Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2003)

...any path in its cursed castle yields discovery & wonder as new powers are gained from engaging with any of the castle's inhabitants. it makes even the most innocuous enemy a potential for resource (drain), chipping away at amnesiac soma just enough to encourage pushing forward to find out what lies ahead, even if unsure where the next site of respite might be, compounded by the risk of losing souls during any excursion. finally, utilising these precious souls & combining them to overcome challenges makes for an incredible, consistently shifting activity as your repertoire grows and new biome's challenges present themselves.

when i look at sorrow's beauty, i can't help but notice it comes from a much quieter and simpler place than the maximalist pleasures of SotN. here, the focus lies on setting the scene with a few key elements and making the most out of them layered, breathing next to each other, creating oft-striking compositions. how many ways the artists found to incorporate different stages of the moon & bats in the background as you traverse the castle makes my gothic heart swoon.

last but not least, its commitment to crafting a castle which largely connects through thematic tissue & flavourful use of abilities to a point where everything ends up in a beautifully connected closed circuit as soma soars to the skies only to come crashing down to pierce the heart of darkness with the help of his comrades is nothing short of beautiful <3

This Castlevania entry for the classic handheld is widely regarded as one of the best entries in the Castlevania franchise and a defining title for the Game Boy Advance. Building on the exploration-focused design popularized by Symphony of the Night, it delivers a tightly paced Metroidvania experience with fluid controls, responsive combat, and detailed pixel art that stands out even among other titles with similar level of quality. The game successfully balances accessibility for newcomers with enough depth to satisfy long-time fans of the series. And this a wonder achievement when it is understood that this is supposed to be a handheld title, not a regular console title, and yet it leaves nothing to be desired when compared to its peers.

One of its most notable innovations is the Tactical Soul System, which allows the MC, called Soma, to absorb the souls of defeated enemies and use their abilities. This mechanic is somewhat similar to the one found in Order of Ecclesia, which in order to unlock new weapons, you need to farm enemy souls. But instead of weapons, in Aria of Sorrow, these souls are divided into different categories, affecting attacks, movement, and passive bonuses, giving you a wide range of customization options. This system adds strategic variety to combat and exploration, encouraging experimentation and allowing you to tailor their playstyle rather than relying solely on traditional weapon upgrades. This feature, while not revolutionary, it is very well implemented, it has just about enough complexity to not become overwhelming, especially for its target platform.

The castle design is compact compared to some other Metroidvania titles, but it is thoughtfully structured, with strong visual identity across areas and well-placed progression gates. Exploration feels rewarding thanks to hidden rooms, optional challenges, and multiple endings that depend on your choices and mastery of mechanics. So when it comes to being a "IgaVania", there is really almost no surprises here, and this is absolutely not a bad thing since this formula is simply amazing, when well implemented. The game’s pacing avoids long stretches of backtracking, keeping momentum high throughout the adventure. About my only complain about the visuals is that it feels too colorful, particularly I prefer a more dark approach, closer to SOTN.

As for the story, it stands out by placing its story in a futuristic setting rather than medieval Europe, introducing themes of reincarnation and destiny that refresh the series’ lore. A bit of a spoiler but, the game has two endings, and I highly recommend going for both of them, since it isn't really that difficult. I really enjoy this aspect of this franchise, it is one of the best when it comes to replayability, the backtracking, investigation and secrets are one of the highlight features in my opinion. I'll also indulge the curiosity by saying that, the protagonist of this particular title is simply the most unique one in the entire franchise, but no spoilers, this has to be experienced first hand.

Though you don't really interact with the aspect of the era that everything happens since the entire game happens inside the castle. The OST complements the experience with a mix of atmospheric and energetic tracks, which is another traditional trait of the IgaVanias, to have a killer soundtrack, this one is no exception. Although some people may find the need to farm certain souls tedious, this minor flaw does little to diminish the overall experience. In summary, this title is a polished, creative, and highly replayable classic that remains a benchmark for handheld action-platformers. It is definitely a must-play if you are a fan of the Castlevania franchise, I played the original Game Boy Advance version, and it leaves nothing to be desired.

The Gameboy Advance era of Castlevania consists primarily of metroidvania games attempting to replicate the success and acclaim of Symphony of the Night. This isn't totally surprising given how much that particular title popularized the genre and cemented a legacy that is still felt strongly decades later. However, while Circle of the Moon perhaps departed from that inspiration in questionable ways, Harmony of Dissonance copied too much without adding much interesting. Thankfully, Aria of Sorrow strikes a solid balance between the two and acts as the most worthy successor to the game this era worked so hard to imitate.

Aria of Sorrow explores a story to an extent most of its predecessors did not. The premise is a bit more typical "anime" with our hero, Soma Cruz, being a high school student in Japan in...2035...which we are now closer to than we are to 2003, the year this game released. But for its time, this timeline probably felt mildly futuristic, even if the setting outside the Castle isn't too relevant to much of the game. We meet a small cast of characters throughout the game for Soma to interact with through several scenes of dialogue and it is clear the team wanted this particular title to have more focus on story. I found the story a little too cheesy and its twists too predictable to enjoy all that much; but I don't really come to this series for compelling narratives, so it doesn't get in the way either.

