Aria of Sorrow Play Journal Entries

Stagger Lanayru79 10/27/2016 9:51 PM

Boy howdy, Aria of Sorrow is light work, but awfully fun! I went wild w/ Symphony of the Night nostalgia, checking walls to try and fill out the map, enjoying the not so subtle tips from Soma's friend to access the two most secret areas, and having to get pretty creative on a couple of bosses. Nattering and gasbag action in the comments, following a ...

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Stagger 10/27/2016 9:56 PM WARNING: Unmarked spoilers appear in the comments.

MAY appear anyway; I will mark a few relating to my catch-up on the playthrough via saved screen shots. Two major projects remain on the file. Saving up 300k gold for Hammer's last item, utilizing the Gold Ring and Mimic spirit to the fullest, is a bear. That item would help w/ the other pictured project, completing the set of Souls, but oh well.

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Stagger 10/27/2016 10:08 PM ·Spoilers I enjoyed the castle structure and key item dispersion, but AoS wasn't challenging me greatly until the Clock Tower. While the Castlevania 3 memories warmed me, thank goodness the Fleamen weren't in this one. It was a tough climb. This was much tougher. What a battle! I failed a lot before stumbling on the effect of the Big Ghost on the smaller scythes and the fact that I could slide through the E Yeah! e 2 D

Stagger 10/27/2016 10:17 PM ·Spoilers one attack that was giving me fits on Death's second form. I was 20 and used Hrunting, if anyone was curious.

The quality from there on out was really high. Such a cool prelude to Legion! All of those mummified saps filing in ... not too tough a fight though. I had yet to receive the dialogue tip on how to get into the Forbidden Area, which I didn't reach until after the Arena.

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Stagger 10/27/2016 10:24 PM ·Spoilers By the time I got here, I knew flight was essentially the last big barrier to exploration. I thought, “Giant Bat ? No sweat!” Then it was squashed by a giant fist. I was really fortunate to acquire the Medusa's Head soul while crossing one of the nearby gauntlets for goodies. The right eye portion of the fight would have taken me a while to succeed at w/out the midair freezing assist.

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Stagger 10/27/2016 10:27 PM ·Spoilers Graham was kind of a pushover, but of course I had the ridiculous weapon and armor found beyond the rushing waterfall at this point, and was level 41. Certain things did not add up. What were those books for? It didn't take me too much stewing to see that a certain alignment of spirit slots would meet those cryptic clues, although figuring out what belonged in the third one was a little tricky.

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Stagger 10/27/2016 10:31 PM ·Spoilers Here's where I was on completion at that point. I eagerly went to the Chaotic Realm first of course, enjoying the plot about as much as I'd expect from a Castlevania game. Not a strong suit of the franchise in my experience, heh ... Julius was tough btw.

Here's a few things I liked along the way. Hidden and trick enemies! That blur in the aqueducts, the burrowing serpent, the 1MP Iron Golem ...

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Stagger 10/27/2016 10:34 PM ·Spoilers That's good stuff. I beat on that Iron Golem from a safe spot for five straight minutes before thinking to try that Attack Mantle trick.

This fight was also kind of lackluster, but the fact that it opened a boss rush and the game can be played w/ a Belmont are both very cool. I'm going to get my grind on for a bit, and see if I can put a dent in that Soul count.

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Stagger 10/27/2016 11:44 PM Wow. 20% discount! Should have hunted Tsuchinoko's soul a long time ago ... also never should have bothered buying one of everything Hammer carries. I knew most of them would be drop items, but practically all? :p This project got significantly easier.

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Stagger 10/28/2016 12:20 AM No comment.

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Hidalgo 10/28/2016 10:30 AM Been meaning to get into the castlevania seried for a while. Would you recommend most of the games available on tje ?

E Yeah! e 1 Nintendoer 10/28/2016 10:39 AM ·Spoilers I don't think it said anything, but beating the game also unlocked Hard Mode, which IMO is the game's true difficulty level. Starts out not being pitifully easy, with a more gradual difficulty curve from there.

How about that book puzzle, though? Far more brilliant than the rings/specs in Symphony of the Night, if you ask me.

Also, there's a really, really easy way to earn money.

