JoeTheDestroyer's Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow review

I really agree with this review. I liked the game a lot, but after playing through SotN a dozen or so times and beating CotM and HoD, when I started this one, I struggled to maintain interest and stopped playing somewhere around Death. Konami really had a good formula initially, but when you consider that the three GBA games were just pale imitations of SotN on a less powerful handheld system, it just got to the point where I got tired of doing the same thing in a different game.

This is a great review that makes me look back fondly on the game. I had that double pack that included Harmony with Aria -- what a deal. Anyway, the write-up successfully upholds its thesis throughout of 'great, but not amazing.'

My only gripe, is that I'd consider omitting this line:

"Honestly, I'm struggling to find gaping flaws here..."

It kind of derailed what was a very smooth ride until that point. Just a thought.

Thank you, both. I will look at revising that line. I was a little hasty at that point, so maybe with some added love I can smooth it over.

I think the only two post-Symphony games that were outstanding were Dawn of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia. The GBA games all felt like they were missing something. Portrait of Ruin suffered from a combination of environmental rehash and super moves that were easy to spam. Mirror of Fate was probably the worst of the "Metroidvanias," mostly because it was a fairly rote affair and its "God of War meets Symphony" concept didn't work.

And yet Mirror of Fate was likely the one game that got the developer its gig remaking Metroid II, which seems to have been well received by critics (unlike Mirror of Fate, which was indeed uninspiring in general).

I remember Circle of the Moon being kind of hard for this time of game, but boring, at the same time -- a difficult combination to pull off.

My favourite of the GBA titles was Harmony of Dissonance. At least it felt... different. It had a certain aesthetic. Aria of Sorrow did nothing for me for some reason. I'd have to go back and revisit.

I kinda liked Circle, but I thought it was too farmy. If you needed new armor, healing items or the special cards the game offered, then you had to kill enemies for ages until they dropped something. I think I've gone through the thing three times now, and I gave up on trying to get all of the armor and cards the first couple of times through.

Aria and Dawn had the same basic idea with souls, but most of the souls were easier to nab, plus it was easier to forgo obtaining most of the souls. A lot of them were unnecessary.