Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen Feb 24, 2025
Despite all of the ragging I did on the Luck stat, I was blessed by the Random Number Goddess multiple times in this chapter alone. Fancy that.
Chapter #3 - Fortune Smiles On Me
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I've played this game a million times and I still can't remember how far we're in.
Future Dan Says: You're about 25% done.
Regarding the block-pushing "puzzle", going up gets you the Heart Pendant. I'll pass.
Going down gives you the Broadsword, which is a bit different than the other swords we've gotten.
It's an overhead weapon. While the broadsword itself isn't that impressive, keep this in mind when we get the ultimate weapon of the game.
Excellent. Now we can be Dio Brando.
(fun fact: there actually is a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure reference in both this game and Dawn of Sorrow)
This was literally the instant I came out of the study
What is going on
The Combat Knife is not only a rare drop, but it's really good compared to most of the other stuff we have. Sure, it may be shorter than Soma's arm, but it's strong and fast.
This will be my default weapon for some time.
Our first Enchant Soul and it happens to be Ghost Dancer. When I was playing and got this, I brushed it off like "oh whatever it's just luck". But then I realized this was a coded message about all of the phat lewt I would be getting later on.
Pretty sneaky, game...
What's happening in this screenshot is that the Unes were sending out more of themselves. I had to stop it immediately before it got stupid, but pay attention to the item we just got. Anti-Venoms cure poison, which plays a greater role in this segment due to the boss at the end.
Yes, the same boss that I would have recommended that you have the Zombie soul for. (increases stats when poisoned)
Believe it or not, this is your Warp room for the game. All of the Metroidvania titles have these scattered across their levels and they're godsends. It's a really smart idea given how actual Metroid doesn't even have warp points.
Future Dan Says: Samus Returns would like to have a word with you, Past Dan. Surprise, you actually get two new Metroid games in the future!
(Three if you count Another Metroid 2 Remake)
Since there's no other spots we can go, it takes us back to the Castle Corridor.
OH GOD SOMA NO
Well, that was a bit intimidating. You can tell you're supposed to come here now-ish given how they throw a Zombie Officer at you... which is really weird, given that this is directly above the fodder zombie hallway at the beginning of the game.
Speaking of the entrance...
Hammer really did set up his shop here! We'll check out his wares in a second, but first we have to talk to Mina.
: "What?"
: "That man over there..."
: "Who? You mean Hammer?"
Hammer? Scary? Please, he's a marshmallow.
: "No, I think he's a decent guy."
: "But look at all those weapons he has over there..."
: "He told me he was opening up his own shop."
: "Here!? He's opening a shop in this castle? He's weird..."
: "Yeah, it's pretty strange."
I just love how we both agree that Hammer is a freaking weirdo.
A nice little benefit to talking with Mina is that she completely restores your HP and MP somehow. I guess the peace of mind was all Soma needed.
: "Is this where you've opened your shop?"
: "Yes, yes, it is. By the way, that cute young lady over there... she's staring at you is she yer friend?"
Soma and Mina already think you're a weirdo, Hammer, so you're not helping your image.
: "Yeah."
: "H-Hey, its not like that!"
: "Don't be shy now, ya hear? It's good to be young! It's a good thing! Alrighty back to business... Take a look around friend!"
Hammer, your cheeseball tendencies really do make you one of the best.
If his larger and more detailed mugshot wasn't enough to tell you that he's serious about his shop, his merchandise upgrades at certain intervals and eventually he'll have a special item that is far more expensive than anything in the entire game, bar none. For now, though, we're just gonna get some Potions and leave.
If you go directly above Mina and Hammer, you'll find the Lucky Charm which might as well be sold off to Hammer as vendor trash.
I'm mesmerized by the oversized moon in the background.
Name: Killer Doll
HP: 110
EXP: 40
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Fire, Stone
Drops: Nothing
Description: "A figurine possessed by the soul of a mass murderer."
Soul effect (
): "Mesmerizes the enemy."
Soma's Thoughts: ("I am positive I've seen this guy from a series of horror movies.")
