Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen Feb 24, 2025
I have no idea what I would have done if I didn't have a hotkey for taking screenshots.
Future Dan Says: You took a surprising amount of time to learn quality of life improvements for your own work. Heck, it wasn't until Sailor Moon: Another Story (2018) that you switched from ZSNES to Snes9x!
Yes, every single screenshot from Snakewood was carefully taken by manually going over to the screen capture function. Cut me some slack, I was just starting out.
Chapter #2 - Small Fry
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Alright, we beat up a giant light blue skeleton the last time we were here. I can imagine if Soma ever got back home, he'd keep his mouth shut about all of this and go on with his life as if nothing happened.
We get the Bat soul... out of novelty, I guess.
Name: Peeping Eye
HP: 38
EXP: 8
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Nothing
Drops: Nothing
Description: "The castle's designated 'watch dog'."
Soul effect (
): "Identifies breakable walls."
Soma's Thoughts: ("What is this, some sort of scorpion eye thing?")
Peeping Eye, aside from being a creeper, is ultimately harmless. It's like Dracula's underpaid sentry officer.
Remember what I said about "some monsters have very low drop rates"? Peeping Eye is one of those monsters and I hate him for it. The soul lets you identify breakable walls, which is nice but Aria of Sorrow has some really obvious breakable walls. The effort doesn't match the reward, sadly.
To emphasize my point...
I find it somewhat hilarious that the guy whose soul is "identifies breakable walls" has one right behind him.
Inside was a Mind Up, which are little red potions that restore your MP by 100. They're nice now, but they're ultimately useless in the long run.
Would you look at that, the Killer Fish has babies. Oh well, that's one more fryer to rev up.
Remind me to come back here too.
The primary purpose of going down here was for the Flying Armor soul... because you can't actually progress upward until you get it. Non-indicative? Yes.
That is one giant moon.... But wait. Aren't we supposed to be in the middle of the eclipse? How... how are we seeing the moon?
Bah, it's Castlevania. They always do some weird shit with the moon in these games.
Name: Blue Crow
HP: 25
EXP: 2
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapons, Stone
Drops: Nothing
Description: "A blue crow that nibbles on rotting corpses."
Soul effect (
): "Attacks by flying crows at enemies."
Soma's Thoughts: "It doesn't look that dangerous. Wait, is it eating an arm?!"
Blue Crows are one of those enemies I would readily describe as "there because they have to be". They're not a threat and their only practical purpose is for you to get their soul.
Yes, the soul is literally just Soma throwing a Blue Crow in a short distance and having it come back to his hand like if it were a boomerang. It's as strange as it sounds.
Name: Buer
HP: 20
EXP: 6
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Poison
Drops: Nothing
Description: "A lion with five legs."
Soul effect (
): "Creates a revolving wall of flame."
Soma's thoughts: "... Now I've seen everything."
What the hell is that?
That, my friends, is a reference to an Ars Goetian demon... who is recreated in full glory here. Yes, that is exactly what Buer looks like. Buer has the following things under his belt: "Teaches natural and moral philosophy, logic, and the virtues of all herbs and plants, is capable of healing all infirmities (especially of men) and bestows good familiars."
It definitely explains why Soma stabbing him in the face kills him in one hit - he's a doctor. An evil doctor, but still.
Anyway, this is why we need the Flying Armor soul.
Soma even gets a cute little winged armor guy to hold him up.
Name: White Dragon
HP: 95
EXP: 20
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Nothing
Description: "The magically animated remains of a dinosaur."
Soul effect (
): "Increases Constitution by 4."
Soma's thoughts: "Dinosaurs?! This sure is a weird castle."
The White Dragon breathes fire and lunges at you, on top of being hard to hit due to how often he zig-zags around. He is technically one of those souls that provide a passive boost to Soma's stats, specifically Constitution.
Constitution is the "natural" defense of the character (as in, without armor), so getting the soul would be a nice little defense boost. In Aria of Sorrow, the stat boosting souls are split across different enemies. However, in Dawn of Sorrow, all you have to do is collect more of the same monster to increase the effect... which, to be honest, is a lot better.
The blue potion on the ground there is a Potion that restores 100 HP. Unlike Mind Up, Potions will serve you well no matter how far into the game you go.
Name: Zombie Soldier
HP: 46
EXP: 9
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy, Weapons, Stone
Drops: Rotten Meat (common), Combat Knife (rare)
Description: "Animated corpse of a soldier who marched off to his death 36 years ago."
Soul effect (
): "Throws hand grenades."
Soma's Thoughts: "Man, poor guy..."
Well, that's gruesome. Apparently there was a war inside of Dracula's castle, which makes me seriously wonder what the hell even happened that got the government involved.
The soul is incredible, though. You throw up to three hand grenades that do a tremendous amount of damage, but the catch is that they don't explode on impact or hit flying enemies.
Name: Ghost
HP: 10
EXP: 1
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Nothing
Description:"A small spirit doomed to wander the castle grounds for all eternity."
Soul effect (
): "Summons a spirit that will fight evil."
Soma's Thoughts: "It looks surprisingly adorable for a tortured soul."
The Ghost is just a fodder enemy, but the soul it has is disproportionately great. It summons two spirits that hit for holy damage and track enemies. I question how a creature of darkness and regret shoots light, but it's still amazing because straight out-holy damage is rare and 90% of the enemies are Dark.
I went and grinded the Zombie Soldier soul since we needed an upgrade from the Winged Skeleton spear. * evil cackle *
Finally, a protective piece of armor.
Name: Skeleton Knight
HP: 48
EXP: 12
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Rapier (rare)
Description:"The magically animated skeleton of a dead swordsman."
Soul effect (
): "Boosts Strength by 4."
Soma's Thoughts: "This guy looks like he wants a fight." [rolls up sleeves]
Skeleton Knight is one of the few enemies that swarmed us back at the entrance, but they're not that hard to beat. You just have to pay attention to what it does, seeing as they're actually proficient with their swords.
I blew him to high Hell.
Oooh, if only I had the ability soul to get that armor. This is like staring at 200$ brand name chocolate while you only have 5 dollars.
Soma gets his face scorched off by this White Dragon... for a measly scarf.
