© 2020 GAMESPOT, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. While last year's nearly simultaneous release of the GameCube and Xbox consoles was a huge deal, the Game Boy Advance also hit the shelves earlier in 2001, and this great system appeared alongside several great games. Harmony of Dissonance is a tough cookie...to review, not to play. Now let me get one thing clear! Castleva... Read Full Review, I have no knowledge at all about castlevania,but I sure do know one thing about the series.Dracula and whips.This is the second castlevania installment for the Gameboy advance,and although it's not the best game out ther... Read Full Review. The Castlevania adventure continues with this new variation of the classic formula that makes Castlevania games great. It took me about 9.5 hours (game clock) and about a week to complete the game and I was 196% done. After that, the game makes available a boss battle mode in which you fight each of the game's boss monsters one after another. Harmony of Dissonance is a great-looking GBA game that offers better visuals than its predecessor--and most other GBA games, for that matter. Privacy Policy, Now Playing: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Video Review. Unfortunately, this move is mostly useless in practice, and it doesn't even look particularly good since Juste stands frozen like a statue while his whip flails about. Seriously, why is this one of the lowest Castlevanias scored? Castlevania's classic secondary weapons, from the boomerang-like cross to the axe to the holy water, all return here (plus a new one that makes Juste lash out with a flurry of punches), but now each has a unique effect when coupled with a spell book. Greg Kasavin The pair splits up, leaving you to travel around the sprawling castle on your own, defeating its dangerous inhabitants using your trusty whip. Clearly, word got back to Konami that Circle of the Moon was pretty hard, so as if to make amends, Harmony of Dissonance turns out to be pretty easy--especially in comparison. It's also worth pointing out that the biggest hurdle to overcome in Harmony of Dissonance is simply figuring out where to go next. Best Black Friday Gaming Deals (Switch, PS4, PS5, and Xbox One/Series X), Steam Black Friday Sale Live Now With Thousands Of Games, Bundles, And DLC Deals, PS Plus Free December Games For PS5/PS4 Include Just Cause 4. Fortunately, the game's good sound effects do help make up for its tunes. Last year's game was very darkly colored, so much so that the action could be difficult to see even in direct sunlight. Which is fine, because that formula works great, though it bears mentioning that it does date back at least to 1997's Symphony of the Night or possibly to 1986's Metroid, so don't go in expecting anything other than a tried-and-true nonlinear side-scroller. A rather run of the mill entry in the Castlevania series, but still worth playing. And it was portable, to boot. Not exactly the best game, but still good nonetheless. The game plays ... Read Full Review, THIS WAS THE SECOND INSTALLMENT IN THE SERIES RELEASED ON THE GBA AND IS PART OF THE EXTENSIVE CASTLEVANIA STORY LINE. Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance its a masterpiece, THE ADVENTURE WILL SUCK YOU IN! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Harmony of Dissonance is not just a fine Castlevania game--it's also one of the better Game Boy Advance games to come around in a while. Besides, having to constantly switch between the game screen and the map interferes with the pacing of the game, and having to backtrack through the same areas while looking for a new place to explore can be a bit tedious. Bosses tend to follow straightforward, predictable patterns, and your whip and secondary weapons can often make short work of them. i bought the Double Pack Cartridge which has this game and "Aria of Sorrow". Juste is animated pretty smoothly and looks good in action, though his floaty jump leaves something to be desired. Overly simplistic and rarely atmospheric or even appropriate, the music is a … Many people criticize this game, and I really don't know for what reasons. Almost all of the flaws in Harmony of Dissonance can be summed up by saying it tries too hard to be the next Symphony of the Night.However, as a game is more than the sum of its parts, merely reusing some of the parts only makes Harmony seem like a cheap copy rather than a spiritual successor. Juste gets stronger as he gains experience by defeating enemies, and in certain sections of the castle, it's simple to just keep whacking the same enemies over and over, thus making yourself far more powerful than you'll think you deserve to be at that point in the game. So the reason why I'm not reviewing the Dou... Read Full Review, I just finished beating Konami's Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance for the Gameboy Advance (played on DS Lite). Harmony of Dissonance is in some ways a simpler game than last year's Castlevania. Every Castlevania game basically tells the same story. It was strange that seemingly so much effort went into the system, many of whose effects were either too subtle or more interesting than useful. Harmony of Dissonance is not just a fine Castlevania game--it's also one of the better Game Boy Advance games to come around in a while. We'll begin emailing you updates about %gameName%. This was because Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow was ... Read Full Review, Harmony of Dissonance is the second Castlevania title to grace the screen of the GBA, and it is a welcome addition to the series. The only truly weak spot in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is its soundtrack. Nevertheless, it bears reiterating that these large monsters at the very least look great and make impressive use of the GBA's various sprite-rotation capabilities and other visual effects. The music here is decent, and some of the compositions are fitting or even catchy, but they simply don't sound anywhere near as good as those of Circle of the Moon, and they don't stand up to the high standards of the series. Sure, you can bring up a map at any time, but it lacks detail and will lead you to dead ends as often as it will set you on the right path. Harmony of Dissonance is a great game that succesfully captures the Symphony of the Night and Classic Castlevania Feel! By Greg Kasavin on September 19, 2002 at 3:06PM PDT This ga... Read Full Review, I don´t really like IGA at all but i have to be honest he can make good games and this is the proof, the music, story, graphics,characters, bosses and stages are state-of-art in the castlevania series. See, that’s the problem in a nutshell. i bought the Double Pack Cartridge which has this game and "Aria of Sorrow". Juste has some unique abilities, as well as some that you'll recognize from other games. Harmony of Dissonance is not just a fine Castlevania game--it's also one of the better Game Boy Advance games to come around in a while. Like Nathan or Alucard, Juste needs to find relics throughout the castle that provide him with certain necessary abilities, which is how the game limits you from being able to go anywhere in the castle right off the bat. This is a review of Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance for the GBA. As you might expect, the plot really doesn't figure prominently into the game--it only serves to set up another romp through another version of Dracula's castle. More than a year later, another new Castlevania has finally hit the GBA, and by and large it's a worthy successor.