Topic: Should I give DoS a chance?

[X]

It was awesome! It was a nice tribute to CV3. Oh, and after beating Paraonia... it was so awesome to discover that Alucard is the only one to not have a reflection in the mirror!

You'd think Alucard would have a reflection. He's only half vampire and his human side is strong enough to resist the darkness. He reminds me of Louie from interview with the vampire. An immortal with a mortal's passion. Louie can see his reflection in the mirror even though he is a full-on vampire while other vampires cannot. So why not Alucard? He's got more humanity the Louie ever will thus we should be able to see his reflection in a mirror.

[Flame]

Because it's Castlevania, not Interview with a Vampire.

Alucard inherits vampiric Traits from his father, but having a human Mother, Not all of the weaknesses. (I think? Castlevania made him weak to water and holy element weapons)

he inherits immortality and bloodlust, along with the magic powers and the lack of a reflection.

[X]

Because it's Castlevania, not Interview with a Vampire.

This was already obvious to me, however it still doesn't pan out. Alucard should have some sort of visible reflection due to him being half human. His human side would be visible in a mirror, no question about it. Alucard isn't of the undead or he would be a full-blooded vampire. In fact, aside from being known as a 'Dhampyre' I have absolutely no idea as to what Alucard (or D for that matter) would be classified under. Half human means he's alive in some form or another and not fully undead...so what is he then? The whole notion of vampires casting no reflection harks to the film 'Nosferatu' as well as burning up in sunlight. In the original Dracula novel there were none of these more recent inconsistencies, though now they are common place. In the movie Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dracula's reflection caused the mirror in Harker's room to crack, but before that we could see a brief glimpse of him just prior to the break. Therefore in my reasoning, Alucard should be able to see himself in a mirror. But back to the topic before it goes astray.

[Flame]

Again, Castlevania's in universe rule state that Alucard doesnt have a reflection. that's that.

[Las]

BTW Dawn of Sorrow,yes i would give that a go. I haven't finished it but what i played of it so far was very awesome and challenging.More so that Order of Ecclesia. It's ironic just by looking at the games i woulda thought Portrain of Ruin woulda been my favortie,followed by OoE, then DoS. But playing through it's actually quite the opposite thus far. I'd have to play through DoS to know for certain. But then again i can speak on behalf of only the starting rotation for those games and not the unlockables.   Also about Alucard i was under the assumption that a dhamphir is part human/part vampire. So he has traits of both his mother and father. IT almost seems in the game espeically sotn when using things that refer to his human form weapons,moves etc seem rather weak in comparison to humans, but his vampircal side that host moves such as soul steal,bat,wolf seem to give him far more advantages and stronger aswell. WHich may explain why that story of Sonia belmont beating him happened or trevor during cv3. Then again they use the vampire killer so that's almost like an advantage right there.

[Green Stranger]

DoS it's worth checking out if you're a hardcore CV fan....I guess. However it does feel a bit light in contrast to AoS. Castlevania isn't typically a high adrenaline game series but DoS is just down right sedated. I still haven't even finished this game. Thats how unengaging it is.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Use an action replay to unlock Julius mode right off the bat, and then just stick to that. Julius mode is worth the price of purchase. Enjoy it.

[Puwexil]

People keep saying Julius mode is great, but I can't really agree. All it does is highlight the general emptiness and sterility of the game's areas, considering that's all that's left to rely on without the fussy minutiae of Soma's myriad sub-systems and RPG equipment rumba. No illusion of player progression to distract you from how mundane it all is, so you're left with a boring Metrovania masquerading as a traditional title, with mismatched controls, mechanics and level design that are the solid core of those games when they're successful. It simply doesn't do well in anything, unless you're the sort whose heart goes aflutter at the prospect of tame fan service.

Maybe if it was just a boss rush, since that's all Dawn is good for anyway.

[Archangel]

It´s amazing how everyone seems to ignore the fact I´ve already played the game But yeah, thanks thanks for caring ^^

I´ve played through the main game again...while wasn´t sure what to think of it the first time, I´ve now come to like it. Yeah, some parts may be silly... but who cares, the game is fun! And this game made me use the doppelganger soul pretty effectively, while in AoS I usally tend to ignore it.

To be honest, there´s something about the story I don´t get:

(click to show/hide)

So, in AoS, Soma defeats (not kills) Chaos to rid himself from it´s influence.... that´s the only possibility I can think of so the bad ending where Soma calls for Chaos to make him the new dark lord makes sense. Please tell me if I´m wrong on that.

Oh yeah, another thing: I thought it was strange to have an underground hallway in Celias Castle... but then I had an idea! I like to think that they (Celias cult) didn´t build this castle randomly in the middle of nowhere... what if they build it on top of one of the ruins of Castlevania? Remember, everytime the castle collapsed, there were some ruins... so, over the centuries, that what was left of that hallway went underground.... I know, I´, putting too much thought into this... but I like that idea.

