Well this took longer than expected, yeah?
Actually at this point on this blog's life you'd do well not to expect anything from me, big or small, fast or slow.
...
I kinda get the feeling that last sentence needs some proper context.
Nah.
Anyway, my metroidvania runs are still going strong, but I'm afraid I'm done with the metroid- part now as it's time for me to move on to the -vania side of the genre to tackle the gothic world of Koji Igarashi - Castlevania (the golden years).
Now the early days of Castlevania for the NES helped give meaning to the term 'Nintendo Hard' and while that's already a big deal the franchise only really took to the skies once IGA, complete with whip and a swashbuckling hat, directed (later produced) the series giving us the cult classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and followed it up with a series of landmark titles for their respective platforms.
Shameless Plug: Ranking my Nine Castlevania titles Part 1
So, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. One of the absolute best games that I've played during my childhood and definitely the best catch that I got out of my parents' kindness after crying in front of them, dear me I hate my younger self. If I haven't mentioned it yet (which I highly doubt but will continue with this backstory anyway) Aria of Sorrow is my second Castlevania game but if I wasn't such a spoiled little sh*t back then I'm guessing AoS would've come a lot later in my life. It was way back in 2005 or 2006 we had a family trip in Baguio. My mom gave me an allowance of PhP 500 and said that it's up to me how I spend it. Of course I didn't know how to spend such a large sum of money at the time. I felt like a god who can cash in any one wish anytime but is having trouble deciding what wish to make.
We ended up visiting Burnham Park, Camp John Hay, Good Sheperd, and Mines View Park, still the 500 remained intact until, wait for it, we got to SM Baguio. Young me apparently has no appreciation to the culture and local merch. of Baguio as his eyes were only captivated by the majestic sign board of Toy Kingdom.
I asked my mom if it was alright for me to spend my 500 all in one go at the kingdom of toys, she agreed. There I found Harry Potter wands with sound effects, Power Ranger action figures, and a shelf of GBA games. There were the usual licensed games usually tie in for movies, cartoons, or anime, then there are the games that just didn't interest me, and then there's a box with Castlevania on it and the familiar art style of Ayami Kojima. But it wasn't Harmony of Dissonance, oh no no no, it looked even better. It was Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. If I remember correctly I trembled upon seeing the game's box because not only is it a brand new Castlevania game that I didn't know existed, but I could also possibly buy and play it right away. Unfortunately, I was 200 short. I asked my mom if she'd cover the 200, she didn't want to because the whole point of giving us the 500 allowance was to have better control over money. But you know what? I was a kid, I think I was eight or nine, I rule the world, and then I cried myself to oblivion like my own mother kidnapped me, until she gave in. I got what I wanted. The rest of the trip I had my face glued to my GBA SP. Best. Baguio. Trip. Ever...so far.
My being a pushover and spoiled child eventually came back to haunt me when it finally occurred to me that the Aria of Sorrow copy that we got at Toy Kingdom was a bootleg. Actually every GBA title they have there is a bootleg. Are you reading this? Don't buy games at Toy Kingdom, not only are they overpriced, most are actually prone to corruption.
So, lovely memory from my childhood, wasn't it?
Yes, lovely. Here's another shameless plug: Ranking my Nine Castlevania titles Part 2
Suffice to say Aria of Sorrow has withstood the test of time and I still enjoy playing it to this day. From the Soul System, the plot twist, to the final boss battle against Chaos, Aria of Sorrow shook things up in Castlevania in such a way that beats the revolutionary transition of Symphony of the Night. For me Aria of Sorrow is the true sequel to Symphony of the Night as the other games that followed (Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance) never quite reached the overall enjoyment that Symphony of the Night started with. If SoTN reinvigorated the Castlevania formula then AoS made it a masterpiece.
It is quite disappointing, however, that Aria of Sorrow's sequel, Dawn of Sorrow, didn't build upon the whole 'Dracula is now good' story arc in a way that makes it relevant. But that's a story for another blog post. Oh and while we're at it, why don't I also point out another disappointing trivia in the mix: With Koji Igarashi having left (Fuc)Konami and some unoriginal developer handling the Castlevania IP it seems the long awaited prequel to Aria of Sorrow will never happen. I mean c'mon who doesn't want to join Julius Belmont in the Battle of 1999 and see just how much he beat the undead hell out of Dracula to make him reincarnate as a Japanese bishounen? But hey at least we have Lords of Shadow to compensate. Y'know that God of War + Devil May Cry + Shadow of the Colossus ripoff that has the knack to call itself Castlevania. Well, Konami, good job destroying our favorite games releasing IGA and firing Hideo Kojima. You guys must hate people with 'Koji' in their names.
My latest Aria of Sorrow run is also my first playthrough on Hard Mode. For the most part before getting all the nice souls like the Lightning Doll and Valkyrie bullet souls, and the Claimh Solais weapon, I felt like Samus Aran on stealth mode. I tried the boss rush but the best I could get was the Excalibur complete with the boulder. It does makes sense why the sword is still stuck to the enchanted stone as Soma isn't really the rightful King of Camelot. The developers were really paying attention to detail there. Of course the target of the boss rush is not an infinite supply of potions but the highly coveted Valmanway. Long time fans of Castlevania will know this as the Crissaegrim from Symphony of the Night, a not so rare farm-able item that can destroy the friggin effy ef out of the spawns from daddy Drac's underbelly...while walking!
My clear time is pretty much underwhelming, and besides this is casual I'm excused. I cleared the game in over three hours with a 93% completion rate. I would like to note that the completion time is slightly interesting and (maybe?) fun to look at:
Well that's it for Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. Next up, my second best Castlevania game!
