Jtnguyen12

From Gamespot.com

Konami had a playable version of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow on display at its San Francisco press event. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow will be the first in the series to take place in the future (the year 2035 to be exact), but don't let that fool you into thinking that the game will feature some sort of space vampires or zombies with space helmets. In fact, the portions of Dracula's castle that we've seen have the same exact style as previous Castlevania games. However, the gameplay has changed quite drastically--Aria of Sorrow has done away with the classic Castlevania sub-weapons and replaced them with a system that enables the game's main character to absorb powers from different enemies in the game.
The game begins with a depiction of a solar eclipse, a major theme in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. You quickly learn that in 1999, Dracula and his castle appeared once again to wreak havoc on the Transylvanian countryside, but the vampire hunters were not only able to defeat Dracula but they were also successful in trapping his castle within the eclipse. Some 36 years later, a new solar eclipse is scheduled to take place, and as Soma Cruz (Aria of Sorrow's main characters) walks towards the gates to view the eclipse, he disappears from the landscape and is transported to Dracula's castle along with his friend Mina.

Aria of Sorrow is structured similarly to Symphony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, and Harmony of Dissonance in that you'll be exploring what appears to be an enormous castle divided in several different sections--some of which can't be accessed until Soma receives certain abilities. But what makes Aria of Sorrow so drastically different from all of those games is the soul system, which essentially replaces the traditional Castlevania sub-weapons and magic system. As you progress through the game, an enemy will occasionally leave behind a soul that Soma can absorb, which in turn, gives him the powers of that particular enemy. For example, if you destroy a regular bone throwing skeleton and it leaves a soul behind, then you'll gain the ability to throw bones. Likewise, if you kill one of the axe knights, then you'll be able to swing a massive axe, but the drawback to these skills is that they can deplete Soma's magic levels rather quickly. Other souls let Soma cast magic spells while others function similarly to the relic system in Harmony of Dissonance, giving Soma special physical abilities like the double jump or the dash. Interestingly, souls can be traded between players via the Game Boy Advance link cable.

The weapon system is somewhat similar to Symphony of the Night in that Soma isn't restricted to using a single weapon like a sword or a whip. Soma can actually use a wide variety of weapons, ranging from daggers and swords to spears and hammers. It's worth noting that some of these weapons have bonuses and drawbacks such as the hammer, which is very powerful but also very slow, leaving Soma open for attack just before swinging.

During the presentation, Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi noted that the development team realizes that many were disappointed with the music quality in Harmony of Dissonance, so they have made special efforts to improve the music for Aria of Sorrow while retaining a visual quality level close to (if not slightly better than) Harmony of Dissonance's graphics. It's also worth noting that the composer of the music from Symphony of the Night is also working on the project.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is scheduled for release in May.

PixyJunket

Oh heyl yes. More GBA Castlevania!!
Sprinkle me some of that 2D game!

Matt925

I so badly want a 2D Castlevania game to be released for one of the consoles. All I have is a GameCube, but that would make me instantly purchase an X-Box or PS2.

But with that said, I will be buying the GBA-GameCube convertor specifically for these games (but I will also enjoy Mario, Metroid, and the SNES games ).

AgtFox

They also announced a console Castlevania game would be unveiled at E3. No word on console or 2D/3D as of yet, have to wait for E3.

Matt925

Well, if they can do 3D like Retro did with Metroid, I'll take it. But even though I was initially skeptical of Metroid and after playing it I loved it, I'm still skeptical of this. I just can't picture the castle from a first-person perspective, and third-person isn't much better.

Either way it's better than nothing. Great news! Dammit, I will like this!

Michael Corvin

Man they are pumping these out. I still haven't played much of my HoD. I've been hooked on Metroid Fusion. Now with these two great series out for GBA, all I need now are a classic Mega Man game and Kid Icarus. Ninja Gaiden wouldn't be bad either.

darqleo

MORE! MORE! MORE CASTLEVANIA, I SAY!!!

Liver&Onions

There's some thumbnail sized images over at

http://www.game2extreme.com/news/art...articleid=1152

Josh H

I hope it doesn't have the two castle system like Harmony of Dissonance. That makes it too confusing to figure out where to go next.

I need to get to the upper left corner of the map in Castle B, and can't figure out how to get there to save my life, I've been stuck for well over a month. Though I honestly haven't tried all that much. But going to all the obvious spots on the Map just leads to locked doors, so I guess I'll have to wander around aimlessly until I find out how to unluck them.

On topic, it sounds like their changing a lot for this one, which is a good thing. HOD was basically an easier to see, and less difficult version of COTM.