[X]

Oh yeah, another thing: I thought it was strange to have an underground hallway in Celias Castle... but then I had an idea! I like to think that they (Celias cult) didn´t build this castle randomly in the middle of nowhere... what if they build it on top of one of the ruins of Castlevania? Remember, everytime the castle collapsed, there were some ruins... so, over the centuries, that what was left of that hallway went underground.... I know, I´, putting too much thought into this... but I like that idea.

This is an interesting concept and I too find it mind teasing. However I don't think DoS takes place in Romania. The game designers could've simply put in that particular area as more for nostalgic/throwback reasons. It's hard to say really. And I don't feel you're wrong on your understanding of AoS's Chaos battle either.

[DoctaMario]

People keep saying Julius mode is great, but I can't really agree. All it does is highlight the general emptiness and sterility of the game's areas, considering that's all that's left to rely on without the fussy minutiae of Soma's myriad sub-systems and RPG equipment rumba. No illusion of player progression to distract you from how mundane it all is, so you're left with a boring Metrovania masquerading as a traditional title, with mismatched controls, mechanics and level design that are the solid core of those games when they're successful. It simply doesn't do well in anything, unless you're the sort whose heart goes aflutter at the prospect of tame fan service.

Maybe if it was just a boss rush, since that's all Dawn is good for anyway.

Agreed. I played to near the end of J Mode, but it was fun for about half an hour and then I began slogging thru it just to say I did. Richiter mode in PoR was more fun to me.

With that said, DoS is a game I really liked at first, but then liked less and less each time I played it again. The Sorrow games aren't among my favorites in the series to begin with (atmosphere in them just doesn't feel right to me), but Aria is well designed enough to get a pass. Dawn just seems to drag.

[Jbetbrice]

Yes ! This is A Metroid-Vania Game , like SoTN , But he is Good !
This don't arrive to SotN Magnificanse , but it's a good Cv game ! Like all On Ds

[knightmere]

BTW Dawn of Sorrow,yes i would give that a go. I haven't finished it but what i played of it so far was very awesome and challenging.More so that Order of Ecclesia. It's ironic just by looking at the games i woulda thought Portrain of Ruin woulda been my favortie,followed by OoE, then DoS. But playing through it's actually quite the opposite thus far. I'd have to play through DoS to know for certain. But then again i can speak on behalf of only the starting rotation for those games and not the unlockables.   Also about Alucard i was under the assumption that a dhamphir is part human/part vampire. So he has traits of both his mother and father. IT almost seems in the game espeically sotn when using things that refer to his human form weapons,moves etc seem rather weak in comparison to humans, but his vampircal side that host moves such as soul steal,bat,wolf seem to give him far more advantages and stronger aswell. WHich may explain why that story of Sonia belmont beating him happened or trevor during cv3. Then again they use the vampire killer so that's almost like an advantage right there.

DoS is actually easy as hell and no where near as difficult as OoE.

[Flame]

AoS Julius mode has a superior Julius I would say. he is ridiculously watered down in DoS, with nothing to compensate for it other than Yoko and Alucard. Yoko I never found too useful, and Alucard... eh, he doesnt feel as great as he should. Julius is really the strongest one there. Also, in julius mode, once you get to the later bosses, like Death, it gets ridiculously tough for no reason.

But DoS Julius mode shines over AoS in that it actually has a story and functions as an alternate scenario that takes place AFTER Soma's bad ending. in AoS it was just replacing Soma with Julius and raping everything in your way. Though it was worth it to hear Heart of Fire instead of the Castle Corridor theme. (which was instead moved to the clocktower for some reason...)

[Fofa]

AoS Julius mode has a superior Julius I would say. he is ridiculously watered down in DoS, with nothing to compensate for it other than Yoko and Alucard. Yoko I never found too useful, and Alucard... eh, he doesnt feel as great as he should. Julius is really the strongest one there. Also, in julius mode, once you get to the later bosses, like Death, it gets ridiculously tough for no reason.

But DoS Julius mode shines over AoS in that it actually has a story and functions as an alternate scenario that takes place AFTER Soma's bad ending. in AoS it was just replacing Soma with Julius and raping everything in your way. Though it was worth it to hear Heart of Fire instead of the Castle Corridor theme. (which was instead moved to the clocktower for some reason...)

When I read that, I can't help by wonder why they didn't just re-release AoS on the DS instead of DoS (DoS's story was akin to a typical direct-to-video sequel), only with minimal updates (mainly graphics) to AoS and have Julius mode be just like how it was DoS.