Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (NDS, 2005)
Graphics-8 Sound-8 Control-8 Challenge-7 Story-5
Level Design-7 Frustration-7 Fun-7 Originality-4.5
Overall Score-7
+
Soul system is back (steal enemy abilities by defeating them then use these as sub weapons/shields/specials – three different types can be equipped (but not combined) and a fourth type adds permanent abilities similar to magic items in earlier games, adds a lot of versatility)
Same teleport system (choose where to go in the map view, teleport between visited warp rooms, frequent teleporter rooms)
Many different weapons
Same improved shop (stays in one place close to a portal, sell or buy anything except for souls, can't buy back rare items you've found and sold though)
Somewhat improved animation and spritework, Improved sound quality overall (some sfx samples are a bit scratchy)
Re-uses old moves and adds some new ones (super attack - costs 50%+ MP and is mapped to its own button (A by default))
Item placement is about on par with AoS (potions and some equipment are still sort of placed at random)
Hearts still refill MP (good since they were getting redundant)
Very good menu interface (no item sorting though)
Very good enemy variation
No sequence breaking opportunities until you unlock Julius mode (teleport attack + Succubus soul (lets you go through walls), Cutall/Cinquedia super attack glitches/oversights let you reach switches on the other side of some doors (allows skipping Rahab+Gergoth+Puppet Master), some more severe ones in new game plus but they also involves glitches)
Some breakable walls (though much fewer than in CotM and you need an ability to spot them meaning it takes up a slot you could've used for something else)
The setting isn't limited to dracula's castle anymore (you still spend most of the game in it though)
Some good bosses (somewhat more challenging bosses from the get go; puppet master, paranoia, death; some have two phases)
Some nice graphical effects (mostly SNES- and '90s arcade-like stuff, decent lighting effects)
In-game bestiary
Same knockback distance when being thrown from taking a hit (in mid-air or from a stronger attack)
Somewhat longer invincibility time after taking a hit
Three endings (which one you get depends on your equipment during the finale rather than choices made throughout the game)
Dash and slide from the get go
More distinction between weapon types (big weapons are much slower and hit much harder)
View the map or status screen (press select) on the top screen
Switch between two gear+soul sets on the fly using a certain soul ability (X button)
Somewhat interactive backgrounds (sit on chairs)
Can't hold more than 9 of each item at once - still a bit OP though
Skippable dialogue scenes
Pretty nice anime intro cutscene
Skula has been turned into a permanent ability (lets you dive, no undine? - walk on water)
A bit longer than AoS?
Flight returns (transform into a bat w/ Bat Company's soul - can also shoot fireballs (Flame Demon's soul) and summon a Fleaman (Fleaman's soul) in this form)
Unlockables (hard mode (only makes enemies do more damage and take more hits to kill+slows down stat boosts+makes traps do about double damage+turns medusa heads into golden medusa heads) - should've been available from the beginning
Boss rush and an alternate character (Julius Belmont again - no equipment/items/soul abilities and no MP regeneration (can level up but not access the stat menu) but he has sub weapons and starts out with the various required moves for exploration, can gain two allies - Alucard and Yoko, he also has a whip swing and moves a bit faster, he also has a forward dash that goes through enemies without taking damage though it is a bit clunky to use; however he levels up only after bosses so gameplay isn't as open as it could've been), triple fireball - hard mode?, new game plus (start with bought maps (hidden passages and breakable walls are also revealed)+most souls and all equipment (besides a quest item) but not all your permanent abilities (tactical souls) so the game world opens up only partially?; magic seals don't transfer))
Somewhat humorous tone (can suck the blood of chandeliers, some abilities like the manticore tail, painting that looks at you, etc.)
