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A step Under SOTN

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

With each new entry into the Castlevania Series on GBA it only gets better. This is by far the best entry of the Castelvania Series for GBA. THe story revolves around SOma Cruz who is a high School student who during an Eclipse get trapped in Draculas Castle. Inside he meets Arikado (ALucard) J. (a Belmont) Grahm (Born at the Moment Dracula was last Slain) as well as others who have had ties to Castlevania in the past. Soma somehow is given the ability to absorb the souls of monsters. He must use this ability (along with a vast array of Weapons) to explore and eventually escape Draculas Castle.

The reason this is the best of the GBA titles is that it combines the best of both games. It holds the mass expanisve castel qualities that both games held, more Difficult that HoD but easier than CotM. THe fights are varied (although some still return Death, LEgion). The real uniqueness to this is the soul absorbing system. By doing this Soma gets over 100 new abilities that he can customize for the situation. One moment he may need extra Defense, the Lightening attack, and the ability to walk on water, the next he needs the Fire Storm, Extra Offense, and an Imp as backup. The possibilites are endless.

Overall this is the best entry thus far. It is not as hard as CotM was (which was very BArabaric) but it is not as easy as HoD (which was laughably easy). This is definatly a must have if you have a GBA.

THIS GAME ROCKS!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The Gameplay of CAOS is an excellent 10!
Graphics are great, and sound is great and everything else is GREAT!!!!!!!!!!

Won't disappoint

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

A good one in the series and it comes with full story and it is not like other ACT games. With the story base that can keep you playing it for quite a long time, the method to find out the final boss is kind of hard though.
Good graphic and audio are also the charming points. Don't miss out this one if you have a GBA!!

The year 2035...What a leap!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I must first say that this game ROCKED hard after CotM and HoD! Instead of playing a Belmont,your playing a transfer student named Soma Cruz.When the game starts up you find out that the first solar eclipse of the 20th century is about to happen and Soma wants to see it with his friend Mina Hakuba.But something happens and when they wake up, they are in Drac's castle.the gameplay is so smooth and detailed,if you look hard enough,you can see the belt on Soma's jeans! The music that is played is spectacularly orchestrated! My favorite's are Castle Corridor and Clock tower.Did I mention the special power in the game? Your special power is the ability to steal the souls of the monsters you kill and you can use said souls to have special abilities( ie. shoot electricity,turn into a bat,increase strength,etc.)The replability level of this game is high,Three endings,collect all the souls,unlock hidden features, and find all of the cool weapons(Claim Solaihs,Joyuse,mach knuckle,etc.)there are neat characters(two of them have recognizable names if you are a Castlevania fan),good sound effects,and over 100 enemies and souls.This is the end of my review.P.S. I recommend buying this game ALOT!(if you rent it,you'll go crazy for it and want to buy it.)

Better than COTM!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Before i beat this i thought COTM was THE BEST of the GBA Castlevania. this proved me wrong. you can absorb enemys souls and gain power. you get swords instead of whips and the bosses are very hard especially the LAST boss (not who u think!) and the graphics are cool. oh yeah there is 3 different endings!

REALLY GOOD!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is the best castlevania game for GBA so far. I like all of them but castlevania harmony of dissonense is really confusing and i dont like the magic system. But this games magic system is awsome you get to absorb your enemys souls.
It's not that easy to find a soul,its completely random, but that just makes the game longer. It has a lot of other modes you can play after you do certain things. Also it has a cool new weopon system with tons of weopos so you dont have to use only a whip.

Brave the Solar Eclipse!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is absolutely fantastic. It offeres a nice change of pace from the classic whip-wielding gameplay of previous Castelvanias (which is great too). You can read the other reviews to see what cool features this game has. The gameplay is fluid, and constantly entertaining, the graphics are lovely, and the story is fantastic with a great plot twist toward the end and a lot of familiar faces. Rerplay value is actually pretty good. There are a lot of souls to collect and once you beat the game once you can play it again as another character or in hard mode. Enjoy.