Aside from being a reference to Chucky from Child's Play, Killer Doll is a joke in many respects. Its only real attack is slowly lumbering toward you, so getting hit is a non-issue if you're paying attention. Killer Doll absolutely hates Zombie Soldier's grenades, as even one does 90+ damage to it!
The soul is just bad. It throws a doll that's supposed to stop enemies from attacking you... Problem is, this doesn't even stop enemies from attacking you, so it fails its own purpose. I'm convinced the only useful application the Killer Doll soul has is for achieving 100% soul completion.
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The Cestus is the first of the fist-based weapons, although technically you could take off the weapon you have now and just use your bare hands. That sounds cool but Soma's not meant for bare-hand fighting.
... At least until we get the souls that give him super punching techniques.
This is in the room before Creaking Skull, just so you know.
The Lance is much like the Hammer (no relation) in that it hits hard but is slow as piss. The Combat Knife is king around here.
Name: Siren
HP: 50
EXP: 20
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapons, Poison, Curse
Drops: Nothing
Description: "A beast whose beautiful singing voice has the power to mesmerize."
Soul effect (
): "Song casts a spell on enemies."
Soma's Thoughts: ("To think, outside of this castle, a singing harpie woman would be a big deal. Here she's just another monster.")
The Siren is as fragile as she looks, so one poke from any weapon of yours could probably kill her. Her soul consists of Soma creating musical notes that fire at enemies, accompanied by him making a funny little noise each time he makes a note. It doesn't do anything aside from straight-out damage, but it's the only Bullet soul in the game that can pass through screens... oddly enough.
[Current audio in-game: Dance Hall]
The Dance Hall has what might be my favorite theme in the entire game. It's sinister but playful, on top of being super catchy. It definitely fits the area we're going into, even if said area is the basement of the actual dance hall.
(Whoa, this guy looks cool.)
[Current audio in-game: A Premonition]
: "It is rude to ask questions before introducing yourself."
Yeah, tell him Soma.
: "Yes, you're right. I can't give you my name, but people call me J."
: "People call you "J"? Why hide your real name? Are you a criminal?"
Soma, sometimes you're as subtle as a sledgehammer.
: "No. I have amnesia. I'm told that I was in an accident in 1999. When I woke up in the hospital, I had forgotten my name and my past."
Another amnesiac. Oh joy.
: "Oh, I see... well my name's Soma."
: "Your dark power... were you born with it?"
: "I don't really know. I first noticed it when I entered this castle..."
"Yes, I definitely noticed I had dark power when I could throw spears out of nowhere."
: "I see... I guess I was mistaken."
* snicker *
: "Call me J. I am filled with fear when I hear the name Dracula. I came here because of the prophecy. I also thought my memory might return in fact, since my arrival, I felt my memory is returning."
: "And your accident occured in 1999? Maybe Dracula was involved...?"
: "I fear you are correct... Especially since I have magical powers..."
: "J, are you an exorcist?"
If exorcists used whips and threw boomerang crosses, then yes he's definitely one.
"I must be going now. I'm sure we'll meet again."
: "Yes, see ya."
[J walks offscreen]
Well, that was interesting. We'll definitely be meeting that guy again, but for now we have more important things to worry about.
Since Soma can't just crawl, we can't do anything in this room yet.
That's some high class pixel art. On the right is a save room, by the way.
You see this painting in the background? That's actually what the game over screen looks like.
It's hard enough trying to comprehend what's even going on in the painting, let alone the meta-ness of it showing up here.
I found this breakable wall by accident thanks to the Durga soul.
No way.
Now all we have to do is get that katana Soma was too much of a wimp to get and we'll be complete.
Name: Waiter Skeleton
HP: 120
EXP: 38
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Beef Curry (rare)
Description: "A skeletal waiter that carries a bowl of delicious curry."
Soul effect (
): "Sling hot curry at its foes."
Soma's Thoughts: ("Damn, I am really hungry. Maybe I can convince that guy to give me some curry.")
Yes, Waiter Skeleton attacks you by throwing food at your face. Curry is a running gag in the Castlevania series, and in this game it restores over 800 HP. It could be worth farming the Skeleton Waiter to get the Beef Curry due to it being the strongest healing item in the game.
Unfortunately, the soul is admittedly not that great outside of the hilarity.