Actually at this point on this blog's life you'd do well not to expect anything from me, big or small, fast or slow.
...
I kinda get the feeling that last sentence needs some proper context.
Nah.
Anyway, my metroidvania runs are still going strong, but I'm afraid I'm done with the metroid- part now as it's time for me to move on to the -vania side of the genre to tackle the gothic world of Koji Igarashi - Castlevania (the golden years).
Now the early days of Castlevania for the NES helped give meaning to the term 'Nintendo Hard' and while that's already a big deal the franchise only really took to the skies once IGA, complete with whip and a swashbuckling hat, directed (later produced) the series giving us the cult classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and followed it up with a series of landmark titles for their respective platforms.
Shameless Plug: Ranking my Nine Castlevania titles Part 1
So, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. One of the absolute best games that I've played during my childhood and definitely the best catch that I got out of my parents' kindness after crying in front of them, dear me I hate my younger self. If I haven't mentioned it yet (which I highly doubt but will continue with this backstory anyway) Aria of Sorrow is my second Castlevania game but if I wasn't such a spoiled little sh*t back then I'm guessing AoS would've come a lot later in my life. It was way back in 2005 or 2006 we had a family trip in Baguio. My mom gave me an allowance of PhP 500 and said that it's up to me how I spend it. Of course I didn't know how to spend such a large sum of money at the time. I felt like a god who can cash in any one wish anytime but is having trouble deciding what wish to make.
We ended up visiting Burnham Park, Camp John Hay, Good Sheperd, and Mines View Park, still the 500 remained intact until, wait for it, we got to SM Baguio. Young me apparently has no appreciation to the culture and local merch. of Baguio as his eyes were only captivated by the majestic sign board of Toy Kingdom.
I asked my mom if it was alright for me to spend my 500 all in one go at the kingdom of toys, she agreed. There I found Harry Potter wands with sound effects, Power Ranger action figures, and a shelf of GBA games. There were the usual licensed games usually tie in for movies, cartoons, or anime, then there are the games that just didn't interest me, and then there's a box with Castlevania on it and the familiar art style of Ayami Kojima. But it wasn't Harmony of Dissonance, oh no no no, it looked even better. It was Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. If I remember correctly I trembled upon seeing the game's box because not only is it a brand new Castlevania game that I didn't know existed, but I could also possibly buy and play it right away. Unfortunately, I was 200 short. I asked my mom if she'd cover the 200, she didn't want to because the whole point of giving us the 500 allowance was to have better control over money. But you know what? I was a kid, I think I was eight or nine, I rule the world, and then I cried myself to oblivion like my own mother kidnapped me, until she gave in. I got what I wanted. The rest of the trip I had my face glued to my GBA SP. Best. Baguio. Trip. Ever...so far.
My being a pushover and spoiled child eventually came back to haunt me when it finally occurred to me that the Aria of Sorrow copy that we got at Toy Kingdom was a bootleg. Actually every GBA title they have there is a bootleg. Are you reading this? Don't buy games at Toy Kingdom, not only are they overpriced, most are actually prone to corruption.
So, lovely memory from my childhood, wasn't it?
Yes, lovely. Here's another shameless plug: Ranking my Nine Castlevania titles Part 2
Suffice to say Aria of Sorrow has withstood the test of time and I still enjoy playing it to this day. From the Soul System, the plot twist, to the final boss battle against Chaos, Aria of Sorrow shook things up in Castlevania in such a way that beats the revolutionary transition of Symphony of the Night. For me Aria of Sorrow is the true sequel to Symphony of the Night as the other games that followed (Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance) never quite reached the overall enjoyment that Symphony of the Night started with. If SoTN reinvigorated the Castlevania formula then AoS made it a masterpiece.
It is quite disappointing, however, that Aria of Sorrow's sequel, Dawn of Sorrow, didn't build upon the whole 'Dracula is now good' story arc in a way that makes it relevant. But that's a story for another blog post. Oh and while we're at it, why don't I also point out another disappointing trivia in the mix: With Koji Igarashi having left (Fuc)Konami and some unoriginal developer handling the Castlevania IP it seems the long awaited prequel to Aria of Sorrow will never happen. I mean c'mon who doesn't want to join Julius Belmont in the Battle of 1999 and see just how much he beat the undead hell out of Dracula to make him reincarnate as a Japanese bishounen? But hey at least we have Lords of Shadow to compensate. Y'know that God of War + Devil May Cry + Shadow of the Colossus ripoff that has the knack to call itself Castlevania. Well, Konami, good job destroying our favorite games releasing IGA and firing Hideo Kojima. You guys must hate people with 'Koji' in their names.
My latest Aria of Sorrow run is also my first playthrough on Hard Mode. For the most part before getting all the nice souls like the Lightning Doll and Valkyrie bullet souls, and the Claimh Solais weapon, I felt like Samus Aran on stealth mode. I tried the boss rush but the best I could get was the Excalibur complete with the boulder. It does makes sense why the sword is still stuck to the enchanted stone as Soma isn't really the rightful King of Camelot. The developers were really paying attention to detail there. Of course the target of the boss rush is not an infinite supply of potions but the highly coveted Valmanway. Long time fans of Castlevania will know this as the Crissaegrim from Symphony of the Night, a not so rare farm-able item that can destroy the friggin effy ef out of the spawns from daddy Drac's underbelly...while walking!
My clear time is pretty much underwhelming, and besides this is casual I'm excused. I cleared the game in over three hours with a 93% completion rate. I would like to note that the completion time is slightly interesting and (maybe?) fun to look at:
Well that's it for Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. Next up, my second best Castlevania game!
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