Games of the Abstract: Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow (2003)

 

Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo

Publisher: Konami

One Player

First released for: Nintendo Game Boy Advance

 

Aria of Sorrow is my first Metroidvania game - as that genre name suggests, alongside the Metroid franchise from Nintendo, Castlevania codified this trend of platforming with either hack-and-slash or run-and-gun traits, where their key trait is non linear level design where you need to comb through previous locations to reach new territory. Backtracking is common with Aria of Sorrow, as you have one giant map to explore and you return to older sections once you have the tools to reach areas you could not access from before. As my first full play of such a game to its end, it was a distinct change to this entire franchise, which began for Castlevania with Symphony of the Night (1997). After the attempt to bring this franchise to three dimensions on the Nintendo 64, which were not well regarded, the lineage of Symphony of the Night made their home Nintendo's handheld consoles like the Game Boy Advance here, and later the Nintendo DS, becoming the image of the franchise in its two dimensional form from then on.

It is strange, fully knowing I never owned either, there was once an era where we had a distinct section of handheld pocket consoles with their own games separate from those we had in front of the television, usually all Nintendo's as the competition always failed. Obviously, these machines died out when technology allowed the Nintendo Switch to exist in 2017 and made the former examples pointless to have, their main console small enough to carry but with enough graphical and technological capabilities to be plugged into a widescreen TV. It also reflects how that, when once these handheld consoles allowed genres and games ebbed out from the main consoles to still thrive, by the time of the Switch these independent scene for these genres grew and became a vibrant industry within the main one, including the fact that they ran with the Metroidvania genre with glee. As a complete outsider to this era, the nostalgia people have for these handhelds, of their RPGs and other genres, I find myself looking at Aria of Sorrow with delight that at their best, they became almost the follow-through for the 16-bit sprite games in a new era, more so as now that the game was re-released in a Castlevania Advance Collection, this was the third of a trilogy of games and feels like the magnum opus just in terms of production for what gained a fan base on the Advance handheld.

Taking advantage of more player friendly aspects, even without save states on the Advance Collection, this won me over in terms of the game itself. There is a story, but it sits in the backburner for me as a layer to a beautiful haunted house with a fair difficulty path and a great sense of artistic creativity. It is set in a literal haunted castle floating in its own realm in the Moon, as a young man named Soma Cruz with his childhood friend Mina end up during a festival dragged into its phantasmagorical world during a solar eclipse. There is more to this plot, side characters and the issue of someone trying to claim the power of Dracula, so I will not dismiss the plot especially as there is likely lore from previous games involved that the solar eclipse itself is connected to a prophecy of Dracula being reincarnated after his powers were finally sealed into the eclipse by the series' main Belmont clan leads. That there are multiple endings, one intrinsically linked to the gameplay mechanic of capturing enemies' souls, and needing the right ones in a boss fight to even unlock the final stage and boss, so it is emphasis of there being more to the work than just the gameplay. Arguably, it was at that point, becoming aware of this twist, where my interest in said plot fully came in, which I have to praise. [Huge Spoiler] Realising you are the newest version of Dracula, with him literally fighting his own chaos for either a bad ending to become evil if you lose, or win and return home with Mina, is definitely a worthy way to make the plot intrinsic. [Spoiler Ends]

What is central nonetheless is the gameplay itself. Able to unlock and change weapons and equipment, even able (if you can figure out a way to get to it) to access a solitary handgun as a bonus weapon, you find yourself exploring the castle and encountering the denizens of horror and folklore history. The monsters and entities, even before the bosses, stalking the castle are the highlight. Castlevania throughout its history was drawing from our culture and reinterpreting it in a variety of eccentric and/or memorable ways. Succubus disguise themselves as Mina and skeletons thrown their bones, drive horse drawn chariots and are even waiters throwing harmful plates of curry at you. I found myself briefly blanching seeing a cockatrice for the first time in a later section, a mythological entity of English folklore vibrantly depicted in its weird horror, a cockerel headed monstrosity whose gaze petrifies people to stone. As lovingly depicted in the sprite work as a giant chicken creature whose gaze thankfully is just temporary and can be shaken off, it is just one of many incredible monster designs that you also have to figure out how to kill, such as another which caught me off guard underwater with a "Man Eater", giant worm creatures occupying a giant's skull which is never explained as it floats towards you in the few areas they are found, startling in its threat and menace.

This sense of aesthetic ambition has won me over with the franchise. It is not a scary franchise, but its legacy since the original Nintendo Entertainment System games is vital to horror video games for its aesthetic and how even when silly, like the N64 games having polygonal skeletons on motorbikes with side cars with enemies, its use of world folklore and horror storytelling is applaudable, from the turning of these figures into vibrant and creepy creatures, to the vast idiosyncratic locations we go to within one castle. The level progression, with this version of the game following Symphony of the Night in having save locations which heal you fully and rooms which transport you around the castle, means even the cockatrices and giant mechanical men fall with ease as you get more powerful and figure out new solutions. It forces you to level up, hunt for the secret locations on older stages for items to prepare for a hard area, and saving money when you can access a merchant character to stock up on replenishment items.

There are aspects which feel indebted to adventure games which helps in the fairness, all originally from Symphony of the Night like the new weapons you find, which become more powerful alongside ones having different traits which are more effective per enemy, or the health and magical replenish you find or buy from the merchant. The trademark hearts, to replenish your magical abilities which are gained from hitting candles or any fire source, transfers over here alongside the ability to earn money. The modern re-release has save states, but it is telling that I found myself even when failing at times more at ease taking risks, and with bosses who I took on with greater ease having the ability to prepare and horde health potions. Even Death himself, always the difficulty spike as here midway through the game through the franchise, becomes a fun challenge now I could rely on the health and magic potions when my reflexes were not perfect, and also because of the distinct gameplay mechanic of Aria of Sorrow. Before, you had the iconic secondary weapons like throwing axes to holy water you replenished with hearts, but Soma to his surprise, by luck and randomisation, can absorb enemies' powers through the "Tactical Souls" system which you can change through at any time. You can throw dangerous curry, but there are ones which are very useful, and mandatory ones you acquire beating bosses and going into the rooms afterwards required to continue the game, like the ability to walk on water and under it. It is a solid gameplay mechanic, and you see that in terms of Konami wanting to stretch this franchise, they succeeded fully.

I have complimented the aesthetic, but arguably not enough. The last of the GBA games, it is a gorgeous finale to when the Game Boy franchise of handhelds was developing the ability to advance from their origins, all of in mind that the system had its fair share of shovelware too, lacklustre games and questionable music scores which made the games like this which stand out more rewarding. The one here, by Michiru Yamane, Takashi Yoshida and Soshiro Hokkai, is solid enough and only has a shadow cast over it because you compare it to Yamane's own work from Symphony of the Night, and the haunted house comparison is apt, of how this unnatural gothic castle can turn into an underwater reservoir, a clock tower, and a ballroom full of ghost dancers. It is a place where giants are bosses as much you meet something like Legion, a grotesque mass of bodies in the Crypt as an unfriendly reminder this is still horror. The next generation of handheld console, for the DS would see the considerable jump in technology possible with the handheld consoles, but even by this point, you have something which could have been on the 16-bit consoles in terms of quality. If that is in danger of patronising a game worthy of praise without compliments to the home systems of yore, this is still a strong game for any console to have handed, and yes, as my introduction to the whole concept of Metroidvania as a genre, I can see fully with this case why this structure became a fixation of so many, including indie projects like Hollow Knight (2017), that lead to inspired games lionised in their own qualities.