4/5 ★ – josipher's review of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.

Aria of Sorrow takes the aspects of Symphony of the Night that previous titles lacked, namely the weapons, and makes them the center of the game. I liked being able to give Soma the playstyle I wanted, but his movement wasn’t as good as Juste before him. I also didn’t love navigating the castle this time around. Things are a little more obtuse this time, from grinding the souls to finding certain areas of the castle. There’s a bigger emphasis on story this time, and while at the beginning I found it laughable, the twist towards the ends actually surprised me. Being on the opposite end of a Belmonts whip was fun! Aria of Sorrow isn’t the home run I expected, but the foundation is still being layed for a great game to follow. I only hope it can come before I run out of games