I found Harmony of Dissonance much more successful as a Symphony of the Night follow-up than Circle of the Moon. Where CotM was slow and expanded little upon SotN's movement and concepts, outright undermining exploration through the implementation of the DSS system, HoD makes many substantial additions. The introduction of a (non-glitch) dash makes exploration relatively breezy, while HoD's version of SotN's castle twist is a sensical next step, albeit one that is more exciting in its reveal than in execution. It is better balanced than SotN on the whole, though specific spells can quickly break that balancing. On the gameplay front, I'd say HoD is a success in most respects, while still being limited compared to SotN in terms of game-feel and progression.

Evaluating HoD as an aesthetic and auditory piece creates a mixed image, with each proving to be divisive. Hoping to work around the GBA's then-lack of a backlight, the visual style is very bright, often to the point of being psychedelic. It worked quite well for me, and complemented the otherworldly atmosphere.

It's difficult to speak on the composition of the music, because it's mixed so harshly, distorting to a point of genuine discomfort at times. Some have argued this complements the atmosphere, and while I would be the first to agree that an element being unpleasant or even normatively bad in isolation can contribute positively to an artwork's goals, I didn't care for it at all. I don't think Castlevania, with its campy gothic stylings, was the place for such a harsh experiment, and I would have preferred the atmosphere be achieved with music not unlike prior titles.

I found this to be a strong Metroidvania, though a deeply flawed one. My understanding is that Aria of Sorrow is by far the best of the GBA trilogy, so I'll take a break before beginning that one.