The new visual style
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance has a major visual overhaul compared to its previous Game Boy Advance title, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. The most glaringly obvious change to its visual style is its color palette and use of neon bright colors. I enjoy these bright neon colors, but many people may find this distasteful as these kinds of color palettes do not mend with the Castlevania gothic theme well. It is speculated that the color choice for this game was heavily influenced by the fact that the Game Boy Advance did not have a backlight, making the previous title Circle of the Moon very difficult to see. Regardless of whether or not you enjoy these types of color palettes, I find them to be used correctly as their heavy use of the complementary color theory is very apparent. An example can be seen with a neon green and pink color scheme in the screenshot below.
It’s also interesting to note that the use of neon colors is more prevalent in the alternate castle making it very apparent which castle you are in. These colors are used very strategically. Juste the main protagonist’s visual design is an obvious upgrade compared to its predecessor title Circle of the Moon. The scale of the character is a bit larger, which makes the game not only look better, but also helps the gameplay as the relation of the size of the character molds to its surrounding level design more fluidly. They have also added a trail effect to Juste which was prevalent in Castlevania Symphony of the Night. This effect while running gives you the mental illusion that you are moving swiftly which adds to its fun factor. In terms of raw graphic fidelity, it is comparable to Circle of the Moon, although I did notice more flashy background-level effects in this title.
Enhanced controls
Immediately upon playing this game, you feel an obvious upgrade to controlling the main character as opposed to its last Game Boy Advance title. From the scale of the character to his run animation being more detailed and the added trail effect which was mentioned earlier, an amazing cocktail of upgrades to the feel of this game have been made. Also, the shoulder buttons give Juste a dashing effect, making running and rushing through areas extremely satisfying. Some players find the use of the shoulder buttons to be a bit odd being that the buttons used to dash are in relation to the direction you would like to run, meaning dashing to the right would use the right bumper and dashing to the left would use the left bumper. It takes a little time to get used to as one button could have been used for both directions, although this decision does make logical sense, and when gotten used to, feels very satisfying as well. These controls seem to have been updated because of how stiff and strange Circle of the Moon had felt. This is a tremendous upgrade!
Overall gameplay
Harmony of Dissonance is also upgraded in its general gameplay in every crevice possible. Many areas have added puzzles that are diverse to an extent. Many puzzles involve pushing and shuffling boxes to reach certain areas, while others have you utilize enemies to change the level environment creating access to new areas. This game features a "B" version of the castle, which is similar to its "A" version in terms of its actual map, layout, and construction, but with many twists, making it still feel very new. This feels very similar to the reverse castle in Symphony of the Night. However, the alternate "B" version castle in Harmony of Dissonance is not in reverse like Symphony of the Night's reverse castle. Again, as stated earlier, this alternate castle utilizes the neon color scheme more frequently, which helps the player easily identify which version of the castle they're in. Even the map of the castle itself is displayed in neon green, as opposed to the regular castle's map being displayed in royal blue. The magic abilities are great as there are books of magic, for example, wind or ice. Using these books in conjunction with your items gives those items that elemental power. Using a cross with a book of wind will enable multiple crosses surrounding your body to swing in circles, which could defeat enemies as a protective shield. Each book combined with different weapons grants different outcomes, which makes playing this game very fun. The bosses in the game are visually appealing and gigantic. Defeating these bosses, however, seems to be a little on the easy side, at least for me, but definitely easier in comparison to Circle of the Moon, which felt like a chore. Even with its easy difficulty it still feels very fun to defeat all bosses in the game. There are also side objectives in this game, adding another layer of gameplay. The most apparent side aspect of this game is the collection of furniture. Throughout the game, there are hidden items of furniture that once brought to a specific room will redecorate the room and make the room vibrant and robust. On paper, this sounds not so fun, but it is extremely satisfying as you watch this room construct as you fill it up throughout your gameplay. Many times this room gets filled without you even consciously meaning to do so just by passing through and having some of those furniture items collected (whether you collected them accidentally or not). It’s also worth noting this title has multiple endings, and it felt like a perfect-length game for a handheld. To me, it is very apparent that this game seems to be in direct response to any critique that was made of Circle of the Moon and I believe that in its response came out an amazingly updated advanced Castlevania experience.
Verdict
Everything in this game seems to be an upgrade for a Gameboy Advance Castlevania entry, especially its storyline, with its multi-layered and multiple-ending facets. Visually the game looks exciting and fun with many visual effects that make defeating enemies and controlling Juste very fun. Its neon color scheme can be a bit off-putting as it doesn’t fit a gothic theme too well in comparison to other Castlevania games, but these eccentric colors add a newfound excitement to the Castlevania series. The added second "B" castle adds more hours of gameplay and is a bit interesting, although backtracking between both castles to clear up objectives can feel a bit tedious. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel as much satisfaction by unlocking areas via keys/items as I thought I would. Also, it’s important to note that even though many puzzles were fun, some puzzles were a bit strange (and I’m mainly thinking of one box puzzle in particular). As a very personal opinion, I would like to add to this game's negative tally by noting that I did not enjoy any of the music in this game. No track was memorable at all and at times...annoying. Even with its few flaws, this game was great to experience. Its upgraded controls, visuals, gameplay elements, and puzzles made this game feel like a direct upgrade and a treat to play.
