Topic: Harmony of Dissonance Appreciation Thread

[PFG9000]

Harmony of Dissonance gets no love.  Between CotM and AoS, Harmony tends to be the whipping boy of the GBA games.  I think I see more CV hate directed toward that game than any other, except maybe for Legends and, recently, Harmony of Despair.

But lately I've been playing through Harmony again, probably for the tenth time or so.  I really love it.  The graphics are beautiful and far more detailed than in CotM or AoS.  The forward and backward dashing mechanic with the shoulder buttons makes navigating the castle quick and easy, and it gives the game's controls a feeling that no other CV has.  The music might get a lot of flack, but it really builds atmosphere in a lot of areas.  I can't imagine the Sky Walkway any other way.  And yet, I wonder if a soundtrack with higher-quality samples would make people appreciate the game more.  The low sound quality and the lack of difficulty are really the only flaws to the game, in my opinion.

I think the best thing about the game is the multitude of little quirks you can find.  There's that crazy painting in the Sky Walkway with one man stabbing another, and the blood drips down from the wound, to the picture frame, to the floor.  There's the giant Carmilla mask in the Skeleton Cave, and the two pinball racing rooms.  The game is so unique, but still absolutely Castlevania.

Any thoughts on Harmony of Dissonance, good or bad?  We're just a few months away from the game's ten year anniversary, so let's celebrate a bit.

[crisis]

Wow it's been 10 years huh. i was in high school, funny how time flies.. I remember buying HoD at launch, opening it up right in my car and playing it in the parking lot with my GBA SP. I jumped right into it & loved it. Excellent graphics and gameplay, the castle is a true "manifestation of chaos" with it's bizarre design!

It has all these throwbacks to previous Castlevanias that only true vets would've recognized (Bullet Tip for instance, original translation Christopher's Soul). I'd say that Successor of Fate is one of the best intro themes in the series. Marble Corridor also stands out. But lets not forget the best track in the game,

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance - Seller Of Fine Goods (Merchant's Theme)


Till this day, I still have only encountered the Rare Ghost once, in the waterway area. That little bitch is hard to find (and harder to get its drop items). It is also impossible to get 200% in Maxim Mode, since Maxim can't unlock the gate to the final area. as far as i know, at least.

[beingthehero]

I still totally dig it. I always loved the tons of nods to CV3 and CV2, both visual and otherwise. Also, Vampire Killer 2002 and Simon Belmont in boss rush. It would be strange to play the game without the dissonant music. Going by what he said on the linear notes, Soshiro Hokkai was pretty ballsy to go ahead with a 'progressive' sound even though he apparently knew the sound quality was going to be downgraded to make way for the better graphics.

Too bad many of the bosses were pretty unmemorable, save for the Legion bosses and the Dracula Wraith. Though, it was pretty nifty to see some of CV3's bosses back in SotN-esque graphics. If only they were more challenging, it would have been perfect. Like many of the latter day CV titles prior to OoE, HoD's bosses and enemies seemed to have been made with Richter Belmont circa Dracula X in mind. When taking them on with the ultra-nimble Juste, they're no match.

Like CotM, it has both great areas and very bland ones as well. The Entrance Hall, Marble Gallery, Skeleton Cave, Room of Illusions, and Chapel/Sky Walkway are all excellent. On the other hand, the caverns, Aqueduct of Dragons, and Castle Keep are all a bit tedious (especially for the aqueduct.) For some reason, I don't mind Clock Tower A, but I don't care for Clock Tower B. : /

I always felt the comparisons to SotN were a little unfair. The dual-castle mechanic of Bad Castle and Worse Castle struck me more akin to Silent Hill. Then again, I believe it was the EGM Order of Ecclesia issues wherein IGA said that HoD was meant to just be a portable version of SotN, so it really didn't aim as high as the others did.

[Flame]

I never got too far in it, but I certainly thought it had charm. I didnt mind the music, it had it's own feel to it, though I can see why others might not like it, it's pretty different in sound.

If theres really one thing I have to complain about, it's that damn blue outline on Juste. What the hell were they thinking? That's even worse than Julius' solid BLACK outline in Dawn!

[PFG9000]

I believe the blue outline, like the bright color palette, was intended to make the game easier to see on the original (non-backlit) GBA.  When CotM came out, it was criticized for being dark and too hard to see.  The GBA SP still hadn't launched when HoD came out, so the visibility issues of CotM had to be addressed.

[Opium]

I totally like Dissonance.  I admit that I hadn't played through it until this year, and I enjoyed it so much that I played through it a second time.  Not sure why people diss on it.  The running sprite does look completely retarded, and perhaps that image just overshadows how awesome the rest of the game looks?  SotN is probably my favorite CV game, and HoD is closest to SotN than any other CV game, imo.  I think it's an awesome game.

[Patashnik]

just finishes CoTM and started this monster of a game.. only played for like 20 minutes so will give u guys a more substantial opinion once I've finished but so far it seems pretty decent, visual it has to be said (despite it's slightly damning the game with faint praise since its such a obvious observation) that the graphics are far FAR FAR superior to CoTM ( including animate backgrounds where with CoTM practically all the backgrounds where static except for the machine tower if my memory serves me right, (though a reviewer of castlevania on you tube elaborated on this to greater effect, will link when I find..)

although I don't know why but, besides the blue tinted highlight which PFG9000 explained is so we can see Juste, there's something about Juste's character palette that looks a bit off..  ( to me he looks like he's wearing a weird combination of converse shoes hybrid with platform boots, though that could just be me...).

