Why Did the Art Styles Change From Aria of Sorrow to Dawn of Sorrow

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (commonly abbreviated every bit AoS ), released in Japan as Castlevania: Akatsuki no Minuet (キャッスルヴァニア ～暁月の円舞曲～ , Castlevania: Akatsuki no Minuet ^? lit. "Castlevania: Minuet of Dawn") is a side-scrolling platforming video game developed and published by Konami for the Game Boy Advance. It is the third and last installment of the Castlevania series on the system and was released in Due north America on May 6, 2003, and in Japan on May eight, 2003.

Producer Koji Igarashi, who had led the product teams for previous Castlevania titles, led Aria of Sorrow'southward development likewise. Michiru Yamane likewise returned to etch the music for the game aslope Takashi Yoshida and Soshiro Hokkai. Director Junichi Murakami was new to the Castlevania series.

The game closely follows the franchise's gameplay and features established in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Plot

The game takes place in the twelvemonth 2035 and stars Soma Cruz, a high school exchange student in Japan. While visiting the Hakuba Shrine with his friend Mina Hakuba, Soma is accidentally transported into Castlevania along with her. There he meets Genya Arikado, who defeats a group of attacking enemies and explains Soma's ability to absorb monsters' souls. Genya too tells Soma to go to the Master'southward Chamber quickly, then Mina doesn't die an excruciatingly painful expiry.

Aria of Sorrow has several possible endings, depending on the class taken past the player.

Graphic symbol gallery

Main commodity: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow/Gallery

Characters
Epitome	Proper name	Data
	Soma Cruz	A high-school student living in the boondocks of Hakuba and the hero of this game. He possesses a strangely daunting presence and people notice him distant and difficult to approach. On the evening of the 2035 A.D. solar eclipse, Soma sets off for the Shrine of the White Equus caballus. The Shrine is located on a hilltop and is attached to the firm of his friend Mina. Soma and Mina wait forward to watching this rare astral result from the high-distance view of the Shrine, merely something unexpected happens and they are knocked unconscious.
	Mina Hakuba	The but girl of the Shrine'south flagman and head priest. A childhood friend of Soma's, Mina is extremely friendly and well liked by everyone she encounters. Though Soma has quite an intimidating personality, she gets along with him comfortably.
	Graham Jones	The founder of a new religious sect with hordes of devout followers. Born on the 7th month of the year 1999, Graham is rumored to possess magical powers. He gains converts past preaching that the apocalyptic prophecies that were so popular at the stop of the terminal century will come up to pass in the year 2035 A.D.
	Yoko Belnades	Descendant from a long line of witches employed by the Church. Talkative and quite nosy, she has been sent by the Church to investigate the prophecy of Dracula's resurrection. She is acquainted with Genya Arikado.
	Genya Arikado	An extremely cold homo with an inhumanly attractive face. Mr. Arikado always wears a dark adapt and is said to vest to a shadowy organization somehow related to national security. He is familiar with the prophecy of Dracula's resurrection.
	J	Suffers from amnesia that was triggered by a traumatic incident he experienced in 1999. J possesses astonishing powers of magic and is extremely fearful of the resurrection of Dracula.
	Hammer	A soldier dispatched by the regular army to investigate Hakuba Shrine. Possesses an extremely rough personality and he simply works when he feels similar it. Hammer has ever wanted to retire from the regular army and open his own business.

Dialogue

Master article: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow/Script

Gameplay

Aria follows the model established by Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, that of an action office-playing game. The player collects new equipment and skills past exploring the game's castle setting and fighting increasingly powerful enemies and bosses, leading up to a climactic see with the castle's master. The role player primarily attacks at shut quarters using variety of weapons. Soma Cruz'south control and fighting style is reminiscent of Alucard from Symphony of the Dark, every bit opposed to that of a whip-wielding Vampire Killer well-nigh prominently featured in the series. Notwithstanding, he has a different system of secondary attacks.

As with previous titles in the series, Aria introduces a new magic system Tactical Soul System. Each of the 110 enemies in the game may provide a unique soul upon their defeat, depending on the player'due south luck. Once nerveless, souls may be equipped, granting new abilities.

The souls come in 4 main types:

• Bullet Souls: These provide sub-weapon-like functionality, such equally fireballs and other attacks. They are activated with the Up + B button combination.
• Guardian Souls: These provide mainly defensive abilities, such as summoning Familiars, temporary invulnerability or shapeshifting. They are activated or toggled with the R button.
• Enchanted Souls: These work to give Soma new latent abilities, such equally walking on water or increasing statistics.
• Ability Souls: These provide always-on abilities, such every bit a double jump and slide move. These are mostly obtained from bosses and used to mediate level design in the same way every bit in the Metroid games; that is, as new abilities are caused, more areas are available to the player to explore.

Souls can be traded with the use of 2 Game Boy Advances, two cartridges and a link cable.

Unlockable modes include playing equally a Belmont and a Dominate Rush mode, the latter where unique items and very powerful weapons are awarded for defeating the boss creatures in sequence in a set amount of time.

After finishing the game, a new game tin be started in Normal or Hard mode, with the option of keeping all items and souls (except souls that are necessary to keep the game'due south storyline in social club).

Reviews and reaction

Artwork past Ayami Kojima.

