I’ll be honest. When I first heard of Aria of Sorrow, I was quite skeptical. Coming off of the disappointment that was Harmony of Dissonance, it would take more than just your “good” game dressed up as Castlevania to make up for it.

Fortunately, I was wrong.

Soma Cruz is your average high school student who happened to be studying abroad in Japan. While visiting his childhood friend and confidante, Mina Hakuba, the two decided to watch the upcoming eclipse from the shrine that she and her father are the caretakers of. Unfortunately, as soon as the eclipse begins, Soma loses consciousness only to awaken within the walls of an unfamiliar castle. With the power to control the souls of the monsters and demons that wander the halls of Castlevania, Soma sets off to find any means of escape.

One of the things that stands out immediately is the fact that an astounding majority of the enemy sprites are entirely new; whereas many of the previous Castlevanias (both console and portable) would reuse sprites and animations from prior games. (The Blood Skeleton is probably the worst offender, as it hasn’t seen a revision from the original Castlevania until Harmony of Dissonance.) Aria of Sorrow only seems to have about three enemies that were taken from previous games, and this is out of over a hundred total monster designs. Konami has perfected the use of sprite rotation as many large enemies use this method for animation and it is much smoother than any of those seen in HoD.

Among the largest gripes with Harmony of Dissonance was the lack of a memorable soundtrack. With the return of the Symphony of the Night composer, Michiru Yamane, this issue has been readily addressed. Instrument quality aside, Aria of Sorrow boasts a beautiful soundtrack with many a catchy theme. The only catch is that, as mentioned before, the quality of the samples is only good, not great. Those of you who have already heard Yamane’s Arrange album, will understand what I mean. In addition, Aria of Sorrow has the most voice samples in a handheld Castlevania thus far, which is a nice bonus.

Aria of Sorrow uses the Soul System instead of Magic or the traditional Sub-Item systems gamers are accustomed to from other games. While this may seem out of place within the series, it works surprisingly well. Soma collects hearts now to regain MP, which fuels both his Weapon and Guardian Souls.

There are four “types” of souls within AoS. The first takes the place of the familiar Sub-Item that Castlevania fans remember fondly. It consumes a certain amount of MP per use. The Second is deemed the “Guardian” soul and is summoned by pressing the R button. It will drain MP steadily as long as it is active. The final equipable soul slot is a latent or stat-strengthening ability, which takes no MP. As for the last type of soul, it acts in a similar fashion to Relics in SOTN, each garnering you a specific ability, such as the Backdash.

As each monster has a unique ability, each is useful in different means. For example, the Skeleton soul (weapon soul) mimics the ability of the classic Axe Sub-Weapon. The Flying Armour soul (Guardian soul) will let you glide through the air as you hold the R button, therefore making jumps longer. The White Dragon soul will permanently increase your CON stat by 4 as long as it is equipped. Stronger monsters reap stronger souls, and your abilities increase accordingly throughout the game. Unlike Harmony of Dissonance, the Soul System is balanced and will not reduce the game to constantly using summoning magic or some overpowering skill to destroy everything in your path.

The only downfall of Soma’s adventure is the fact that the game is much too short. I beat the game in less than six hours, and collected almost everything. While this game is not a proverbial cakewalk, its difficulty falls somewhere in the middle of Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance. However, that being said, Aria of Sorrow is an incredibly fun game and well worth the time you put into it. Offering a higher level of difficulty, excellent soundtrack and highly engaging gameplay, this is the true successor to Symphony of the Night, which fans have been waiting for.