Also aesthetically I find it does resemble SOTN ( down to the way the save points function/look) but rather than blatantly rip off I feel it merely doffs the cap to SOTN than be a complete carbon copy of.. (thus far anyway) ..

only complaint is.. yea.. I can see why critics panned the soundtrack as ( to me at least) it kind of sounds like the tinny chip tone  of the old monochrome game boys, though the soundtrack isnt "awful" as they proclaim, it hasnt quite gelled with me yet.. ( think IGA even stated he "sacrificed the sound for the graphics", which tbh  are quite impressive for a game made back in 2002)


anyho give more feedback once I've finished the game.. but so far I quite like it,  =D

[Sumac]

Harmony of Dissonance gets no love.  Between CotM and AoS, Harmony tends to be the whipping boy of the GBA games.

When all aspects of the game are bad or at least controversial there tend to be some disappointment in the final result.

I will not give this game a long review this time. Just say it was a big disappointment for me personally. After COTM I hoped that the next game will be superior to it. In graphics, in music quality, in gameplay department, though there are really few things that were wrong with COTM gameplay.
Instead I've got ugly, bright and almost acidic graphics with REALLY annoying Juste outline that become getting on my nerves in the latter part of the game. Crazy music, that was arranged...well, very specifically. And uninteresting gameplay that was much worse than COTM had to offer. My main impression from the game was a complete puzzlement - how in the world after COTM, which done so many things right (even over SOTN sometimes), HOD managed to screw up so much.

The only thing that HOD done right is an idea of the two castles. That's how it should have realized in the SOTN, instead of stupid "upside down castle".

[Patashnik]

Harmony of Dissonance gets no love.  Between CotM and AoS, Harmony tends to be the whipping boy of the GBA games.  I think I see more CV hate directed toward that game than any other, except maybe for Legends ....

  ok um sorry if I am diverging from the topic but abit but just out of curiousity how bad/good was legends.. dont tend to hear much about it ( heard it was considered "non-canon" with the rest of the series apparently, so if there is a reason they had to retcon it from the series it must have been pretty terrible 

[X]

My personal view of this game is a mixed bag. The graphics were outstanding though the occasional background (like the one in the skeleton cave taken straight out of SotN) was just awful in translation. It didn't work so I don't know why they even bothered...

The music harks back to the 8-bit era. Was it intentional? Hard to say but given how everything else is jam-packed full, something had to take a hit. Also almost none of the tunes did anything for me. Even Juste's theme left me kinda scratching my head.

The sounds were good. They outdid the music by a long-shot.

I found the gameplay stiff and somewhat slow at first. At least the game caters around it so it isn't too big a deal.

Juste Belmont. It's been a while since IGA gave us a real playable Belmont in name (Don't know what his beef is with them). The things that bothered me about Juste is that he functions as though he's incomplete. Most of his sprites are stiff and ridged as if it were a rush job. The blue outline was not necessary as it just comes off as an Alucard wannabe (this includes Juste's white hair and pale skin). Even the vampirekiller was crap. It looked like a white rope with a blue outline rather then a chain whip that flashed different colors (as it should be).

But for all it's flaws this is a decent game and had a lot of different and interesting things throughout. The only thing that makes this game better imo is that hack that was done which alleviates some of the issues aforementioned above.

Till this day, I still have only encountered the Rare Ghost once, in the waterway area. That little bitch is hard to find (and harder to get its drop items).

I got lucky on this one with my first playthrough. I had found this ghost in the castle entrance and after killing him he dropped an item piece (armor I do believe). But that was it. Even today I still regret deleting that file...

[thernz]

I love dashing.

[shelverton.]

I love Harmony of Dissonance. It's the best of the GBA games, even though Aria is a much more polished and less insane product. But I prefer the bizarre nature of HoD. I totally agree that Juste sprite is kinda ugly. Also, while it's not a very challenging game, it's a bit more confusing than the other Metroidvanias IMO. I actually got stuck in this game at least twice with no idea whatsoever where to go or what to do, which never happened in any other Metroidvania.

[Reinhart77]

I enjoyed the spell fusion attacks.  Unfortunately, they made the game too easy, but fun.  The system returned in Lament of Innocence and I would be happy if they reused it in another 2D or 3D game.

[Gecko]

This game on hard mode is my personal favorite of the GBA games. I love pretty much everything about it, except that you have to go through easy mode to unlock hard. Hard should have been a "normal" mode available from the beginning, and there should have been a REAL hard mode for the truly hardcore(though I'd probably just play with that a little bit, like crazy mode in the ps2 'Vanias). I love the atmosphere, references to past games, soundtrack, graphics... it's a very interesting and unique game for the Gameboy Advance. It has some truly creepy areas, and the alternative versions of the areas are all interesting in their differences. I also love the magic/subweapon system, and how you can change and enable/disable spellbooks without ever going to the menu.

So yes, in short, I'm a big fan of this one. And yeah Thernody, the dashing was pretty cool.

[PFG9000]

  ok um sorry if I am diverging from the topic but abit but just out of curiousity how bad/good was legends.. dont tend to hear much about it ( heard it was considered "non-canon" with the rest of the series apparently, so if there is a reason they had to retcon it from the series it must have been pretty terrible 

Legends is another mixed bag.  Have you played the first two GB CVs?  If you liked those, you should at least give Legends a shot.  The music isn't as good as Belmont's Revenge, but it's still a really good soundtrack.  Sonia is more nimble than Christopher, and she is one of the only oldschool Belmonts who can change direction mid-jump.  The levels are fairly large, and there are branching paths where you can go hunting for special items.  But for some reason, the game just seems a bit boring to me.  I always lose interest around the second level or so.