Sliding puzzle used to navigate a labyrinthic part of the castle (you get to walk through the path you've created in the puzzle)
Some risk/reward souls like the hp draining devil strength one
You can now upgrade weapons using souls in a "fusing shop" (cool but leads to more grinding for souls at times since you might want to both upgrade a weapon with and use a soul and various drop rates are too low)
Pretty nice transition between the town fountain and the southwestern area (similar to the "rain" in the city of tears in Hollow Knight)
Parallel worlds theme of sorts (can enter mirrors to explore the "other side" of certain rooms - a bit underused though)
+/-
Level design is more linear than in AoS (can sometimes choose to fight two bosses in either order, opens up a bit more after reaching the water area)
Investigate rooms past barriers using the Ghost ability (a bit slow though)
The story takes even more room than before and continues where Aria of Sorrow left off (there's a bunch of lore put in a "library" menu now, the dialogue writing isn't better though)
Attacking again right after landing after a jump attack lets you attack twice in a row without delay (similar to SotN; only works with faster weapons though or when you have a super attacked charged with a slower one, you can also attack again once by dashing backwards and canceling it with another swing right after the first one connects; these things combined with soul use are basically the combo system of the game as there are no attack combos in the hack 'n slash sense) - on the other hand your character doesn't hold out his weapon in mid-air for as long with fast weapons and the jump attack is cancelled if you attacked right before landing after falling more than half a screen's length but it doesn't quite even out
Enemies can shoot through walls
Respawning treasure chests (contain multiple coins - makes it a bit easier to farm for money in some areas; can also farm for souls then buy cheap weapons to sell back as upgraded weapons early on)
Same jump physics as in AoS (the fall is a bit slow)
Red soul ability is still mapped to up + main attack
Having to learn and then draw magic seals with the pen/stylus to seal beaten bosses (otherwise they return to life with a little bit of health restored) - feels gimmicky and distracting but would've been a plus if done w/o the stylus (what's worse is that you can be screwing up the timing without knowing it while drawing a seal),
Quick save/sleep feature lets you quickly backtrack but only to the beginning of the current room so it's not that helpful (would've been better to allow starting at the most recently visited save point instead)
Same forgiving mid-air control when performing jump attacks (lets you move backwards after the attack)
Most abilities are lifted from previous games
Slowly regenerating MP
One HP draining (not that effective) and one HP regenerating soul (works anywhere but is kinda slow - gained from the frankenstein's monster/the creature enemy but the drop rate is very low)
Dropped items disappear after a few seconds
A bit harder to dodge in close combat than in earlier games since (like in AoS) you can't mash the dash button (if you don't time them right the action doesn't register)
Doesn't show bosses' health bars
No MP/HP upgrades (perhaps more frequent level ups instead? not sure)
Normal running doesn’t exist
Swimming (need an ability to dive though - creates another gate)
Poison still weakens your attack instead of draining your hp
Enemies respawn when exiting the room they spawned in (generally a good thing)
Slide attacks do much less damage now and there's some movement delay after sliding
Same feminine main character that looks like Juste/Alucard (Soma Cruz)
Can't move or dash while crouching
Can't cancel an attack into a slide nor jump out of one (using it like a dash)
Can stand on certain enemies (skull dragon turret, plated part of bull)
Can't super attack while crouching or in mid-air
No box pushing
Petrify ability doesn't work on some enemies and you can no longer stand on petrified enemies? (could've been used to reach some areas earlier) - milican's sword also takes too much effort to synthesize and you can't find it
High jump is almost redundant (get it near the end and there's no need to use it prior to the final area)
Some abilities can be leveled up?