After what just happened, Soma doesn't need to be warm... Oops, I forgot to equip the Leather Armor.
I don't like how that Peeping Eye is looking at Soma.
This is a room I can't do anything about until endgame, surprisingly enough.
Name: Rock Armor
HP: 72
EXP: 24
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Lightning, Stone
Drops: Hammer (rare), Copper plate (rare)
Description:"An armored soldier that throws boulders."
Soul effect (
): "Tosses boulders at enemies."
Soma's Thoughts: "Okay, this guy looks pretty beefy. Or is it a lady? I can't tell with these empty suits."
The Rock Armor is a roadblock not because it's a threat, but because it takes a fair amount of punishment. The rocks they throw can easily be broken, and the Soul is Skeleton but worse as it can't even go through ceilings and walls. (Like how it would in... real life)
That katana up there is also end-game material. I think it's silly that Soma can't get it because he's too wimpy to do a pull-up and crawl up to it.
The room on the right is a save room if you need it.
These were in the rooms to the bottom left. The Potion is nice and the bag of 500$ makes me jealous of Soma.
But enough messing around, we have some plot!
Now that's a face you can trust.
[Current audio in-game: A Premonition]
: "Uh, h-hello. Y-you're human, aren't you?"
I can sort of understand Soma's hesitation here. While we haven't encountered any of the humanoid enemies yet, we're still in the middle of a monster-infested castle.
: "Relax. My name is Graham. Let's just say... I'm a missionary."
: "Oh. I'm... Soma. Soma Cruz."
: "You weren't here in this shrine before, were you? How did you get here?"
... Wow. That's some high-class dialogue right there. Never change, you tremendous goofball.
: "I see..."
: "Uh, can I ask you a question?"
: "Go ahead, I don't mind."
: "Is it true that this is Dracula's castle?"
: "It most certainly is."
: "But isn't Dracula's castle in Europe somewhere?"
I should mention this too - Castlevania is the name of Dracula's Castle, apparently. I know, so creative. It's referred to as a "creature of Chaos that takes many forms", which is why the layout of the castle changes every new game... except for the entrance, strangely enough.
: "His true castle?"
: "Yes. It's a well known fact in the underworld. Do you believe in vampires?"
: "Well, uh, no. I thought the story of Dracula was made up, actually."
Can you blame him?
: "No, it's all true. It was leaked to the outside world. Usually, the church handles these things with utmost secrecy..."
"When people lost faith... and craved chaos and destruction."
He's not joking. Although Dracula either winds up being brought back prematurely (Dracula is revived every 100 years) or has just woken up.
Order of Ecclesia is the only game I can note where Dracula has spent enough time building up his power thanks to the absence of a Belmont and he's practically invincible in that one.
: "So... are you trying to tell me that Dracula has been resurrected?"
: "No. Dracula perished in 1999. You do know of the prophecy of 1999, don't you?"
Oh boy, that's a new one.
: "Nostradamus' great prophecy?"
: "That's right. Dracula was resurrected exactly as he predicted. But vampire hunters destroyed him completely."
"The symbol of his demonic power, inside the darkness of an eclipse."
This is the reason the castle always comes back in every new game despite the fact it crumbles to the ground each time Dracula is defeated.
Some people figured out killing Dracula isn't enough to stop him and the castle from coming back and went straight for the source, hence why the castle is inside the eclipse now.
: "And that eclipse is where we are now?"
: "Yes, but there's still more to the story."
: "There's more?"
: "In the year 2035, a new master will come to the castle and he will inherit ALL of Dracula's powers."
... Totally trustworthy.
: "But that's...!"
: "Yes. That time is now! I better get going... is that all then?"
: "Oh, yes. Thank you."
: "Farewell, and be careful."
: "Yes, you too."
Well, we'll leave that guy to his own devices. He surely isn't up to anything bad, no sir.
For now we have exploration to do!
[Current audio in-game: Chapel]
This song is alright, I guess. Dawn of Sorrow had a much better theme for its chapel area.
This is a good place to grind for Ghosts if you really want to.
Whoa... I forgot to make a gif of it, but the background moves really fast in-game. Would you believe me that this isn't even the most intense sky background they have?
It'd be incredibly lucky for someone to find a free dollar bill on the ground, yet Soma finds 100 bucks just like that.
Name: Bone Pillar
HP: 75
EXP: 9
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Mind Up (rare)
Description:"The skeletal remains of a dinosaur neck animated by magic."
Soul effect (
): "Radiates flame."
Soma's Thoughts: "More dinosaurs. Was Dracula a fan of dinosaurs or something?"
Bone Pillars have been a mainstay of the series ever since the first Castlevania on the NES. In the Metroidvania titles, they're there to impede your progress and shoot fire at you.
As for the soul, you shoot fire out of your hands. It sounds pretty neat but the downside is that you're stationary, aka. something you don't want in a game where the action is always moving.
Mind Ups are probably one of the least necessary items in the game thanks to all of the candles with Hearts in them and your naturally regenerating MP.
Curse you single jump for not allowing me to get these!
Name: Giant Ghost
HP: 75
EXP: 22
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Nothing
Description: "Transformed into a giant ghost by exposure to the castle's magic."
Soul effect (
): "Provides a protective barrier."
Soma's Thoughts: "OH GOD DON'T LET IT EAT ME!"
Behold the Giant Ghost! The poster boy of "looks scary but doesn't do a damn thing". Sure, bumping into him hurts a bit, but he's no real danger.
His soul is actually really good, though. It envelops Soma's entire body and prevents any projectiles from hitting him. On top of that, it returns the attack as a beam of light which could be very useful if you get swarmed by enemies.
I go up the stairs instead of down like we're supposed to and look at what I found:
Name: Durga
HP: 34
EXP: 15
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Weapon, Holy, Stone
Drops: Gym Clothes (rare), Coffee (rare)
Description: "A monster that feasts on the flesh of its victims."
Soul effect (
): "Throws katanas."
Soma's Thoughts: "Alright, a scantily clad woman with four arms wielding rapiers. I don't see anything wrong with this."
Durgas are pushovers even if they can multi-stab you with those four arms. They're based off of the Hindu goddess of victory, destruction, creation and so on, which is cool and all but why is she a monster that works for Dracula? I don't know, man.