Gameplay functions similar to other metroidvania games in the series, feeling a lot like Symphony of the Night with a some twists to keep things fresh. It is quickly revealed that Soma has the ability to collect the souls of monsters which can be equipped into different slots to allow for passive or active abilities you can use to fight or traverse the Castle's many dangers. These souls are rather diverse and enable a fair amount of experimentation and variation on combat style. The biggest issue is that—unsurprisingly, given the trends in this era of gaming—this system does involve some low drop rates that will necessitate irritating grinding if you'd like to get a solid soul collection going. That said, I much prefer this to the grinding in Circle of the Moon that was necessary just to be strong enough to progress.

Traversal is always pretty important in this kind of game and Aria of Sorrow handles it fairly well. Though you're unlikely to fly through the various areas with ease like you might in some such games, there is very little tedious back-tracking, which is quite welcome after the slog of Harmony of Dissonance and its copy/paste castles. Further, the abilities of various monster souls do allow some flexibility in just how you can smash through the enemies in your way. The music and atmosphere are also on par with this series' reputation and while the areas are somewhat familiar, nothing feels lazily recycled.

The best thing I can say about this game is that it hits the right balance between the other two prior GameBoy Advance titles and is a much better follow-up to Symphony of the Night that manages to do its own thing. The difficulty isn't so high that you have to grind for every little experience you can to have a chance at surviving a few attacks, but it isn't a cakewalk either. There's a decent challenge that can push you to get better at the game or learn to experiment with its systems to find an effective loadout, especially on some of the tougher bosses. The exploration is fun and engaging and never feels like you're tiredly traversing the same areas a hundred times looking for what you missed. Instead there's solid pacing that delivers on the excitement of progress without just handing it to you. I still prefer the iconic Symphony of the Night to this on balance, but at least of the games in the series I've played so far, this is the game to come closest to it.

"Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Mini Review"

Pros:

• Aria of Sorrow is one of the few Castlevania games up to the point of its release that has an actual story with a cast of characters.

• The level design is varied and visually pleasing in a massive castle.

• The background music is catchy and matches the game's tone.

• The difficulty is just right. Aria isn't quite as difficult as Circle of the Moon, but isn't insultingly easy like Harmony of Dissonance.

• Fun RPG Mechanics. The armor and misc item slots are fairly standard, but the weapon slot is genuinely great. Weapons come in a variety of forms. High damage with short length, lengthy with slow swing, quick slash swords, weapons that swing in a arc, a whip sword, bare handed weapons, and even a handgun.

• The Soul System. Circle of the Moon had the difficult to utilize without a game guide DDS system. Harmony of Dissonance had the desperately boring spell + subweapon system. Aria of Sorrow has the Soul System that allows Soma to aquire different magic abilities from dropped souls of defeated enemies. Sometimes you have to grind awhile to aquire certain enemy souls, but this never really bothered me.

• Good Bosses. Some of the early bosses are bog standard and forgettable. But Headhunter, Death, Legion, Balore, Graham, Julius, & Chaos are fun and challenging in their own ways.

• Metroidvania. I love this genre of game. No notes needed.

Cons:

• The way to achieve the true ending is not obvious. You have to equip three specific souls before you fight Graham in order to achieve the actual ending. There are three hint books hidden the castle that are supposed to help with this, but more direct hints would have been appreciated.

The Verdict: Aria of Sorrow learned from the mistakes of the other two GBA Castlevania games and honed the series established Metroidvania formula to a a razors edge. The quality of this title puts it amongst the best Castlevania games in the entire series.

Back when I played Bloodstained, I commented on how much it reminded me of Symphony of the Night, which was the only non-NES Castlevania title I'd played up until that point. As I play my way through the GBA Castlevania titles, they feel more and more like Bloodstained. Which was a great game.

So much of this game reminds me of Bloodstained. The pants-on-head-crazy endgame weapons that are bigger than you are. The soul-stealing mechanic. Even the general layout of the castle map -- with the underwater sections and the directionally-nonsensical upper courtyards.

Much like the previous game, Harmony of Dissonance, you're probably not going to find the actual final boss without some outside help. I thought I'd be able to figure it out based on the Ancient Books, but that just led me on a wild goose chase trying to find my way past some waterfall barrier that was actually unrelated to the books. And the clues in the books (when compared to the Bestiary) actually misdirected me on one of the required conditions to get to that final fight.

The bosses were a lot more satisfying than HoD's bosses, with more strategy than just "whale on the barely-moving, lumbering monster". But they still weren't terribly difficult.

Progression, gameplay, music... it was all just satisfying to that "I like Metroidvanias" part of my brain.

In summary: Good game. I like good game.