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 I
can't exactly decide just what is perpetuating whom
or whom is perpetuating what, in regards to Konami's
Castlevania series. Are new games being created because
Dracula keeps appearing or does Drac keep showing
up because new games are being developed? It's the
classic "What came first?" question: The
vampire or the game?
There
is little time to sit around pondering life's most
puzzling mindbenders though - Soma Cruz has got a
situation to deal with. And yeah, the situation involves
monsters, souls and a trek through a large, hard to
navigate creepy Gothic castle.
More
than just a passing spiritual successor to the GBA's
Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow basically picks up
where the last game left off. It's a year later and
Soma is attacked by Celia, the female leader of the
cult that wants the resurrection of Dracula to be
successful. Soma, the reincarnation of Dracula, isn't
too crazy about the idea and has been fighting to
stop it since the events in Aria. Needless to say,
some stuff goes down and Soma has no choice but to
meet Celia at the stoop of Castlevania.
The
game mechanics that made Aria such a treat to play
through, even though we've been experiencing Castlevania
deja vu since Symphony of the Night appeared on the
PlayStation in 97, return in full force for Dawn of
Sorrow. While it would be easy to cry "gimmick"
at the thought of playing this first iteration of
the series on the gimmicky DS with all of its touch
screen gimmicky goodness (this review brought to you
by the letter "G", as in "Gimmick")
DoS is actually a much better game because of it.
All of the action takes place on the touch screen
while the map appears on the upper screen. Maps are
nothing new to the series but being able to see it
at all times make traversing the castles numerous
areas (how BIG is this place anyway?) much easier
than ever before because you won't have to go back
and forth between screens. Equally as welcome is a
Stats screen which can be instantly activated which
keeps a running inventory on your necessary upgrades,
weapons, enemies, souls etc. Especially handy is the
Enemy status update which fills your brain full of
all sorts of info on the creep you've just sent back
to Hell; literally. Another new mechanic
devised around the touch screen involves doors that
feature Magic Seals on them that lead to boss battles.
As you whittle away the bosses health you will eventually
reach a point where you must draw the Magic Seal with
your sytlus that was featured on the door. If you
blow it (and you will later on) the boss will regain
health and you'll be forced to fight him again until
your artistic skills improve and you nail it. Fear
not though creators of stick-men everywhere, the game
allows you to hone your drawing skills on the pause
menu. I really have to admit that it's going to be
hard going back to another Castlevania game or playing
a new one that might not be on the DS after getting
used to the new features available via the touch screen.
 The
fighting mechanics are primarily the same as in Aria
- kill enemies, collect souls, collect special souls
to use elsewhere - however DoS allows players to trade
in souls for weapon upgrades. Some of the souls you'll
need to upgrade are fairly easy to come by, but others
will be quite rare. Unlike the way most eBay sellers
use the word "Rare", these babies really
are "Rare". In fact, if you could actually
sell them on eBay, you'd probably make a pretty penny.
What this means to you, the eager monster hunter is
that there is an awful lot of backtracking and killing
that quickly becomes repetitive - but it's not like
this is something new for Castlevania. I think Castlevania
in Romanian actually means "Repetitive backtracking".
But there's a big payoff waiting for you at the end
of the game. 3 endings are possible (as of this writing)
and one of them allows you to replay the game as a
new character. The other allows you to tackle the
games bosses again and the other is a bad ending.
Visually
the game looks fantastic on the DS screen, especially
if you're comparing it to the last GBA title. The
characters are larger and more animated and I suspect
that many of the monsters were tweaked as well to
take advantage of the DS' higher processing power.
Fans of the series orchestral background music will
love the aural buffet of love caressing your DS speakers
- or better yet - headphones. In this day and age
when videogame original scores are being left by the
wayside in favor of the latest 50 Cent hit, it's nice
to hear that some companies like Konami aren't interested
in messing with what fans expect. Imagine for a moment
if EA ever got their hands on Castlevania - $10 will
get you $20 that Rob Zombie's "Dragula"
would great players on the Press Start screen and
it would just go down hill from there. Let's all shudder
uncomfortably together...ready?....SHUDDER.
 The
only slight knock I can level at DoS is the incessant
backtracking and repetitive soul collecting that is
really ONLY necessary if you want to strive for the
best endings to earn the best unlockables. If you
don't care about that or of course know what you're
getting into with this series, then it won't bother
you in the slightest. Dawn of Sorrow is a feature
packed title that is enhanced over previous installments
due to the new implementations of the two screens
and the touch capability of the DS. If you've been
sitting on the fence in your decision to drop the
cash on a DS - provided you've played Aria or other
Castlevania games and enjoyed them - this game is
extremely easy to recommend as the game to christen
a new system with. Now if you'll excuse me, Drac's
back and I have to deliver his rare stake. Get it?
Stake?
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