Game: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Developer: Konami
System: Nintendo DS
Year Released: 2005
Available online: No.
Purchase Here: https://amzn.to/3dbqxVb
Released in 2005, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is the sequel to the previous entry Aria of Sorrow and is the first Castlevania to be released on the Nintendo DS. The game was overall well received with the critics praising the game for keeping 2d adventure games alive but also criticised the game for the failed attempt to use the touch screen. The game mostly recycled the aspects of the series but also introduced a new feature(Magic Seal) that required the player to draw a symbol on the screen which was deemed too difficult to use with the stylus and led to players using their fingers and scratching the screen.
Following the events of Aria, Dracula is still dead and powerless and the powers he had are believed to no longer be in his reincarnation Soma Cruz. A dark cult rises up and attempts to bring back Dracula fully. Soma rediscovers his powers and uses the powers to fight the dark urges and defeat the cult.
Another Castlevania game that is somehow on the list. This makes 3 out of 4 so far that have gotten reviewed. 2 of which from the same generation. This does not make sense. The entries from the series that have picked are pretty much the same and highly overrated. I don’t get the hype. All of these games are the same and most of the handheld ones look exactly like the original, which is not a good thing. Ah, well. Time to get it over with. Let’s get to the Scores!
Graphics:
Dawn of Sorrow is a mixed bag when it comes to the graphics. The dialog character graphics are pretty good and on par with the style of graphics on the DS dialog screens. The game play graphics seem to be the same as the graphics on the Gameboy advance entry despite the increase in available hardware. After further review, I held the two side by side, you can see the improvement but it takes a while and you have to really examine them. If you just have the one and the memory of the older game then you just see the lack of effort. If I had to pick a game based on graphics, it would not be this one. The graphics are ok, but not great. 
Sound:
The best part of every Castlevania game has been the sound, this has been consistent across the series. It has been the part of the games that I have hands down enjoyed the most. So far across the three reviews I have had to do for the series the highest scores have been awarded to the sound sections. The soundtrack has always been outstanding and the type of soundtrack that you can listen to no matter what you are doing.Enjoyable, well balanced, and well composed. Top marks, once again. 
Difficulty:
This is one of the more difficult entries in the series that I have played to date. It is not unplayably difficult, just annoyingly so. The magic seal feature is difficult to use accurately and quickly when prompted. The normal enemies are the same toughness as always. The boss battles are more difficult than they have been in the past reviews. Not impossible, but took me a few tries to get it right more than once. Not too hard, just irritating.
Entertainment Value:
With the only difference in this entry from the series being the magic seal, it is not really enough to improve the overall entertainment of the game. It is the same game that it has always been. There have been attempts made to make the game fun or to try to enjoy the game but no matter what the game just does not hold my attention when I try to play any of them. 
Does it hold up:
I will go ahead and say that the game does hold up. However, it is not a game that people will go back and play in the Castlevania series, so it really does not matter that the game holds up. If anything the graphics are what is holding it back. The sound, and difficulty work and make the game enjoyable for someone I imagine…Not me, of course. So while the game is not great overall, it works as a game in this day and age, just like it did then. 
Overall Score:
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow comes in with an overall score of 3 out of 5.
Dawn of Sorrow is just another game. Maybe, I was too easy on the game. The only thing I truly enjoyed was the soundtrack. Everything else is just average. So far 3 of these games should not have been on the list. The 4th will probably be the same. Nothing special about the game at. Play it if you want, not really needed.
Final Thoughts:
Another Castlevania review in the books. I think this leaves only 1 more to go from the series to review. I don’t understand how these 3 games from the series have made the 1001 Games you must play list, let alone 3 games from this overrated game series. I will probably never get why these games are popular. Give it a go, or don’t, It’s not a bad game, just not good. It’s Meh.
What are your thoughts? Agree/Disagree? Have something to add? Leave a comment down below! Do you want to help the Journey progress? Visit the Sponsor a Game page for more details to help keep this train rolling!
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