You've got to be kidding me. That's the Zombie Officer's other drop! There's no way I could have gotten both in one chapter!
Too bad it had to come after the Samurai Armor, though.
Mana Prisms are the ultimate Mind Up because they restore all of your MP. I can imagine it being handy for one situation and that's about it.
Anyway, this is the eponymous dance hall with Ghost Dancers everywhere. One thing I've always wanted to know regarding 2D games like these: Where exactly are we in the foreground? Like I know we're in the dance hall itself, but where are we walking through?
Bah, that's just me rambling.
That weapon is the Cutall. The Combat Knife already outclasses it, so the only reason you'd get the Cutall is for cash. See what I mean?
Name: Nemesis
HP: 170
EXP: 75
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Nothing
Drops: Nothing
Description: "An angel who hunts and slaughters man-beasts."
Soul effect (
): "Cloaking shield makes you invisible before enemies' eyes."
Soma's Thoughts: ("Oh great, now even the ghost girls are going after me.")
Nemesis is a variation on invisible enemies that attack via their swords. She occasionally shows her true form when she attacks and when she's defeated, but the point you have to attack is the sword itself.
Her soul is pretty bad due to its high cost and the fact you'd probably spend your time killing enemies over running away from them.
At the bottom of that room is this warp room. That's neat I guess.
Well, look who it is. Creaking Skull returns as a regular enemy and is not the last boss to suffer that indignity. Although with how strong we are now, blitzing past him is easy.
Name: Wooden Golem
HP: 250
EXP: 200
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Fire
Drops: Grapes (rare)
Description:"A man-like figure built of wood and animated by magic."
Soul effect (
): "MP recovery rate is increased."
Soma's Thoughts: ("Who has the time to make these things? They're cool, though.")
The Wooden Golem is the first of many Golems types, and is particularly notorious for being damn bulky. More MP regeneration is nice, but having to fight a lot of these guys would probably get on my nerves after a while.
Oh yeah, and I have to show this off:
I could watch this all day.
Seriously though. If you're paying attention to the health numbers, you'll notice it does double damage. That's another reason why fighting these guys gives me a tremendous headache.
The only thing at the end of this gauntlet was more money, which is... good, right?
Whoa, hello. This area looks pretty spooky with the mist and the skinned pig meat.
And would you look at that, I somehow managed to get the Fleaman soul. As tempting as it is to unleash an army of them on these guys, I don't have the MP.
There's a save room behind us... you might need it for this next bit.
[All the bosses from now have Confrontation as their theme, barring a few.]
Name: Big Golem
HP: 1200
EXP: 1000
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Nothing
Drops: Milican's Sword
Description:"A man-like figure molded out of soil and animated by magic."
Soul effect (
): "Punches enemies."
Soma's Thoughts: ("This guy is as big as a house! How am I expected to beat him?!")
Big Golem is arguably the most tedious boss to fight so far. His arm blocks any attack that comes at him, so that leaves me with very little options outside of the Whip Sword and Zombie Soldier's grenades.
One of his attacks is ralphing up his dinner and another is poking you.
I should mention that if Soma gets hit with by a strong enemy and gets flung back, he has a voice clip to go with it:
(Jyoutou!) - How dare you! or Bring it on!
Aria of Sorrow (and Dawn) are so animesque that they kept in the original Japanese voice acting (which, for a GBA game, is pretty great).
After a long, drawn out battle of explosions and blades, Big Golem finally goes down.
His soul is Creaking Skull but slightly better as it involves Big Golem shooting a giant fuck-you fist at whatever's behind Soma. It's great.
Our reward is -- what the hell was that? Eh, whatever.
Soma seriously needed a monster soul to be able to slide. That's kinda pathetic.
Oh wow, I finally got it to appear.
Name: Tsuchinoko
HP: 300
EXP: 80
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Curse
Drops: Nothing
Description: "A mythical snake proven to exist by Soma Cruz in 2035."
Soul effect (
): "Allows you to buy goods at cheaper prices."
Soma's Thoughts: ("I found a goddamn cryptid. Even if I get out of this castle alive, I'm positive nobody would believe me on this.")
