Yes, this zombie gives you the power to throw hand grenades. It offers far more player choice than Castlevania ever had before. or you could shoot goddamn lighting out of your hands. Sure, you could hit stuff with your sword. Some may be simple stat boosts, while others provide new mobility enhancements. You might stumble upon a new enemy and wonder what their soul could possibly offer. Meanwhile, the tactical soul system in Aria of Sorrow encourages constant adjustments and experimentation. Alucard can spend 90% of that adventure kitted with varying longswords and a throwing ax, and be perfectly fine. Symphony of the Night relies on a small grouping of useful weapon types and abilities. It’s here that Aria of Sorrow really begins to set itself apart from the pack, adding a feature that I sorely miss when I go back and play Symphony of the Night. This so-called tactical soul system is a key component, as each of the game’s dozens of enemies carries some game-changing power to give Soma an edge. For example, killing a bone-throwing skeleton might grant him the power to throw bones himself. Dracula doesn’t employ robots or worry about his follower count, but the setting does allow for an occasional moment of futuristic hilarity to seep into an otherwise old-timey setting (read: laser gun).Īs a possible reincarnation of Dracula, protagonist Soma Cruz can suck up the powers of the various enemies he fights. Does the game being in the future change much of anything? Not really. In the year 2035, a teenager in a sick white duster finds himself with supernatural powers. In hindsight, it turns out they were preambles to the big show.Ĭastlevania: Aria of Sorrow, released in 2003, has seen a rebirth just this week as part of the Castlevania Advance Collection (which includes all three GBA games, alongside Dracula X, which we’ll just ignore for the sake of sanity, and because it’s not very good).Īria of Sorrow is noteworthy for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it’s the first Castlevania game to be set in the future. They are enjoyable, even today, but they’re not games I often relish returning to. Of those first two games, 2001’s Circle of the Moon handily bests 2002’s Harmony of Dissonance, but neither could hold a whippable candle to the PlayStation inspiration that came before.
And yet, when people ask me for my favorite game in the series, I don’t point to a symphony - I point to an aria.Įach of the three Game Boy Advance Castlevania games were inspired by the exploration-first gameplay of Symphony of the Night, to varying degrees of success. It defined the Metroidvania genre, and no other Castlevania game has ever topped its enormous scope. I adore Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
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