Prologue
For once, I'll spare you people my long, tangent-laden rants before a game review and actually just get down to the nitty-gritty.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance isn't a must-own title for the Gameboy Advance. It is, however, a pretty good game for fans of this style of game.
So, to whom would this game appeal? That's a good and intelligent question. I'm glad I asked.
The gamers out there who will get the most out of this game are the fans of the following titles:
Metroid
Metroid II: The Return of Samus
Metroid III: Super Metroid
Metroid 4: Metroid Fusion
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Why just these games?
Well, frankly, these are the only games that I can remember where all you did was explore one seamless world gaining abilities that would unlock another part of that seamless world that you previously couldn't reach until then. Then, once in the new area, you search until you find another item that, surprise, will unlock yet another area of the world for you to explore. Wash, rinse, repeat until the end boss is destroyed and await the sequel.
I take that back. I just described almost every 3D Rare game in existance. Not being that big a fan of
Donkey Kong 64 and
Jet Force Gemini, I've got to revise the original comment and say they're the only
GOOD games that let you explore one seamless world, et cetera, et cetera. As a Nintendo fan, I've got to say good riddance to Rare. I'll just be upset when
Killer Instinct is on the X-Box.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonnance is the Gameboy Advance follow-up to 2001's Gameboy Advance release title,
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. I could go on and sing the praises of COTM but the one thing almost everyone will tell you about the game is the same. Without baseball stadium lighting mounted to your Gameboy Advance, you would have trouble seeing due to the dark, gritty colors of the game. I, personally, never had this problem as I never took it on the road, but I could see where it would be difficult. Even with good, stable lighting, I did have trouble seeing a "Marionette" until I ran into it and got cursed. Still, this didn't hamper the game enough for me to say anything but that it was the greatest Castlevania game ever created. Yes, I'd say it was even better than
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Even with the problematic palette of the game, it was still a huge success and easily the most impressive title on the Gameboy Advance at launch. Even now, nearly three years later, there are few games that can even hold a candle to it... especially with the advent of the Gameboy Advance SP and the front lighting.
Fans wanted more and Konami did, too... well, money, that is. So, they set out to improve on the original GBA adventure. Gone were the gloomy colors and slighty better than Gameboy Color sprites. And death, too, to the the DSS card system used for magic. Also gone were the developers, KCEK, who had finally repented for the sin that was
Castlevania on Nintendo 64. They were, however, replaced by the original development team for Konami's most successful (and praised) game in the series,
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Hey, it must be the money!
So, this brings us up to speed. Now, let's get it on!
You play the role of Juste Belmont... yadda, yadda, yadda, you've got to go after Dracula on his own turf.
The twist to the game is that there's two worlds to explore that are nearly identical in shape but vastly different in composition. Also, your good pal, Maxim, is being tormented and torn into two with good Maxim in one castle and bad Maxim in the other. Think Good Ash, Bad Ash in
Army of Darkness and you've got the idea. Oh, and there's a girl involved just to make sure that the game hits every stereotypical reason to go after a recurring evil that you could probably just leave alone.
The graphics are a far cry from
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, featuring bright colors and larger detailed sprites. The sprite trail and animation are VERY similar to
Symphony, with the exception of a whip instead of a multitude of swords and such. It's definitely one of the prettier games to come out on the Gameboy Advance and would probably be the most impressive had it not been for
Rayman. Of course, at least you can see where you're going in this game.
The music, on the other hand, seems more like an afterthought. As far as the series goes, it's slightly better than
Castlevania: Bloodlines... which is sad, since the Genesis was notorious for sounding like garbage.
Now, your goal is to put Dracula back together by finding the pieces of Vlad scattered throughout Dracula's newly reformed castle, resurrect him and then kill him. While this was also the concept behind
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, it just doesn't seem to make as much sense here. At least Simon had a curse hanging over his head. What's Juste's motivation?
Gone is the DSS Magic System, replaced by an elemental magic system. You can combine elemental books you find throughout the castle with the secondary weapons, like daggers and axes, that you've used for years to create fusion spells. These work a lot like the Item Crash system found in
Dracula X and
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
You jump and whip between the two worlds, searching for new abilities and areas to explore. You hunt and gather for pieces of Dracula so you can get rid of this evil, evil castle. Also, since you're here already, you might as well decorate, too, right?
Wait... what?
Yeah, in an attempt to add to the gaming experience, Juste grabs random decor scattered throughout the castle, like tables and statues, and places them inside a previously undecorated room.
I couldn't make up a gameplay element so stupid even if, for some strange reason, I wanted. This, obviously, was trying to bank off of the completist gamers out there who actually did think they "gotta catch 'em all." Why, while you're trying to rid the world of the castle, you'd find the time to decorate the castle is beyond me. That's like resurrecting the dead just to kill it again.
Wow... I seem to have just come full circle.
Also, I'm trying to figure out why the game threw in a few survival horror moments where it tried to scare you. There's moments when skeletons will jump out at you, your mirror image will try to stab you in the back when you're not looking and otherwise. But the problem is, without difficulty, it takes the survival element out of the game. Furthermore, I wasn't scared one bit and I doubt any gamers out there were, either. Thus, gone is the horror.
The problem with the game is that it's far too easy, unoriginal and spread too thin. It's like the developers didn't even try, really, and sleepwalked through their roll as badly as Thora Birch in
Dungeons & Dragons. The game plays well but there's no buildup to any boss battles, there's no struggle, it's just a very bland experience when compared to the game before and after it.
And, like an episode of
Mystery Science Theater 3000, it just throws a bunch of crap against the wall trying to see what would stick. Unlike
MST3K, however, little sticks.
Break it down!
Am I being hard on the game? Yes, I am. If this were a normal game, I'd probably be singing the praises and the experimentation of the game. However, this isn't an ordinary game. This is a Castlevania game. It's amazing how it doesn't fit, considering it's like it came out of the
Symphony of the Night cookie cutter.
Overall, the game's worth playing and is enjoyable, but just doesn't deliver in the areas that it should. I wasn't compelled to get all two hundred percent of the map, I didn't feel the need to play the game over to get every ending and I didn't care much for Boss Rush Mode, except to see the old Simon Belmont sprite in the game. Furthermore, this game doesn't give you any hints as to how to get the best ending which translates to far too much worthless trial and error unless you use a strategy guide or walkthrough. Even
Chrono Cross tossed a few hints at you for the Save Schala ending.
So, how should I rate the game? Ignore all the annoying new game elements and there's a lot to like. It's a great game that just falls short in some areas that a Castlevania game should never fall short.
Castlevania games should always have outstanding music. Castlevania needs to have at least three or four difficult boss battles. Death should be handing me my butt. I should have to struggle to get to some save points. Lastly, I should feel the need to explore every last nook and cranny for some sort of power-up. I should want to find every room and be trying to whip weak walls down in an attempt to better my character. This game has none of those elements.
In the end, it's a solid, enjoyable title that just doesn't seem to live up to the Castlevania name.
