4.5/5 ★ – stephenhill777's review of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.

And with that, the Castlevania Advance Collection has come to a close. This should come as a shock to no one who considers themselves a Castlevania fan, but Aria of Sorrow is indeed the very best of the bunch. An incredibly tight Metroidvania, with zero fat hanging off of its reanimated bones, I loved just about every second of this game. It makes a bold move by bringing the series into the future, and introducing new pretty boy Soma Cruz (who could easily have fallen into the same pit of disdain that Metal Gear Solid 2's Raiden dwelled in). Both moves pay off however, as the story is far more engaging than either of the two preceding GBA games. Gameplay is almost identical to the previous two titles, though Aria of Sorrow ditches the traditional whip for an arsenal of collectible weapons, as was the case of Symphony of the Night. Levels are well designed, with not a single area prompting any feelings of "Oh no, I have to go back to THAT dungeon". And the enemies are more varied than ever before, with each one demanding nuanced strategies to overcome. The bosses function well, with all the familiar faces showing up once again to give you a hard time. The difficulty has been well balanced this time around to sit neatly between Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance. Tough enough to give you satisfaction (Death), but forgiving enough that you won't chew through your controller in frustration (Legion). Probably the biggest selling point of the game is the new Soul system. There is an element of RNG at play here, but every monster you defeat has a chance of reliquishing its soul unto you. This, in turn, let's you hurt people in new and interesting ways (my personal favorite being the skeleton chef soul, which allows you to throw a kind of curry dish/land mine that repeatedly hurts anyone it touches). This stacks on top of other new abilities that you will find while exploring the castle, and it's truly impressive how varied your loadouts can be. The only thing that Aria of Sorrow is lacking is that WOW moment that all the best Castlevania games have. The spinning corridor in Castlevania IV. The Castle reveal from Symphony of the Night. Even Circle of the Moon, for all its problems with difficulty spikes, had the ability to WOW with its incredibly detailed boss sprites. This feels very much like a Greatest Hits Castlevania game, and is an absolute blast to play as a result. It might shock some people to hear that I actually prefer this to Symphony of the Night, but I respect that game a lot more for how much it pioneered. A safe but undeniably impeccable Metroidvania, and a must play for anyone who likes the genre.