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Full Review for Castlevania: Harmony of Despair by Guy117

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Introduction

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, also known as Castlevania HD, was released on August 8 2010 for the Xbox Live Arcade. It features 5 of heroes from the past games of the series. These characters are: Alucard from Symphony of the Night, Soma Cruz from Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, Shanoa from Order of Ecclesia, Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin both from Portrait of Ruin. Usually the Castlevania series was made up of single player games. But our friends at Konami had something else in mind. You can play with up to 5 other players online in co-op mode or battle each other in survival mode. So is this game any good? Read on to find out!

Graphics

The name Castlevania HD is quite misleading. The graphics are EXACTLY the same as they were in previous games. The sprites have not been altered in any way. The chapters are made up of graphics from the past games, the characters, enemies, bosses they are all the same. So there is nothing new in terms of graphics for Castlevania fans.

Sound

Many sound effects have also been taken from previous games. The music, however, are remixed version of past songs (with the exception of Dance of Illusions which is exactly how it was in Dracula X Chronicles for PSP). There are a few original songs which were actually pretty good. The voices are the same for the most part though many of the characters say different things or say things in a different way. Overall sound is mostly the same.

Gameplay

There is only one incredibly noticeable gameplay FAIL in this game. The instruction are terrible. Meaning though only ways to learn how to play as a certain character is to either play as them a lot or to have all ready played the game they are from. If you have played those games then you should have no problem since the characters work the same way they did in their games. So every character can double jump and back dash which both work the same way. They can also all preform hunter skills which you must assign to the B button, Up and B button, Down and B button, and Side and B button. Also pressing RB will preform a character specific skill. This skill can usually not be customized but some characters like Soma can change their personal skill. The game consists of 6 chapters and a Hard mode you unlock after finishing the game once. What you and your team must do is navigate through the stage and get to the boss and defeat it. Sounds easy? There is one thing however, you are timed. You have 30 minutes to complete the level or you lose. If you are alone dying also means game over. If you have a team however you will become a skeleton when you die and all you can do is throw bones. If you die again you will respawn where you first died and there will be a 2 minute penalty. If your entire team dies it's game over. You can use Water of Life to revive dead teamates. Water of Life is found only inside blue chests. As you progress through the game you will get more weapons and equipment and level up your skills and weapons. Each chapter has a boss. The bosses are: Gergoth from Dawn of Sorrow, Puppet Master from Dawn of Sorrow, Menace also from Dawn of Sorrow, Brauner from Portrait of Ruin, Death as he appeared in Order of Ecclesia, and of course Dracula as he appeared in Symphony of the Night. After you defeat a boss a gold chest will appear which usually carries rare items. Opening the chest also ends the level. So really the game play is actually quite good it just has a kind of big learning curve.

Lastability

This game is HIGHLY addictive. You won't know until you play the game yourself it is difficult to describe. It is just...addictive. This game will last you a very long time. I'm still playing it myself. You might be thinking I'm crazy for thinking a game with only 6 chapters lasts long but it does. Maxing out every character takes a long time.

Overall

Overall this game is really good. If you are a Castlevania fan then what are you waiting for? Get the game NOW! For everyone else, I really recommend that you try this game out. You might like it. Although the game does have some flaws here and there I think it's worth buying. Oh and there is DLC coming out for the game which has a new chapter and 2 playable characters which are: Julius Belmont from Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, and Maria Renard from Rondo of Blood. So you know my opinion, get the game and I will see you online.