It was under the impulse of producer Koji Igarashi and his desire to internationalize the license that Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow was first released in the USA on May 6, 2003 on Game Boy Advance, then in Japan two days later (under the title Castlevania: Akatsuki no Minuet ) and one day later in Europe in a multilingual edition. Last opus to appear on the 32-bit portable console from Nintendo a little less than a year following Harmony of Dissonance, it is legitimate to wonder if this episode really has anything to contribute to the saga, whether due of its small gap with its predecessor and especially the lack of risk-taking of it which reminded a little too much Symphony of the Night in many respects. Here are some details about castlevania aria of sorrow rom.
We take the same and start again ?
Indeed, Aria of Sorrow also takes up the Metroidvania formula (that is to say a mixture of exploration and A-RPG) which made the success of IGA, with the talented Ayami Kojima at chara design and in addition by recalling Michiru Yamane on the soundtrack (with Takashi Yoshida and Soshiro Hokkai) the winning team of Symphony of the Night. In other words, the player has no surprises in terms of game and level designs. He must explore the thirteen areas of the castle by making round trips so to speak with each new capacity obtained in order to be able to access a new section.
Thirteen new zones?
If he starts with the very classic entrance hall and ends at the chapel, it will open his office (that is to say the equivalent of the library) which is located near the prohibited zone, then he can enter the ballroom which adjoins the interior quarters, then he can arrive at the floating garden.
The clock tower will then be accessible, he will later have to go down to visit the underground tank leading to the underground cemetery and the arena, before he can reach the upper floor and finally the chaotic kingdom. Thus, with the exception of the latter, we see that Castlevania invariably consists of the same parts to visit, although they are not arranged as in Symphony of the Night or Harmony of Dissonance fortunately, thus bringing new variations of places already surveyed many times in previous episodes.
The Other Matter to Look Into
In addition, as usual, the player will be able to record his progress in the many backup rooms of the game and travel from one end of the building to the other using teleportation portals rather well scattered on the map. , once these are discovered, of course.
In addition, it is possible to modify his equipment for better attacks, protections and other health potions according to the objects left by enemies after destruction or purchased from the sole merchant of the game, a former soldier by the name of Hammer who will open a shop just at the entrance of the castle.
