, expanding on Aria's gameplay additions and brushing up the presentation across the board. In my Aria review, I commented on how the only thing holding that game back from being my favorite Castlevania is the hardware it was released on.
Dawn of Sorrow looks, feels and sounds EXACTLY like what I had in mind. I mean, in some ways the DS is basically a portable PS1 in terms of power, right? Perhaps this is a glimpse of what Aria would've looked like on that system. I especially love the 2D areas with 3D backgrounds, like the village houses and the iconic clock tower.
Now, not everything hits the mark. The art is a SEVERE downgrade from previous games. I realize that it made sense for the time, but Ayami Kojima's works can never be replaced, especially not by this.
The dual screen was also a huge missed opportunity. Instead of adding gimmicks like breaking blocks or drawing seals to finish off bosses, they could have added something like a marker system to the map, where you'd be able to add memos to certain areas so you remember what to do in them later. "Small gap here", "high jump here", etc. Sadly they didn't quite see it that way, so hope you played enough Trauma Center before this.
The dialogue is also pretty bad at points. Characters constantly say things like "It's too dangerous, you should step back" to each other, and Hammer creeping over Yoko/Yoko creeping over Soma's relationship with Mina over the course of their shop dialogues got real old, real fast. The alternate endings were pretty cool though.
Beyond that, there's... Something about the design here that feels less focused than Aria's. I can't quite put my finger on what, but after finishing the game earlier today, I didn't quite feel like going back to 100% it.
Still a great game, don't get me wrong, but better visuals and soundtrack aside, Aria still comes out on top for me.
Dawn of Sorrow kicks off the DS trilogy with a bang, expanding on Aria's gameplay additions and brushing up the presentation across the board. In my Aria review, I commented on how the only thing holding that game back from being my favorite Castlevania is the hardware it was released on.
Dawn of Sorrow looks, feels and sounds EXACTLY like what I had in mind. I mean, in some ways the DS is basically a portable PS1 in terms of power, right? Perhaps this is a glimpse of what Aria would've looked like on that system. I especially love the 2D areas with 3D backgrounds, like the village houses and the iconic clock tower.
Now, not everything hits the mark. The art is a SEVERE downgrade from previous games. I realize that it made sense for the time, but Ayami Kojima's works can never be replaced, especially not by this.
The dual screen was also a huge missed opportunity. Instead of adding gimmicks like breaking blocks or drawing seals to finish off bosses, they could have added something like a marker system to the map, where you'd be able to add memos to certain areas so you remember what to do in them later. "Small gap here", "high jump here", etc. Sadly they didn't quite see it that way, so hope you played enough Trauma Center before this.
The dialogue is also pretty bad at points. Characters constantly say things like "It's too dangerous, you should step back" to each other, and Hammer creeping over Yoko/Yoko creeping over Soma's relationship with Mina over the course of their shop dialogues got real old, real fast. The alternate endings were pretty cool though.
Beyond that, there's... Something about the design here that feels less focused than Aria's. I can't quite put my finger on what, but after finishing the game earlier today, I didn't quite feel like going back to 100% it.
Still a great game, don't get me wrong, but better visuals and soundtrack aside, Aria still comes out on top for me.