By "throwing katanas", it means throwing giant rapiers. It's actually one of my favorite abilities in the game because they're strong projectiles that can also go through walls for some reason.
They're so cool that I can imagine Soma casually throwing them at enemies without even looking.
Short, sweet and to the point. The Rapier is faster than the Short Sword too, which is magnificent.
There's a save room down here - that's how you know there's trouble ahead.
Name: Une
HP: 10
EXP: 10
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Fire
Drops: Nothing
Description: "Plant-like monster that assaults its prey with thorn-covered leaves."
Soul effect (
): "Buries land mines throughout its turf."
Soma's Thoughts: "This is some funky plant..."
Unes have been a staple monster since Super Castlevania 4 as these annoying little plants... that hit like dump trucks. They do just as much damage as Creaking Skull (if not more) despite how tiny they are. That's the only real notable thing about them, however, because they go down with a simple poke from any weapon.
Their soul is... situational at best. You can shoot out five Unes at a time and they hit three times per Une, but they cost 20 MP and they're apparently really slow / can't hit flying targets. That's sort of a dealbreaker for me.
Next boss! What's it going to be?
[Current boss theme in-game: Confrontation]
Name: Manticore
HP: 440
EXP: 250
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Curse, Stone
Drops: Gladius (rare)
Description: "A monster with the body of a lion, the wings of a bat and a scorpion's tail."
Soul effect (
): "Transforms into a magical beast that rushes at enemies."
Soma's Thoughts: "Okay, what would I do if I were a lion tamer? Then again, this is... uh... clearly not a normal lion."
Hi, kitty.
But seriously though, Manticore isn't much of a threat. The stinger can poison you, but that only makes the battle last longer more than endanger you. He likes to hop around the area, which is why I'm thankful there's platforms on the sides.
Much like Creaking Skull, he can shoot out a spicy meatball at Soma. Then again, I have grenades and a rapier. Guess who wins?
Yep, you guessed right. Putting in a game over screen would have been funny, though.
Dandy. Oh yes, about Manticore's soul - see, there's different Guardian souls that allow Soma to transform into a giant monster to rush at enemies. They're as awesome as the effect entails, but they come at a steep price - 30 MP per second, which is bound to deplete your MP stock immediately.
They're necessary for entering one bonus area, but aside from that they're just too cool to use.
There's also these things. They're completely invulnerable to any attack, so they're more to annoy you if you want to get anywhere.
Silk Robe increases your Intelligence, which is completely useless right now because we have no offensive Guardian souls.
Although how a robe increases intelligence I'll never know. I get that it's wizard stuff, but that's a bit silly.
Name: Ghost Dancer
HP: 25
EXP: 22
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Nothing
Drops: Tea (rare)
Description: "The elegantly dancing ghost of an aristocrat"
Soul effect (
): "Increases Luck by 4."
Soma's Thoughts: "Aww, they're just dancing."
Ghost Dancers are probably the best example of a monster that exists to be part of the background. They aren't trying to hurt you and even if you collide with them, it doesn't hurt that much. I think they're an adorable enemy, even if their soul is pretty much useless.
Name: Quezlcoatl
HP: 60
EXP: 42
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Ancient Belt (common)
Description: "A reincarnation of the ancient snake god."
Soul effect (
): "Increases Constitution by 8."
Soma's Thoughts: "Okay, the bouncing around thing is getting really annoying, stop."
Quezalcoatl is based off of the Mesoamerican feathered serpent god and is an upgraded version of White Dragon that bounces around all over the place. Pleasant. (note: these things can burn in hell)
Name: Fleaman
HP: 10
EXP: 15
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Poison, Curse
Drops: Cloth Tunic (common)
Description: "Creature that hops around like a flea."
Soul effect (
): "Hops around madly."
Soma's Thoughts: "Is this a castle or a freak show?"
Ah, the Fleaman. Usually some of the most annoying enemies in Castlevania due to how they constantly hop around.
I guess it's payback when you summon your own Fleaman to annoy the other enemies.
Hot damn, I can't believe I got this!
See, the Hammer is a rare random drop from Rock Armors and look at how much it increases my attack! The downside of all of this power, though?
The swing speed is like taping a piece of paper with "hit me" to Soma's forehead. Yeah, that slow. Thank you, but I'd rather stick to my really fast stab-happy sword.
Name: Zombie Officer
HP: 150
EXP: 40
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Weapon, Holy, Stone
Drops: Combat Knife (rare), Army Jacket (rare)
Description: "Animated corpse of a lieutenant who marched to his death 36 years ago."
Soul effect (
): "Jumping while taking damage restores health" - which is a damn lie
Soma's Thoughts: "This guy looks like he crawled out of old Resident Evil or something. What happened to him?!"
Zombie Officers are a very strange enemy. They're supposed to be the lieutenants of the soldiers that fought alongside the Belmonts in the war of 1999, but what the fresh hell even happened to them? That aside, their beef is legendary among the early enemies and their drops are nice. I want them.
The soul, on the other hand, is a victim of bad translation. What it really does it let you cancel your knockback animation if you get hit in mid-air and let you fall down immediately.... Not that we ever need such a thing. There's better souls to put in the Enchant slot than that.
[Current audio in-game: Study]
Wow, a new area already? Neat.
This is where Winged Skeletons first pop up outside of the entrance cutscene to boot, so here's their stats:
Name: Winged Skeleton
HP: 20
EXP: 3
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Light
Drops: Spear (rare)
Description: "A skeleton that has been given wings of bone."
Soul effect (
): "Throws spears."
Soma's Thoughts: "They look cool, but they're not that tough."
^ What it looks like when I try to grind enemies for their souls
Name: Student Witch
HP: 80
EXP: 28
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Poison, Stone
Drops: Mind Up (common), Cream Soda (rare)
Description: "A witch-in-training. Can sometimes land her broomstick without crashing."
Soul effect (
): "Releases a lethal cat that runs full-speed at enemies."
Soma's Thoughts: "... Why is she looking at me like if I dumped her or something? Oh no, she's pouting. Definitely a tsundere."
The Student Witch, while ineffective (again, she's only learning), is a cute little muffin that I don't really want to hurt. She flies on her little broomstick and summons cats to maul our face off.
