See the article about Soma Cruz for more details, but be warned major spoilers lie ahead. Perhaps Aria of Sorrow's biggest claim to fame is a major plot twist near the end which surprised many long time Castlevania fans. Also, a complaint from the previous game, Harmony of Dissonance, that the game used too little visual contrast in the backgrounds, remained somewhat in Aria of Sorrow, although there are many genuinely beautiful and colorful backgrounds, and the tiling seems to have been done in a more competent manner. Many felt, however, that the system wasn't delved into as deeply as it could have been. The soul collection system is seen as quite fun, and gives much room for improvising and customization when combining Soma's powers in different ways. While many felt the Metroid/Castlevania hybrid gameplay started by Symphony of the Night had begun to wear thin at this point, Aria offered more balanced and clean gameplay, along with a fresh plot, good visuals, and other generally agreed upon improvements. It is considered by many to be the best of the Game Boy Advance games. NOSOUL: Play the game with soul restriction.Īria of Sorrow was well received by Castlevania's fandom in general, as opposed to the previous GBA installments Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, which received very mixed reviews.NOUSE: Play the game with item restriction.JULIUS: Play the game as Julius Belmont.These modes can be played by starting a new game in an empty slot using a certain name input: Unlockable modes include playing as a Belmont and a Boss Rush mode, the latter where unique items and very powerful weapons are awarded for defeating the boss creatures in sequence in a set amount of time.Īfter finishing the game, a new game can be started in Normal or Hard mode, with the option of keeping all items and souls (except souls that are necessary to keep the game's storyline in order).Ĭompleting the game once will unlock three different modes. Souls can be traded with the use of two Game Boy Advances, two cartridges and a link cable. These are generally obtained from bosses and used to mediate level design in the same manner as in the Metroid games that is, as new abilities are acquired, more areas are available to the player to explore. Ability Souls: These provide always-on abilities, such as a double jump and slide move.Enchanted Souls: These work to give Soma new latent abilities, such as walking on water or increasing statistics.They are activated or toggled with the R button. Guardian Souls: These provide mainly defensive abilities, such as summoning Familiars, temporary invulnerability or shapeshifting.They are activated with the UP + B button combination. Bullet Souls: These provide sub-weapon-like functionality, such as fireballs and other attacks.Once collected, souls may be equipped, granting new abilities. Each of the 110 enemies in the game may provide a unique soul upon their defeat, depending on the player's luck. However, he has a different system of secondary attacks.Īs with previous titles in the series, Aria introduces a new magic system Tactical Soul System. Soma Cruz's control and fighting style is reminiscent of Alucard from Symphony of the Night, as opposed to that of a whip-wielding Vampire Killer most prominently featured in the series. The player primarily attacks at close quarters using variety of weapons. The player collects new equipment and skills by exploring the game's castle setting and fighting increasingly powerful enemies and bosses, leading up to a climactic encounter with the castle's master. Hammer has always wanted to retire from the army and open his own business.ĭialogue Main article: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow/Script GameplayĪria follows the model established by Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, that of an action role-playing game. Possesses an extremely rough personality and he only works when he feels like it. A soldier dispatched by the army to investigate Hakuba Shrine.
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