Vampire Hunter's Dream

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is awesome. It is by far the best Castlevania game I've played since Symphony of the Night. Unlike Circle of the Moon, which is extremely hard from the get-go, this game follows a steady pace of difficulty that keeps you wanting more. Although the game is very short and fairly easy, it has awesome re-playing capabilities with the ability to gather souls and explore more of the castle. You can get the ability of ALL the monsters to use against them! It also has several endings making this game even better.

Graphics 5/5: The graphics are great with smooth transitions and color balance. Monster palette change happens, but not as often as expected.

Sound 5/5: Great sound that fits the mood of both the dark side of the castle and the new era of vampire hunting.

Gameplay and Controls 5/5: Controlling Soma Cruz is easy. The gameplay rocks, Fighting, dodging and using souls is a breeze.

Extras 5/5: Once beat you can go into hard mode as well as do the boss rush for some extra items. Gathering souls is by far the best thing to do as you can trade them for souls you have not found.

Great game. My favorite Castlevania yet.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have known about the series ever since the NES was out (I think Castlevania 2 was the second game I played, right after Zelda). It's one of those series I'd always rent a game from if I ever saw a new one out. To this day, I still consider Castlevania 4 (for the Super Nintendo) a classic. Sadly, these days my opinion of the series is not so cheery. Part of this may be because I'm more able to tell how bad a game is before I play it just by checking the internet. Even then... I didn't like Circle of the Moon, and it got rave reviews.

But enough history. Aria of Sorrow is a truely exceptional game. Everything I didn't like about Circle of the Moon (which was a lot) was fixed here. The visuals are clearer, the controls are solid, and the gameplay is more balenced. Despite certain qualms I have over elements that shift the difficulty toward easy a little (like health healing potions), the game is still difficult without being cheap, perhaps with the exception of hard mode, but they don't call it "hard mode" without reason (not to mention it's entirely optional).

For anyone not familiar with the series, there are two types of gameplay standards in the series. One is stage based gameplay (think Contra, or even Mario), which some of the older games in the series have. The other, which this one utilizes, is what some like to call "Metroid-vania." This basically means you can explore this huge castle and backtrack to different areas at will. However, that's not exactly as derivative as it sounds (in fact, Castlevania 2 used this format, so it's been used a long time ago). This game uses it in a sort of an Action RPG-esque method. This does mean your character levels up throughout the game, though this does provide one minor weakness in the game. Areas you went through at the beginning will become VERY easy should you come across them again later in the game. This is not much of a problem, since you'll basically be looking for a different area to go to anyway, and that new area will almost certainly be loaded with challenge. Bosses are particularly rough and very fun

Well, lets go to one of my favorite additions to this game. Weapons. Unlike previous Castlevania games, the main character isn't restricted to a whip (he also isn't a Belmont, so that would explain why he has no whip). This isn't new, as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night also had this. However, Symphony of the Night had a rather basic weapons set (mostly swords), and basic weapon dynamics. This game has a full arsenal. You have anything from knives and swords, to lances, hammers, and even guns (the game takes place several decades after 2000AD, so this isn't out of place)! Not only that, the soul system gives you several abilities you can snatch from enemies, at times, to use. Most of these are in the form of secondary weapons that use Magic (MP), which does recharge over time. The customization is great, so you'll undoubtibly be able to find several ways to customize your character to be ready for more fighting.

Overall, this game is easily recommended to any fan of Action games (with a dash of RPG), and is certainly recommended for any Castlevania fan. If you do buy it, I recommend you look through an FAQ after you finish it. Chances are, you may not have finished it as much as you think. ;)

(P.S. I didn't play Harmony of Dissonance, so I can only compare it to Circle of the Moon).

NOW THIS IS THE WAY CASTLEVANIA IS DONE!!!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: December 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT .... not that 3-D poop on N-64 and ps2 ... 2-D goodness the way it should be ... "symphony of the night" is my favorite and now this is my 2nd best! best of all i can take it anywhere! lets keep this series alive by voting it to 2-D !!!

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