The soul involves summoning said cats ourselves, so you know what that means: Soma is a magical boy. Yes, I went there.
When you "kill" Student Witches, they turn into cats themselves and scurry away. See what I mean by adorable?
As tempted as I am to ram this into some monsters, I'm sticking with the Rapier.
Another rare item drop?! I wanted the soul, but this is a good substitute. The Gym Clothes are actually better than the Leather Plate somehow, despite not being actual armor.
Name: Evil Butcher
HP: 112
EXP: 30
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Poison, Curse
Drops: Baselard (Common), Spoiled Milk (Rare)
Description: "Loves to slice things with his well-used butcher knives."
Soul effect (
): "Throws sharpened butcher knives."
Soma's Thoughts: "This guy looks like he came straight out of a crappy slasher movie. Then again, this is actually happening so it's not just some guy in a costume."
Evil Butchers are another sturdy monster, much like the horror cliche they're based off of. Their soul is an inferior version of Durga's because they're weaker and don't pass through terrain like Durga's rapiers can.
They could serve as a handy replacement to Durga's rapiers if you don't manage to get the latter, but you're probably grinding for Durga anyway.
This block puzzle will have to wait until I get double-jump.
Oh, a twofer!
Name: Arachne
HP: 100
EXP: 32
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapons
Drops: Potion (common)
Description: "This beast appears to be part woman, part spider."
Soul effect (
): "Ensnares enemies using a sticky web."
Soma's Thoughts: "There are a surprising amount of strange monster women hanging around in this castle. I just hope these spider ladies don't eat me or anything."
Arachne seem to only appear in this one room, strangely enough. They spit machine-gun webs at you and dash away from you if you hit them - combine that with the Ectoplasms and the Fleamen in the same hall and it makes for an annoying experience.
Their soul is pretty much Winged Skeleton but stronger and with a slowdown effect as it traps the enemy with a web.
--
Name: Ectoplasm
HP: 30
EXP: 15
Strength: Dark
Weakness: Light
Drops: Uncurse Potion (Common)
Description: "Cotton-like substance that oozes from the corpses of men with regrets."
Soul effect (
): "Immunity to curses."
Soma's Thoughts: "Ugh... Just looking at this thing gives me chills. It's so unnerving."
Ectoplasms are different from other fodder enemies in that they can inflict the Curse status on you. Curse completely depletes your MP and disables MP regeneration for a bit, so it's hilarious that their soul renders you immune to curses.
Name: Catoblepas
HP: 200
EXP: 40
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Poison, Curse
Drops: Milk (Common)
Description: "This ox-like beast's breath turns living things to stone."
Soul effect (
): "Breathes a petrifying cloud into the air."
Soma's Thoughts: "Is that an armored ox? Why is everything around it turning to stone?"
Catoblepas is based off of the greek monster of the same name who has the same abilities. They're probably the most durable monster we've encountered yet, on top of having the ability to petrify us. The soul is a petrification version of Bone Pillar's ability, which means it's just as useful.
This hidden room holds a watermelon slice inside of it. It sounds funny, but it's actually the second best healing item in the game as it restores 600 HP! I should mention that the highest amount of health I've ever gotten in this game has been at least 1000.
There's only one Melon in the game, but that's still crazy.
Look in the background of the save room. Do you see the coffin in the rubble? That's actually a reference to Symphony of the Night - the save rooms in that game involved activating some weird object that turned into a coffin, which made sense seeing as Alucard was part-vamprie.
In the room outside of the save room, you might see this book. Don't worry, it's not necessary to collect. It's more to give you a hint of what to do later on.
With that information in tow, let's go onto more plot.
Oh hey, an actual person!
: "Y-Yes, but... who are you?"
Soma is still reeling after getting smacked around by those Student Witches.
: "Oh, forgive me. I'm Yoko Belnades. I'm a member of the church."
The church is actually not evil. They're legitimate good guys for most of the series. That, or I'm misremembering. Oh well.
: "How would a member of the church recognize me?"
: "You've met Aluca... um, I mean, Genya Arikado right?"
: "I did meet him, but..."
: "He told me about you, and asked me to help you if you were in trouble."
: "Arikado said that? That's hard to believe."
Ouch. I know he was brusque, but he did save your life.
: "Well, he may seem cold at first, but he's actually quite a decent guy. He may be looking out for you because you share the same dark powers."
If I were told my powers were "dark", I'd probably ask this same question too.
: "Oh, you mean you didn't know that!?"
: "Uh..."
: "Oh, no... did I say something... I... well... what's said is said. Essentially, you have the power to rule over and command monsters."
: "Rule over monsters? I have no desire to do that..."
Dude, do you realize the absolutely kick-ass power that people would kill to have is a natural ability of yours? You can do anything with it.
"Although I called it a "dark power" it doesn't mean its evil. It's like a weapon. Its user decides whether to use it for good or evil."
That's actually pretty smart. Although, to be honest, we should really be glad Soma was the one who got such an ability instead of some evil prick.
: "Well, when you put it that way, I feel a little bit better. Since I got this power I've began to lose my sense of self."
: "You are yourself. There's no one else you could be. Don't second guess yourself. Be confident. That's most important."
Awww. I like Yoko.
: [Giggle] "I'm not used to being thanked by people. Oh, I forgot to ask you. Have you seen a man named Graham?"
: "Graham? Yes, I met him earlier."
: "Be wary of that man. I believe that he will inherit Dracula's powers."
Soma, if you meet a man with slicked back hair, an immaculate suit and a smile like this:
DON'T TRUST HIM.
: "Right, and I've got a bridge to sell you! Don't be fooled by his appearance! He's not who you think he is."
: "Al... Alright."
: "Well, I must be going. I've got to find Graham! See you around!"
Who to trust? A creepy televangelist-looking dude or a hot church chick that is genuinely looking out for us? Hmmmmm.
Oh, and if you walk back in here, you'll find a Buer waiting for you. Like he pops into existence.
Name: Minotaur
HP: 200
EXP: 60
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Poison, Curse
Drops: Battle Axe (common), Meat Strip (common)
Description: "This mixture of man and bull possesses superhuman powers."
Soul effect (
): "Increases Strength by 8."
Soma's Thoughts: "Alright, I'm legitimately intimidated."
