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[Mendoza]

Possibly my favorite entry in the Castlevania franchise, Aria of Sorrow just hit US eShop today for $7.99.

For anyone who considers themselves a Iga-vania (Metroidvania) fan and has yet to play this title, please do yourself a favor and download it now. Aside from it's graphical fidelity, I'm of the opinion that it is better than the sequel, Dawn of Sorrow, for the DS.

You play as Soma Cruz, a potential vessel for the Dark Lord himself -- but with this brings the best combat system in the franchise: the "tactical soul" system.

Aside from leveling up, every enemy in the game has the potential to drop their soul, in which Soma can inherit, allowing him to use the abilities of his enemies. There are three different types of souls: attack (Bullet), support (Guardian), passive (Enchanted).

With these combinations, including the large amount of weapons and armor, gives you the freedom to create some really interesting builds. This, coupled with the fantastic level design and rad music, make this a must play for Castlevania/Metroid/Good-game fans.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Great game. Buy it if you've never played it!

 

[Vorg]

Amazing game.

 

[Zane]

Best of the Igavanias

 

[Miker]

Tied for my favorite Igavania with Order of Ecclesia. The Soul System was tons of fun, and I even collected all the souls to get the Chaos Ring.

 

[Bass260]

Bayonetta 2 and Fantasy Life are coming out tomorrow....fuck it, I'll buy it. I've always wanted to play AoS.

 

[giancarlo123x]

Only played dawn of sorrow but that game was amazing. This one as good?

 

[Weetrick]

Yes! I borrowed this back when it was new but never owned it. Can't wait to replay!

 

[Astral/H3X]

I LITERALLY bought CotM in lieu of this last night.

Ah well, not mad, both are great games.

 

[Rich!]

Only played dawn of sorrow but that game was amazing. This one as good?

This is the best Castlevania not called Symphony of the Night imo

 

[Jawmuncher]

Dear whoever works at Konami.
Get someone to work on Bringing Metal Gear Ghost Babel to 3DS VC
Thank You.

 

[Cuphead]

Great game. Buy it if you've never played it!

Okay!

 

[OnPoint]

The best portable-native Castlevania there is.

 

[Shahadan]

Shibataaaa what are you doing

 

[Reaganomics]

Ayyy that's pretty sweet, I hope they keep working on their virtual console games, the library is lacking for a lot of the great games they have.

 

[Gleethor]

Shibataaaa what are you doing

Giving you DKC, wish we had those :/

 

[bobawesome]

The best Castlevania right here.

Spoiler

That's right, I said it, wanna fight about it?

 

[Vorg]

Only played dawn of sorrow but that game was amazing. This one as good?

It's a lot better imo. Doesn't look as good, though.

 

[Snkfanatic]

People putting this above SOTN? Dang...I need to play it. I played a bit of Dawn of Sorrow on DS. THis is better?

 

[RobFox64tm]

This is a fantastic game, but I'm not so sure I agree that it's better than Dawn of Sorrow. Both are among the best in the whole Castlevania series though. Speaking of which, I wonder if they could make the DS vanias work on Wii U at all. Seems like the whole DS Virtual Console thing just kind of fizzled out.

 

[DeaviL]

Moving to the US confirmed, i need this.

 

[Celegus]

Is it silly that I've only ever played Portrait of Ruin? Which I loved, and completed 100%. Maybe it's time to change that.

 

[Sagitario]

My favorite Castlevania title. It's the one that made me fall in love with the franchise.

 

[Dsyndrome]

Looking forward to it, already beat Dawn of Sorrow, so it'll be interesting to see the differences.

 

[ZeroCDR]

Is it silly that I've only ever played Portrait of Ruin? Which I loved, and completed 100%. Maybe it's time to change that.

I loved Portrait of Ruin, but it's generally agreed that it's one of the weaker ones. You do yourself a huge favor playing all of these

 

[sixteen-bit]

Is it silly that I've only ever played Portrait of Ruin? Which I loved, and completed 100%. Maybe it's time to change that.

I think POR is a weaker game than Aria. You'll likely enjoy this game.

 

[Meffer]

Oh damn, it's on WiiU? I'll have to get it later.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

I'll be downloading this soon. It's the only GBA Castlevania I haven't played.

 

[The Lamonster]

Best Metroidvania and best Castlevania.

If you like video games you owe it to yourself to play this.