PixyJunket

1. If it's too hard, go play some Final Fantasy.

2. Hmm.. yes and no. But that would be like saying both games were scaled down versions of SotN. There were a lot of differences in the 2 games. Of the 2, I think CotM was better simply because it's not retarded easy like HoD, and there's 5 characters you can play as, each making the round through the castle much different. There's the bonus area, and plenty of hidden areas and tricks. There's no secret areas in HoD. On the plus side, HoD had MUCH better graphics, and a better item system.

Josh H

It's not hard, HOD is actually easy. The final fantasy games are much harder than it.

It just sucks when you have no clue of where to go next and the map is no help at all as all the areas that you haven't been to yet are blocked off. Apparently I missed something in a room I've already been in and will just have to wander around until I find it.

Zodo

yeah, HOD was extremely annoying because of the 2castle system. I wandered around aimlessly for hours before i said 'screw this' and checked a walkthrough.

Aria of Sorrow sounds pretty good though. Can't wait to check it out (and play it on my TV with the GBA Player).

PixyJunket

I dunno about that man, pressing the A button repeatedly to progress dialouge and cut scenes isn't TOO diffucult.

Seriously, I think I had a similar problem in HoD, I was looking for one of Drac's relics and had to sweep the castle to find where I missed something. It ended up being in a room somewhere that had a ledge I needed the double jump for.

The 2 castle system is NOT hard at all, and would not require a FAQ. The worst that can happen is you see something in a room you can't reach and can't remember to go back there when you have the proper item. Since it's already colored on the map you think you don't need to go back there.

Josh H

I found what I was missing. It was the flood gate key. I had been all over that room and missed it somehow. Disadvantage of the small screen I guess. It did kind of blend into the background. Can't wait for the Gamecube GBA adapter.

The two castle system isn't really difficult, it's just annoying when you can get to one part in say castle A, but not in castle B. The warps are stupid too. They should have color coded them so you could tell which one took you where in the other castle instead of just making them all yellow. Especially on a portable system where it can be weeks in between plays for me, makes it impossible to remember which warp goes where.

But it's still a great game.

As for Final Fantasy, those games are much more than just skipping cut scenes. The final boss fights are tough as hell in everyone I've played (3, 7, 8, and 10).

C-Mart

The only thing that has me worried is the 'Power Absorbtion' thing. Sounds a little too much like Mega Man. But we shall see I guess. I skipped HOD, and from what I am reading here, that was not a bad thing to do. I am looking forward to a new Castlevania game.

-CM-

AgtFox

I think HoD is right up there with Fusion for the best GBA game of last year. The thing is the makers made HoD more like Symphony of the Nights, which is what many were imploring them to do.

In SotN you had the reverse castle...in HoD you have a second castle. CotM was a good game, but I think HoD trumps it in every way imaginable.

PixyJunket

Except for Music, Diffuculty, and Replayability. Now the music is just cerries on the top, but diffuculty and replayability are *very* important is a video game, and they are mostly missing from HoD.

However, do not skip HoD if you enjoy 2D adventure games. It is a great game even with it's flaws. Just like Metroid, Metroid has some SERIOUS flaws, but both games are better than anything that's been put out for the PS2 since it's creation (IMO). If you are a fan of this style of game at least give it a try!!

darkside

They can release a new Castlevania 2D game every month and I will buy it. Can't wait.

Josh H

I didn't think the replayability in COTM was the great. I never had any desire to bother with the battle arena or other characters. Don't get me wrong I loved it, and it was my favorite game of 2001, but I like HOD better (other than getting stuck for a long time twice ). Not being able to save in between save points was a major thorn in the side in COTM. Especially as tough as that game was in places.

On a side note, I finished castle A in HOD a little while ago. Need to find the last dracula relic to open up the final battle in castle B. I'm at 99.5% in A and 98% in B.

milo bloom

Since the GBA can play the oldstyles also, how well do the old GB CV games hold up over time? Besides graphics wise I mean.

tks

Josh H

A final update.

Found the relics, got 200%, beat castle B. Then I checked a Faq to see if I had done everything. Good thing because I had missed the real last boss and best ending. You have to have two items equiped before entering the last battle in castle B to fight the real last boss. Pretty lame as it never gave you any hint of that (that I noticed anyway) and I would have totally missed it if I hadn't checked Gamefaqs.

Definitely a sweet game. I'll fool around with the boss rush mode some. Doubt I'll bother playing through again though.

tsohg

PAA-LEASE will someone do a new or hell I'll take the EXACT same Kid Icarus on a new system.

darkside

I missed that at first also. I finished the game and was thinking, wait this can't be it. I had to check GameFaq to see what I had missed and went and finally really beat the game. Definitely my favorite Castlevania game since SotN.