Minotaurs are indeed bodybuilding maniacs. They attack relentlessly and their beef guarantees them at least one shot at you. More Strength is a good thing, though, so getting their Soul could help you a lot.
The boss door may be there, but let me just get something first.
... Okay, what the hell is that?
oh god that's creepy
Yes, to enter this demon skull mouth thing, you have to backdash into it.
Instead of getting eaten, however, you are instead rewarded with a special sword.
Yep. This is just as cool as it sounds and it's even stronger than the Rapier.
Oh man, the things we can do with this. Let's go cut shit up.
[Current boss theme in-game: Confrontation]
Name: Great Armor
HP: 650
EXP: 250
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Lightning
Drops: Iron Plate (common), Great Sword (rare)
Description: "A heavily-armed soldier built out of the corpses of great warriors."
Soul effect (
): "Strength is increased by 120%."
Soma's Thoughts: "To think I could be sitting at home watching my favorite show right now. Instead, I'm going to get crushed by some giant armored monster."
The Great Armor is tough. It has solid defenses and hits pretty hard even with our new equipment.
Its soul effect is misleading, though. It doesn't increase your strength by 120% - it only increases it by 20%, which isn't... a lot... but oh well.
This is the Great Armor's gimmick - the upper half of its body is guarded by that shield. You have to hit the legs while keeping your distance, which is as fun as it sounds.
Grenades and the whip sword serve me well, however.
I should mention the background windows are rapidly glowing red. It's kind of weird.
Nice.
He sure messed me up for an otherwise easy boss, though.
Oh hey, another human! That's a new record!
[Current audio in-game: Hammer Company]
: "A child? You're rude, grandpa."
: "Oh, my apologies. My name is Hammer. The army ordered me to come here."
: "Hi, I'm Soma."
: "I thought I was inspecting a shrine. But suddenly I was in a castle. Don't ya think that's a mean thing to do to a guy?"
You are officially one of the best characters yet.
You should be glad you wound up in Dracula's Castle. At least you have a good excuse.
: "What do you mean?"
: "There were a bunch of strange people gathered at the shrine. I thought they'd be good customers, so I opened up a shop."
: "Ah...good for you..."
I love how Soma is just brushing this guy off like "yeah, you're a weirdo."
: "There's weapons all over this castle and no monsters at the front gate."
Great. We can finally use the money we've been saving up to now! Hammer's Shop has some pretty good stuff too, so I'll be looking forward to that when the time comes.
Soma is doing surprisingly well after all of the stuff we've seen.
Double Jump, I've missed you.
Anyway, that should be it for this chapter. Next time on Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, we explore more of the castle!
Future Dan Says: You took a surprising amount of time to learn quality of life improvements for your own work. Heck, it wasn't until Sailor Moon: Another Story (2018) that you switched from ZSNES to Snes9x!
Yes, every single screenshot from Snakewood was carefully taken by manually going over to the screen capture function. Cut me some slack, I was just starting out.
Chapter #2 - Small Fry
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Spoiler:
Alright, we beat up a giant light blue skeleton the last time we were here. I can imagine if Soma ever got back home, he'd keep his mouth shut about all of this and go on with his life as if nothing happened.
We get the Bat soul... out of novelty, I guess.
Name: Peeping Eye
HP: 38
EXP: 8
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Nothing
Drops: Nothing
Description: "The castle's designated 'watch dog'."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("What is this, some sort of scorpion eye thing?")
Peeping Eye, aside from being a creeper, is ultimately harmless. It's like Dracula's underpaid sentry officer.
Remember what I said about "some monsters have very low drop rates"? Peeping Eye is one of those monsters and I hate him for it. The soul lets you identify breakable walls, which is nice but Aria of Sorrow has some really obvious breakable walls. The effort doesn't match the reward, sadly.
To emphasize my point...
I find it somewhat hilarious that the guy whose soul is "identifies breakable walls" has one right behind him.
Inside was a Mind Up, which are little red potions that restore your MP by 100. They're nice now, but they're ultimately useless in the long run.
Would you look at that, the Killer Fish has babies. Oh well, that's one more fryer to rev up.
Remind me to come back here too.
The primary purpose of going down here was for the Flying Armor soul... because you can't actually progress upward until you get it. Non-indicative? Yes.
That is one giant moon.... But wait. Aren't we supposed to be in the middle of the eclipse? How... how are we seeing the moon?
Bah, it's Castlevania. They always do some weird shit with the moon in these games.
Name: Blue Crow
HP: 25
EXP: 2
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapons, Stone
Drops: Nothing
Description: "A blue crow that nibbles on rotting corpses."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "It doesn't look that dangerous. Wait, is it eating an arm?!"
Blue Crows are one of those enemies I would readily describe as "there because they have to be". They're not a threat and their only practical purpose is for you to get their soul.
Yes, the soul is literally just Soma throwing a Blue Crow in a short distance and having it come back to his hand like if it were a boomerang. It's as strange as it sounds.
Name: Buer
HP: 20
EXP: 6
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Poison
Drops: Nothing
Description: "A lion with five legs."
Soul effect (
Soma's thoughts: "... Now I've seen everything."
What the hell is that?
That, my friends, is a reference to an Ars Goetian demon... who is recreated in full glory here. Yes, that is exactly what Buer looks like. Buer has the following things under his belt: "Teaches natural and moral philosophy, logic, and the virtues of all herbs and plants, is capable of healing all infirmities (especially of men) and bestows good familiars."
It definitely explains why Soma stabbing him in the face kills him in one hit - he's a doctor. An evil doctor, but still.
Anyway, this is why we need the Flying Armor soul.
Soma even gets a cute little winged armor guy to hold him up.
Name: White Dragon
HP: 95
EXP: 20
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Nothing
Description: "The magically animated remains of a dinosaur."
Soul effect (
Soma's thoughts: "Dinosaurs?! This sure is a weird castle."
The White Dragon breathes fire and lunges at you, on top of being hard to hit due to how often he zig-zags around. He is technically one of those souls that provide a passive boost to Soma's stats, specifically Constitution.
Constitution is the "natural" defense of the character (as in, without armor), so getting the soul would be a nice little defense boost. In Aria of Sorrow, the stat boosting souls are split across different enemies. However, in Dawn of Sorrow, all you have to do is collect more of the same monster to increase the effect... which, to be honest, is a lot better.
