After many years the advances towards defeating the Dark Lord are resumed! Follow 4 different games, stories and protagonists through Konami's Castlevania: Advance Collection on all platforms!
Back in my day, like a right boomer would say, I used to stay up playing my GBA and DS Castlevania games under my blankets. After all, my love for video games bloomed from back then, when my stupid little five year old self touched my aunt's PS1 and tried playing around with Symphony of the Night. Ever since Castlevania has a special place in my heart, so I thought that a small opinion article about the new (relatively new, I am sorry it took a while for me to get around to finish it!) Advance Collection was due!
Bellow you will find my thoughts on each of the games, but before we go deep, I have to mention... The music and the artwork collection is just amazing! Drop dead gorgeous! I enjoyed every track and every concept art from A to Z! I believe the Collection is 100% worth picking up for the 20€ on any platform you'd like to play, if it includes a title you are interested in of course! But enough blabbering, to the games we go!
Castlevania: Dracula X (Vampire's Kiss)
The one SNES game in the Advance Collection! Even if the last to be previewed and a little nice bonus localization in addition to the whole collection, I decided to include it since it is after all a game included in this wonderful bundle. But due to its 'extra' nature, I shall touch upon it first.
Dracula X follows the adventures of Richter Belmont, a Vampire Hunter with the destiny bestowed upon him to destroy the evil within Dracula's Castle, the Lord himself Count Dracula.
It's a throwback. That is the main part of it. If you like retrovanias you will like Dracula X, more commonly known as Vampire's Kiss in the west. It is mainly Rondo of Blood in a lesser form and although not as good as Rondo it is enjoyable on its own account. It is a nice throwback game, with classic sprites, soundtrack and backdrops, worth for a playthrough to remind you the 'torture' -ehem- I mean challenging gameplay of older Castlevania games.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
The first entry in the GBA titles from the Castlevania series, Circle of the Moon, which so many times I personally have confused as Circlet of the Moon and Curse of the Moon respectively! This game followed a different path than what we were used to, since our protagonist is Nathan Graves, a whip user that is not a Belmont but is trained to be a Vampire Hunter. Nathan enters Dracula's Castle with his friend Hugh and his master Morris to stop Dracula, only to find himself running around the Castle to also rescue his teacher from the Lord's grasp.
This game exploits the whole 'good-side rivals' quite well between Nathan and Hugh, something that even a cliché is well executed in Circle of the Moon. Also in addition to well executed main character relationships, the soundtrack per usual is a banger and the new battle mechanic it offers (the DSS: Dual Set-up System) is also a fun experience. But... There is a big but... I didn't enjoy the game as much as I wanted to.
Don't get me wrong, the game is neat and has a very interesting premise but its final execution left me wanting more. It was a bittersweet experience, since I really wanted to like the game due to its nice characters and combat but the whole playthrough felt clunky and the one-ending to me seemed a bit boring. But its 100% worth a try for the experience, after all it was the first GBA addition to the franchise that helped build up the other two!
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
The second GBA title follows a Belmont yet again, but its not your typical whipping story while trying to stop Dracula! No, no, no, Harmony of Dissonance and its protagonist Juste Belmont are here for more important stuff! Saving a friend or two, and collecting furniture! Because who doesn't want a Vampire Hunter with a kick and talent for room décor?! That's right... No one, glad we agree!
Jokes aside, Harmony of Dissonance really is an entertaining game. From its pixel art, to the music of course, it excels in what every other Castlevania does... But what I really like about Harmony is the combat system. The fact that Juste is a Belmont attuned with magic more than his predecessors, using spellbooks into fusion with his sub-weapons, it's just genius and very fun to play around with!
This time the Belmont in our hands isn't there just for his legacy, but to save both of his friends as mentioned before, Maxim and Lydie. Its a very close premise to Circle of the Moon, but in my opinion better executed with more in depth plot. All in all a very worthwhile title, underrated truly, a great inclusion to the GBA titles with every single of its three endings good to go for.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Finally the last game in the Collection and in the GBA line of Castlevania games, Aria of Sorrow. Before I start writing my thoughts I have to say, I am slightly biased on this game... I just love it so so much! But I will do my best to point out its shortcomings... At least I will try!
So, Aria of Sorrow is the first part of the Sorrow duology, the second being Dawn of Sorrow on the DS. Both games have the same protagonist, our wonderful Soma Cruz, who happens to be the vessel for Dracula's soul. Yes you read correctly, this time we don't fight Dracula, we ARE Dracula. Honestly, both of the Sorrow games have such an interesting plotline, characters and even endings, bad ones included! The music is more modernized and rock infused, something that I adore and the pixel art alongside animations are top notch quality!
The variety of weapons and the Soul mechanic that Soma has, the power to absorb monsters's souls and utilize them, offer such a nice flavor to the combat... But here comes the only freaking problem I have with Aria of Sorrow... THE. DROP. RATES! The soul gathering is tedious and takes such a long time to do because of the drop percentages, something that was fixed in Dawn of Sorrow thankfully! Besides that, the game is just perfection, at least close to it, and a great starting point for someone who wants to get in the series even if it is the end of the canonical timeline chronologically wise!
Thus, after four games and one collection, we end in a fairly happy and positive note! To sum it up, I am so glad these games got released on modern consoles and PC, giving younger people the chance to experience these jewels. I truly wish Konami will release the DS games as well, I bet people would be delighted to see a collection with them, me included!
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