The Tsuchinoko is a rare enemy in the game that you'll probably never encounter without prior knowledge. You have to constantly re-enter the room to make it appear, and it's a really tough enemy to kill with my current moveset. It can poison you too, so you'd be doing even less damage.
It'd be very impressive if you get this guy's soul, because having to pay less money at Hammer's Shop is a godsend.
The High Potion restores over 400 HP, which is great considering how it becomes a buyable item later on.
... You're serious. I've completely bled the Zombie Officer of all of his drops, and I wasn't even trying to do so. That is goddamn amazing.
My real goal was to get Creaking Skull's soul, however. The Zombie Officers were just window dressing.
Yeaaaaaah, now we're talking business.
Now we are the bone brothers. As suggestive as the ability seems, it's not actually coming out of Soma's nads so be glad for that.
That's enough of the Dance Hall for now, though.
[Current audio in-game: Inner Quarters]
The Inner Quarters have an oddly soothing theme considering that we're in Dracula's Castle. This area is unique as the only enemies you'll encounter here are female (barring three exceptions), as if this place was where Dracula kept his harem of monster girls.
Name: Persephone
HP: 150
EXP: 55
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapons, Poison
Drops: Scarf (rare), Strawberry (rare)
Description: "A demon maid that served a noble master."
Soul effect (
): "Absorbs enemies' HP with a magical item."
Soma's Thoughts: ("Oh, she looks pretty cute. Why are we fighting again?")
Persephone is best enemy. She bows, says hello (in Japanese)... and pops a fucking roundhouse kick in Soma's jaw! Yes, she is a demon ninja maid.
Her soul summons an evil vacuum cleaner that steals health for you, so that's good too.
I came in here expecting treasure. I instead got a high heel to the face.
Name: Chronomage
HP: 80
EXP: 30
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Nothing
Drops: Pudding (common)
Description:"Rabbit that uses a clock to stop time. Strict in regards to tardiness."
Soul effect (
): "Ability to stop time."
Soma's Thoughts: ("Why does everything around here look so cute? Wait... haven't I seen this thing before? I should not have this much deja vu already.")
Chronomage is an interesting enemy. His time stopping ability prevents him from being harmed by anything, and he throws us out of the room he's in if we get close. Not even throwing a Durga rapier offscreen can escape his notice.
As such, we can't do anything with him unless we suddenly get the power to control time ourselves. But that's just crazy.
We're reaching the boss room, so I should note that there's a save room behind Soma.
[Current boss theme: Confrontation]
.... Oh no, what are we getting ourselves into now?
"I will add you to my collection." (she says this in Japanese)
Name: Headhunter
HP: 700
EXP: 3000
Strength: Dark
Weakness: Weapon
Drops: N/A
Description: "This demon collects the severed heads of their victims.."
Soul effect (
): "Collect souls to increase strength."
Soma's Thoughts: ("Okay, I'll admit. This is incredibly disturbing.")
The Headhunter is a very interesting boss. There's a ton of heads in the background (of all ages... ew), but the ones we have to focus on are the ones in the middle. The female head is arguably the easiest of the three as she doesn't have a real strategy aside from jabbing at Soma's jugular with a knife.
This boss is a reference to a character from Return to Oz, head-collecting and all. Apparently people in Japan really liked that movie and that's the reason why Headhunter is even in the game at all. I dunno.
Like so. If you attack her directly, she goes back and yells (odore!) - "Dance!"... which I find adorable for some reason.
Also, looking at the sprites, she's hella tall. Soma just barely reaches up to her chest, and I'm positive he's like 5'8 (or around that range).
Damn, that was a perfect shot! It doesn't matter what you use to finish off Headhunter's first stage, but I just had to throw that in.
"Not yet...!"
Now it's time for the old wizard phase.
He has two attacks: A fire lizard attack and a thunderbolt spell. (Poor Soma always becomes the punching bag in these scenarios, heh)
The most annoying thing about this form is that Headhunter zigzags around the room, which makes hitting them a pleasant experience.
We lop this head off and continue onto the final phase of the fight.
... In hindsight, this fight just keeps getting more gruesome.
Headhunter's true form is this lizard monster. She is at her worst here because the lizard form is easily one of the most agile enemies in the game. She can cling to the walls and the ceiling almost instantly and makes leaps across the room with ease.
