Forums > Submission Feedback > zork86's Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow review

You probably should track down Circle of the Moon, because it feels old school compared to Aria of Sorrow and Harmony of Dissonance. I was surprised to see you say this one tops Harmony in both graphics and sound, because my recollection was that Harmony was better graphically and this one was better aurally. That seemed to be the consensus around the time of their release, anyway. The two games had different strengths and were, in my mind at least, about equal overall (which is to say they were both quite good).

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

Aria of Sorrow has way better graphics than Harmony of Dissonance, and it's a far superior game. Juste Belmont's sprite and walk cycle were so dopey, and Aria had an overall darker color palette that was better suited to the gothic feel of a Castlevania game. I think HoD was one of those pre-SP GBA games that tried to overcompensate for the shortcomings of the original hardware by making things too damn gaudy.

JOSEPH VALENCIA was able to build this sig IN A CAVE…… WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!!