Moving on from the fiasco that was Circle of the Moon, the Advance Collection now treats us to Harmony of Dissonance. Will this be an improvement, or a further step down for the series? Let's find out.
Like with Circle of the Moon before it, the main cast is small. The story centers on a trio of childhood friends: the playable Juste Belmont, a descendant of Simon Belmont and inheritor of the Vampire Killer; Maxim Kischine, a trusted fellow vampire hunter who trained alongside Juste; and Lydie Erlanger, a young lady who's very dear to both. Lydie has disappeared, and Maxim was the last person to see her -- he, however, has no recollection of what transpired, recalling only the existence of a mysterious castle lost within the mists.
These clearly established, strong bonds between the characters, plus the mystery setup regarding Maxim's amnesia and a castle in which Dracula is nowhere to be found set the game off to a much better start than its predecessor. There are, in fact, twists hidden in the way the castle is laid out in itself, which I won't spoil for the purposes of this review because they do result in something of an "a-ha!" moment in the midgame, by which time Juste will have had multiple run-ins with Maxim and with the denizens of the castle, and it's clear that no one knows what's going on, but this is definitely an unusual situation even as far as the forces of evil are concerned.
As far as the metroidvania gameplay goes, the castle is... complicated. It's definitely a huge improvement from Circle of the Moon: Harmony of Dissonance does away with the silly obstacle courses that defined its predecessor, with branching areas that develop unpredictably and mesh into one another, and the result is much more surprising, and thus more satisfying zones to explore. Those zones also offer a multitude of treasures to find, making the exploration of every nook and cranny a rewarding one.
On the other hand, it's not like the player has a choice: they have to explore every single square of the castle map, as rooms that might seem optional or empty can actually be essential to advancing. Likewise, equipment plays an important part in Juste's adventure, and there are many key items masquerading as normal items. This is not new for the series, with Symphony of the Night's Holy Glasses allowing access to the second half of the game, but HoD employs this idea much more often. As such, it's important to inspect the inventory descriptions for all items that are picked up and make notes of rooms that seem suspicious.
It's not that these design decisions were bad -- they force engaging with the castle on a deeper level, which is a positive -- but it's easy to see someone coming out frustrated from the game due to being stuck for a long time because of a detail they didn't notice. This is compounded by the biggest point of contention, which is another castle feature that has the player traverse every area in the game at least twice. The result is that there is a lot of repetition to Harmony of Dissonance -- even more so to a player who doesn't quite know where to go.
So the castle in this entry is controversial. However, in my review of Circle of the Moon, I claimed that a bad castle isn't as much of a problem if the game plays well, and if anything, Harmony of Dissonance is proof of that statement. Clearly, someone looked at Nathan and Alucard side-by-side and realized the next lil' guy had to be more like former: Juste plays amazingly smoothly right from the get-go, with a directional dash move performed via the trigger buttons that allows him to traverse rooms like a speedrunning lunatic. Later additions to his moveset reinforce this agility, making it much less painful to travel long distances.
This also greatly helps his combat capabilities: by dashing, he can quickly move in and out of combat, which in turn rewards players that play aggressively. Juste's abilities are even further reinforced once the player finds their first spellbook: there are five in total, and each of them transforms the subweapon ability in unique ways. This means that, despite being a whip user for the whole game, his moveset has a few more tricks that help him deal with faraway or aerial enemies.
When one considers Juste's full moveset, he is rather overpowered. And he feels as such, too. CotM had that Game Boy Color feel to its graphics and animations, and it, too, impacted the player's perception of the game. Juste is not only better animated, he retains that shadowy trail that's a page taken straight from SotN, making it clear that this he is not just a guy. It's almost... too much. Before I noticed the "Belmont" attached to his name, I was under the impression Juste was a vampire like Alucard, not a vampire hunter. But I suppose that Dissonance (ha!) is a small price to pay to have a character that feels good to control.
Symphony of the Night it is not, but Harmony of Dissonance presents a fun take on the Castlevania formula. It's true that the game might demand patience from its player, but for those willing to stick with it, there's plenty of fun to be had in Juste Belmont's unexpected battle against evil.
Like with Circle of the Moon before it, the main cast is small. The story centers on a trio of childhood friends: the playable Juste Belmont, a descendant of Simon Belmont and inheritor of the Vampire Killer; Maxim Kischine, a trusted fellow vampire hunter who trained alongside Juste; and Lydie Erlanger, a young lady who's very dear to both. Lydie has disappeared, and Maxim was the last person to see her -- he, however, has no recollection of what transpired, recalling only the existence of a mysterious castle lost within the mists.
These clearly established, strong bonds between the characters, plus the mystery setup regarding Maxim's amnesia and a castle in which Dracula is nowhere to be found set the game off to a much better start than its predecessor. There are, in fact, twists hidden in the way the castle is laid out in itself, which I won't spoil for the purposes of this review because they do result in something of an "a-ha!" moment in the midgame, by which time Juste will have had multiple run-ins with Maxim and with the denizens of the castle, and it's clear that no one knows what's going on, but this is definitely an unusual situation even as far as the forces of evil are concerned.
As far as the metroidvania gameplay goes, the castle is... complicated. It's definitely a huge improvement from Circle of the Moon: Harmony of Dissonance does away with the silly obstacle courses that defined its predecessor, with branching areas that develop unpredictably and mesh into one another, and the result is much more surprising, and thus more satisfying zones to explore. Those zones also offer a multitude of treasures to find, making the exploration of every nook and cranny a rewarding one.
On the other hand, it's not like the player has a choice: they have to explore every single square of the castle map, as rooms that might seem optional or empty can actually be essential to advancing. Likewise, equipment plays an important part in Juste's adventure, and there are many key items masquerading as normal items. This is not new for the series, with Symphony of the Night's Holy Glasses allowing access to the second half of the game, but HoD employs this idea much more often. As such, it's important to inspect the inventory descriptions for all items that are picked up and make notes of rooms that seem suspicious.
It's not that these design decisions were bad -- they force engaging with the castle on a deeper level, which is a positive -- but it's easy to see someone coming out frustrated from the game due to being stuck for a long time because of a detail they didn't notice. This is compounded by the biggest point of contention, which is another castle feature that has the player traverse every area in the game at least twice. The result is that there is a lot of repetition to Harmony of Dissonance -- even more so to a player who doesn't quite know where to go.
So the castle in this entry is controversial. However, in my review of Circle of the Moon, I claimed that a bad castle isn't as much of a problem if the game plays well, and if anything, Harmony of Dissonance is proof of that statement. Clearly, someone looked at Nathan and Alucard side-by-side and realized the next lil' guy had to be more like former: Juste plays amazingly smoothly right from the get-go, with a directional dash move performed via the trigger buttons that allows him to traverse rooms like a speedrunning lunatic. Later additions to his moveset reinforce this agility, making it much less painful to travel long distances.
This also greatly helps his combat capabilities: by dashing, he can quickly move in and out of combat, which in turn rewards players that play aggressively. Juste's abilities are even further reinforced once the player finds their first spellbook: there are five in total, and each of them transforms the subweapon ability in unique ways. This means that, despite being a whip user for the whole game, his moveset has a few more tricks that help him deal with faraway or aerial enemies.
When one considers Juste's full moveset, he is rather overpowered. And he feels as such, too. CotM had that Game Boy Color feel to its graphics and animations, and it, too, impacted the player's perception of the game. Juste is not only better animated, he retains that shadowy trail that's a page taken straight from SotN, making it clear that this he is not just a guy. It's almost... too much. Before I noticed the "Belmont" attached to his name, I was under the impression Juste was a vampire like Alucard, not a vampire hunter. But I suppose that Dissonance (ha!) is a small price to pay to have a character that feels good to control.
Symphony of the Night it is not, but Harmony of Dissonance presents a fun take on the Castlevania formula. It's true that the game might demand patience from its player, but for those willing to stick with it, there's plenty of fun to be had in Juste Belmont's unexpected battle against evil.