Gaming Generations :: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

NeedsMoreZazz · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:23 am Post subject:

Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Release Date: 10/4/05
Genre: Action-Adventure/Platforming
ESRB Rating: Teen

OMG Dracula is back........Again!

Graphics
The graphics here are nothing spectacular. The game is a 2-D sidescroller with pixel graphics. That said it's pretty good quality.

Plot
The main character Soma Cruz heads to dracula's castle to face off with an evil cult trying to resurrect Dracula. He is assisted by Julius Belmont, and a small cast of other characters including A Catholic Witch, an arms dealer and the daughter of a Japanese Priest in charge of a shrine.

Setting
Dracula's castle. Familiar levels and settings from previous games return such as dungeons beneath the castle, beautiful ballrooms and the dreaded clock tower.

Gameplay
Similar to action games such as Metroid, Dracula's castle is one giant map with areas only accessible after you acquire certain powers available mainly from bosses. Soma fights primarily with a variety of weapons you can find, purchase and make. It's up to the player to decide what kind of balance they want of speed, range and power. By defeating monsters you can collect souls which give you access to magic powers associated with the monster you kill. Some are quite powerful, others are worthless. Soma levels up as you play, becoming stronger and harder to kill. The game is quite large and there are many hidden areas and items to discover. New to the series is the seal system. When you beat a boss you are given a seal that you need to draw with the stylus in order to defeat it. If you fail, the boss is resurrected with part of its HP back. This mechanic is more annoying than anything, especially late in the game when bosses can leave you broken and bloody by the time you defeat them, and they have complicated seals. Another nice feature is that you can have two different equipment setups you can switch between on the fly.

Sound
Sound effects are nothing spectacular, but the music in the game is beautifully composed and does a great job of setting the mood.

Summary
Like most 2-D incarnations of the Castlevania series, this game is beautifully executed, challenging and fun as hell. Even after you've gotten to the point where you can trash Dracula, its fun to explore and try to discover all the hidden places and to try and collect all the souls. The Graphics are very good for pixel art, but it is still just that. The controls are smooth and responsive, which are important for games of this type. The replay value is good, but the game focuses a lot on exploration and discovery so its not really the kind of game you an beat and then jump right into again.

Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Control: 9
Gameplay: 10
Replay: 8
Overall: 9