Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is a 2005 action role-playing game developed and published by Konami. It is part of Konami's Castlevania video game series and the first Castlevania game released on the Nintendo DS. The game is the sequel to Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and incorporates many elements from its predecessor.
Dawn of Sorrow continues the story of Aria of Sorrow: Dracula has been defeated, with his powers assumed by his reincarnation, Soma Cruz. With the help of his allies, Soma avoids becoming the new dark lord. A cult forms to bring forth a new one by killing Soma. Soma and his allies move to ensure that does not happen.
Dawn of Sorrow incorporates many features from earlier Castlevania games: the combination of elements from platform games and role-playing video games, the "Tactical Soul" system featured in Aria of Sorrow and a dark, gothic atmosphere. Dawn of Sorrow introduces gameplay elements, like the "Magic Seal" system, which requires the use of the DS stylus to draw a pattern to defeat powerful enemies, a distinctive anime character design, and a multiplayer mode, where two players compete for fastest times on a prerendered level. Dawn of Sorrow was commercially successful. It sold more than 15,000 units in its first week in Japan and 164,000 units in the United States during the three months after its initial release. The game received high scores from many video game publications, and was considered one of the best games on the Nintendo DS for 2005. The game was re-released in Japan in June 2006, and later in North America during 2007 as part of the "Konami the Best" line.
The game was re-released as part of the Castlevania Dominus Collection on August 27, 2024 for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S alongside Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, and Haunted Castle Revisited.
Gameplay
The player controls the onscreen character from a third-person perspective to interact with people, objects, and enemies. Like previous games in the series, and most role-playing video games, characters level up each time they earn a set number of experience points from defeating enemies; each level gained increases the character's statistics, thus improving their performance in battle. Statistic examples include hit points, the amount of damage a character can receive; magic points, which determine the number of times a character can use magical attacks; strength, the power of a character's physical attacks; and intelligence, the power of a character's magical spells. Upon encountering an enemy, the player can use a variety of weapons to attack and defeat the enemy. The weapon choices are largely medieval, including swords, axes, and spears, although handguns and a rocket-propelled grenade are available. These weapons differ in their damage output, their range, and the speed of the attack.
Dawn of Sorrow, like most games in the Castlevania series, is set in a castle, which is divided into various areas. Areas of the castle differ in their composition, including monsters and terrain features. In addition, each area has its own unique piece of theme music which plays while the player is in that area. The character moves around the environment based on the player's choices; however, the items the player has restricts the areas the character can move into, like most platform games. Progression, however, is not linear, as players are free to explore the parts of the castle they have access to, and can backtrack or move forward as they see fit.
Tactical Soul
The primary method for the player to gain additional abilities in the game is the absorption of souls via the Tactical Soul system originally featured in Aria of Sorrow. Except for human enemies and the game's final opponent, the player can absorb all enemies' souls. The chances for absorbing a soul varies by enemy, as certain enemies release souls more regularly than others. The player can absorb multiple copies of the same soul; many of these souls will increase in effectiveness depending on the number of the same soul a player possesses. Souls provide a variety of effects and are separated into four categories: Bullet, Guardian, Enchant, and Ability souls. The player can have only one type of Bullet, Guardian, and Enchant soul equipped at any given time. However, when the player acquires the "Doppelgänger" soul, they can have two different weapon and soul setups, and switch between them at will. Players can trade souls wirelessly using two Dawn of Sorrow game cards.
Bullet souls are often projectiles and consume a set number of magic points upon use. Guardian souls provide continuous effects including transforming into mythical creatures, defensive abilities, and the summoning of familiars. The movement and attacking of familiars can be directly controlled with the stylus. Guardian souls continually drain magic points so long as they are activated. Several Guardian souls can be used in with Bullet souls to execute special attacks called Tactical Soul combos. Enchant souls offer statistical bonuses and resistance against several forms of attack. They are passive, and require no magic points to remain active. Ability souls give the player new abilities and are required to move into certain areas of the castle. They are always active, and therefore not equippednor do they consume magic points. Some examples include the abilities to break ice blocks with the stylus and to double-jump.
Souls can be spent to permanently transform a character's weapon. At Yoko Belnades' shop, the player can remove certain souls from their inventory to change their weapon into a stronger form. Certain weapons can be acquired only by using souls to strengthen a lesser form of the weapon. Souls are used in the "Enemy Set" mode, where a player builds a custom scenario. The player can place monsters inside rooms if they have acquired the monster's soul in the main game, but boss enemies cannot be added to any scenario, even if the player has the boss' soul. Two players using two Nintendo DS consoles can compete in these scenarios, with the winner being the one with the fastest time completing the course.