She has a Yoshi tongue and poison breath on top of all this. If you notice my health in the two screenshots, you'll see that I got my ass whupped. Headhunter is definitely not messing around, and while I should have played a bit better, she's still really annoying to deal with.
Durga soul, I love you.
I was poisoned, so my attacks weren't doing a lot. Not only that, I only had enough MP to shoot one rapier. When I saw this happen, my jaw dropped to the ground like hot damn.
With that, Headhunter has been slain once and for all. The heads burn away along with her for some reason, and we get our prize.
(note: bosses that aren't regular enemies later on will give you their soul 100% of the time)
Headhunter is a boss that has a lot of style and substance. The soul is the best example of this, as it could potentially be the most broken stat-booster in the entire game. It boosts every stat (excluding Luck because who cares about Luck) by 1 for every sixteen souls and caps at +32 for each stat. To compare, even the most powerful individual stat boosting Enchant Souls are +18.
That's some killdozer level shit.
We end the same way we started: In a save room.
Next time on Aria of Sorrow, we'll tackle more Castle, more danger and more cute monster girls. See you later.
Chapter #3 - Fortune Smiles On Me
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Spoiler:
I've played this game a million times and I still can't remember how far we're in.
Future Dan Says: You're about 25% done.
Regarding the block-pushing "puzzle", going up gets you the Heart Pendant. I'll pass.
Going down gives you the Broadsword, which is a bit different than the other swords we've gotten.
It's an overhead weapon. While the broadsword itself isn't that impressive, keep this in mind when we get the ultimate weapon of the game.
Excellent. Now we can be Dio Brando.
(fun fact: there actually is a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure reference in both this game and Dawn of Sorrow)
This was literally the instant I came out of the study
What is going on
The Combat Knife is not only a rare drop, but it's really good compared to most of the other stuff we have. Sure, it may be shorter than Soma's arm, but it's strong and fast.
This will be my default weapon for some time.
Our first Enchant Soul and it happens to be Ghost Dancer. When I was playing and got this, I brushed it off like "oh whatever it's just luck". But then I realized this was a coded message about all of the phat lewt I would be getting later on.
Pretty sneaky, game...
What's happening in this screenshot is that the Unes were sending out more of themselves. I had to stop it immediately before it got stupid, but pay attention to the item we just got. Anti-Venoms cure poison, which plays a greater role in this segment due to the boss at the end.
Yes, the same boss that I would have recommended that you have the Zombie soul for. (increases stats when poisoned)
Believe it or not, this is your Warp room for the game. All of the Metroidvania titles have these scattered across their levels and they're godsends. It's a really smart idea given how actual Metroid doesn't even have warp points.
Future Dan Says: Samus Returns would like to have a word with you, Past Dan. Surprise, you actually get two new Metroid games in the future!
(Three if you count Another Metroid 2 Remake)
Since there's no other spots we can go, it takes us back to the Castle Corridor.
OH GOD SOMA NO
Well, that was a bit intimidating. You can tell you're supposed to come here now-ish given how they throw a Zombie Officer at you... which is really weird, given that this is directly above the fodder zombie hallway at the beginning of the game.
Speaking of the entrance...
Hammer really did set up his shop here! We'll check out his wares in a second, but first we have to talk to Mina.
Hammer? Scary? Please, he's a marshmallow.
I just love how we both agree that Hammer is a freaking weirdo.
A nice little benefit to talking with Mina is that she completely restores your HP and MP somehow. I guess the peace of mind was all Soma needed.
Soma and Mina already think you're a weirdo, Hammer, so you're not helping your image.
Hammer, your cheeseball tendencies really do make you one of the best.
If his larger and more detailed mugshot wasn't enough to tell you that he's serious about his shop, his merchandise upgrades at certain intervals and eventually he'll have a special item that is far more expensive than anything in the entire game, bar none. For now, though, we're just gonna get some Potions and leave.
If you go directly above Mina and Hammer, you'll find the Lucky Charm which might as well be sold off to Hammer as vendor trash.
I'm mesmerized by the oversized moon in the background.
