Reception
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 88% |
| Metacritic | 91 of 100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | B+ |
| Allgame | 4.5 of 5 |
| Eurogamer | 9 of 10 |
| Famitsu | 36 of 40 |
| GameSpot | 8.6 of 10 |
| GameSpy | 4.5 of 5 |
| IGN | 9.3 of 10 |
| RPGFan | 90 of 100 |
| RPGamer | 4.5 of 5 |
Aria of Sorrow has received favorable reviews from several video game publications, with many comparing it to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, widely considered the best game in the Castlevania series. Famitsu, considered to be one of the most respected video game news magazines in Japan, gave Aria of Sorrow a 36/40, the highest score any game in the Castlevania series has received from Famitsu. It was rated by Nintendo Power as the 22nd best game made on a Nintendo System in their Top 200 Games list. In Japan, the game sold only 27,000 units one month after its release, considered to be a poor showing for a major video game franchise. Conversely, the game was significantly more successful in the United States, with more than 158,000 units in sales three months after its release.
As the third installment of the Castlevania series on the Game Boy Advance, many reviewers made note of the game's differences as versus its predecessors, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, with many considering it the definitive Castlevania game for the Game Boy Advance. GameSpy noted that Aria of Sorrow "managed to get just about everything right" as versus its predecessors, and lauded it as "the best portable Castlevania game yet created." RPGFan claimed that Aria of Sorrow " the true art of game development: to adapt and change as necessary yet remain consistent." RPGamer considered Aria of Sorrow one of the best games ever released for the Game Boy Advance. GameSpot nominated the game for the prize of best Game Boy Advance game of 2003, with the prize ultimately going to Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
The gameplay, specifically the Tactical Soul system, was a frequent subject of acclaim amongst reviewers. RPGFan called the Tactical Soul system "addictively fun", and GameSpot lauded the simplicity and depth of the gameplay. RPGamer considered the gameplay "one hundred percent solid," lauding the game's controls and interaction with enemies, as well as the Tactical Soul system. RPGFan asserted that the game had "a chance to be the most revered installment of the series, hardly caught in the shadow of Symphony of the Night like its predecessors." The game's length and difficulty were brought into question by several reviewers. GameSpot noted that a single play through the game would only last ten hours, and that the player grew "practically unstoppable" over the course of the game. RPGamer echoed this assessment, deriding the fact that the game "never much of a challenge", but noted that the "simplistic fun" of the gameplay rectified this.
The game's graphics and audio were widely praised by reviewers. RPGFan extolled the game's environments as "gorgeous and well layered," and noted while the game did not achieve the level of graphical quality set by Symphony of the Night, it "made a damn good attempt at it." GameSpy called the graphics "crisp, clear and colorful," with "good animation on easily viewable sprites." GameSpy additionally noted that the game's audio, a particularly lambasted feature of Harmony of Dissonance, was "fitting and well-composed." Prior to the game's release, IGN commented that the music was "pretty darn good." GameSpot, although labeling the music as "mostly forgettable," noted that it was far better than the audio of Harmony of Dissonance, and celebrated the individual audio used for enemies.
In terms of storyline and characters, RPGamer welcomed the characters' depth, and the emphasis placed into the personalities and development of supporting characters, asserting that previous Castlevania games ignored the development of the supporting characters in exchange for concentrating on the protagonist. IGN called the game's ending "incredibly unfulfilling and disappointing," but lauded the change from the conventional plot of a Castlevania game, in which a member of the Belmont clan defeats Dracula with the aid of a host of supporting characters. GameSpy criticized the presence of a "weak female who needs protection" and an "effeminate-looking man who does all the slaying" as stereotypical Castlevania elements, but noted that the "powerful and compelling scenario" the game had was the best in the series since Symphony of the Night.
Read more about this topic: Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow
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