Aria of Sorrow

[Anonymous No.8922748]

This is my favorite Castlevania game by a longshot, but I can’t really explain why. SOTN has better visuals, music, a cooler protagonist, a bigger castle. But there’s just some kind of soul or comfy or something about AOS that makes me enjoy it even more.

Is there anyone else here that would rank this one above all the others, or at the very least rank it as the best metroidvania?

[Anonymous No.8922752]

>>8922748
Yeah, out of all the "Metroidvanias" it's probably the best one.

It just feels too short, but probably because it's so good I'd want it to continue.

[Anonymous No.8922815]

>>8922748
I prefer harmony of dissonance, it felt like a truly successor of sotn
it has also the coolest protagonist

[Anonymous No.8922819]

>>8922748
>doesn’t cockblock xp after 60
>the collectibles have at least “some” utility or are just plain fun to use unlike generic food item #85
Yes I actually can see why you’d enjoy this more than SotN

[Anonymous No.8922847]

>>8922748
It's the best on GBA but I think DoW and PoR are better gameplay wise, a shame they mangled the art in DoW. SotN OST is still the nest though.

[Anonymous No.8922859]

>>8922815
Yep. There are many SotN-styled places. More than that, it does not look nor sound light or bright, as AoS do, a bit more - and the game would fall into a "mystery horror" genre.
Unlike other entries in the series, castle feels chaotic and unreal. And twist with travel between two castles without knowing it adds up really good to that effect. You see change between "horror" and "mystique" locations and interpret that as unsafe/"safe" locations up until reveal. The effect is even stronger if you had played SotN before, as you expect portals to be just a portals.

[Anonymous No.8922962]

>>8922748
You're not the only one OP. Aria of Sorrow has always been my favorite as well. I like the aesthetic of SOTN a lot, but I enjoy playing AoS more

[Anonymous No.8923102]

It's one of my favorites games to replay too. My problem with it is that I always play it the same way, so its kinda solved for me. The beauty of replaying it is on player imposed challenges, things like only using certain weapons or souls.

Think there are some good romhacks that adds some twists or at least more content on it. More difficulty on monsters, different behavior on them and harder boss fights.

[Anonymous No.8923152]

>>8922748
I’ve been going through the Advance collection on Switch. Currently on Harmony but looking forward to Aria. Konami needs to hurry up and put out the DS collection.

[Anonymous No.8923180]

>>8923152
I made the mistake of playing Aria first and now I can’t get through the other two. Whenever I start playing them I just want to play Aria instead.

[Anonymous No.8923185]

>>8923152
>not just no$gba all games

[Anonymous No.8923208]

>>8923185
I like playing them on my Switch plus it was only $20 for a really good bundle.

[Anonymous No.8924173]

>>8923102
Well, did you know you can skip the dance hall right after you get the double jump? You can go to the inner Quarters from that big room in the Castle Corridor and get the Undine soul early. Look at pic. There's also a weird way t get to the gardens early by landing a well timed double jump as well, you can see it in the last video I posted.

There's also a warp you can do by glitching out of the Chapel room with the bells, or those big sky corridors in the Sky garden: just use the Curley, Devil or Manticore soul to clip out, then step away and uuuh pray it doesn't glitch out on you. You can also use the Gorgon warp by cruching on the edge of one, then backdashing as it is turning into a wall: this will glitch you into walls as well, you can get to some crazy places as well.

It's a little unreliable but you can warp to the Arena or Underground reservoir with it. I replayed this recently with my bro and it really spiced it up, the Arena and the Headhunter were definitely a challenge early on. Have some demonstrations

https://youtu.be/EfuvdQLiYXk?t=339
https://youtu.be/2d_jWghWW2g?t=354
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP1akBbAAVE

[Anonymous No.8924204]

>>8922847
What in the fuck is DoW? Do you mean DoS? Cuz I came to the thread specifically to say how DoS mangled the artwork from AoS.

[Anonymous No.8924208]

>>8922748
I'd rank it just beneath DoS but the top 2 being those. Both games have enormous playstyle variety above the other games, Dawn more than Aria because it has endgame viable weapons of nearly every type and more usable souls including earlyish ones that can level to be good. All this means you can replay dozens of times different ways and not get bored. SotN is a good game but just doesn't have that variety except in the button combo spells which unfortunately just feel like cheats in the game.

[Anonymous No.8924216]

The soul system is overrated. Enjoy grinding your skills.