-
You still have to kill enemies over and over to gain their soul abilities and it seems even slower than in AoS (based on luck – leads to overleveling, even with a max luck code enabled you'll have to kill some enemies 5+ times to get their ability, very annoying when trying to get the mothman soul for example which is guarded by two very resilient enemies, annoying how one path requires three different soul ability attacks just to pass through three doors, great axe armor drop rate seems ridiculously low - i tried for 20+ minutes to get one without success)
Starts out too easy (mostly poor AI considering your abilities (many larger monsters are too dumb and slow, enemies from previous games return in nerfed form, can hit some enemies through walls/platforms, can hit some enemies from afar without activating their attack pattern))
Some control/interface issues (very short invincibility time - a problem when facing Dmitri if you don't make him copy some other soul quickly (his first attack hits hard over and over as it passes through you and stops you from using a super attack), can't place markers or notes on the map - would've actually been a good use of the touch screen, dash move doesn't make you move faster (regular movement is a bit faster than in HoD but still), more yes/no prompts and they always default to No, the game reboots after death instead of asking if you want to reload your save, peeping eye (see breakable walls) and shop discount abilities should've been permanent/toggle-able (at least you have the quick switch button now), can't see enemy names in-game anymore (especially annoying since the bestiary doesn't tell you where you fought an enemy), can't view different attack abilities' stats in the menu, some walls within rooms aren't shown on the map)
A lot of enemy abilities and equipment are near useless or become redundant very soon - makes sidetracking for placed items feel less rewarding (placing good souls at the end of challenging detours or ones gated by later moves would've been better, some of the mirror room items aren't worth getting)
Backtracking for previously unreachable items is generally less rewarding (for example the tedious ice clearing segment which you need to use the stylus for and at the end there's just a combat knife or the room with a bunch of bone pillars)
Mostly cliché and nonsensical storyline (main character is extremely gullible, villain's sidekicks don't kill you when they get the chance, etc.) with more silly dialogue
1$ coins
Dive kick move has to be found (find double jump)
Many rooms are just long corridors and the pointless corridors between areas from SotN return
No forward dash until the final area and it's not a permanent/toggle-able ability (it's a blue soul - black panther) - makes traversal a bit slow until then though teleporters are pretty frequent and there's a hack that lets you get it sooner
Uneven difficulty at times (sudden tough enemies path in the northern area, generally tough bosses compared to their areas, most large monsters suck until the late game, pretty tough clock tower area and tower boss right before it, easy seasnake boss)
Some trial & error (have to draw the second half of the fifth magic heal super fast, no warning about dario's demon before beating him (same with mina's talisman before going to the final area? - if you didn't equip it you get the bad ending), leap of faith into spikes at one point in the clock tower area, can throw the puppet underwater, figuring out which soul you need to get to progress in some areas, some boss patterns - can bounce off of the tower boss's gas cloud attacks (can also disperse the cloud with sword swings), don't wanna go right after fighting the second lackey (Dario) because the next save point is pretty far away)
Some dead space and dead ends here and there (quick save/sleep sometimes helps but several dead ends are of the HoD variety meaning you'll reach quite far into an area before running into a barrier of some sort and then have to backtrack out of there and not return for a long time)
Some abilities and equipment are overpowered (holy ray, mandragora, alura une summon, Warg?, Skull archer and Barbariccia/ogre form against some enemies, Bomb Armor?, great axe armor/giga twister?, upgraded axe - can be upgraded pretty soon and there's no need for other equipment for quite a while if you combine it with Mandragora, card, persephone/vacuum vs most bosses (can suck up death's scythes+abaddon's mantises+the final boss's purple gas clouds as well) throwing sickle?)
