SummaryThe year is 2036, one year after the events of "Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow." Soma Cruz finds himself at the center of a mysterious cult's plan to resurrect their evil lord and master Dracula. In order to save himself and protect the lives of those he loves, Soma must infiltrate the enemy's home base, a towering replica of Dracula's castle that i... Read More
Rated Tfor Teen
Developer:Konami
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
DS
Released On:
Oct 4, 2005
Metascore
Generally Favorable
89
User score
Generally Favorable
8.5
My Score
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All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
89
96% Positive
50 Reviews
50 Reviews
4% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
Though more touch screen functionality would have been preferable, or maybe even a bit of microphone-influenced play, at least there are options to connect to other players wirelessly for some trading or versus play.
94
Dawn of Sorrow is easily the killer app of the system’s short existence. If you own a DS, you must go out and buy this game. It’s more than worth your money.
User score
Generally Favorable
8.5
82% Positive
216 Ratings
216 Ratings
14% Mixed
36 Ratings
36 Ratings
4% Negative
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
Nov 28, 2024
10
The sequel to Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow builds upon what made its predecessor great to make an arguably even better game. The Tactical Souls from the previous game are back, and they're just as cool. The map is also well designed and I appreciated that the setting wasn't the usual Dracula's Castle (though it basically looks the same and has the usual Castlevania enemies in it). The supporting cast from Aria is back and it's nice to see the characters fleshed out a bit more. I thought the writing in this game was a great improvement over its predecessor and made me appreciate the characters more. I especially liked the optional dialogue from Yoko and Hammer. The bosses are all really fun and somehow seem to "fit" with where you fight them in the castle. There's a cool weapon upgrade system and even a story-relevant alternate mode. One point of contention with the fanbase seems to be the switch-up to a more generic anime art style, though I personally liked the new art style. Some people also don't like the seals. Basically you are required to draw a glyph with the stylus (or input a button sequence in the Dominus Collection) like a QTE to defeat bosses. However, since Castlevania bosses are more about learning attack cycles and timings, it's not too punishing to miss a seal in my opinion, and it feels quite rewarding to perfectly execute a seal when on your first try of a boss. My only complaint is that the character moves a bit slow sometimes, and some aspects later in the game are a bit grindy. On a final note, Castlevania soundtracks are often great, but this game's soundtrack was exceptionally good.
Nov 20, 2022
10
One of the best games in the entire series, it has everything a good Castlevania game needs to have. Using the Nintendo DS touch screen isn't very comfortable, but it's less annoying than it sounds.
92
Not only did it bring back memories of the fun I had playing the original Castlevania games on my NES, but the inclusion of so much extra content past the game’s story mode really makes this one of the stronger titles available.
90
This game represents 2D gaming at its finest and shouldn’t missed by anyone. Yes, the touch screen implementation kind of hinders gameplay, but Dawn of Sorrow is still one of best, if not the best, Castlevania game to date.
90
There are some awkward moments, but it shouldn't come as much of a shock that Dawn of Sorrow is otherwise wonderfully refined and enjoyable. [Nov 2005, p.132]
80
It may not be very original or innovative when compared to the rest of the games in the series, but Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow succeeds in bringing a similar level of polish and quality to the Nintendo DS.
70
Core game play remains largely undeveloped from Symphony Of The Night, and, despite the additions, is aspirational rather than inspirational. It’s certainly the best handheld Castlevania game, but Igarashi’s team is too dedicated to the framework he masterminded for this to be anything innovatory. [Nov 2005, p.108]
Aug 22, 2022
10
Alucard and soma have to be like police girl from hellsing credo and cerezita especially soma and trevor and julius have to be like the werewolf boy in hellsing and nero and jeanne when she was a child especially juluis
May 2, 2026
7
Прошёл Castlevania: dawn of sorrow на эмуляторе switch ryujinx. Изначально вышла на Nintendo ds и для ds это просто нереальная игра 12/10 must play, многие до сих пор умоляют вернуть кастлу, чтобы она была такой, вобщем культовые были части серии и заслуженно абсолютно. Геймплей нереальный кайф, лучше какого-нибудь silksong и я абсолютно серьёзно, оторваться невозможно. Визуал очень приятный, дизайн топовый, технологичность и графика максимально отстающие из-за ограничений ds, та же psp была просто в другой вселенной по характеристикам, но игру это не портит. Саундтрек просто гениальный, японцы раньше делали инструментальную музыку на 12/10, сейчас её все меньше и меньше. Однако, в игре есть отвратительная черта – она скрывает от игрока контент. Уже после того как прошёл игру, я понял, что пропустил значительную часть содержания, потому что игра просто не показывает его игроку, пусть мол сам ищет, ебёт каждый угол в жалких попытках что-то понять. По итогу большинство боссов и контента просто прошло мимо меня, я такое терпеть не могу, это полная хуйня. И это помимо того, что игра сама по себе запутанная и до некоторых моментов нереально додуматься самому, встречал людей, которые по этой причине в серию не играют. Сюжет игры просто ебанутая японская шиза, нужен нормальный перезапуск серии со сценаристом из Европы. В целом игра нереальный кайф, но не без недостатков, сложно её объективно оценивать, проект все-таки для второстепенной портативной консоли, пусть будет 7/10. Всем фанатам жанра метроидвания играть обязательно.
May 29, 2021
7
Score would be an 8 or 9 if it weren't for farming/grinding and the dreaded Seal System (having to use the stylus to draw increasingly intricate shapes to defeat bosses when they're about to die and if you mess up you have to fight the boss again). Playing Soma over-all is fun and the soul-absorbing 'Power of Dominance' feature is back. Pixel art is good, the anime character portraits are generic and lack the personality seen in Aria, the music is amazing which is to be expected from this series. Julius mode, that you unlock if you get the bad ending, is actually quite good. You get to play as Julius and Yoko and Alucard join your team. A really refreshing alternative game mode actually worth playing. It also eliminates the seal system! It's a shame that they added the Seal System and made it a little grind-heavy. It really does take away from an otherwise great experience.
May 4, 2024
3
An unfun experience, the artstyle has been drastically hit from what was expected in previous games, the characters are flandarized here even by the standards of the previous game, and the main character specifically makes some weird and stupid decisions. I can't recommend.
Oct 24, 2023
2
It feels like it plays a lot slower than Aria. Also, it's basically a 'more of the same' entry. I always get bored within a couple hours of starting, regardless of playing vanilla or a ROMhack. Exploration Action (sometimes called Metroidvanias) really need to have a compelling map to explore - and this one didn't. It felt like nothing more than a rehash of older, popular entries. It also unfortunately released on the gimmick console, the Nintendo DS, so it had to use touchscreen crap wherever possible and it felt utterly unnecessary.