Magic Seal
The Magic Seal system is a new feature introduced in Dawn of Sorrow that uses the DS touchscreen. Once the player reduces the hit points of a "boss" enemy to zero, a circle will appear, and the game will automatically draw a pattern connecting any number of smaller circles on the circumference of the larger circle. After this, the player is prompted to draw the same pattern on the touchscreen in a set amount of time. If the player fails to draw the pattern accurately within the time limit, the boss will regain health and the battle will resume. If successful, the boss will be defeated. More powerful boss enemies require higher level Magic Seals, which have more intricate and complex patterns as the level increases and are found over the course of the game.
Julius Mode
After the player completes the game with either the bad ending or the best ending, Julius Mode (similar to that in Aria of Sorrow) is unlocked. In storyline terms, Julius Mode follows the assumption that Soma succumbed to his dark power and became the new dark lord.Julius Belmont: "So... Soma has become the dark lord. I have no other choice... The battles of the past are to be waged once again..." / Genya Arikado: "I had assumed that he would have equipped the talisman from Mina... It would have protected him. But alas, I will have to unleash my power..." A new game can be started from the main menu in Julius Mode. In Julius Mode, the playable characters include Julius Belmont, Yoko Belnades, and Alucard. Each character has a weapon and assorted unique abilities. Although these abilities remain static throughout the entire game, the characters' statistics can improve by acquiring enough experience points to level up. The castle layout and enemies are the same except for the final battle, which is against Soma.Julius Belmont: "Soma... It's time I fulfilled my promise to you." / Yoko Belnades: "I'm sorry, Soma. I will free you from your torment." / Alucard: "Soma... I never wanted it to end this way... But I can't allow you to wreak havoc anymore..."
Plot Setting
Dawn of Sorrow is set in the fictional universe of the Castlevania series. The primary premise of the series is the struggle of the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan against the vampire Dracula and his legacy. Before the events of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Dracula was defeated and his castle sealed within a solar eclipse. With Dracula dead, a prophecy relating to who would inherit his powers drove the events of Aria of Sorrow, with the protagonist, Soma Cruz, realizing that he was Dracula's reincarnation.Soma: "So... you are trying to tell me now that Dracula has been resurrected?" / Graham: "No. Dracula perished in 1999. You do know of the prophecy of 1999, don't you?" / Soma: "Nostradamus' great prophecy?" / Graham: "That's right. Dracula resurrected exactly as he predicted. But vampire hunters destroyed him completely. They ended his regeneration cycle by sealing his castle... the symbol of his demonic power, inside the darkness of an eclipse." / Soma: "And that eclipse is where we are now?" / Graham: "Yes, but there's still more to the story." / Soma: "There's more?" / Graham: "In the year 2035, a new master will come to the castle, and he will inherit ALL of Dracula's powers." Soma manages to escape his fate of becoming the new dark lord with the help of his allies. Dawn of Sorrow takes place one year after the events of Aria of Sorrow, when Soma believes his inherited powers have been lost.Mina Hakuba: "And what was it called? You know, the ability to use the power of monsters?" / Soma Cruz: "You mean the power of dominance? I lost it when we escaped Dracula's Castle, remember?" Most of the game is played inside a copy of Dracula's castle, which is subdivided into several areas through which the player must venture over the course of the game. The future setting of both Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, as well as a storyline beginning after Dracula's defeat, reflects Koji Igarashi's desire to take a "different route" with Aria of Sorrow.
Characters
The primary playable character in Dawn of Sorrow is Soma Cruz, the reincarnation of Dracula, the longtime antagonist of the Castlevania series. Mina Hakuba, the daughter of the priest of the Hakuba shrine supports him in his quest; Genya Arikado, a mysterious government agent dealing primarily with the supernatural; Julius Belmont, the latest member of the Belmont clan of vampire hunters featured in the series; Yoko Belnades, a witch in the service of the Roman Catholic Church; and Hammer, a vendor of military material who retains a large information network.
A cult dedicated to the resurrection of Dracula serves as the game's antagonists. Celia Fortner is a shadow priestess heading the cult. She seeks to revive him to prevent the loss of her magical powers. Dmitrii Blinov, a ruthless manipulator, and Dario Bossi, a vicious firebrand, are Celia's primary lieutenants. They are the "dark lord's candidates", born on the day Dracula was slain and thus can assume the mantle of Dracula by destroying his soul, which is present in Soma Cruz.Soma Cruz: "So those two are the dark lord's candidates..." / Celia Fortner: "Correct. They were born at the same time as Dracula's demise. They are inheritors of Dracula's dark powers." / Soma Cruz: "But that's no guarantee that they can become the dark lord." / Celia Fortner: "They can. By shattering Dracula's soul."
Story