Very solid Metroidvania and an impressive GBA launch title, Circle of the Moon was very fun to revisit and finally beat. The DSS system is really cool to mess around with and adds tons of variety to both combat and exploration. The exploration, while way less complicated than most Metroidvania games, was super fun and most areas were fun to explore. Being a GBA game it's relatively short and doesn't overstay its welcome being a nice in and out experience.
My main gripes with this game were three things
1. The GBAs screen crunch issue that was present in many of the early library. While it wasn't as bad as some other games from the era it was still frustrating to get blindsided by some projectile offscreen.
2. The low drop rate of DSS cards was kinda sad as the DSS system is one of the most fun parts about the game. By the end of the game with the entire castle minus arena explored I only had 5 cards without grinding. This is somewhat alleviated by the glitch that lets you select any card but its not perfect as that just completely breaks the game. It just needed either a slight drop rate boost or a way to just find them on the map.
3. The massive difficulty spike around half way through the game. I remember when I first played Circle of the Moon as a kid I could never get past Adrameleck and the game only gets harder from there. It wouldn't be so bad if the DSS cards were more easily obtainable but again the low drop rate (or my bad luck) made some sections an absolute pain in the ass.
That said some of this frustration is admittedly (and accidentally) self inflicted as right after fighting Adrameleck I went straight to Underground Waterway which, without the purifier, is Super Adolf Blight Town Deluxe. I simply thought there was no other way to go and didn't realize I could slide until right after I beat Hugh. It's cool that you can sequence break and it's probably my fault for not realizing such an obvious button combo but holy fuck I wish that the game gave a little more direction about that to have saved me the trouble.
Overall Circle of the Moon is a really solid short romp. Not as good as other Metroidvanias like Symphony of the Night or something but it's fun little ride if you're a fan of the genre.
My main gripes with this game were three things
1. The GBAs screen crunch issue that was present in many of the early library. While it wasn't as bad as some other games from the era it was still frustrating to get blindsided by some projectile offscreen.
2. The low drop rate of DSS cards was kinda sad as the DSS system is one of the most fun parts about the game. By the end of the game with the entire castle minus arena explored I only had 5 cards without grinding. This is somewhat alleviated by the glitch that lets you select any card but its not perfect as that just completely breaks the game. It just needed either a slight drop rate boost or a way to just find them on the map.
3. The massive difficulty spike around half way through the game. I remember when I first played Circle of the Moon as a kid I could never get past Adrameleck and the game only gets harder from there. It wouldn't be so bad if the DSS cards were more easily obtainable but again the low drop rate (or my bad luck) made some sections an absolute pain in the ass.
That said some of this frustration is admittedly (and accidentally) self inflicted as right after fighting Adrameleck I went straight to Underground Waterway which, without the purifier, is Super Adolf Blight Town Deluxe. I simply thought there was no other way to go and didn't realize I could slide until right after I beat Hugh. It's cool that you can sequence break and it's probably my fault for not realizing such an obvious button combo but holy fuck I wish that the game gave a little more direction about that to have saved me the trouble.
Overall Circle of the Moon is a really solid short romp. Not as good as other Metroidvanias like Symphony of the Night or something but it's fun little ride if you're a fan of the genre.