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Stagger 10/28/2016 12:09 PM It did not mention hard mode. Nice! I liked the book puzzle quite a bit, full agreement. As for easy ways to earn money, you can spoil. I've thought of just Black Panthering my way through the chests in the Forbidden Area or mining a 500 gold bag candle, but it appears to be just a +5 Luck item. It wouldn't reduce the soul grind that heavily given my stat is already at 80 w/ Ghost Dancer.

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Stagger 10/28/2016 12:12 PM @Hidalgo: I played a lot of it when I was young before they took on the Metroid style of item locked navigation progression. Here are the ones I have experience with and can offer an opinion.

All of the NES games are solid. The original and III are quite challenging, the latter offering multiple characters to play as and routes through stages. Simon's Quest is my favorite of those though. Very

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Stagger 10/28/2016 12:15 PM different, cryptic and hard to figure out where to go as it was a half step away from stage based, pure platforming towards the Metroid formula. Super Castlevania IV is junk imo. Symphony of the Night on the original Playstation is the only other one I played before working to retire called me away from gaming for a decade. Excellent game - this is very reminiscent of it, perhaps better!

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Stagger 10/28/2016 1:50 PM Whew, up over 80% of Souls collected ... looking at items like the Rare Ring, I have a feeling Hammer's special is of greater use than just a stat boost, so I'm going to knock that out. I'm sure I'll kick myself for doing so here at this repeated candle drop once Nintendoer spills the beans on his gold grinding method.

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Nintendoer 10/28/2016 2:10 PM ·Spoilers Equip the mimic soul. Go to the save room in the clock tower right next to some spikes. Equip your best armor (more defense=greater damage from spikes, somehow).

Then just hurt yourself on the spikes until nearly depleted, heal up at the save room, and repeat. 240,000 doesn't take very long at all like this.

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Stagger 10/28/2016 4:05 PM I thought of running a damage gambit, but that's professional right there 'doer. :p So that ring definitely targets the soul rate specifically beyond the Luck stat, yet some of these have just brutal RNG drop rates.

There you are! Great Armor and Flesh Golem were the ones remaining on my list that I couldn't remember where to find, so that's one down. I'd like to fill in all the drop item blanks

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Stagger 10/28/2016 4:06 PM eventually too, but one thing at a time, heh ... I'm really happy to have landed the Gremlin soul looking around in here. Better late than never to double the Dancing Ghost stat boost to the big one in question ...

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Stagger 10/28/2016 4:17 PM These two are exmples of a fiendishly low soul drop rate. I already established my grinding loop for each, but just burnt out working on them. That's saying a lot. I'm a champion grinder, heh ... anyway, after a dinner break, I plan to finish this task and try that boss rush out. E Yeah! e 0 D

Stagger 10/28/2016 5:05 PM ·Spoilers Found ya! :p What a strange Soul - making Rotten Meat and Spoiled Milk useful. Then again, Potato Pancakes are in the game too. developers have an odd sense of humor.

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Stagger 10/28/2016 6:06 PM Yeah! I'll tinker w/ a limited number of item drops on my way back to a save point, seeing if that Rare Ring does a decent job, but then I'm taking a break before checking out the rush of bossiness. E Yeah! e 1 D

Hidalgo 10/28/2016 8:38 PM Which castle vania games are the most like zelda and metroid?

Would you recommend aria of sorrow over the other gba games?

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Jayse 10/28/2016 9:07 PM Nice going, you got all the souls! I also wanted to fill in all the enemy drops, but there was one enemy in particular whose drop rate was ridiculously low... I worked on it for about 45 minutes before deciding to take a break. It's rough to grind for the drops after grinding for all the souls, in my opinion.

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Stagger 10/28/2016 9:41 PM You have to be kidding me. I just got Final Guard's rare drop, and was goofing off w/ it ... and the game hard locked on me. That was a brutally low drop rate, not to mention I've done a bunch of other ones since the last time I saved. Ugh. Closing software and coming back to the suspend point did me no good ... so I may never play the game again. :p I was pretty close to having all of the drops E Yeah... e 0 D

Stagger 10/28/2016 9:44 PM done, and will not likely muster the energy to resume the project if this software fail doesn't resolve itself.

