DS/GBA game recommendations ?

**doc_bean** · 07-02-2006, 15:54

Castlevania DS

the short version

Unless you're tired of Castlevania games, or just don't like them for whatever insane reason, GET THIS GAME.

long version

Owkay, the game is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow on the gba (and now available in the great value for your money castlevania double pack

) and the gameplay is pretty much the same. If you haven't played AoS, it's gameplay pretty much identical to Symphony of the Night, if you haven't played that (or any of the other gba castlevania's) GET THIS GAME.

the basics

You run around in a big castle killing stuff, occasionally killing bosses which will give you access to special abilities which you can then use to access other areas of the castle. On your way you'll find weapons and armour which you can equip, killing monsters gives you experience and occasionally after killing a monster you will get its soul. There are 4 kinds of souls: red for a secondary weapon (throwing axes for instances), blue for weapons/abilities which can be used for a longer period of time (for instance a flying armour which slows falling down and lets you jump further, or a bow which charges up more the longer you hold the R trigger), yellow souls that alter your stats or give you permanent abilities (say, extra strength) and gray souls which you permanent new abilities (like a double jump). At any time one red, blue and yellow soul can be equipped, gray souls are always active, you pretty much only get them from bosses though.

Good things

-It's castlevania
-It looks gorgeous
-the amount of different weapons and souls make it same like it will have decent replay value
-you have the map displayed in the upper window so you can easily navigate through the castle
-you can gain the ability to switch between two sets of equipment (incl souls) this saves some tedious micro management
-new monsters ! They're great too.

less Good things

-Boss fights so far have been pretty disappointing, usually it's a case of easy pattern recognition, finding the right spot to stand, and patience. The puppet master was great though.
-I'm a few hours in and still using one of the first weapons I got (claymore FTW !)
-Some souls are clearly better than others and you won't switch much between them (skull archer kicks arse)
-stylus use feels tacked on (you have to draw magic seals to lock up bosses, and can destroy ice cubes)
-Some secret areas have really crappy stuff hidden in them, so the joy of having discovered a secret area is often quickly turned into slight disappointment. Still, you can always seel them

-Since it's a Castlevania game, i'm probably already halfway through.
-I missed the first 20 minutes of Brazil-France because I wanted to explore an area...

Some other things

-It feels slightly harder than previous Castlevanias (since SOTN, the (S)NES ones were a hell of a lot harder)
-Unlike AoS where you can get the best weapons pretty quickly (they're sold very cheap) prizes in DoS are a lot higher.

Conclusion

Why haven't you bought this game yet ?

**doc_bean** · 07-03-2006, 10:17

I've been playing some GBA games on my DS and find it extremely strange that they won't use the full screen. Is there any reason why ? Any way to stretch them out perhaps ?

BTW I got my last GBA game from ebay, a rather obvious pirate version of the minish cap

(It claims to a US version yet has support for French...)
Well at least the other two look legit, I'm reluctant to order any more gba games on ebay however.

**Fragony** · 07-03-2006, 10:30

Castlevania games are awesome indeed, but the GBA versions are a rare find nowadays. I got the double pack, but have yet to find a copy of symphony of the night

**doc_bean** · 07-03-2006, 10:57

Originally Posted by Fragony

symphony of the night

Symphony of the night is for the PS1. Circle of the moon is the other GBA castlevania game, where you refeering to that ? I saw it on ebay a while ago but didn't bid

Apparently SOTN will be one of the first games on the PSP's PS1 emulator. I just might have to get a PSP after all

**Big King Sanctaphrax** · 07-03-2006, 23:19

Has anyone played Trauma Centre, the surgery game? It sounded like a really good, quirky idea for a game, and I imagine it would make good use of the stylus, but I'd like some confirmation it's been executed well before I part with cash.

**Xiahou** · 07-04-2006, 00:17

Trauma Center is a good game. It sounds like you have it pretty well nailed too. It's quirky, and makes heavy use of the stylus- just don't expect anything close to surgical realism from it.

Also, some of the later levels are very difficult imo. Every operation is essentially on a timer and the harder levels require very quick, accurate movements.

edit: I also got Castlevania DS- and I agree that its a great game. I feel like I'm missing something having not played the prequel thought- even though they did a good job of bringing me up to date on the story.

-I'm a few hours in and still using one of the first weapons I got (claymore FTW !)

Tell me that you've at least upgraded it to a falchion!