Game Over: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

A while ago, my best friend gifted me Castlevania Advance Collection, but I hadn't been able to get around to it due to personal issues, and I couldn't be more grateful for that because I feel like the experience was better left for now. Ever since I finished Hollow Knight, I found a new love for metroidvania titles, and I wanted to dive into what inspired the genre in the first place!

Since I knew nothing about the franchise, I asked him which entry to begin with, and he told me to pick up Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow first. I was both relieved and a little disappointed when I found out that the titles aren't chronologically continuous.

The game starts by introducing us to the protagonist, Soma, as he goes to a shrine with his childhood friend Mina to see the solar eclipse: this is when we find out that the Belmont clan had sealed Dracula’s castle behind the celestial event thirty-six years prior!

The protagonist and his friend get teleported to the estate, where they get attacked, and Soma discovers that he has the power of Dominance, which allows him to absorb the souls of demon and learn special abilities from them.

Right off the bat, I was surprised at how creative and exciting the mechanic is, especially considering it's not a modern title. I expected some sort of caveat, like he can only learn some enemy abilities or that we would have about 20 foes in total.

I was more than pleased to find out how wrong I was: the game offers a wide variety of demons and their skills, and the only small "caveat" is that some of them are more like a passive than an ability. Since I didn't know much about the franchise and was excited to play my first entry, I decided not to farm enemies and instead just play and get the souls by chance... so off I went through the castle.

While the game isn't that old (it released back in 2003), the combat and movement were surprisingly comfortable, especially in comparison to what I expected. I was pleased to see there's a variety of weapons that can be found or bought, and they play differently, too.

Although it's not as detailed as games nowadays (expected from a pixelated title), you can feel the weight in the animation, and some of the weapons also have special attributes, like fire. I had several that I preferred over others, and I switched between them until they were too weak.

One of the most charming parts of Aria of Sorrow is possibly how cheesy the game is. The characters have hilariously cringy dialogue and reactions and over-the-top weapons descriptions. As a made-up example to not spoil, you might find something like "the dagger used in the first-ever murder"!

While there are a few characters we get to meet throughout the adventure, the narrative makes up a pretty negligible percentage of the experience. Any encounters with them feel rushed, and I got the feeling that I should "know" these characters as the player, which made it feel unimpactful at times. I didn't mind because I'm aware it's my first time dabbling in the franchise, and the story and NPCs were interesting even without any deep context or paragraphs of dialogue.

Dracula's castle is massive! I was surprised that the world just kept going, and each place felt unique in its aesthetic and soundtrack. Various areas had me downright stunned at how pretty they are, with parallax backgrounds and small details that make the pixel art look like masterpieces.

Thankfully, Konami placed various quick travel points throughout it, as well as numerous Save Rooms. Even if there weren't many, the title (and every other in the collection) has a special menu that can be accessed by hitting the left trigger.

I found out by accident, and I'm glad I did so early because it offers several modern features that come in handy, such as the ability to save or reload at any point! After dying and finding out that I would get sent back to the Main Menu and to my last save point, I definitely made use of it.

In total, it took me 16 hours to get my first ending. I haven't collected every soul (though I'm very close, with around 80% of them already in my pocket), and I plan to do that and finish Julius' run. If I can muster it, my hope is to 100% the game!

After playing Aria of Sorrow, it's easy to understand why Castlevania is the household name it is today: the franchise was far ahead of its time. Even metroidvania titles nowadays can still feel lacking in comparison to a game Konami released back in 2003 — over two decades ago!

It's full of evident love from its developers, and it can be seen in the many beautiful areas, the varied monsters and abilities, and the sheer creativity poured into it. I don't know how I'm going to survive knowing that the franchise eventually slows down in releases to zero.

If you haven't ever set foot in the franchise's universe, I highly recommend it: there's a reason why there's a whole genre named after it.