Aria of Sorrow was well received past Castlevania's fandom in general, as opposed to the previous GBA installments Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, which received very mixed reviews. It is considered past many to be the best of the Game Boy Advance games. While many felt the Metroid/Castlevania hybrid gameplay started by Symphony of the Nighttime had begun to vesture thin at this point, Aria offered more balanced and clean gameplay, along with a fresh plot, good visuals, and other generally agreed upon improvements. The soul collection organisation is seen every bit quite fun, and gives much room for improvising and customization when combining Soma'due south powers in dissimilar ways. Many felt, however, that the system wasn't delved into equally deeply as it could have been. Too, a complaint from the previous game, Harmony of Dissonance, that the game used too picayune visual contrast in the backgrounds, remained somewhat in Aria of Sorrow, although there are many genuinely beautiful and colorful backgrounds, and the tiling seems to have been done in a more competent manner.

Perhaps Aria of Sorrow's biggest claim to fame is a major plot twist near the terminate which surprised many long fourth dimension Castlevania fans. See the article almost Soma Cruz for more than details, but exist warned; major spoilers lie ahead. While Aria of Sorrow continued to expand on the tried and true exploration format of many of the previous installments, many fans felt that this plot twist, as well every bit the totally new era (this is the kickoff Castlevania game to have place in a futuristic time period, although the signs of such were minimal, such every bit grenade throwing enemies or a handgun weapon), was just the potential for innovation the serial' plotline needed. A follow upwardly of Aria, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, was released in 2005, which continues the storyline started in Aria.

Re-releases

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow was re-released in Northward America in January of 2006, alongside Castlevania: Harmony of Racket, in Konami'due south Castlevania: Double Pack, which has both games on one GBA game pak.

Aria of Sorrow was also ported by Glu as a cell phone game, but as a Europe sectional. This is a scaled-down version of the original game, featuring limited areas, weapons, enemies and bosses.

Aria of Sorrow was besides re-released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC (Steam) and Xbox One every bit role of the Castlevania Advance Drove on September 23-24, 2021.

Trivia

• Starting a new game in the same slot as a previous completed save data will keep game time, number of obtained souls, all items, all equipments, and all souls (except souls obtained from Soul-Keepers and the Kicker Skeleton'due south soul). Starting the game this way will let Soma start with 22 EXP. Soma will start with the last saved equipment, without equipping whatsoever souls.
• Completing the game once will unlock three different modes. These modes tin can exist played by starting a new game in an empty slot using a certain proper name input:
  • JULIUS will let the player to play as Julius.
  • NOUSE volition let the actor to play the game with item brake.
  • NOSOUL will permit the player to play the game with soul brake.
• This is the only GBA game where Death does not have an alternate grade for his second phase (not counting the Classic NES Series port for the original Castlevania).
  • On a similar note, it is also the only GBA game to really take place at Dracula'south Castle (once again, not counting the Classic NES Series port for the original game), as the prior games dealt with similar castles endemic past the main antagonists.
• The game's intro states that people were gathering around to run into the world's starting time total solar eclipse of the 21st Century, when that argument is actually false. The commencement total solar eclipse of the 21st Century occured on June 21, 2001 equally information technology began off the coast of Uruguay and across the Southern Atlantic Sea and through Southern Africa and Madagascar. The people in Africa would be the first people to meet the 21st Century's start total solar eclipse.
  • Though the game is correct about a Full Solar Eclipse occuring in Nihon (which volition be on September 1-ii, 2035) but the Eclipse itself volition come from the Northwest, not from the Southeast like depicted in the game.

• Akumajō Dracula All-time Music Collections BOX — Contains music from this game on Disc 9.
• Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (mobile) — A mobile version of Aria of Sorrow.
• Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow & Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Original Soundtrack
• Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow — The Nintendo DS sequel to this game.
• Castlevania: Double Pack — A compilation package including both Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow.
• Futabasha Castlevania: Akatsuki no Minuet Official Guide — A Japanese official guide to this game.
• NTT Pub Castlevania: Akatsuki no Minuet Official Guide — Another Japanese official guide to this game.
• Castlevania Advance Collection – A compilation containing all three Game Male child Advance games and Dracula X released on 2021.

See also

• Aria of Sorrow Artwork (category)
• Aria of Sorrow Items (category)
• Aria of Sorrow Locations (category)
• Aria of Sorrow Bestiary
• Aria of Sorrow Inventory
• Aria of Sorrow Voice Translations
• Demon Castle War

External links

• Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow at the Castlevania Fan Wiki
• Official Konami page (Cyberspace Archive: July 24, 2011 - Japanese)
• Aria of Sorrow Citadel
• Castlevania Realm
• GameFAQs
• RPGClassics' Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Shrine

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Characters
Protagonists
Soma Cruz • Mina Hakuba • J./Julius Belmont • Yoko Belnades • Genya Arikado (Alucard) • Hammer
Antagonist
Graham Jones
Bosses
Creaking Skull • Manticore • Great Armor • Big Golem • Headhunter • Death • Legion • Balore • Graham • Belmont • Chaos
Areas
Castle Corridor • Chapel • Study • Dance Hall • Inner Quarters • Floating Garden • Clock Tower Undercover Reservoir • Undercover Cemetery • The Arena • Top Floor • Forbidden Area • Chaotic Realm
Music
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow & Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Original Soundtrack
Guides
Futabasha Official Guide • NTT Pub Official Guide
Athenaeum
Bestiary • Inventory • In-Game Formula • Julius Mode • Vocalism Translations

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Source: https://castlevania.fandom.com/wiki/Castlevania:_Aria_of_Sorrow

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