"Worth a DS purchase all by itself."

The Castlevania series has existed for almost 20 years now, and though it hasn't managed to become one of the elite series in gaming in terms of overall popularity, it has built a very loyal fanbase and has produced some very quality titles that have stood the test of time well.

Symphony of the Night is considered by many to be the best Castlevania title in the series, and the first question many players will have before beginning Dawn of Sorrow is whether or not Dawn of Sorrow will be the next Symphony of the Night.

The answer is no, but it comes closer than any other Castlevania title has since Symphony of the Night's itself.

Story: 7/10

You begin the game as Soma Cruz, a young man who is fresh off of not only defeating Dracula in Aria of Sorrow, but sealing away Dracula's soul inside of his own body as well. However it doesn't take long before ill fate besets Soma, as he is attacked by a woman named Celia in the beginning of the game. Celia is the leader of a cult that seeks to resurrect the Dark Lord, and they view one with the power of Dracula inside of him as a threat. They're also considering the possibilities of drawing out Dracula's power from Soma, so they seek multiple interests from his presence at their castle.

You obvious mission is to infiltrate Celia's castle and kill anything that dares move, but you will not be alone. Your friends Yoko and Hammer will tag along and set up shops to assist you, and you'll even notice a friend or two assisting you in battling enemies inside of the castle. Or perhaps they're only there to keep an eye on you. After all, you are essentially Dracula himself and losing power over Dracula's soul could lead to some rather disastrous results.

Gameplay: 8.5/10

Every platformer's make-or-break quality is its gameplay, and Dawn of Sorrow delivers with standard Castlevania brilliance.

For anyone who has ever played a 2D Metroid or Castlevania title before, the formula used in Dawn of Sorrow will look very familiar. For others, it's easy to follow regardless. In the beginning of the game, you'll begin the game as a very weak character with only the necessary abilities to get by and with only a small section of the game open to you for exploration. As you progress through the game, find more items and uncover new areas, other parts of the castle will open up to you; this pattern continues until the game is complete, and given the general success of the Castlevania and Metroid series, it (an open-ended, abstract style of platformer) is a pattern that gamers seem to adore.

What sets Dawn of Sorrow apart from most games however is that opening up new areas and challenges is done in a variety of ways that extend past simply finding the right item or killing the next boss, specifically the prerequisite of Soma being able to draw a soul from nearly every monster in the game be it normal enemy or boss. Soma possesses the power of dominance over souls should he be lucky enough so as to see an enemy drop theirs, and he gets stronger as he gains more souls. Some souls that regular enemies drop are required for getting to new areas, and almost every boss will drop a soul that you'll need to further the game along.

You'll also notice that the variety of weapons not only exists in the weapon types themselves, but how Soma uses them. It takes longer to swing an axe than it does a dagger, and each weapon has strengths and weaknesses that need to be considered. There are also super attacks that can be executed with each weapon, and all it takes to use them is a small bit of MP.

It's an overall excellent gameplay formula that makes going through the castle interesting, but it's not without a couple of minor issues. For one, even after you get the Doppleganger ability there are over 100 souls by the end of the game. You'll likely not get enough time to play around with them all, and even if you do you'll find that most of the souls in the game are mere novelty items that aren't go-to abilities to have in a firefight. There will likely only be a very small number of souls that you'll rely on through the game.

Secondly, a good deal of the boss fights, while fun, are rather easy due to Dawn of Soul's RPG undertones. Symphony of the Night had the same problem; rather than boss fights being a test of skill, most are simply a battle of attrition where you'll have to kill the boss before it kills you. Thankfully there are a few fights at the end of the game that get away from this issue, which many an old-school Castlevania fan will adore.

There's also the issue of the game not being all too compatible with the DS itself. There are two cases to note in terms of when you'll have to use the touch screen -- destroying ice blocks and sealing bosses, respectively -- and like with virtually every other DS game that forces touch screen use the controls will feel very odd and cumbersome while doing so. Thankfully, the game doesn't force touch screen use to the point of it truly being a major issue.

Once you complete the game, you'll find that Dawn of Sorrow's replay value is sky high. There are multiple endings, a Hard Mode, Julius Mode, and secrets lying in wait for you should you decide to go after every soul in the game or Synthesize every weapon available to you. There are also the endgame challenges of leveling to 99, getting 9 of every soul, getting every item and every drop in the game, getting 100% map completion or simply going through the game while limiting yourself. The possibilities are endless, which is one thing that RPG-style Castlevania titles have over the more traditional types.

Graphics: 10/10

Graphically, Dawn of Sorrow might be the best Castlevania to date. Only Symphony of the Night could really be considered better, but it's close. The opening scene of the game is delivered with stunning quality, and the inside of the castle itself is animated absolutely wonderfully. Every little chair, every wall and especially the background are detailed extremely well, and the sprites certainly follow suit.

The sprites in Dawn of Sorrow are the most detailed in any Castlevania to date, and it isn't just their attack animation. Some of them have special little intros that they need to take before they attempt to kill you (which makes them easy to kill, but that's besides the point), and almost all of them have excellent death sequences.

And though Soma himself is fairly bland in his look, the graphical detail given to all of his weapons and all of his abilities is very noticeable. Every weapon, every soul, every super attack and every ability had to be accounted for, and with the exception of the Succubus Glitch Konami did an excellent job.

Sound: 6.5/10

The sound effects and music are probably the weakest part of Dawn of Sorrow, especially the music. There are one or two good tracks here and there, but overall the game's score doesn't come close to matching the standard set by Castlevania titles of the past. And even if you judge the music without comparing it to anything else, it's barely above average.

There are no glaring issues involving the sound effects of the game, but then again there is nothing that stands out either. In fact, the sound effects of the game generally fail to create a would-be amazing atmosphere that the graphics help to create. But with this said, the sound isn't all bad. Most of the enemies let loose some awesome battle cries upon fighting or death, and Dawn of Sorrow is a rare case where a lack of voice acting is beneficial. Every Symphony of the Night fan will agree that bad voice acting can ruin a storyline.

Overall: 8/10

The sexy comparison will be to see how Dawn of Sorrow stacks up with Symphony of the Night. Don't go into this game expecting Dawn of Sorrow to be the next SOTN, because you'll be disappointed. There are a few little things here and there that will annoy any player seeking out the Castlevania title that will upend SOTN as being the best, such as Soma's lame double jump or his cloak not changing color after equipment changes like Alucard's did.

But with this said, not meeting the insane standard set by SOTN isn't something that should be held against Dawn of Sorrow at all. DOS is a very fun game whose faults are minor enough to not be worth worrying about, and might be the biggest reason yet to own a DS. It has a built-in gameplay feature that will almost force the player to focus on the endgame as much as the game itself.

You do want to get every soul in the game, don't you? :)

Shorthand Ratings

Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 6.5/10
Overall: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/18/05, Updated 09/04/07

Game Release: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (US, 10/04/05)