Name: Killer Doll
HP: 110
EXP: 40
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Fire, Stone
Drops: Nothing
Description: "A figurine possessed by the soul of a mass murderer."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("I am positive I've seen this guy from a series of horror movies.")
Aside from being a reference to Chucky from Child's Play, Killer Doll is a joke in many respects. Its only real attack is slowly lumbering toward you, so getting hit is a non-issue if you're paying attention. Killer Doll absolutely hates Zombie Soldier's grenades, as even one does 90+ damage to it!
The soul is just bad. It throws a doll that's supposed to stop enemies from attacking you... Problem is, this doesn't even stop enemies from attacking you, so it fails its own purpose. I'm convinced the only useful application the Killer Doll soul has is for achieving 100% soul completion.
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The Cestus is the first of the fist-based weapons, although technically you could take off the weapon you have now and just use your bare hands. That sounds cool but Soma's not meant for bare-hand fighting.
... At least until we get the souls that give him super punching techniques.
This is in the room before Creaking Skull, just so you know.
The Lance is much like the Hammer (no relation) in that it hits hard but is slow as piss. The Combat Knife is king around here.
Name: Siren
HP: 50
EXP: 20
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapons, Poison, Curse
Drops: Nothing
Description: "A beast whose beautiful singing voice has the power to mesmerize."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("To think, outside of this castle, a singing harpie woman would be a big deal. Here she's just another monster.")
The Siren is as fragile as she looks, so one poke from any weapon of yours could probably kill her. Her soul consists of Soma creating musical notes that fire at enemies, accompanied by him making a funny little noise each time he makes a note. It doesn't do anything aside from straight-out damage, but it's the only Bullet soul in the game that can pass through screens... oddly enough.
[Current audio in-game: Dance Hall]
The Dance Hall has what might be my favorite theme in the entire game. It's sinister but playful, on top of being super catchy. It definitely fits the area we're going into, even if said area is the basement of the actual dance hall.
(Whoa, this guy looks cool.)
[Current audio in-game: A Premonition]
Yeah, tell him Soma.
Soma, sometimes you're as subtle as a sledgehammer.
Another amnesiac. Oh joy.
"Yes, I definitely noticed I had dark power when I could throw spears out of nowhere."
* snicker *
If exorcists used whips and threw boomerang crosses, then yes he's definitely one.
"I must be going now. I'm sure we'll meet again."
[J walks offscreen]
Well, that was interesting. We'll definitely be meeting that guy again, but for now we have more important things to worry about.
Since Soma can't just crawl, we can't do anything in this room yet.
That's some high class pixel art. On the right is a save room, by the way.
You see this painting in the background? That's actually what the game over screen looks like.
It's hard enough trying to comprehend what's even going on in the painting, let alone the meta-ness of it showing up here.
I found this breakable wall by accident thanks to the Durga soul.
No way.
Now all we have to do is get that katana Soma was too much of a wimp to get and we'll be complete.
Name: Waiter Skeleton
HP: 120
EXP: 38
Strength: Darkness
Weakness: Holy
Drops: Beef Curry (rare)
Description: "A skeletal waiter that carries a bowl of delicious curry."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("Damn, I am really hungry. Maybe I can convince that guy to give me some curry.")
Yes, Waiter Skeleton attacks you by throwing food at your face. Curry is a running gag in the Castlevania series, and in this game it restores over 800 HP. It could be worth farming the Skeleton Waiter to get the Beef Curry due to it being the strongest healing item in the game.
Unfortunately, the soul is admittedly not that great outside of the hilarity.
You've got to be kidding me. That's the Zombie Officer's other drop! There's no way I could have gotten both in one chapter!
Too bad it had to come after the Samurai Armor, though.
Mana Prisms are the ultimate Mind Up because they restore all of your MP. I can imagine it being handy for one situation and that's about it.
Anyway, this is the eponymous dance hall with Ghost Dancers everywhere. One thing I've always wanted to know regarding 2D games like these: Where exactly are we in the foreground? Like I know we're in the dance hall itself, but where are we walking through?
Bah, that's just me rambling.
That weapon is the Cutall. The Combat Knife already outclasses it, so the only reason you'd get the Cutall is for cash. See what I mean?