The blue potion on the ground there is a Potion that restores 100 HP. Unlike Mind Up, Potions will serve you well no matter how far into the game you go.
Name: Zombie Soldier
HP: 46
EXP: 9
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy, Weapons, Stone
Drops: Rotten Meat (common), Combat Knife (rare)
Description: "Animated corpse of a soldier who marched off to his death 36 years ago."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "Man, poor guy..."
Well, that's gruesome. Apparently there was a war inside of Dracula's castle, which makes me seriously wonder what the hell even happened that got the government involved.
The soul is incredible, though. You throw up to three hand grenades that do a tremendous amount of damage, but the catch is that they don't explode on impact or hit flying enemies.
Name: Ghost
HP: 10
EXP: 1
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Nothing
Description:"A small spirit doomed to wander the castle grounds for all eternity."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "It looks surprisingly adorable for a tortured soul."
The Ghost is just a fodder enemy, but the soul it has is disproportionately great. It summons two spirits that hit for holy damage and track enemies. I question how a creature of darkness and regret shoots light, but it's still amazing because straight out-holy damage is rare and 90% of the enemies are Dark.
I went and grinded the Zombie Soldier soul since we needed an upgrade from the Winged Skeleton spear. * evil cackle *
Finally, a protective piece of armor.
Name: Skeleton Knight
HP: 48
EXP: 12
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Rapier (rare)
Description:"The magically animated skeleton of a dead swordsman."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "This guy looks like he wants a fight." [rolls up sleeves]
Skeleton Knight is one of the few enemies that swarmed us back at the entrance, but they're not that hard to beat. You just have to pay attention to what it does, seeing as they're actually proficient with their swords.
I blew him to high Hell.
Oooh, if only I had the ability soul to get that armor. This is like staring at 200$ brand name chocolate while you only have 5 dollars.
Soma gets his face scorched off by this White Dragon... for a measly scarf.
After what just happened, Soma doesn't need to be warm... Oops, I forgot to equip the Leather Armor.
I don't like how that Peeping Eye is looking at Soma.
This is a room I can't do anything about until endgame, surprisingly enough.
Name: Rock Armor
HP: 72
EXP: 24
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Lightning, Stone
Drops: Hammer (rare), Copper plate (rare)
Description:"An armored soldier that throws boulders."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "Okay, this guy looks pretty beefy. Or is it a lady? I can't tell with these empty suits."
The Rock Armor is a roadblock not because it's a threat, but because it takes a fair amount of punishment. The rocks they throw can easily be broken, and the Soul is Skeleton but worse as it can't even go through ceilings and walls. (Like how it would in... real life)
That katana up there is also end-game material. I think it's silly that Soma can't get it because he's too wimpy to do a pull-up and crawl up to it.
The room on the right is a save room if you need it.
These were in the rooms to the bottom left. The Potion is nice and the bag of 500$ makes me jealous of Soma.
But enough messing around, we have some plot!
Now that's a face you can trust.
[Current audio in-game: A Premonition]
I can sort of understand Soma's hesitation here. While we haven't encountered any of the humanoid enemies yet, we're still in the middle of a monster-infested castle.
... Wow. That's some high-class dialogue right there. Never change, you tremendous goofball.
I should mention this too - Castlevania is the name of Dracula's Castle, apparently. I know, so creative. It's referred to as a "creature of Chaos that takes many forms", which is why the layout of the castle changes every new game... except for the entrance, strangely enough.
Can you blame him?
"When people lost faith... and craved chaos and destruction."
He's not joking. Although Dracula either winds up being brought back prematurely (Dracula is revived every 100 years) or has just woken up.
Order of Ecclesia is the only game I can note where Dracula has spent enough time building up his power thanks to the absence of a Belmont and he's practically invincible in that one.
Oh boy, that's a new one.
"The symbol of his demonic power, inside the darkness of an eclipse."
This is the reason the castle always comes back in every new game despite the fact it crumbles to the ground each time Dracula is defeated.
Some people figured out killing Dracula isn't enough to stop him and the castle from coming back and went straight for the source, hence why the castle is inside the eclipse now.
... Totally trustworthy.
Well, we'll leave that guy to his own devices. He surely isn't up to anything bad, no sir.
For now we have exploration to do!
[Current audio in-game: Chapel]
This song is alright, I guess. Dawn of Sorrow had a much better theme for its chapel area.
This is a good place to grind for Ghosts if you really want to.
Whoa... I forgot to make a gif of it, but the background moves really fast in-game. Would you believe me that this isn't even the most intense sky background they have?
It'd be incredibly lucky for someone to find a free dollar bill on the ground, yet Soma finds 100 bucks just like that.
Name: Bone Pillar
HP: 75
EXP: 9
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Mind Up (rare)
Description:"The skeletal remains of a dinosaur neck animated by magic."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "More dinosaurs. Was Dracula a fan of dinosaurs or something?"
Bone Pillars have been a mainstay of the series ever since the first Castlevania on the NES. In the Metroidvania titles, they're there to impede your progress and shoot fire at you.
As for the soul, you shoot fire out of your hands. It sounds pretty neat but the downside is that you're stationary, aka. something you don't want in a game where the action is always moving.
Mind Ups are probably one of the least necessary items in the game thanks to all of the candles with Hearts in them and your naturally regenerating MP.
Curse you single jump for not allowing me to get these!
Name: Giant Ghost
HP: 75
EXP: 22
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Nothing
Description: "Transformed into a giant ghost by exposure to the castle's magic."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "OH GOD DON'T LET IT EAT ME!"
Behold the Giant Ghost! The poster boy of "looks scary but doesn't do a damn thing". Sure, bumping into him hurts a bit, but he's no real danger.
His soul is actually really good, though. It envelops Soma's entire body and prevents any projectiles from hitting him. On top of that, it returns the attack as a beam of light which could be very useful if you get swarmed by enemies.
I go up the stairs instead of down like we're supposed to and look at what I found:
Name: Durga
HP: 34
EXP: 15
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Weapon, Holy, Stone
Drops: Gym Clothes (rare), Coffee (rare)
Description: "A monster that feasts on the flesh of its victims."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "Alright, a scantily clad woman with four arms wielding rapiers. I don't see anything wrong with this."
