Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - Will they have motorcycle skeletons?

Cobalt Katze · Uncertainty Gender: Joined: 05 Oct 2002

I love this! More Castlevania goodness! Apperantly this one was in development at the same time as Harmony of Dissonence, and looks to be even better! (Symphony of the Night fans should note that you wield bladed weapons again in this one!)

Here's the scoop, some screenshots, and art from iGN Pocket:

Aria of Sorrow is the first time in the Castlevania series where the storyline takes place in the future. 30 years in the future, actually. This timeframe doesn't mean that robots and spacemen overrun the castle. It's basically to set the game and characters as far away from the Belmont line as possible. See, you play as a non-Belmont, Soma Cruz. He, and his friend Mina have traveled to Transylvania to witness the first total solar eclipse of the 21st century...little do they know that Dracula's evil castle was banished in a solar eclipse back in 1999. The new eclipse transports Soma and Mina to the castle...and now it's their task to figure out what's happened and how the heck to get out of there.

According to Igarashi, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow was in development around the same time as Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, which explains why the game and interface feels similar to the Castlevania gamer released back in September. In fact, Aria of Sorrow utilizes the same (or similar) programming engine as Harmony of Dissonance. You'll notice control and action similarities, including the backward-dash when hitting the shoulder button...though the forward dash from Harmony has been taken out of Aria. The graphics are just as bright and vivid as Harmony, with similar attention paid to incredible sprite effects...just wait until you see Soma pull out a giant axe that fills the screen, spinning it quickly to take out any enemies that happen to get in the way.

But the level structure and gameplay of Aria of Sorrow is distinctly different; the main hero, does not wield the familiar Castlevania whip. Instead, he obtains distinctly different weapons and abilities throughout the adventure...and not one of these weapons is the Belmont whip. The gameplay is actually a little similar to Metroid Fusion, where Soma actually obtains abilities from defeated enemies by absorbing their souls. There will be more than a hundred different souls to absorb and utilize, and each soul has its own style of attack or defense to discover. Since there are so many souls in the game, players can trade their obtained souls between friends via the link cable. The designers made sure that beginner gamers cannot utilize high-level souls right from the get-go, even if they can score them from their friends.

Igarashi also made specific mention that the development team listened to the complaints about the not-so great soundrack in Harmony of Dissonance. For Aria of Sorrow, the development team reworked the audio tools and dedicated more cartridge space and processor cycles to the sound. From what we heard at the demonstration, the game sounded pretty darn good.

One more thing, because I'm crazy: Here's the opening storyline, interestingly already in english:

The year is 2035.
Japan.
Crowds of spectators are
gathering around in anticipation of
the first full solar eclipse of the
twenty-first century.

My name is Soma Cruz, and I am
a high school exchange student
studying abroad in Japan.

I live near the Hakuba Shrine,
an ancient shrine with strong
ties to Japanese mythology.

Mina Hakuba, the only daughter of
the shrine's caretaker, is both
my classmate and my childhood friend.

I started making my way to the
shrine to see the solar eclipse
with Mina. But, for some strange
reason, the stairway leading up to
the shrine felt longer than usual,
as if somthing was trying to keep
us from our destination.

When I finally managed to get
through the shrine gate, and my senses
began to dim...

The pitch black sun is holding
chaotic darkness together,
trying to rouse a sleeping soul as if
looking for its missing other half...

---
And now I'm muchly looking forward to May <^^>

Shino · Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2003 10:23 am Post subject:

Again on GBA?

Hello!!!!!... there are 3 perfectly good next gen systems that you could put a Castlevania on. I have been waiting for a sequal to SOTN for far too long now... someone help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nacht · Queen of Darkness Gender: Joined: 25 Dec 2002

i know!! as beautiful as that is on GBA, i would like to play it on a CONSOLE on the television so i can see all graphics being larger and MORE beautiful!!

thanks for those pics though Katze!! the game looks really great... all the more reason to buy a GBA next to metroid fusion, of course!

Reverend · I kin Age: 41 Gender: Joined: 21 Oct 2002

You just explained reason two for wanting to get the GBA hook up system that will let you use GBA games with your GameCube. Reason 1 is Metroid Fusion, and now you have a new Castlevania game to pique your interest as well.

It might be time for me to invest in Nintendo products

Shino · Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2003 9:47 am Post subject:

Actually I'm going to trade my GBA in as soon as I beat metroid fusion so I can get as much for it as possible... with the new one coming out and all.

And I have to get the new one... I mean look at it... it's so freakin' cool!

Minosheep · Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2003 5:52 pm Post subject:

Funcoland might possibly give you five bucks for a GBA!
w00t!

GAAZ · MOD Black Sheep Commander Gender: Joined: 14 Oct 2002

Lessee, they took Metroid a sidescrolling action extravaganza game and made it into a first person survival horror (That damn Ridley-X always flying around is freaky) type game. Do ya think one day they may do the same to Castelvania? More than likely you'd haveta be Alucard again so you can use magic instead of hand-held weapons (Which you can also use but melee weapons in FPS are gay). The mind boggles.

Shino · Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2003 9:17 am Post subject: