PSP World

Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow

I'd hate to say this but I actually enjoyed Aria of Sorrow more than Dawn of Sorrow. But that's not to say this is a terrible game, in fact, it's one of the best for the DS. The only problem is the touch screen implementations hamper the gameplay a bit, although the second screen is a welcome addition.

Graphics: Better but still not the great graphics we saw from SOTN. The enemies look great and are well detailed but for some reason Soma still looks like crap. Alucard looked awesome on the PS, why can't they just copy and paste or something? That’s what I do with all my reviews. (don’t tell anyone.)

Story: Soma is once again called upon to kick major monster ass. Standard Castlevania fare. Someone's trying to resurrect Dracula and inherit his powers. You'd imagine for a game that takes place in the future that mankind would, I don't know, figure out a way to seal that bastard up for good. What the hell is wrong with us?

Gameplay: With returning RPG and castle exploration elements this is Castlevania at its best. My only complaint about this whole game (besides not having an upside down castle ala SOTN) is that the touch screen is used to "seal" the boss. Really annoying because if you screw up a portion of the boss' health is regenerated. Worse yet, there's a time limit to how long it takes you to seal the monster. (And you know further down the line you’re just going to have to beat these losers up again because for some reason seals in Castlevania games are always broken. Hell, whenever there’s mention of a seal in the video game you know it’s going to be broken. So why bother?) However, on the plus side, the dual Screens allows for the map (that can be switched to a status screen) to be visible at all times. No need to constantly pause the game to view where you’re going, which helps keep the game going at a steady pace.

Like in the previous game, Aria of Sorrow, Sora can absorb monster powers and use them himself. This works fairly well most of the time but for some enemies it can take over an hour to absorb their souls. That’s a lot of entering and exiting. If this didn’t bother you in the last game, just ignore me. However, if you were hoping that it would be evened out a bit more, prepare to be sorely disappointed.

Replay: You start off the game with your souls and items, just like Aria of Sorrow. Also, Julius mode returns once again. The hardcore player will see and do everything this game has to offer. Casual people will be content with just playing one of the best DS games available.