Some blind jumps (clock tower)
Some annoying sfx (Dario's laugh)
The coin gates (time consuming to time the locks right) - optional though
No battle arena (AoS, CotM)
Frozen shade doesn't actually freeze enemies
Some enemies can't turn around (puppet master)
The shortcuts in the southwestern area are placed in a way that's not useful (have to pass either the annoying room with the respawning ghosts or the spiked water corridor when going for the coin gate in it and back)
The southwestern area is pretty bland besides that annoying room with hidden platforms and the shortcut into town
New enemies do not appear in already explored areas (see CotM; not having them makes backtracking less interesting and though the bat form does help speed things up at times the lack of an air dash for it is disappointing)
Bugs:
-The luck stat has almost no effect on soul drop rate (fixed w/ a hack)
-The Chaos Ring is unobtainable unless one starts a New Game+ file and obtains these Souls again: Souls of Gergoth, Death and Abaddon (fixed w/ a hack)
Level Design-7 Frustration-7 Fun-7 Originality-4.5
Overall Score-7
+
Soul system is back (steal enemy abilities by defeating them then use these as sub weapons/shields/specials – three different types can be equipped (but not combined) and a fourth type adds permanent abilities similar to magic items in earlier games, adds a lot of versatility)
Same teleport system (choose where to go in the map view, teleport between visited warp rooms, frequent teleporter rooms)
Many different weapons
Same improved shop (stays in one place close to a portal, sell or buy anything except for souls, can't buy back rare items you've found and sold though)
Somewhat improved animation and spritework, Improved sound quality overall (some sfx samples are a bit scratchy)
Re-uses old moves and adds some new ones (super attack - costs 50%+ MP and is mapped to its own button (A by default))
Item placement is about on par with AoS (potions and some equipment are still sort of placed at random)
Hearts still refill MP (good since they were getting redundant)
Very good menu interface (no item sorting though)
Very good enemy variation
No sequence breaking opportunities until you unlock Julius mode (teleport attack + Succubus soul (lets you go through walls), Cutall/Cinquedia super attack glitches/oversights let you reach switches on the other side of some doors (allows skipping Rahab+Gergoth+Puppet Master), some more severe ones in new game plus but they also involves glitches)
Some breakable walls (though much fewer than in CotM and you need an ability to spot them meaning it takes up a slot you could've used for something else)
The setting isn't limited to dracula's castle anymore (you still spend most of the game in it though)
Some good bosses (somewhat more challenging bosses from the get go; puppet master, paranoia, death; some have two phases)
Some nice graphical effects (mostly SNES- and '90s arcade-like stuff, decent lighting effects)
In-game bestiary
Same knockback distance when being thrown from taking a hit (in mid-air or from a stronger attack)
Somewhat longer invincibility time after taking a hit
Three endings (which one you get depends on your equipment during the finale rather than choices made throughout the game)
Dash and slide from the get go
More distinction between weapon types (big weapons are much slower and hit much harder)
View the map or status screen (press select) on the top screen
Switch between two gear+soul sets on the fly using a certain soul ability (X button)
Somewhat interactive backgrounds (sit on chairs)
Can't hold more than 9 of each item at once - still a bit OP though
Skippable dialogue scenes
Pretty nice anime intro cutscene
Skula has been turned into a permanent ability (lets you dive, no undine? - walk on water)
A bit longer than AoS?
Flight returns (transform into a bat w/ Bat Company's soul - can also shoot fireballs (Flame Demon's soul) and summon a Fleaman (Fleaman's soul) in this form)
Unlockables (hard mode (only makes enemies do more damage and take more hits to kill+slows down stat boosts+makes traps do about double damage+turns medusa heads into golden medusa heads) - should've been available from the beginning
Boss rush and an alternate character (Julius Belmont again - no equipment/items/soul abilities and no MP regeneration (can level up but not access the stat menu) but he has sub weapons and starts out with the various required moves for exploration, can gain two allies - Alucard and Yoko, he also has a whip swing and moves a bit faster, he also has a forward dash that goes through enemies without taking damage though it is a bit clunky to use; however he levels up only after bosses so gameplay isn't as open as it could've been), triple fireball - hard mode?, new game plus (start with bought maps (hidden passages and breakable walls are also revealed)+most souls and all equipment (besides a quest item) but not all your permanent abilities (tactical souls) so the game world opens up only partially?; magic seals don't transfer))
Somewhat humorous tone (can suck the blood of chandeliers, some abilities like the manticore tail, painting that looks at you, etc.)
