Topic: castlevania: aria of sorrow

[rpglover]

is anyone ready for this game?
i personally cant wait after seeing the review for this game in the latest egm
all 3 reviewers give the game nothing but good praise as it recieved a 9.5, 9.5, 9.0
it also recieved the game of the month

also not that this has anything to do with castlevania but egm also reviewed wario ware micro mini games
they said the game is just plain awesome giving it two 9's and a 9.5

[ActorJ]

I personally can't wait for Aria. Circle of the Moon was my first ever Castlevania. I skipped Harmony of D because of the revolting and inexcusable music quality...

[Gibdo Master]

I downloaded the rom and played for a little bit. From the little I played I felt it was pretty good. I didn't really get that deep into it though. I think the difficulty has been upped quite a bit. It's not CotM difficult but rather it falls somewhere between CotM and HoD. I found I was running low on health quite a few times. The first boss didn't take to much damage but he dealt out quite a bit. It may be the emulators fault but I felt the responsiveness to the controls was a bit sluggish. Of course this kind of reminded me of old school Castlevania.

I like the way the castle looks so far. It looks a little bit more like a real old haunted castle. Of course I didn't go very far in the game since I plan on buying the game. There were a couple of areas that reminded me a bit of Super Castlevania. Also the enemies are alot better than HoD. Definitely a lot more variety and they are better placed as well. Oh, and there is more of them too.

This game seems to be a lot more Metroidish than HoD or CotM. It seemed like ever room I entered there was something just out of my reach that I would need something to get it later. The soul system seems to be pretty neat so far. I'm just concerned that with the number of souls you supposedly can collect it will get a little overwhelming.

There seems to be a bigger story to this game than HoD and definitely CotM. The rom is in Japanese so I don't know what was being said but there was A LOT of text whenever your character is talking to another character.

One thing I am concerned about is the size of the game. I played for maybe around a half an hour and had already made it from one end of the map screen to the other. I've also been reading on different forums from people that have beaten it saying that it is shorter than HoD. That's just scary.

I know this wasn't very coherent but it's late and I wanted to get this done before I went to bed.

[ActorJ]

i downloaded the rom as well, I just could not wait even a few more days for a taste.

Graphics are top notch. fewer gratuitous effects than HoD (from the little I played of HoD) but even better art quality. A nice balance between graphics and sound, the music this time is on a par with CoTM.

Difficulty does seem to be very much like CoTM. Part if this is due to the akwardness of playing with a keyboard, but i did die a few times in the very first area.

there is obviously a *lot* of depth to the story, probably at least as much as SoTN, maybe more. It's all in Japanese though, so I have no idea what that story actually is.

As for game lenght, well I have heard from those crazy people that actually played through the rom that it is fairly short, and can be beatened in 7-8 hours with the bad ending, but that there is likely two or three times as much playtime to get the good ending. In fact I have heard there may be several endings. I have also heard rumour of a very interesting revelation about soma cruz...

One thing I have to say is that the areas are much more closed in and claustraphobic than in CoTM, lots of narrow cave like pasages, and lots of platforms that are *just* out of reach..

I can't wait for this game to hit the stores, I am convinced it will be top notch..

[Sir Kero]

I played through almost half the game.. and only died once (I was playing with a pad btw). Sure, it may be harder than HoD/CoMS, but it's still way too easy.

I'm looking foward to the extras, as I hope and expect there to be other playable characters as in SotN and CoMS. Even once through should be pretty satisfying though, with 112 enemy souls to collect, and a number of interesting items as well (gotta love chain-blades ^_^). If that sounds overwhelming, don't worry about it. For completists, it's nothing compared to trying to collect every item in SotN. If you don't want to "catch 'em all" there's no need, you'll be given any soul you need to get through the game.

(P.S. CoMS = Concerto of Midnight Sun, HoD's name in Japan. Much cooler ne?)

[mac<censored>]

I just picked this up yesterday (I thought it was supposed to go on sale today, but there it was, in the store...).

