Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is a game that has so much replay value packed away in it's cartridge you might find yourself playing it years later (I still find myself playing it now even 4 years after it was released). I did not play Aria of Sorrow, and this was actually the game that got me started on the series. I'll break up my review into individual categories to make it easier to navigate.

Story

 I have no idea what happened in Aria of Sorrow but right from the start this game throws in it's plot with an evil cult and it's plan to revive Dracula. There are a few twists and turns with things you wouldn't expect (especially near the end) and there are multiple endings you can achieve depending on a few choices you can make. Also when you complete the main game you can come back for more to play "Julius Mode" that features Julius Belmont and some hidden characters in his quest to stop Soma Cruz, the normal main character, from becoming *evil*... I'll save some spoilers there.

Graphics

 I have to say these awesome looking 2D graphics look great compared to todays DS games. It's dark atmosphere works great in 2D and you can tell a lot of work has been put into some of the backgrounds and enemy designs. In my opinion Soma looks pretty cool but the only thing I could of asked for in the graphics department was to actually show the armor that you have equipped on his body.

Audio

 The audio in this game is just.. Wow. From the first level to the last it is packed with audio that just fits the game perfectly. The howling of a warg, the awesome music from the first level, the cracking of an undead dragons bones, it is truely breathtaking.

Controls

 The controls are easy enough to follow. I'm pretty sure you can customize it to your liking but I found the default controls to be just fine and they fit the game perfectly. The only thing control-wise that I didn't like was where you had to draw magic seals with the touchscreen. It was annoying to have to hack away at a boss, haul out your stylus, and then draw a magic seal that you memorized.

Online Play

 I didn't use this a lot but you could make your own stage and fill it with enemies so you or any of your friends can play through it. I didn't have any friends who had a copy of this game so I only played it by myself, and it wasn't that fun but I guess it could be great to beat a hard stage your friend came up with.

Replay Value

 This game really shines through with it's replay value. After you beat the game the first time you will unlock Julius Mode and Boss Rush which are both great features. If you find yourself running through the castle trying to get 9 of every soul, every weapon in it's ultimate form, and the last 0.01% of the map, then you know you're hooked.

So as you can see this game has amazing depth and is probably the best thing I have played on my DS so far. Portrait of Ruin was a great game but I believe this is the better out of the two. I haven't played Order Of Ecclesia yet either so who knows that could be the best out of all of them. Bottem line is if you have a DS and you like these types of games you should play it. 5 Stars for a great game.