Sliding puzzle used to navigate a labyrinthic part of the castle (you get to walk through the path you've created in the puzzle)
Some risk/reward souls like the hp draining devil strength one
You can now upgrade weapons using souls in a "fusing shop" (cool but leads to more grinding for souls at times since you might want to both upgrade a weapon with and use a soul and various drop rates are too low)
Pretty nice transition between the town fountain and the southwestern area (similar to the "rain" in the city of tears in Hollow Knight)
Parallel worlds theme of sorts (can enter mirrors to explore the "other side" of certain rooms - a bit underused though)
+/-
Level design is more linear than in AoS (can sometimes choose to fight two bosses in either order, opens up a bit more after reaching the water area)
Investigate rooms past barriers using the Ghost ability (a bit slow though)
The story takes even more room than before and continues where Aria of Sorrow left off (there's a bunch of lore put in a "library" menu now, the dialogue writing isn't better though)
Attacking again right after landing after a jump attack lets you attack twice in a row without delay (similar to SotN; only works with faster weapons though or when you have a super attacked charged with a slower one, you can also attack again once by dashing backwards and canceling it with another swing right after the first one connects; these things combined with soul use are basically the combo system of the game as there are no attack combos in the hack 'n slash sense) - on the other hand your character doesn't hold out his weapon in mid-air for as long with fast weapons and the jump attack is cancelled if you attacked right before landing after falling more than half a screen's length but it doesn't quite even out
Enemies can shoot through walls
Respawning treasure chests (contain multiple coins - makes it a bit easier to farm for money in some areas; can also farm for souls then buy cheap weapons to sell back as upgraded weapons early on)
Same jump physics as in AoS (the fall is a bit slow)
Red soul ability is still mapped to up + main attack
Having to learn and then draw magic seals with the pen/stylus to seal beaten bosses (otherwise they return to life with a little bit of health restored) - feels gimmicky and distracting but would've been a plus if done w/o the stylus (what's worse is that you can be screwing up the timing without knowing it while drawing a seal),
Quick save/sleep feature lets you quickly backtrack but only to the beginning of the current room so it's not that helpful (would've been better to allow starting at the most recently visited save point instead)
Same forgiving mid-air control when performing jump attacks (lets you move backwards after the attack)
Most abilities are lifted from previous games
Slowly regenerating MP
One HP draining (not that effective) and one HP regenerating soul (works anywhere but is kinda slow - gained from the frankenstein's monster/the creature enemy but the drop rate is very low)
Dropped items disappear after a few seconds
A bit harder to dodge in close combat than in earlier games since (like in AoS) you can't mash the dash button (if you don't time them right the action doesn't register)
Doesn't show bosses' health bars
No MP/HP upgrades (perhaps more frequent level ups instead? not sure)
Normal running doesn’t exist
Swimming (need an ability to dive though - creates another gate)
Poison still weakens your attack instead of draining your hp
Enemies respawn when exiting the room they spawned in (generally a good thing)
Slide attacks do much less damage now and there's some movement delay after sliding
Same feminine main character that looks like Juste/Alucard (Soma Cruz)
Can't move or dash while crouching
Can't cancel an attack into a slide nor jump out of one (using it like a dash)
Can stand on certain enemies (skull dragon turret, plated part of bull)
Can't super attack while crouching or in mid-air
No box pushing
Petrify ability doesn't work on some enemies and you can no longer stand on petrified enemies? (could've been used to reach some areas earlier) - milican's sword also takes too much effort to synthesize and you can't find it
High jump is almost redundant (get it near the end and there's no need to use it prior to the final area)
Some abilities can be leveled up?
-
You still have to kill enemies over and over to gain their soul abilities and it seems even slower than in AoS (based on luck – leads to overleveling, even with a max luck code enabled you'll have to kill some enemies 5+ times to get their ability, very annoying when trying to get the mothman soul for example which is guarded by two very resilient enemies, annoying how one path requires three different soul ability attacks just to pass through three doors, great axe armor drop rate seems ridiculously low - i tried for 20+ minutes to get one without success)
Starts out too easy (mostly poor AI considering your abilities (many larger monsters are too dumb and slow, enemies from previous games return in nerfed form, can hit some enemies through walls/platforms, can hit some enemies from afar without activating their attack pattern))
Some control/interface issues (very short invincibility time - a problem when facing Dmitri if you don't make him copy some other soul quickly (his first attack hits hard over and over as it passes through you and stops you from using a super attack), can't place markers or notes on the map - would've actually been a good use of the touch screen, dash move doesn't make you move faster (regular movement is a bit faster than in HoD but still), more yes/no prompts and they always default to No, the game reboots after death instead of asking if you want to reload your save, peeping eye (see breakable walls) and shop discount abilities should've been permanent/toggle-able (at least you have the quick switch button now), can't see enemy names in-game anymore (especially annoying since the bestiary doesn't tell you where you fought an enemy), can't view different attack abilities' stats in the menu, some walls within rooms aren't shown on the map)
A lot of enemy abilities and equipment are near useless or become redundant very soon - makes sidetracking for placed items feel less rewarding (placing good souls at the end of challenging detours or ones gated by later moves would've been better, some of the mirror room items aren't worth getting)
Backtracking for previously unreachable items is generally less rewarding (for example the tedious ice clearing segment which you need to use the stylus for and at the end there's just a combat knife or the room with a bunch of bone pillars)
Mostly cliché and nonsensical storyline (main character is extremely gullible, villain's sidekicks don't kill you when they get the chance, etc.) with more silly dialogue
1$ coins
Dive kick move has to be found (find double jump)
Many rooms are just long corridors and the pointless corridors between areas from SotN return
No forward dash until the final area and it's not a permanent/toggle-able ability (it's a blue soul - black panther) - makes traversal a bit slow until then though teleporters are pretty frequent and there's a hack that lets you get it sooner
Uneven difficulty at times (sudden tough enemies path in the northern area, generally tough bosses compared to their areas, most large monsters suck until the late game, pretty tough clock tower area and tower boss right before it, easy seasnake boss)
Some trial & error (have to draw the second half of the fifth magic heal super fast, no warning about dario's demon before beating him (same with mina's talisman before going to the final area? - if you didn't equip it you get the bad ending), leap of faith into spikes at one point in the clock tower area, can throw the puppet underwater, figuring out which soul you need to get to progress in some areas, some boss patterns - can bounce off of the tower boss's gas cloud attacks (can also disperse the cloud with sword swings), don't wanna go right after fighting the second lackey (Dario) because the next save point is pretty far away)
Some dead space and dead ends here and there (quick save/sleep sometimes helps but several dead ends are of the HoD variety meaning you'll reach quite far into an area before running into a barrier of some sort and then have to backtrack out of there and not return for a long time)
Some abilities and equipment are overpowered (holy ray, mandragora, alura une summon, Warg?, Skull archer and Barbariccia/ogre form against some enemies, Bomb Armor?, great axe armor/giga twister?, upgraded axe - can be upgraded pretty soon and there's no need for other equipment for quite a while if you combine it with Mandragora, card, persephone/vacuum vs most bosses (can suck up death's scythes+abaddon's mantises+the final boss's purple gas clouds as well) throwing sickle?)
Some blind jumps (clock tower)
Some annoying sfx (Dario's laugh)
The coin gates (time consuming to time the locks right) - optional though
No battle arena (AoS, CotM)
Frozen shade doesn't actually freeze enemies
Some enemies can't turn around (puppet master)
The shortcuts in the southwestern area are placed in a way that's not useful (have to pass either the annoying room with the respawning ghosts or the spiked water corridor when going for the coin gate in it and back)
The southwestern area is pretty bland besides that annoying room with hidden platforms and the shortcut into town
New enemies do not appear in already explored areas (see CotM; not having them makes backtracking less interesting and though the bat form does help speed things up at times the lack of an air dash for it is disappointing)
Bugs:
-The luck stat has almost no effect on soul drop rate (fixed w/ a hack)
-The Chaos Ring is unobtainable unless one starts a New Game+ file and obtains these Souls again: Souls of Gergoth, Death and Abaddon (fixed w/ a hack)