So far it seems way too easy, I never seem to die unless I get very careless, and the first couple of bosses practically keeled over when I yawned at them; the GBA CV games seem to be getting easier and easier with each release, I really preferred CotM in this regard -- with a game this fun, I don't really mind playing again and again to do get past a hard bit.  The `soul' system is kind of cool in the effects it gives you (love that giant skeleton arm!), but again a bit too `easy' -- you just get these abilities straight out; I thought the dual-card system in CotM was more interesting.

So... basically so far it seems just OK to me -- it really seems like Konami is churning these out as fast as they can -- but still, `just OK' for a CV game is pretty damn good, and it's still tons of fun to play.

[Gibdo Master]

Later bosses do start to get pretty tough. Of course with potions they aren't to bad but still.

[Sarail]

I'm really loving this game right about now.  Yeah, the first couple sections of the game and bosses were REALLY easy, but once you get to the clock tower, everything changes.  I'm extremely stuck on the boss at the Clock Tower right now.  Some huge wraith with a scythe...  ouch...  he's tough.  

[Syl]

is this game better or worse than HOD?

i disliked HOD, it seemed to be worse than COTM in every single way but graphics, and even the larger sprites seemed to make it worse in my mind.
The easiness factor aside.

Is this game better than HOD?

[rpglover]

i am playing the game now and i like it better than hod
the character graphics look good and also animate a whole lot smoother
the game is easy in the beginning since you start out with some good decked out stats, but it gets hard
i have heard the game is a little short but i dont mind- it is a lot of fun
i like it better than hod and it also feels more like circle of the moon

[nitsu niflheim]

I really enjoyed this game, just like I did the previous one.  I liked the way the story was done and the direction it took near the end.  I beat it today with 100% map but not all the souls, but did have the three necessary to get the real ending.  AoS was different enough from the previous Castlevania's but not so different that it wasn't the same.  Now I must wait for the next Castlevania game.

[vudu]

anyone else notice that soma moon walks (in a forward direction) everywhere he goes?  anyone else find that slightly odd, if not disturbing?  i mean, if i were in a haunted castle, surrounded by ghosts, and zombies, and all sorts of other devilish creatures, i sure as hell wouldn't moon walk around at a leisurely pace.  maybe that's just me.

[rpglover]

he actually has the exact same movement animation as alucard in symphony of the night
i like how he walks- it is very slick and smooth
i personally like it better than the other gba game movents- the other castlevanias had more robotic movement
if you watch alucard and then soma- they move the same way

[vudu]

i'm actually kinda tired of people complaining that this game is too easy.  it's only easy if you make is easy.

if you want to make it harder try some of the following tactics:

(1)  don't use any health/magic pick-ups
(2)  don't go to a save room to restore your health every time you run low
(3)  don't use the best weapons/armor/accessories
(4)  don't kill lots of bad guys (doing so increases your experience)

the designers had to make the game playable for younger children/people who don't have lots of videogame skills.  if you want a challenge, make one yourself.  personally, i like to use that little dagger you get right towards the beginning of the game.  it forces you to get close to enemies, making it more of a challenge to not get hit.

this is just a suggestion.  if you'd rather wear golden armor and save every 3 minutes, and then complain that the game is too easy, be my guest.

[CHEN]

Well said, but people are also complaining that it's too short. A couple of hours should be enough, then again Metroid Fusion could be completed in less than 3 hours. So I don't know what to think of AoS as of now...

[Syl]

I got the game on monday, ive 100% it on both map and souls, and i still love it to death.

It's slightly easy, getting 100% took me 11:30, going through it again on "new game +" i managed to complete the entire game in an hour (excessively cheap ways however, i managed to beat the final boss at level 33...)

I find it *MUCH* more enjoyable than HoD nearly to the ^nth power, and i consider it to be on par with circle of the moon.

It is a little short, which its its downfall, a MUST HAVE however in my book.