Name: Nemesis
HP: 170
EXP: 75
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Nothing
Drops: Nothing
Description: "An angel who hunts and slaughters man-beasts."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("Oh great, now even the ghost girls are going after me.")
Nemesis is a variation on invisible enemies that attack via their swords. She occasionally shows her true form when she attacks and when she's defeated, but the point you have to attack is the sword itself.
Her soul is pretty bad due to its high cost and the fact you'd probably spend your time killing enemies over running away from them.
At the bottom of that room is this warp room. That's neat I guess.
Well, look who it is. Creaking Skull returns as a regular enemy and is not the last boss to suffer that indignity. Although with how strong we are now, blitzing past him is easy.
Name: Wooden Golem
HP: 250
EXP: 200
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Fire
Drops: Grapes (rare)
Description:"A man-like figure built of wood and animated by magic."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("Who has the time to make these things? They're cool, though.")
The Wooden Golem is the first of many Golems types, and is particularly notorious for being damn bulky. More MP regeneration is nice, but having to fight a lot of these guys would probably get on my nerves after a while.
Oh yeah, and I have to show this off:
I could watch this all day.
Seriously though. If you're paying attention to the health numbers, you'll notice it does double damage. That's another reason why fighting these guys gives me a tremendous headache.
The only thing at the end of this gauntlet was more money, which is... good, right?
Whoa, hello. This area looks pretty spooky with the mist and the skinned pig meat.
And would you look at that, I somehow managed to get the Fleaman soul. As tempting as it is to unleash an army of them on these guys, I don't have the MP.
There's a save room behind us... you might need it for this next bit.
[All the bosses from now have Confrontation as their theme, barring a few.]
Name: Big Golem
HP: 1200
EXP: 1000
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Nothing
Drops: Milican's Sword
Description:"A man-like figure molded out of soil and animated by magic."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("This guy is as big as a house! How am I expected to beat him?!")
Big Golem is arguably the most tedious boss to fight so far. His arm blocks any attack that comes at him, so that leaves me with very little options outside of the Whip Sword and Zombie Soldier's grenades.
One of his attacks is ralphing up his dinner and another is poking you.
I should mention that if Soma gets hit with by a strong enemy and gets flung back, he has a voice clip to go with it:
(Jyoutou!) - How dare you! or Bring it on!
Aria of Sorrow (and Dawn) are so animesque that they kept in the original Japanese voice acting (which, for a GBA game, is pretty great).
After a long, drawn out battle of explosions and blades, Big Golem finally goes down.
His soul is Creaking Skull but slightly better as it involves Big Golem shooting a giant fuck-you fist at whatever's behind Soma. It's great.
Our reward is -- what the hell was that? Eh, whatever.
Soma seriously needed a monster soul to be able to slide. That's kinda pathetic.
Oh wow, I finally got it to appear.
Name: Tsuchinoko
HP: 300
EXP: 80
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Curse
Drops: Nothing
Description: "A mythical snake proven to exist by Soma Cruz in 2035."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("I found a goddamn cryptid. Even if I get out of this castle alive, I'm positive nobody would believe me on this.")
The Tsuchinoko is a rare enemy in the game that you'll probably never encounter without prior knowledge. You have to constantly re-enter the room to make it appear, and it's a really tough enemy to kill with my current moveset. It can poison you too, so you'd be doing even less damage.
It'd be very impressive if you get this guy's soul, because having to pay less money at Hammer's Shop is a godsend.
The High Potion restores over 400 HP, which is great considering how it becomes a buyable item later on.
... You're serious. I've completely bled the Zombie Officer of all of his drops, and I wasn't even trying to do so. That is goddamn amazing.
My real goal was to get Creaking Skull's soul, however. The Zombie Officers were just window dressing.
Yeaaaaaah, now we're talking business.
Now we are the bone brothers. As suggestive as the ability seems, it's not actually coming out of Soma's nads so be glad for that.
That's enough of the Dance Hall for now, though.
[Current audio in-game: Inner Quarters]
The Inner Quarters have an oddly soothing theme considering that we're in Dracula's Castle. This area is unique as the only enemies you'll encounter here are female (barring three exceptions), as if this place was where Dracula kept his harem of monster girls.