 

[kinggroin]

Getting closer to the release of the DS games. Gonna be glorious.

 

[Miker]

Is it silly that I've only ever played Portrait of Ruin? Which I loved, and completed 100%. Maybe it's time to change that.

Portrait of Ruin is the worst of the DS trilogy, and probably the second worst of the six games that came out across GBA and DS (behind Harmony of Dissonance). I think there are a few heathens who really liked it (you, apparently ) but most people agree Aria of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia are the best.

 

[Vorg]

Is it silly that I've only ever played Portrait of Ruin? Which I loved, and completed 100%. Maybe it's time to change that.

Portrait of Ruin is great. People will try to convince you it's a shit game and the worst of the ds trilogy, but I don't see how you can dislike the game if you're into the metroidvania formula. I went in thinking it would be crap and the game turned out surprisingly great tbqh. Still, you should definitely play the other games.

 

[lord_of_flood]

Probably the best of the Igavanias, absolutely fantastic game. Definitely download this when you have the chance, it's amazeballs.

 

[foxuzamaki]

I'll def look into it.

 

[lyrick]

What display mode combo is best?

Pixel Perfect or Full screen
Smoothing or No Smoothing

For HoD I used Full Screen and Smoothing anyone play with the settings on AoS?

HoD

Pixel perfect no smoothing

Full screen & smoothing

 

[Mendoza]

My favorite Castlevania title. It's the one that made me fall in love with the franchise.

Same. I wasn't the biggest Castlevania fan, but my buddy in highschool got it the day it came out, and I was pretty quick to dismiss it.

He later made me borrow it, and I fell in love with the series entirely, and went back to all the previous games (3D ones aside). It's my favorite GBA game, under Mother 3 and Rhythm Tengoku.

 

[Kouriozan]

Woa, loved it so much, will buy once it hit EU!
I really need new metroidvania.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Is it silly that I've only ever played Portrait of Ruin? Which I loved, and completed 100%. Maybe it's time to change that.

Its the same for me, I loved portrait of ruin, half of which because you can have 2 people out at once. I want to get into the other igavanias

 

[Eyothrie]

What display mode combo is best?

Pixel Perfect or Full screen
Smoothing or No Smoothing

For HoD I used Full Screen and Smoothing anyone play with the settings on AoS?

HoD

Pixel perfect no smoothing

Full screen & smoothing

I personally cannot stand the smoothing filter. Pixel perfect, no smoothing here.

 

[friskykillface]

I LITERALLY bought CotM in lieu of this last night.

Ah well, not mad, both are great games.

Circle of the moon is superior......(never played aria of sorrow so I don't know )

Will pick up Aria of sorrow later today

 

[Mendoza]

Circle of the moon is superior......(never played aria of sorrow so I don't know )

Will pick up Aria of sorrow later today

Oh man. You're in for a treat if you like Circle of the Moon so much.

 

[Killua]

Awesome. Loved this game on the original GBA. Buy it. It's fantastic.

 

[PAULINK]

The beginning of soma's legacy, until he became a god in castlevania harmony of despair

 

[Zane]

This is a fantastic game, but I'm not so sure I agree that it's better than Dawn of Sorrow. Both are among the best in the whole Castlevania series though. Speaking of which, I wonder if they could make the DS vanias work on Wii U at all. Seems like the whole DS Virtual Console thing just kind of fizzled out.

DoS' progression was broken. Never felt like you were actually getting stronger.

 

[L Thammy]

Neat! The Soma Cruz games are the only ones in the series that do anything for me. Was waiting for this.

Demon's Crest and Gargoyle's Quest 2 haven't dropped in NA yet, have they?

 

[Davey Cakes]

If you have a Wii U, enjoy Castlevania, and haven't played this game, BUY IT.

8 bucks is a steal for top-tier CV.

 

[Miker]

If you have a Wii U, enjoy Castlevania, and haven't played this game, BUY IT.

8 bucks is a steal for top-tier CV.

I just checked and even a loose, cart-only copy of Aria of Sorrow is around $35-40 on eBay. Absurd.

...time to dig it out of closet and use it to fund further gaming purchases.

 

[Alec]

Amazing, amazing CV game.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I still haven't beaten Circle of the Moon yet.

Despite loving Dawn to death, I was never able to play this game, so I will definitely be getting it at some point.

 

[Hugstable]

Yee got the whole GBA Castlevania Trilogy now!