Hey all, I’m back with an action-RPG from 2005 for this week’s Retro Game Friday. It’s Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.

Plot: This is a sequel to Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and features Soma Cruz once again delving into Castlevania to confront the darkness that lurks within him once more.

Gameplay: This was the first Castlevania game I played after trying Castlevania 64 years before, and it was and still is one of my favorite Metroidvania titles, only matched by Symphony of the Night and Metroid Prime 3. In Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, the main character Soma can equip the various abilities he gains by defeating monsters and absorbing their souls.

However, you won’t always receive the soul of said monster, so you will need to farm enemies to really power up some of the souls. I enjoyed this title so much I eventually delved into the series seriously for the first time and found Symphony of the Night, which was and still is one of the best games I’ve ever played.

Art: This time the graphics are much better than its prequel given it was developed for the Nintendo DS rather than the Game Boy Advance.

Music: The music for Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow was perfectly spot on, though it could get tedious when farming enemies for certain souls.

Overall: An excellent Metroidvania game, and it was just rereleased last year as part of a collection including the other DS Castlevania titles, so they can be enjoyed on the latest generation of consoles.