"Koji Igarashi and his team prove that Symphony of the Night was no fluke"

1997. This was the year that marked a new beginning for the legendary Castlevania franchise when Koji Igarashi (IGA) and his talented team took the straightforward gameplay of the classic games in the series (characterized by both action and platforming elements), turning it into a deeper, more exploration-based experience. The result was Symphony of the Night, a game that many people consider, even today, as the best Castlevania title ever made. Several years have passed since then, and despite the team's efforts to surpass their best masterpiece with games such as Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow, Symphony of the Night still remains as the most beloved one among fans. Until now.

Aria of Sorrow improved upon Symphony of the Night in a couple of areas, but due to the GBA limitations it wasn't able to top it in everything else. Now, with the DS and its superior technology, the team has the possibility to prove that Symphony was no fluke and that they can surpass it if they are given the right system to work on. This is where Dawn of Sorrow comes in.

To begin with, the story, though deeper than what you are going to find in most Castlevania games, isn't all that special. The game stars Aria's hero, Soma Cruz, and his efforts to stop a cult of Dracula's followers to resurrect their lord and master. To avoid spoilers, I won't say anymore just in case you haven't played Aria of Sorrow, just bear in mind that Dawn spoils its biggest plot twist from the very beginning. Overall, the story, though not stellar, will keep your interest until the very end, and this is more than enough. Just don't expect to see a plot that turns the Castlevania series into a story-driven one, otherwise you will be disappointed. This is Castlevania, which means that what matters here is the gameplay, and in this regard Dawn doesn't disappoint.

So, what makes this new entry into the Castlevania series so great? Doesn't it just take the formula that IGA and his team have repeated during all these years, using once more the new game mechanics that Aria of Sorrow introduced two years ago? Well, yes, but Dawn's appeal doesn't consist on innovation, but rather on how much it refines Symphony's formula, not only topping it in the gameplay department, but actually surpassing it. Let me elaborate on this:

First of all, to those who aren't familiar with the Castlevania series (or rather, with the new action adventure RPG formula that Symphony established, a.k.a. "Castleroid games"), this game system fuses exploration, action and platforming elements. Essentially, you are thrown into a huge map that you can explore at will, with the exception that a lot of areas aren't accessible. The point of this gameplay consists on finding new abilities, relics or power-ups that allow you unlock these areas. Ultimately, you will have access to every area in the game, and while doing this you will be fighting against enemies, finding new weapons, armors and accessories and leveling-up thanks to a character growth system based on experience points.

Aria of Sorrow introduced the Tactical Soul System, which allows Soma to steal the souls of monsters and use their powers as his own. Dawn of Sorrow re-uses this system adding a couple of tweaks: Now, the more souls you obtain from a certain enemy, the more powerful that spell becomes. Also, thanks to a brand new synthesis system, you can fuse your souls with weapons in order to get new and more powerful weapons. This time you won't find as many weapons as you did throughout previous Castleroids, which turns this synthesis system into the best way to improve Soma's arsenal.

Besides this couple of innovations there aren't many new things that Dawn brings into the table. As I said, the game focuses more and refining the Castleroid formula. The question is, does it really improve upon previous games in the series? It sure does.

Probably the aspect from IGA's Castleroids games that has received most complaints from fans is the difficulty level. Symphony and Harmony lacked any kind of challenge, and despite the fact that Aria improved a lot in this area, it still wasn't nearly as hard as the classic Castlevania titles released before Symphony of the Night. Dawn of Sorrow is without a doubt the hardest Castletroid game IGA has ever done. You are not going to spend countless hours with the bosses here as you did with the NES Castlevanias, but a lot of them are going to take a couple of tries before you get to master their patterns. Also, despite the fact that getting the first (and incomplete) ending of the story is fairly easy, you are going to need to fully explore the whole castle and solve some interesting puzzles in order to get the best ending of the game.

The DS features aren't that important in Dawn of Sorrow. Rather, they are more like a simple gimmick. The most important one of these features is the Magic Seal system. Essentially, there are various Magic Seals that you can find throughout the game, and they are used to defeat the different bosses. Each time you defeat one of these bosses you'll need to take out the stylus and draw a certain Magical Seal. If you fail, the boss will regain some health and you will be forced to continue fighting until you draw the Magic Seal. In addition to this there's a soul that allows you to break ice block with the stylus, which is needed in order to solve a couple of interesting puzzles. As I said, these features are simple gimmicks that don't add much to a game that is played most of the time with the D-Pad and the rest of the normal buttons, as any normal game does.

What more can I say about Dawn's gameplay? This is IGA's team at its best, meaning that you are going to find tons and tons of different and interesting enemies and bosses with some cool and enjoyable patterns, top notch level design, smooth and responsive controls and thousands and thousands of little secrets. This is arguably the best Castleroid to date in terms of gameplay. Not even Symphony's gameplay comes close to this.

It would be foolish to ignore the music department in any Castlevania review. So, then... How does Dawn's soundtrack compare to its predecessors'? Well, if you are hoping to see a soundtrack that blows Symphony's out of the water, just forget about it. Right now. To be honest, it doesn't even come close to the ones we could heard in classic Castlevania games such as Rondo, Super Castlevania IV or Dracula's Curse. Regardless, this is Castlevania, and the music is still top notch, as usual. Expect to see top notch compositions done by both the composer of Castlevania 64 and Michiru Yamane in addittion to several remixes from classic Castlevania titles. The sound quality of this soundtrack is much better than what the GBA games offered, but after so many years it's a letdown to see that it still doesn't come close to a CD-quality one, especially since the graphics now are on par with the ones of Symphony of the Night. Regardless, this is still a top notch soundtrack, and you are going to find tons of excellent compositions here. You won't be disappointed.

So, what about the game's unlockables? Well, expect to see the typical unlockables that characterize IGA's games: Boss Rush, Hard Mode... They're all there. In addition, the secret mode that allows you to play as a different character (or rather, characters) is much better than before. This time the mode offers an actual storyline, a completely new and memorable final boss, and the experience point system that characterizes the main mode. I won't say anything else because you really should discover what this mode is about while playing the actual game, I'll just say that if you like Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse you are going to fell in love with this.

All this is great, but how does Dawn of Sorrow compare to the whole Castlevania series? Well, to put it simply, this is arguably the best Castleroid to date and one of the best titles this beloved and legendary franchise has to offer, which is saying a lot. It's true that it is more of the same and that it re-uses a formula that has been done to death. It even lacks the originality and uniqueness of games like Aria of Sorrow in both gameplay and story, but that doesn't deny what is otherwise a top notch game. If you are looking for a great DS game, or just an excellent action adventure game, you should buy this as soon as possible. If you are a Castlevania fan, I don't even know why you are reading this. Go and buy Dawn of Sorrow. Now.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/05