@Hidalgo: None of them are remotely like LoZ, unless you count AoL, in which case Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is slightly comparable. As for those w/ a Metroid formula, SotN and this have it, but imo, pale in comparison. Axiom Verge is better than any Castlevania for my taste, so ...

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Stagger 10/28/2016 9:45 PM I listed all of them that I've played above. You'll have to poll others for opinions on the other GBA titles. My source, who is present on the post, didn't have high praise for them, but does recommend the DS titles.

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Stagger 10/28/2016 9:53 PM Bah ... I created a Restore Point and tried loading that. Still locked. :/ I literally got the Final Sword drop a couple of rooms away, and in the above screen shot, I was slaying a Basilisk on the floor above w/ its absurd vertical reach and accidentally triggered the Red Minotaur soul power. That's the axe handle frozen in the corner next to the HUD there. I'm guessing having it off screen E Yeah... e 0 D

Stagger 10/28/2016 9:56 PM causes some kind of processing problem. *shrug*

Checking where I saved last, I lost at least an hour of tough drop grinding, including: both drops from the Great Armor up in the Clock Tower, the Basilisk drop, Stolas' drop, and the awful one in question. Oof. I'll try to channel my inner vengeful spirit and recover them.

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Stagger 10/28/2016 10:10 PM So far the video game karma has been good to me. Screen shot of why I stopped saving regularly here ... no longer needing health on occasion discourages stopping to save. :p

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Stagger 10/28/2016 10:24 PM Wow! I would say I've always been a lucky guy, but that doesn't explain the game freezing on me now, does it? :p Sweet, I'm back on the completionist horse.

I noticed the NG+ option. Doesn't seem like a desirable way to try Hard Mode unless it resets Soma's level ... E Yeah! e 1 D

Hidalgo 10/28/2016 11:35 PM IDK what game to give a go at but I guess I will give aria of sorrow a try.

Have you played circle of the moon and harmony of dissonance?

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Stagger 10/29/2016 12:25 AM Negative, don't really plan to in the near future ... and I shouldn't say the lesser Metroid games are better than the best Castlevania games. There's like 18 of them or something.

I couldn't remember where this guy was to save my , even though I got my first Sky Fish here. Final item drop Jayse! Serious project.

E Yeah! e 1 D Stagger 10/29/2016 1:32 AM Ah, it felt good to get that item drop project under my belt. Two successes on the boss rush earned me a nifty sword. I'll tinker with that a bit tomorrow. It's a decent format, restricting Soma to level 40 but letting him bring all his toys. I'm sure I can break five minutes.

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Nintendoer 10/29/2016 6:10 AM I haven't tried New Game+, but I assume you keep everything except souls needed to progress through the game and maybe your level.

Hard Mode can be played on a fresh file, though.

Hidalgo, I passed on Harmony of Dissonance after reading it wasn't as great as the other two GBA titles. Circle of the Moon was fun, but nowhere near as good as Aria, Symphony, or the DS titles.

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Nintendoer 10/29/2016 6:12 AM Sorry to hear about the game hard-locking on you...at least you were able to get the item drops back relatively quickly. That's still a project I haven't done. By the way, if you're interested in seeing it, there's some new dialogue during the ending for having every soul...

How about that "nifty sword", though? Have you tried it out yet? E Yeah! e 0 D

Jayse 10/29/2016 7:51 AM Nice going Stagger! I'm surprised that you grinded out every soul AND every item drop in one day! You're making me want to finish item drop grinding today. I feel like whenever you're playing a game I have, you make me want to go back it. :P

New Game Plus keeps all of your souls except the essential ones. You also don't keep the kicker skeleton soul for some reason. Soma's level does get reset.

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Jayse 10/29/2016 7:52 AM Oh, except HW:L. I don't feel like playing that when I see your posts on that. That game is... something else.

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Stagger 10/29/2016 12:14 PM Heh, thanks Jayse. Not sure if the rate I play for completion is considered healthy ...

I'll check that out sometime 'doer. That sword in the stone is another fine example of Konami humor. Btw, I really liked the sliding boat jump. Granted, there were a few jumps to unnecessary items that could have been left for later capabilities, but where's the fun in that?

