Tag: Castlevania Dominus Collection

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow mini review

“Dawn of Sorrow” gets treated a little like a red-headed stepchild among Castlevania games, probably because a lot of fans weigh it against its direct predecessor “Aria of Sorrow” and find it lacking in comparison.

I’m weird: I found them about equal.

I’ll give the sequel points for being a prettier title (it better be, running on better hardware), but I also found the entire experience just more memorable in general. The map and story just grabbed me a little more.

I think the magic seal thing is pretty silly and needlessly complicates the game, but it’s not that big a deal ultimately. The other knocks are pretty similarly microbial.

If you come in expecting pretty typical “Metroidvania” action, you’ll probably walk away reasonably satisfied.

Dave’s Score: 8/10

Haunted Castle Revisited mini review

I played the OG and this remake back-to-back, and basically I came away thinking they’re a lot closer in quality than people have been saying. I didn’t think the original was as bad as has been established, and I also didn’t think the remake is god’s gift to gaming.

I will say in fairness that this guy is an open-and-shut case as an improvement over its predecessor, which was a jank-fest.

The animation and graphics are clear upgrades, and a lot of the cheapness has been smoothed over. If you’re choosing between the two, I think this is the obvious winner.

But I also thought it was too easy and short an experience. It’s more of a curiosity than a full gaming experience. That puts a cap on how much I’d be willing to praise it.

So ultimately it’s pretty fun and a clear upgrade, but don’t use this as a reason to buy the Dominus Collection.

Dave’s Score: 7/10