LogFAQs > #951984760

#2 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (Nintendo DS, 2005)

I don't care very much about Soma Cruz, Alucard, the Belmonts, or anybody else from these games. I mean, they are fine, but I'm in Castlevania 100% for the "game" part. Dawn of Sorrow is pretty much the best action game that I have ever played.



Dawn of Sorrow is the culmination of several years of iterations on the formula that Symphony of the Night introduced. As a result, it feels like the most polished, sophisticated, and playable game in the series. The crafting and soul system is robust and full of different choices that enable multiple styles of play. The graphics and sound effects benefit greatly from the upgrade from GBA to DS. The soundtrack is my favorite of the series, and an all-time great for me.

Let me get something out of the way first. Yes, the magic seals are a crappy shoehorned gimmick that add nothing to the game. It was a lesson learned quickly in the Nintendo DS lifespan, and a shame that Castlevania had to go through it. Thankfully, emulation of this game just lets you skip these if you choose. Really the best way to address it if they remake this game is to ditch it entirely.

But that is really the only flaw that I can see in an otherwise perfect game. Exploring Dracula's castle is a ton of fun, and the second screen with the constant map makes it so much more smooth. I know that "map" is like the most generic use for the Wii U or DS screen, but it's also super useful. It just makes sense to do it in games like this. Not having to pause the game to see where you are or where you need to go is a wonderful quality of life featurethere's a reason why many single-screen games overlay the map when possible.

Not that Dawn of Sorrow doesn't have other reasons for you to climb around in the menus. As mentioned, there is a crafting system where you can upgrade weapons and so on. I won't get into the details here, but it gives you a reason to grind a bit besides just trying to increase your level. The best weapons are not necessary at all, but can be fun to earn if you like feeling overpowered. The souls are mostly unique and having multiple loadouts that can be switched on the fly is another feature that just adds to the smoothness of the game.



There are other great things about the game that I will briefly touch on. The multiple endings, Julius mode, Hard Mode, the silly multiplayer mode, boss rush, and I could go on. It's a very deep game with a ton of replayability. "Metroidvania" is one of my very favorite game genres and Dawn of Sorrow has yet to be topped in my experience.

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At least your mother tipped well