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Stagger 10/29/2016 1:28 PM ·Spoilers Nice! Wow, I feel like the game is pointing me towards a sub-4 final reward here. I really can't see how much lower than that is possible, but then again, I haven't tinkered w/ every last Soul use, and I'm uncertain if it's counting my nominal menu time against me. Hrrrm ... E Yeah!? e 1 D

Hidalgo 10/29/2016 1:39 PM So the DS titles are worth a try to? I will keep that in mind when I pick my first castle vania game.

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Hidalgo 10/29/2016 1:41 PM And Nintendoer, sorry to bother you with this but would you mind unblocking me? I can't remember what problems we had with each other anyways. :\

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Stagger 10/29/2016 2:24 PM Nintendoer, Hidalgo has a request if you want to open his comment above this one. Btw, I remember Hidalgo. You two are a bit of oil and water. ;)

Soooo close! If I could Death to cooperate and dole out his least interrupting moves during the second phase, I'd blow the four minute mark away. If I just don't try anything silly on Graham, I should have it. E Yeah! e 0 D

Nintendoer 10/29/2016 2:37 PM Among other things, it was mostly the extreme sarcasm and rude behavior you directed toward me in this post, after I offered to help with any navigational troubles you may have had in Super Metroid. https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYMHAAACAAADVHkkN9_T_A

But since you asked, I will oblige. Consider yourself unblocked after I return home late tonight.

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Stagger 10/29/2016 2:38 PM ·Spoilers Death did not remotely cooperate, and I wasn't great from there until Graham honestly. I did have a wail of a second phase w/ him, and that won the day. My instinct paid off! Depending upon how sweet this sword is, even w/out it I'd project like a 3:30 if everything went perfectly. Under three seems ridiculous, but folks may have pulled that off. E Yeah! e 1 D

Nintendoer 10/29/2016 2:46 PM "Mostly" was a bit strong there..,it would be more accurate to say that was the final straw.

But anyways, yes. That was quite a while ago. Forgive and forget, you know?

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Stagger 10/29/2016 2:51 PM ·Spoilers The Valmanway is interesting. A lot less powerful than the Claimh Solis (no way I spelled that right), also lacking the range and light elemental benefits ... but it is super fast. I'm not sure if I can apply it well to the boss rush, but I'll tinker a bit. The Positron Rifle was really handy for the Big Golem, freeing up Red Minotaur use en route to him too.

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Stagger 10/29/2016 3:13 PM ·Spoilers Meh, it's not all that useful. The overhead swing of the CS is just so much sweeter. Excalibur seems to have a noticeably slower reload time. I'll tinker with that rush here and there.

I've filled up on Metroid substitutes for now. When I play AoS again, I'll prioritize going through as Julius over a fresh Hard Mode. I really should get Soma to level 99, but I'm ground out. Grinded? *shrug* :p

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Stagger 10/29/2016 3:33 PM Well, I had to at least see one through where I caught a partial break on Death. While I could certainly stand to improve my efficiency on Balor's first phase, the real luck factor seems to come w/ Death's second phase move selection. I've seen him wiped out during two of those most desirable scythe tosses you can duck under, w/ no extraneous attacks.

Now I'm good. DKCTF, here I come!

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Jayse 10/29/2016 4:12 PM Well Stagger, I just spent the better part of 5 hours finishing the grind for all the item drops. I'm still surprised that you had it in you to do both souls and items in one day. :P

Here's my time on boss rush, if you're interested.

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Hidalgo 10/29/2016 4:52 PM That was definitely a long while ago if it was about super metroid.

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Stagger 10/29/2016 5:00 PM Wow! Sub-3 is pretty bonkers! Fantastic work. There's not another reward at that mark is there? I had reached 80% Souls the night before iirc. I'd have to scroll up in the post to check.

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Stagger 10/29/2016 5:03 PM Hrrm, no clue from that information ... in a few days when they time stamp the comments I'd be able to sort it out. Don't rightly recall how much of it I had done before starting on the grind-fest yesterday ...

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Hidalgo 10/29/2016 5:17 PM Seems like I have been picking fights with everybody for a while now. Just the other day I was at it with stag. XD

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Stagger 10/29/2016 5:30 PM Well to be fair, I picked that fight.

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Hidalgo 10/29/2016 5:34 PM lol, nice. Giving me an excuse not to accept responsibility.