Name: Persephone
HP: 150
EXP: 55
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Weapons, Poison
Drops: Scarf (rare), Strawberry (rare)
Description: "A demon maid that served a noble master."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("Oh, she looks pretty cute. Why are we fighting again?")
Persephone is best enemy. She bows, says hello (in Japanese)... and pops a fucking roundhouse kick in Soma's jaw! Yes, she is a demon ninja maid.
Her soul summons an evil vacuum cleaner that steals health for you, so that's good too.
I came in here expecting treasure. I instead got a high heel to the face.
Name: Chronomage
HP: 80
EXP: 30
Strength: Nothing
Weakness: Nothing
Drops: Pudding (common)
Description:"Rabbit that uses a clock to stop time. Strict in regards to tardiness."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("Why does everything around here look so cute? Wait... haven't I seen this thing before? I should not have this much deja vu already.")
Chronomage is an interesting enemy. His time stopping ability prevents him from being harmed by anything, and he throws us out of the room he's in if we get close. Not even throwing a Durga rapier offscreen can escape his notice.
As such, we can't do anything with him unless we suddenly get the power to control time ourselves. But that's just crazy.
We're reaching the boss room, so I should note that there's a save room behind Soma.
[Current boss theme: Confrontation]
.... Oh no, what are we getting ourselves into now?
"I will add you to my collection." (she says this in Japanese)
Name: Headhunter
HP: 700
EXP: 3000
Strength: Dark
Weakness: Weapon
Drops: N/A
Description: "This demon collects the severed heads of their victims.."
Soul effect (
Soma's Thoughts: ("Okay, I'll admit. This is incredibly disturbing.")
The Headhunter is a very interesting boss. There's a ton of heads in the background (of all ages... ew), but the ones we have to focus on are the ones in the middle. The female head is arguably the easiest of the three as she doesn't have a real strategy aside from jabbing at Soma's jugular with a knife.
This boss is a reference to a character from Return to Oz, head-collecting and all. Apparently people in Japan really liked that movie and that's the reason why Headhunter is even in the game at all. I dunno.
Like so. If you attack her directly, she goes back and yells (odore!) - "Dance!"... which I find adorable for some reason.
Also, looking at the sprites, she's hella tall. Soma just barely reaches up to her chest, and I'm positive he's like 5'8 (or around that range).
Damn, that was a perfect shot! It doesn't matter what you use to finish off Headhunter's first stage, but I just had to throw that in.
"Not yet...!"
Now it's time for the old wizard phase.
He has two attacks: A fire lizard attack and a thunderbolt spell. (Poor Soma always becomes the punching bag in these scenarios, heh)
The most annoying thing about this form is that Headhunter zigzags around the room, which makes hitting them a pleasant experience.
We lop this head off and continue onto the final phase of the fight.
... In hindsight, this fight just keeps getting more gruesome.
Headhunter's true form is this lizard monster. She is at her worst here because the lizard form is easily one of the most agile enemies in the game. She can cling to the walls and the ceiling almost instantly and makes leaps across the room with ease.
She has a Yoshi tongue and poison breath on top of all this. If you notice my health in the two screenshots, you'll see that I got my ass whupped. Headhunter is definitely not messing around, and while I should have played a bit better, she's still really annoying to deal with.
Durga soul, I love you.
I was poisoned, so my attacks weren't doing a lot. Not only that, I only had enough MP to shoot one rapier. When I saw this happen, my jaw dropped to the ground like hot damn.
With that, Headhunter has been slain once and for all. The heads burn away along with her for some reason, and we get our prize.
(note: bosses that aren't regular enemies later on will give you their soul 100% of the time)
Headhunter is a boss that has a lot of style and substance. The soul is the best example of this, as it could potentially be the most broken stat-booster in the entire game. It boosts every stat (excluding Luck because who cares about Luck) by 1 for every sixteen souls and caps at +32 for each stat. To compare, even the most powerful individual stat boosting Enchant Souls are +18.
That's some killdozer level shit.
We end the same way we started: In a save room.
Next time on Aria of Sorrow, we'll tackle more Castle, more danger and more cute monster girls. See you later.