Unlike Aria of Sorrow and Harmony of Dissonance I never really played this game on the actual console itself. I did play a little bit of the emulated version off of Vizzed a long time ago, but for the most part, my playthrough and time with this game was blind. I played it last and boy was it an experience. I didn't make the mistake of saying it's not as good as the others (even though that technically is true) cause I did play it last, coming from the much simpler games on the Gameboy Advance. This wasn't a bad game and it was quite fun despite being a little harder.

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Graphics: This has slightly compressed graphics. It isn't as polished or smooth as Aria of Sorrow but areas are quite bleak and atmospheric. Since this is the first Castlevania for GBA (if one doesn't count the GBA port of the original game) so they probably didn't get some things right. I can still tell what things are and it still looks good.

Sounds: This has in my opinion the best soundtrack of the portable games. I personally like the Machine Tower song this game has. It's an annoying area and this version of the Clock Tower levels that Castlevania is known for, and I like a few other tunes.

Addictiveness: This game was quite a challenge compared to the others, but I wanted to play further. I personally stuck through with it, but it is different. If you play it last like I did, it could be very jarring. Despite this, I stuck through with it, and it was very addictive. I just had to collect every last Card in the DSS system (more on that later) and fill out my map just like I did in the others. It will be a while till I play the game again (at least from the beginning) but I will try some of the other modes that unlock once beating the game.

Story: Having played this game last, I can compare this game slightly to Harmony of Dissonance. I don't know if Harmony of Dissonance has any relation to this or it was intentional, but it has a similar plot. A trio of Hunters go to a castle with a friend that acts progressively jerkish as time goes on. The Master/leader is captured (Lydie was captured and held hostage in Dissonance) and Nathan must do his thing to save the world from Dracula. It even has a similar twist with said friend. It's the standard Castlevania plotline.

Depth: This game offers quite a bit of things to do. It is quite long (I went purposefully out of my way to collect and grind for things. This clearly slowed down my progress) and offers a decent length campaign.


Difficulty: Here we go, I won't lie this is the hardest of the GBA trilogy of games. Everything except Abilities and Subweapons you get from other enemies, in other words, drops. You grind for items, armor and cards. In terms of being Castlevania, it is the closest in modern terms to the original game. Enemies send Nathan back a few feet if hit and like to edge guard. This is a term from Super Smash Bros, that I penned here, cause some nasty enemy placements on edges hit you if your aren't careful. There aren't any pits for instant death, but it can be very annoying to make your way back up.

As there is no shop, you have to be a lot more careful with getting hit and can't Superman your way through enemies as much. If you are opposed to grinding, I hope you are good at dodging enemies. You get everything from drops. I would easily say that the early portions of this game are the hardest. To make up for this, some enemies give you cards for the DSS system. These are the games magic spells or perks that make your game easier. These can be stat boosts, summons, or elemnental protection. The best summon arguably is the Lightning Bird Summon. This makes most of the bosses a joke (including the final boss) but the catch is summons and one other attack uses a button combo and in the thick of things it can be stressful to pull off.

This is one of the few GB Castlevania games that I know of that has a bonus area. The Battle Arena is similar to the Pit of 100 Trials from Paper Mario Thousand Year Door (only 17 rooms instead of 100) which throw harder versions of enemies at you, leading up to a tough fight for arguably the best armor in the game. It's just as hard as the Pit, with some easy rooms and some mean rooms.
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Final Thoughts: Just because a game is hard, doesn't make it a bad game. It would be nice to progress in games, but just cause it gives you a challenge shouldn't make you avoid it. This game is clearly the hardest modern Metroidvania game and should be played before the other games. (Unless you're a rebel like I am)

I enjoyed it, but there were some moments that gave me trouble. I had barely any good healing items mostly focusing on defense and luck as I would rather take a lot of hits then dish out high damage. This might not be how you play the game. With a good soundtrack (the best in the portable GBA trilogy) and a nostalgic throwback to the original game, this game should be played.

Remember, my one bit of advice to you is that challenging or difficult games doesn't make a bad game. If you aren't progressing in the game, then maybe figure out a different strategy. If you are playing emulator and don't mind resorting to save states or rewinds then you can always rely on those.

I give this a 9.7.

I am simply way too generous for my own good. I rarely rate games low. Just think of this as a fun Castlevania game.

Nice work once again. I get the feeling that this game isn't bad in terms of fun, but also isn't great. Kind of mediocre-ish. The review was well made though, and gave me an idea of what I should expect if I ever were to play the game.

Thanks for making the good reviews, man.