Durgas are pushovers even if they can multi-stab you with those four arms. They're based off of the Hindu goddess of victory, destruction, creation and so on, which is cool and all but why is she a monster that works for Dracula? I don't know, man.
By "throwing katanas", it means throwing giant rapiers. It's actually one of my favorite abilities in the game because they're strong projectiles that can also go through walls for some reason.
They're so cool that I can imagine Soma casually throwing them at enemies without even looking.
Short, sweet and to the point. The Rapier is faster than the Short Sword too, which is magnificent.
There's a save room down here - that's how you know there's trouble ahead.
Name: Une
HP: 10
EXP: 10
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Fire
Drops: Nothing
Description: "Plant-like monster that assaults its prey with thorn-covered leaves."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "This is some funky plant..."
Unes have been a staple monster since Super Castlevania 4 as these annoying little plants... that hit like dump trucks. They do just as much damage as Creaking Skull (if not more) despite how tiny they are. That's the only real notable thing about them, however, because they go down with a simple poke from any weapon.
Their soul is... situational at best. You can shoot out five Unes at a time and they hit three times per Une, but they cost 20 MP and they're apparently really slow / can't hit flying targets. That's sort of a dealbreaker for me.
Next boss! What's it going to be?
[Current boss theme in-game: Confrontation]
Name: Manticore
HP: 440
EXP: 250
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Curse, Stone
Drops: Gladius (rare)
Description: "A monster with the body of a lion, the wings of a bat and a scorpion's tail."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "Okay, what would I do if I were a lion tamer? Then again, this is... uh... clearly not a normal lion."
Hi, kitty.
But seriously though, Manticore isn't much of a threat. The stinger can poison you, but that only makes the battle last longer more than endanger you. He likes to hop around the area, which is why I'm thankful there's platforms on the sides.
Much like Creaking Skull, he can shoot out a spicy meatball at Soma. Then again, I have grenades and a rapier. Guess who wins?
Yep, you guessed right. Putting in a game over screen would have been funny, though.
Dandy. Oh yes, about Manticore's soul - see, there's different Guardian souls that allow Soma to transform into a giant monster to rush at enemies. They're as awesome as the effect entails, but they come at a steep price - 30 MP per second, which is bound to deplete your MP stock immediately.
They're necessary for entering one bonus area, but aside from that they're just too cool to use.
There's also these things. They're completely invulnerable to any attack, so they're more to annoy you if you want to get anywhere.
Silk Robe increases your Intelligence, which is completely useless right now because we have no offensive Guardian souls.
Although how a robe increases intelligence I'll never know. I get that it's wizard stuff, but that's a bit silly.
Name: Ghost Dancer
HP: 25
EXP: 22
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Nothing
Drops: Tea (rare)
Description: "The elegantly dancing ghost of an aristocrat"
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "Aww, they're just dancing."
Ghost Dancers are probably the best example of a monster that exists to be part of the background. They aren't trying to hurt you and even if you collide with them, it doesn't hurt that much. I think they're an adorable enemy, even if their soul is pretty much useless.
Name: Quezlcoatl
HP: 60
EXP: 42
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Ancient Belt (common)
Description: "A reincarnation of the ancient snake god."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "Okay, the bouncing around thing is getting really annoying, stop."
Quezalcoatl is based off of the Mesoamerican feathered serpent god and is an upgraded version of White Dragon that bounces around all over the place. Pleasant. (note: these things can burn in hell)
Name: Fleaman
HP: 10
EXP: 15
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Poison, Curse
Drops: Cloth Tunic (common)
Description: "Creature that hops around like a flea."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "Is this a castle or a freak show?"
Ah, the Fleaman. Usually some of the most annoying enemies in Castlevania due to how they constantly hop around.
I guess it's payback when you summon your own Fleaman to annoy the other enemies.
Hot damn, I can't believe I got this!
See, the Hammer is a rare random drop from Rock Armors and look at how much it increases my attack! The downside of all of this power, though?
The swing speed is like taping a piece of paper with "hit me" to Soma's forehead. Yeah, that slow. Thank you, but I'd rather stick to my really fast stab-happy sword.
Name: Zombie Officer
HP: 150
EXP: 40
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Weapon, Holy, Stone
Drops: Combat Knife (rare), Army Jacket (rare)
Description: "Animated corpse of a lieutenant who marched to his death 36 years ago."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "This guy looks like he crawled out of old Resident Evil or something. What happened to him?!"
Zombie Officers are a very strange enemy. They're supposed to be the lieutenants of the soldiers that fought alongside the Belmonts in the war of 1999, but what the fresh hell even happened to them? That aside, their beef is legendary among the early enemies and their drops are nice. I want them.
The soul, on the other hand, is a victim of bad translation. What it really does it let you cancel your knockback animation if you get hit in mid-air and let you fall down immediately.... Not that we ever need such a thing. There's better souls to put in the Enchant slot than that.
[Current audio in-game: Study]
Wow, a new area already? Neat.
This is where Winged Skeletons first pop up outside of the entrance cutscene to boot, so here's their stats:
Name: Winged Skeleton
HP: 20
EXP: 3
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Light
Drops: Spear (rare)
Description: "A skeleton that has been given wings of bone."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "They look cool, but they're not that tough."
^ What it looks like when I try to grind enemies for their souls
Name: Student Witch
HP: 80
EXP: 28
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Poison, Stone
Drops: Mind Up (common), Cream Soda (rare)
Description: "A witch-in-training. Can sometimes land her broomstick without crashing."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "... Why is she looking at me like if I dumped her or something? Oh no, she's pouting. Definitely a tsundere."
The Student Witch, while ineffective (again, she's only learning), is a cute little muffin that I don't really want to hurt. She flies on her little broomstick and summons cats to maul our face off.
The soul involves summoning said cats ourselves, so you know what that means: Soma is a magical boy. Yes, I went there.
When you "kill" Student Witches, they turn into cats themselves and scurry away. See what I mean by adorable?
As tempted as I am to ram this into some monsters, I'm sticking with the Rapier.
