• News
• Games
• Features
• Reviews
• Previews
• Releases
• Archived News

• Comics
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Wallpapers

• Blog
• Forums
• Chatroom
• Staff

Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow

It’s a strange story about Konami’s Castlevania games. Many gamers turn away from this dark-looking ‘cult-game’ despising it as utter trash not suitable for them. Most of the previous Castlevania handheld games though, are rated as the best action-adventure games available. With this franchise entering the DS age it’s time to overcome your fear for this dark series. Really, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow deserves it.

The story of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow follows Soma Cruz, who appeared to be Dracula’s reincarnation in the last GBA game, Aria of Sorrow. A cult group needs him to resurrect Dracula. Soma Cruz gets curious about this group and decides to track them down into their enormous castle. This is where the game takes place. It’s not hard for beginners of the series to get involved in this story. The adventure begins with a short introduction which basically tells you everything you need to know. Gamers who want to know more about the immense history can check the library option in the menu. Story-telling in Dawn of Sorrow is done by dialogues between different characters. No long blah blah’s, but simple straight to the point conversations.

Castlevania remains a traditional 2D side scroller. Just like in handheld and classic Metroid games you collect upgrades, like the double jump. These let you reach other regions you couldn’t access before. The player is free to explore the castle. You can head wherever you want, though as you can imagine going from place to place in a huge castle involves some backtracking which isn’t everyone’s preferred kind of play. The gameplay uses analogue buttons to control, which works quite well. There are a few touch screen controls though which I’ll come to later.

Sound and graphics of Castlevania: DoS are really top-notch. Soma Cruz looks amazingly good. His jacket flies in the wind and in cold areas his breath turns into damp mist. Backgrounds are hand-drawn and therefore highly impressive and the soundtrack of the game is another sublime factor. It all fits perfectly together. Top class!

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow on the DS doesn’t differ greatly from his predecessor on the GBA: Aria of Sorrow however. The soul collection system for example is still intact. When you defeat an enemy, sometimes you get to collect their soul. This enables the player to use abilities from opponents. This system also serves as an extra collection option, because you can trade souls with other Castlevania players. Using these souls works very satisfyingly. While some of them only let you summon a beast, others let you transform into them. It’s quite an awesome sight when Soma Cruz turns into a gigantic monster. Too bad the mana meter gets drained so fast by doing this…