Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

System: Game Boy Advance
Release Date: 2002
Published By: Konami
Reviewed by: Darien
Rating:

Harmony of Dissonance is a bit of a weak link in the otherwise excellent lineup that is the recent Castlevania series. It's not exactly bad; it's just not as good as what's around it.

First off, it's seriously easy. From the first step you take into the castle to the last strike of your whip against the game's super secret final boss, there isn't a lick of challenge. This problem is compounded by the fact that, of the spell selection available to Juste, one of them (Wind book + Sacred fist for those who care) is hopelessly far out of balance, and you'll be able to beat just about anything in the game within a few seconds just by blasting wildly with it.

The next problem with the game is that, really, it's sorta ugly. Circle of the Moon was hard to see, and people bitched about that, so they made everything a bit larger and garishly high-contrast for Harmony or Dissonance, with the result that it is considerably easier to play on a regular GBA, but those of us with the Game Boy Player will not be pleased with the quality of the visuals. Such is life.

Also, from what I hear, it's completely hit-or-miss whether people will be able to figure out the trick to getting to the real ending in this game. I had no trouble with it, but my wife couldn't figure it out at all. So who knows? Maybe there really isn't enough information provided by the game. So don't kill yourself if you're stuck; just ask your friendly neighbourhood internet.

On the bright side, Simon Belmont himself is hiding in this game, though he's only playable in Boss Rush mode. But you'll be pleased to hear he kicks severe amounts of ass.

Buy this game from Amazon.com!