Another rare item drop?! I wanted the soul, but this is a good substitute. The Gym Clothes are actually better than the Leather Plate somehow, despite not being actual armor.
Name: Evil Butcher
HP: 112
EXP: 30
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Poison, Curse
Drops: Baselard (Common), Spoiled Milk (Rare)
Description: "Loves to slice things with his well-used butcher knives."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "This guy looks like he came straight out of a crappy slasher movie. Then again, this is actually happening so it's not just some guy in a costume."
Evil Butchers are another sturdy monster, much like the horror cliche they're based off of. Their soul is an inferior version of Durga's because they're weaker and don't pass through terrain like Durga's rapiers can.
They could serve as a handy replacement to Durga's rapiers if you don't manage to get the latter, but you're probably grinding for Durga anyway.
This block puzzle will have to wait until I get double-jump.
Oh, a twofer!
Name: Arachne
HP: 100
EXP: 32
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapons
Drops: Potion (common)
Description: "This beast appears to be part woman, part spider."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "There are a surprising amount of strange monster women hanging around in this castle. I just hope these spider ladies don't eat me or anything."
Arachne seem to only appear in this one room, strangely enough. They spit machine-gun webs at you and dash away from you if you hit them - combine that with the Ectoplasms and the Fleamen in the same hall and it makes for an annoying experience.
Their soul is pretty much Winged Skeleton but stronger and with a slowdown effect as it traps the enemy with a web.
--
Name: Ectoplasm
HP: 30
EXP: 15
Strength: Dark
Weakness: Light
Drops: Uncurse Potion (Common)
Description: "Cotton-like substance that oozes from the corpses of men with regrets."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "Ugh... Just looking at this thing gives me chills. It's so unnerving."
Ectoplasms are different from other fodder enemies in that they can inflict the Curse status on you. Curse completely depletes your MP and disables MP regeneration for a bit, so it's hilarious that their soul renders you immune to curses.
Name: Catoblepas
HP: 200
EXP: 40
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Poison, Curse
Drops: Milk (Common)
Description: "This ox-like beast's breath turns living things to stone."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "Is that an armored ox? Why is everything around it turning to stone?"
Catoblepas is based off of the greek monster of the same name who has the same abilities. They're probably the most durable monster we've encountered yet, on top of having the ability to petrify us. The soul is a petrification version of Bone Pillar's ability, which means it's just as useful.
This hidden room holds a watermelon slice inside of it. It sounds funny, but it's actually the second best healing item in the game as it restores 600 HP! I should mention that the highest amount of health I've ever gotten in this game has been at least 1000.
There's only one Melon in the game, but that's still crazy.
Look in the background of the save room. Do you see the coffin in the rubble? That's actually a reference to Symphony of the Night - the save rooms in that game involved activating some weird object that turned into a coffin, which made sense seeing as Alucard was part-vamprie.
In the room outside of the save room, you might see this book. Don't worry, it's not necessary to collect. It's more to give you a hint of what to do later on.
With that information in tow, let's go onto more plot.
Oh hey, an actual person!
Soma is still reeling after getting smacked around by those Student Witches.
The church is actually not evil. They're legitimate good guys for most of the series. That, or I'm misremembering. Oh well.
Ouch. I know he was brusque, but he did save your life.
If I were told my powers were "dark", I'd probably ask this same question too.
Dude, do you realize the absolutely kick-ass power that people would kill to have is a natural ability of yours? You can do anything with it.
"Although I called it a "dark power" it doesn't mean its evil. It's like a weapon. Its user decides whether to use it for good or evil."
That's actually pretty smart. Although, to be honest, we should really be glad Soma was the one who got such an ability instead of some evil prick.
Awww. I like Yoko.
Soma, if you meet a man with slicked back hair, an immaculate suit and a smile like this:
DON'T TRUST HIM.
Who to trust? A creepy televangelist-looking dude or a hot church chick that is genuinely looking out for us? Hmmmmm.
Oh, and if you walk back in here, you'll find a Buer waiting for you. Like he pops into existence.
Name: Minotaur
HP: 200
EXP: 60
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapon, Poison, Curse
Drops: Battle Axe (common), Meat Strip (common)
Description: "This mixture of man and bull possesses superhuman powers."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "Alright, I'm legitimately intimidated."
Minotaurs are indeed bodybuilding maniacs. They attack relentlessly and their beef guarantees them at least one shot at you. More Strength is a good thing, though, so getting their Soul could help you a lot.
The boss door may be there, but let me just get something first.
... Okay, what the hell is that?
oh god that's creepy
Yes, to enter this demon skull mouth thing, you have to backdash into it.
Instead of getting eaten, however, you are instead rewarded with a special sword.
Yep. This is just as cool as it sounds and it's even stronger than the Rapier.
Oh man, the things we can do with this. Let's go cut shit up.
[Current boss theme in-game: Confrontation]
Name: Great Armor
HP: 650
EXP: 250
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Lightning
Drops: Iron Plate (common), Great Sword (rare)
Description: "A heavily-armed soldier built out of the corpses of great warriors."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: "To think I could be sitting at home watching my favorite show right now. Instead, I'm going to get crushed by some giant armored monster."
The Great Armor is tough. It has solid defenses and hits pretty hard even with our new equipment.
Its soul effect is misleading, though. It doesn't increase your strength by 120% - it only increases it by 20%, which isn't... a lot... but oh well.
This is the Great Armor's gimmick - the upper half of its body is guarded by that shield. You have to hit the legs while keeping your distance, which is as fun as it sounds.
Grenades and the whip sword serve me well, however.
I should mention the background windows are rapidly glowing red. It's kind of weird.
Nice.
He sure messed me up for an otherwise easy boss, though.
Oh hey, another human! That's a new record!
[Current audio in-game: Hammer Company]
You are officially one of the best characters yet.
You should be glad you wound up in Dracula's Castle. At least you have a good excuse.
I love how Soma is just brushing this guy off like "yeah, you're a weirdo."
Great. We can finally use the money we've been saving up to now! Hammer's Shop has some pretty good stuff too, so I'll be looking forward to that when the time comes.
Soma is doing surprisingly well after all of the stuff we've seen.
Double Jump, I've missed you.
Anyway, that should be it for this chapter. Next time on Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, we explore more of the castle!