[Anonymous No.8924257]

>>8924204
The in-game sprites for Dawn of Sorrow are fine. It’s just the cover art with that terrible 00s Saturday morning anime style that sucks.

[Anonymous No.8924270]

>>8922748
It’s got SOUL.

[Anonymous No.8924297]

>>8922752
yeah 10 hours for me. not long but not short. It feels short just because I played it non stop..

[Anonymous No.8924314]

>>8922748
I think it's just a very cohesive and tightly designed experience. Symphony of the Night has better presentation values and more content but it has an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach, whereas Aria of Sorrow doesn't have anything that feels out of place. The story is simple but effective and ties in nicely with the mechanics. It also has the second best bosses of the IGAvanias in my opinion (first being Portrait of Ruin).

[P. Sevenleaf No.8924315]

Is it just me or does Hammer look a lot like Buck Angel?

[Anonymous No.8924367]

>>8922752
>>8924297
Oh, it's very short, even by the standards of other portable CV games. By the time the game starts to hit its stride (around the caves/arena leg of the trip), it's already almost over.

[Anonymous No.8924376]

>>8924297
desu it's closer to 5 hours if you aren't trying to 100% everything, and even that's only because getting the 100% is an RNG-infested skinner box.

[Anonymous No.8924380]

>>8924216
>grinding
It's just luck of the draw playthroughs

[Anonymous No.8924385]

>>8924173
I did that sequence break to the gardens on my first playthrough. Since then I tend to do it one time out of two.

[Anonymous No.8924512]

>>8924257
Soma is a good boy and I want to protect him.

[Anonymous No.8924565]

>>8924315
Oh shit, I'm sorry.

[Anonymous No.8924639]

>>8924257
And the in-game character portraits. Don't forget those.

[Anonymous No.8924641]

>>8924315
I didn't think Sevenleaf still posted here. Ew.

[Anonymous No.8924914]

>>8922748
I wouldn't. I don't disagree about the SOUL factor, I just think the DS games have better overall game design. It's like, you have all this shit you can collect, but for a long while I felt like it was rather pointless when the game is so easy, you know? When I'm steamrolling everything, I can't find something to really like about it, its charms do little for me.

That all said, though, it feels like a totally different game when holding way back, gives the game a little more oomph for me, even the usually boring level design starts to look a little better. This is all stuff that I've said before, but it's not something I hear often from others, and I think it's something underappreciated about Aria for people like me. It doesn't put it over PoR or OoE for me since I prefer games having a modicum of challenge without resorting to throwing out much of what makes a given game, but still.

[Anonymous No.8924925]

>>8924173
>Well, did you know you can skip the dance hall right after you get the double jump?
Different anon, that's actually how I played through the game the first time because I honestly didn't know about entering from the other side near the entrance. Those maids were something else until I adjusted.
>>8924216
>Enjoy grinding your skills
But that's something you only really get with PoR, isn't it? OoE has it going on to an extent as well, what with the attribute point system, even if it isn't necessary to go out of your way for that. Leveling up familiars is another matter, though.

Not only that, but in a sense, you have to grind for skills in the games before Aria as well you want more shit to play with.

[Anonymous No.8924932]

>>8922748
The characters, the Julius fight, and the souls system really hold the game up. I love it.

[Anonymous No.8924939]

>>8924932
>the Julius fight
>Heart of fire kicks in
>As you go further into the fight he uses grand cross and breaks shit in the distant background

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHpBPV6YyGw

[Anonymous No.8924942]

SOTN is obviously the best one and anyone saying otherwise is just tryharding about "muh difficulty" like any of the castlemanias are hard enough for it to even matter in the slightest

[Anonymous No.8925090]

>>8924939
>>8924932
>hard mode
>go in barehanded
>have to crouch a little ways from Julius to somewhat safely hit him
>every three or four hits makes him flinch
>looks like Soma is punching him in the dick, too

[Anonymous No.8925181]

>>8924939
I never noticed the shit breaking in the background before.

[Anonymous No.8925378]

>>8922815
>it felt like a successor of fate

[Anonymous No.8925384]

>>8924939
pepeJAM catJAM
this right here is the shit

[Anonymous No.8925391]

>>8922815
I wish we got more games about the Belmonts who don't have to fight Dracula. I think it could be neat to see what Soleil or Trevor's ancestors were up to, and see some other monsters in the final boss seat.

[Anonymous No.8925430]

>>8924942
OoS is pretty hard at times.