Is this a contender for best Igavania, possibly even dethroning Symphony of the Night? I think it just might be. I don't really know what to say about games that are this good, as I'm better at complaining than praising. Everything here is awesome, from beginning to end.
Beautiful artwork, if a bit low in resolution due to the original format, with some amazing animations considering the system's limitations. Smooth gameplay that is actually similar in design to Circle of the Moon, in that there is a small amount of intentional clunkiness, but pulled off so much better and more smoothly. Soma has limitations, but never feels like controlling a sentient slab of concrete. And, as always, banger soundtrack that mixes new tracks with both SOTN and even older classics. I'll avoid spoiling which track, but having the end theme be a chill alternate version of one of the most classic jams was a beautiful choice. Hell, even the barebones story is pretty good despite clunky english dialogue.
The soul system in and of itself is amazing and so deeply addictive, since almost all of them are fun and engaging to mess around and experiment with, and because you get so hooked on collecting every one just to see what it does. Keeping that system for some of the sequels and even in Bloodstained was absolutely the right choice. The only bummer here is that Aria doesn't have the system where souls get stronger the more of them you find.
My two main complaints, that take half a star off the score, are the castle structure and, despite the previous paragraph, the execution of the soul system. I don't like the part of the castle that has teleportation to floating rooms, as that felt needlessly confusing even after learning which exit leads where and because I simply don't like segmented castle bits that don't connect to the whole, and the game is too stingy with fast travel locations (I especially don't understand why the important "hub" room with the teleporting exits doesn't get a convenient portal room) and the fact that there's never a save room right next to a fast travel portal. For the soul system, the problem is, of course, the often abysmal drop rates and how little sense that makes. Anyone who doesn't intentionally grind souls will finish with only probably like 20 souls out of 120 and while I understand that the idea is probably that each fast run like that is different because of what souls you get, it's still a shame since it means most players probably won't get to see much of what the souls have to offer. The 4% droprate ones aren't so bad, but were the 0,4% rate ones really necessary? No, they most assuredly weren't and all souls should've stuck with 4-5%.
I thought I wouldn't have a longer review in me for this game, but here I go again and I'm going to stop now. This game is still very good and still very worth checking out, despite being 20 years old and made for a tiny screen. I suspect these reviews are mostly just read by people who already like the game in question, but if not, and you're on the fence, then absolutely try the Advance Collection out. If you even kind of like metroidvanias and can enjoy retro, you won't be disappointed.
Beautiful artwork, if a bit low in resolution due to the original format, with some amazing animations considering the system's limitations. Smooth gameplay that is actually similar in design to Circle of the Moon, in that there is a small amount of intentional clunkiness, but pulled off so much better and more smoothly. Soma has limitations, but never feels like controlling a sentient slab of concrete. And, as always, banger soundtrack that mixes new tracks with both SOTN and even older classics. I'll avoid spoiling which track, but having the end theme be a chill alternate version of one of the most classic jams was a beautiful choice. Hell, even the barebones story is pretty good despite clunky english dialogue.
The soul system in and of itself is amazing and so deeply addictive, since almost all of them are fun and engaging to mess around and experiment with, and because you get so hooked on collecting every one just to see what it does. Keeping that system for some of the sequels and even in Bloodstained was absolutely the right choice. The only bummer here is that Aria doesn't have the system where souls get stronger the more of them you find.
My two main complaints, that take half a star off the score, are the castle structure and, despite the previous paragraph, the execution of the soul system. I don't like the part of the castle that has teleportation to floating rooms, as that felt needlessly confusing even after learning which exit leads where and because I simply don't like segmented castle bits that don't connect to the whole, and the game is too stingy with fast travel locations (I especially don't understand why the important "hub" room with the teleporting exits doesn't get a convenient portal room) and the fact that there's never a save room right next to a fast travel portal. For the soul system, the problem is, of course, the often abysmal drop rates and how little sense that makes. Anyone who doesn't intentionally grind souls will finish with only probably like 20 souls out of 120 and while I understand that the idea is probably that each fast run like that is different because of what souls you get, it's still a shame since it means most players probably won't get to see much of what the souls have to offer. The 4% droprate ones aren't so bad, but were the 0,4% rate ones really necessary? No, they most assuredly weren't and all souls should've stuck with 4-5%.
I thought I wouldn't have a longer review in me for this game, but here I go again and I'm going to stop now. This game is still very good and still very worth checking out, despite being 20 years old and made for a tiny screen. I suspect these reviews are mostly just read by people who already like the game in question, but if not, and you're on the fence, then absolutely try the Advance Collection out. If you even kind of like metroidvanias and can enjoy retro, you won't be disappointed.