"Symphony of the Night < Dawn of Sorrow"

Granted my tagline is shocking to the many Castlevania faithful with good taste who place Symphony of the Night at the top of their all-time greatest games list but hear me out. SOTN was a near perfect action/platformer with it's mix of all out action, purposeful exploration, and RPG elements but Dawn of Sorrow has all of these elements executed equally well and at times even better.

The story goes something like this. You're name's Soma Cruz and you have the ability to harness the souls of other creatures and use their abilities. A cult has decided that you are one of three candidates to become the next Lord of Darkness. The other two candidates who were born at the exact time dracula was vanquished are a man who happens to be able to control fire and another guy who can steal other people's/creature's abilities (alot like your own powers). This cult is actually quite twisted. They think that in order for absolute good to exist an absolute evil must also exist and will create this Lord of Darkness by any means necessary. The story's continued from Aria of Sorrow but you need not have played that game to catch on to what's happening pretty quickly. If you did play AOS and thought the story was trash (me too) don't worry, it's executed much better this time around though not perfect, but who cares it's all about the atmosphere and gameplay right?

Controls are classic 2d Castlevania with a few welcome additions. With each enemy killed you have a chance to inherit their soul which can be equipped (up to 3 at a time). These equipped souls vary from basic stat boosters, familiars that follow you around and do damage, missile weapons, etc. There are over 100 creatures to kill and their soul dropping percentages vary from less than 1% to 100% which leaves alot of replay value for the collector in all of us. You can also craft new weapons with captured souls and your existing weapon inventory for some awesome combinations which is actually pretty involved and fun to play with.

Now to the meat and potatoes of this review. Why is Castlevania DOS; a handheld Castlevania being compared to and said better than an undeniable classic like SOTN? For one it's not rediculously simple. Unless you're playing SOTN with nothing equipped it's a walk in the park once you get a high damage dealing weapon and decent armor. While it's totally awesome to play through again and again just for the coolness of the complete package that is SOTN there is absolutely no challenge. In DOS you WILL die. I don't care how many times you've played every Castlevania I gauruntee you will die in this game. And not just against bosses. Until you've built your character up by gaining levels through experience you will die just traveling from one place to another. The enemy variety is astounding and during your 8-10 hour casual stroll through this game you'll be meeting different and much harder basic enemies all of the time. SOTN had alot of cool secrets which consumed countless hours of ours who don't use gamefaqs as a crutch every few hours to find and figure out.

**********SPOILER ALERT***********************
Dawn of Sorrow has alot of secrets too but they're not so vague you discover them by accident or not at all (I honestly didnt know about SOTN's inverted castle for a month after I thought I conquered all there was to the game). After beating DOS you have the option to start a new game in hard mode. You begin with all of your souls, items and cash from the previous game, minus the boss souls and begin fresh against enemies that seem to be about 4 times stronger and more durable than in your previous adventure. Not to be lazy about it, Capcom also changed up some of the enemy abilities and movements to keep things fresh and even more difficult. There is another mode which is unlocked that I won't spoil but I will say it's classic Castlevania with some very familiar faces.
***********END SPOILER ALERT*******************

SOTN has better graphics, a cooler player character and is much longer but I'd rather have a sizable challenge in DOS than looking at all the pretty colors in SOTN for the 50th time. SOTN was and still is an unforgettable experience but DOS is a proper evolution if you'd just give it a chance. I seen a gameplay video and actually went out and bought a DS just to play this game and I'm glad to say it was worth it.

And last but not least the music. While not CD quality, the DS' stereo surround abilities amaze me. You'll hear updated classics that are awesome as well as original creepy and excitement building dittys that add to the experience greatly and retain the Castlevania lineage of superior music.

Awesome game. Still blows me away they put this on a handheld. Go buy it if you have a DS and if you don't consider investing in the best portable gaming system around.

*Graphics 7/10
*Sound 8/10
*Challenge 10/10 (try hard mode)
*Fun 10/10
*Replay Value 9/10 (it'll take me a few years to do and see it all)
*Overall 9/10 (Cancel your plans for the next year or so)

Like this game? Try these:

Castlevania Symphony of the Night (PS), Castlevania Circle of the Moon (GBA), Castlevania Aria of Sorrow (GBA), Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance (GBA), Super Metroid (SNES), Metroid Fusion (GBA), Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)

Free

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/16/06