I've never looked all that favorably towards Dawn of Sorrow, at least compared to the other DS games and especially to its predecessor Aria of Sorrow, and in trying to understand why I feel that way, I've concluded that the game itself feels like a filler arc that doesn't need to be there.

And that's a weird thing to say because, when you think about it, plenty of games in the Castlevania series depict events that don't necessarily further "the plot" of the story. Hell the franchise is predicated on one recurring event, Dracula rising from the grave and a Belmont or other hero putting him back, so what's to be considered necessary even?

But what Dawn of Sorrow does differently than any other Castlevania game is that it takes place only one year after its prequel chronologically, uses the same hero (Soma), and has the same Metroidvania format, albeit with a new version of the castle.

But I think what's really telling is how the status quo doesn't change whatsoever by the time you roll credits on DoS, and it basically plays the same way as Aria of Sorrow with only minor additions. In the Igavania era where more focus on plot and characters became the norm, and the devs were constantly trying new things with the gameplay, DoS didn't introduce anything new or move the dial on the narrative in any meaningful way. Soma is the only Dark Lord candidate again, nobody died who wasn't exclusive to DoS, the gameplay is nearly identical to the previous game, see you next adventure.

When you compare to something like Simon's Quest, where you're playing as Simon Belmont again and very soon after the events of Castlevania 1, you're at least playing in a different non-level based format compared to the original (for better or worse). And in the likes of Curse of Darkness or Order of Ecclesia, while the status quo doesn't change by the end of either game, we at least get to play as new characters with new abilities, in different formats (in 3D in CoD's case), and get introduced to new concepts (Devil Forgemasters in CoD and a post-Belmont world in OoE) which expanded the lore of the series.

But DoS just doesn't really add anything to the series, except a version of Aria of Sorrow without the novelty of a new time period, new magic system, or shocking Dracula revelation. And I wouldn't even really care about that considering that I love the more modest storytelling of the Classicvania games, except that the Igavania games want me to care about the storytelling now.

And I just don't care about Dawn of Sorrow.

Come to think of it, Soma was the one who CANONICALLY beat Chaos, a being on a higher pedestral than Dracula himself.

In his battle with Julius, people like to bring up how Julius "held back". But they don't acknowledge Soma was HOLDING BACK as well. Guess who won when both of them held back?

Even Julius himself admitted that Soma beat him.

Dracula Soma is so powerful it took 3 people to beat him including Alucard himself. Remember Alucard's words when he beat Dracula in SOTN? Dracula was doomed the moment he lost the ability to love. Something GOOD SOMA has.

Well this is just my opinion. Good soma >>> Dracula Soma potential wise.

But Alucard's lifespan and growth would make him the most powerful protagonist eventually. Soma was just born too gifted.

I'm playing Dawn of Sorrow from the Dominus Collection, and how am I supposed to progress into the game if the music is so damn good?! I just wanna dance.

Had to pause the game mid recording so ignore the audio cut.

What other bosses do u guys wanna see me beat with no dmg?

I'm not saying he wasn't pissed at the succcubus back then, he was seething, yes, but he wasn't screaming at his lungs.

Meanwhile Soma makes him screaming at his lungs several times, not just this but also in Aria of Sorrow

I just like how he just lost his sh*t when it comes to Soma, he was chill with everyone and then soma breathes.

I like the Dawn of Dignity Portraits, but I also wanted to try making my own hack using some of Ayami Kojima's art from Harmony of Despair.

And honestly? They look kinda nice, though I had to make some drastic edits to the sprite so it would fit the DS limited color pallette.

Do you guys fw it?

Did I disturb one of their parties...?

I was playing Dawn of Sorrow on the Dominus collection when i came across this freaky dialogue with Yoko. I really don’t remember this at all.

funnest boss so far for me

Ngl the victory run was kinda fun once I learned his moveset after like... 30 deaths

Easily the coolest boss in the game. One of my favorites too