Reception
The characters of Aria of Sorrow have received acclaim and criticism from several video game publications. RPGamer welcomed the depth of the characters, and the emphasis placed into the personalities and development of supporting characters, as versus previous Castlevania games, whose character development and personality focus were primarily on the protagonist. IGN lauded this 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 cited the game's "intriguing" support characters as part of the Aria of Sorrow's "powerful and compelling scenario". They also complemented the graphics of the characters, citing "good animation on easily viewable sprites." However, GameSpy criticized the presence of a "weak female who needs protection" and an "effeminate-looking man who does all the slaying" as elements seen in previous Castlevania games, but noted that the "interesting nature" of the game's dialogue helped rectify this. In an interview, Koji Igarashi stated that one of the reasons he made Dawn of Sorrow was to continue the storyline with Soma Cruz found in Aria of Sorrow.
In Dawn of Sorrow, reviewers had mixed opinions regarding the characters. RPGamer stated the characters come across as "individual, interesting, and mostly compelling." RPGFan noted the "stereotypical" roles the characters fell into, but stated that Dawn of Sorrow showed more character development than the Castlevania series "has seen since Castlevania: Symphony of the Night". Several elements incorporated into Dawn of Sorrow, namely the use of a new anime style, as versus the dark, gothic presentation of Ayami Kojima, was criticized by reviewers. GameSpy deplored the "shallow, lifeless anime images" used for the characters, and Kojima's absence from the production. IGN claimed that the images were "down to the level of 'generic Saturday morning Anime' quality." RPGFan stated that the change in character designers lost "some of what made the characters really visually appealing." Despite this criticism, the anime style used in Dawn of Sorrow was later reused in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.
Read more about this topic: List Of Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow And Dawn Of Sorrow Characters
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