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Jayse 10/29/2016 5:37 PM If I recall correctly, there are three items you can get from boss rush, excluding the potion that you can get repeatedly. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a reward for sub 3. I think the best time reward was sub 4.

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Hidalgo 11/02/2016 5:38 PM Sorry to bring this post back up but can I ask what DS castle vania game is best?

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Stagger 11/02/2016 5:42 PM Dunno, have yet to play them.

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Nintendoer 11/02/2016 5:47 PM My personal favorite is Order of Ecclesia.

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Hidalgo 11/02/2016 6:08 PM Saw all 3 DS titles in stores for about $25 dollars each.

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Hidalgo 11/02/2016 6:18 PM @Nintendoer, What are the traits of each game? Considering I am a fan of zelda and metroid I would want the game most like those series.

You know, whichever one is the best game.

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Nintendoer 11/02/2016 6:32 PM Well, all of the games listed here are Metroid-like in the sense that you have a 2D platforming style with a highly explorable world, parts of which are locked behind navigational challenges requiring certain abilities to proceed. The main difference between the two franchises are that while Metroid has growth via finding expansions, Castlevania has an RPG system in place to increase your stats.

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Nintendoer 11/02/2016 6:34 PM By that, I mean you gain exp and level up by defeating monsters, find or buy new equipment as you progress, etc. Castlevania games are generally longer that Metroid titles, too. As for the differences between the three DS titles, Dawn of Sorrow is more or less the same as this game; capture monster souls, and you can use that ability in battle. If you're going for it, though, I still recommend...

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Nintendoer 11/02/2016 6:40 PM ...this game first, as it not only comes first chronologically (and Dawn spoils the main plot twist), I find Aria to be much better overall. Portrait of Ruin has two characters to switch between freely; one physical, one magical, with some neat potential for teaming up. The main navigational feature here is the portraits, which can take you to different, separate areas, much like the...

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Nintendoer 11/02/2016 6:46 PM ...separated regions in the Metroid series.

Finally, my personal favorite of the DS titles, Order of Ecclesia, is the toughest of the bunch. Only magical attacks are available, and you can earn more spells in a similar way to the Souls games; by defeating monsters. There's not quite as many abilities to find, however you can combine spells together for a variety of effects.

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Nintendoer 11/02/2016 6:46 PM I still say you should start with Aria, but there are the options laid out for you to choose from.

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Stagger 11/02/2016 6:49 PM Thanks for that Nintendoer!

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Hidalgo 11/02/2016 8:35 PM I was gonna give aria a shot and see what I think from there. Thanks for your feedback!

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Jerritcon 11/21/2016 12:42 PM If u like a Castlevania game that's comes in an non–linear Metroid style, I recommend Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, Circle of the Moon & Dawn of Sorrow. And if u like an Castlevania that linear of going point A to point B, I recommend Super Castlevania 4. But whatever u decide is fine.

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Stagger 11/21/2016 6:44 PM There's some more advice for you Hidalgo. SotN is fantastic. This was a little better from a gameplay standpoint, but probably a less interesting story ... that's never been what Castlevania is about for me though. Sentimentally, I have such great memories of SotN that I irrationally like it better.

Super IV though? Ugh. Just my opinion ...

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Hidalgo 11/21/2016 7:42 PM Good advice. I guess I will know which 2 gba castle vania games to get if I decide to buy one of the games.

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BirBxUrBoi 08/25/2017 9:32 PM You try to get hard mode with julius yet? (Also not sure if your aware, but there's a super easy way to grind to Lv99. Hold down-Left/Right towards a wall and leave it there with the sherman ring equipped and you can come back in a few hours and your fully leveled. Also Julius doesn't level up, he gets stronger from killing the bosses, which you dont have to do. And also dont forget the HM items

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BirBxUrBoi 08/25/2017 9:33 PM ^The Silver Gun in the arena and death's scythe in the clock tower (Or was it in the Castle Corridor in a spot that required Giant Bat)

E Yeah! e 0 Stagger 08/26/2017 9:34 AM I've yet to come back to Aria. Been suffering from new game fever for a long time now ... it's a protracted medical problem. I used to replay the same games over and over to great joy.

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BirBxUrBoi 08/28/2017 1:19 PM rip bro.

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