If this sounds like Circle of the Moon or Symphony of the Night, that's because Harmony of Dissonance makes use of the same general formula. Some areas won't be accessible until you learn the double jump, others won't be reachable until you can slide through small gaps in the wall, and still others will require the use of a super high jump. Like Nathan or Alucard, Juste needs to find relics throughout the castle that provide him with certain necessary abilities, which is how the game limits you from being able to go anywhere in the castle right off the bat. Rapidly tapping these lets you cover a lot of ground quickly, and doing so is less cumbersome than having to double-tap the D pad to get Circle of the Moon's Nathan to run, though here, you just might end up wearing down your GBA's delicate L and R buttons. One far more effective technique is Juste's ability to execute a short, quick dash forward or backward when you press either shoulder button. Unfortunately, this move is mostly useless in practice, and it doesn't even look particularly good since Juste stands frozen like a statue while his whip flails about. Fans of Super Castlevania IV for the SNES will be pleased to know that Juste can lash out in different directions with his whip when you press and hold the attack button and push the D pad in the desired direction. Juste has some unique abilities, as well as some that you'll recognize from other games. Juste has a number of classic Castlevania moves, as well as a few new ones. You still can carry only one secondary weapon at a time, so while you'll only be able to choose from a few different magic attacks at any point, you'll still end up having access to a good variety of different powers. Castlevania's classic secondary weapons, from the boomerang-like cross to the axe to the holy water, all return here (plus a new one that makes Juste lash out with a flurry of punches), but now each has a unique effect when coupled with a spell book. Harmony of Dissonance streamlines things by giving you the chance to discover just a handful of different not-so-secret elemental magic books that imbue your secondary weapons with their powers. It was strange that seemingly so much effort went into the system, many of whose effects were either too subtle or more interesting than useful. That game also featured a surprisingly robust magic system that allowed you to combine pairs of special cards for dozens of different effects. Juste mostly relies on his whip to deal with his enemies, and though you can upgrade it, the whip's attack itself remains basically the same throughout the game-you don't have access to other main weapons like you did in Circle of the Moon. Harmony of Dissonance is in some ways a simpler game than last year's Castlevania. Now Playing: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Video Review It's all the excuse anyone would need.īy clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's As you might expect, the plot really doesn't figure prominently into the game-it only serves to set up another romp through another version of Dracula's castle. The pair splits up, leaving you to travel around the sprawling castle on your own, defeating its dangerous inhabitants using your trusty whip. In this case, you play as Juste Belmont, a smartly dressed descendent of Simon from the original Castlevania (and a dead ringer for Symphony of the Night's Alucard) who arrives at Dracula's castle to help a friend of his on a rescue mission. This time, it's Juste Belmont who is charged with sticking Dracula back in his coffin for a while.Įvery Castlevania game basically tells the same story. Boasting better visuals and lots of gameplay, Harmony of Dissonance is not just a fine Castlevania game-it's also one of the better Game Boy Advance games to come around in a while. More than a year later, another new Castlevania has finally hit the GBA, and by and large it's a worthy successor. Castlevania games have always been popular for their gothic theme, impressive boss battles, and variety of enemies, and Circle of the Moon combined many of the best aspects of its predecessors while introducing a number of new twists. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was probably the best of them, as it featured the classic side-scrolling, action-packed gameplay of its numerous predecessors, as well as the open-ended structure of the outstanding Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the PlayStation. While last year's nearly simultaneous release of the GameCube and Xbox consoles was a huge deal, the Game Boy Advance also hit the shelves earlier in 2001, and this great system appeared alongside several great games.
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