The PS2 Backlog Committee Game Club #1 - Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow

[canedaddy]

It sounds like the next thing you might need is the double jump, which you get after beating a certain boss. I can tell you where to go if you'd like.

I beat Death last night, ha!

[isthatallyougot]

I knew you were immortal.

[argyle]

Nope, I have double-jump. There's still some areas that are way too high that must require something else.

I looked around a bit last night and finally gave up. I keep going back to the same spots, trying every soul I have (which is all but 3 or 4 that I've come across) then moving to the next & doing the same. No clue what I'm missing. Guess I'll have to look it up if I'm going to move forward.

[canedaddy]

Ah, you probably need the one that allows you to walk on water, or the one that allows you to swim underwater.

[argyle]

I have walk on water (Undine?) but not swim underwater.

[crimson_tide]

Yeah, Undine is the water walking one I think. I beat Death with copious use of the rewind function. Abuse it old man, it's a godsend! I have the water walking one and the underwater one. I guess some kind of limited flight might end up as a soul next? I might go for broke and finish it this weekend. Bern having a blast so far. I never feel too stuck, I have gotten lucky and stumbled on the next thing I need while backtracking relatively easily thus far though.

[canedaddy]

I have yet to use the rewind function, lol. What do you do? That could have saved me a few headaches.

I beat another boss last night and then eventually ran into one who is a real SOB. Rhymes with "Galore."

I'm around 73 percent.

This is such a great game! I know some have said Circle of the Moon isn't so hot. How about Harmony of Dissonance?

[isthatallyougot]

This is such a great game! I know some have said Circle of the Moon isn't so hot. How about Harmony of Dissonance?

Well, I really enjoyed Circle, so take that into consideration, but Harmony was a 5/5 for me when I played it in 2020. I like Aria better for a variety of reasons, but it's well worth any Igavania fan's time. I thought the map was a bit more cumbersome to navigate and the music was poor even in comparison to Aria and the hardware capabilities in general. But that doesn't mean that the other traditional strengths within this genre and series weren't present and accounted for. Great game.

[argyle]

<rant>
This game is infuriating for me. I recognize that I'm the only moron here who either can't figure it out or, as I'm starting to suspect, has just been unlucky enough to not have whatever vital ability I need to progress drop. I am **NOT** a fan of the "soul" system. This is not the first Igavania to use it, so it must have been popular (heck, Bloodstained uses it too) but I don't remember it being this egregious in other games. Putting necessary abilities as rare drops from enemies is NOT fun. Going in & out of the same room for 10-15 mins at a time farming an enemy just to get a useless ability and have to move on to the next to do it again is NOT fun. The past 4-5 play sessions of this game I have made absolutely no progress other than collecting a few of these useless abilities. I have scoured the map from top to bottom multiple times. I have no clue what I'm missing, and I'm a hair away from saying "screw it" and putting it down.
</rant>

[crimson_tide]

Not to be a dick, but what necessary souls are random drops? The only ones that have been vital for exploration have been things I got from bosses. Like double jumps, anything to do with water, etc. I had to stumble around a bunch too because I never know where I'm supposed to go next because I just suck at search action games . What is the last boss you beat, maybe we can help you out fam. One of the nice things about this game club idea is that we can help each other !