Topic: Aria of Sorrow

[Algernon]

Hi,

I've recently taken to playing old classic Castlevania games that I haven't yet laid my hands on. I ordered SoTN off of Ebay and I can already see it's one of the most inspired Castlevanias thus far. I also want to get Aria of Sorrow for the GBA, but I wonder what the general fan opinion of the game is first. What do you think; is Aria any good?

[Alutwon]

Aria was great, no reason not to play it since its basically SotN formula on the GBA.

[Mr Sven]

Except better - well except the graphics. Overall I found the level design,difficulty and pickup placement much more inspired

[Dark Nemesis]

One of the best in my opinion. Very good difficulty, awesome for GBA graphics with very nice enviroments designs and cool effects and very nice game play with good scenario. Also in my opinion again, it has the best music from all three GBA Castlevania games.

[darkwzrd4]

IMO, it's in the top three best 2D CVs.  The only 2D that top it are SotN and OoE.

[Giz]

I'm not a fan of Aria of Sorrow. A lot of the game is in my eyes forgettable and overrated. It's good (a lot better then Circle of the Moon, anyway) but it's not quite as good as great games like Symphony of the Night, Harmony of Dissonance and Order of Ecclesia.

[TerraEsperZ]

Aria Of Sorrow is definitely a good game worth getting. The graphics are really good with lots of animation and sprite rotations, the soul system gives you a large variety of abilities and attacks, and the story is actually interesting and imaginative.

However, after spending two months assembling a screenshot map of the whole castle (to be published on the net probably next week), I realized that my opinion of it had changed a bit. On average, all of the areas have good graphics and layout but very few of them really stand out. While Harmony has tons of featureless corridors and some very dull-looking areas like the Luminous Caverns, it also managed to have the excellent Sky Walkway and more interactions with the castle itself like the giant Ball puzzle in the Clock Tower or pushing big suits of armor to be crushed in giant gears/clear a giant rock.

But I'm really nitpicking because in general, I had more fun with Aria Of Sorrow. It just can't come close to the greatness of Symphony Of The Night, but very few of the Castletroids do.

[darklordcandidate]

True, but Aria of Sorrow is still worth getting.