Aria of Sorrow was my first ever Castlevania game. I loved it. I've fallen in love with SOTN and Dawn of Sorrow now too. SOTN is one of the few games that I will replay multiple times because I find it so enjoyable.
i recently was able, FINALLY, to play SOTN and i loved it! the handheld Metroid-vanias don't really hold a candle (pun intended), but i still love them too :)
This Castlevania was my first Castlevania. I love it. It's really impressive how you get through the game. I remember very often how many times I failed on this game DX
CotM my favorite Castlevania (despite it apparently getting shade?). Played Harmony of Dissonance a while ago; got stuck and didn't like it at all (graphics, main character, map). This supposedly the best of the GBA games (I've heard) so question without spoilers please... Is this a fully contained story with a proper ending or do I NEED to play the DS sequel as well (DS doesn't work quite as well with my emulation handheld)?
@@SicketMog In my opinion, yes, the ending to AoS won’t leave you hanging and feeling like a sequel will answer lingering questions. If anything, most people’s purpose of playing DoS is to just “scratch the itch” after enjoying AoS, and to enjoy the improvements that were made from AoS’s gameplay mechanics. Luckily for you, DoS is still very much playable on an emulator handheld. It hardly uses the touch controls anyway, and there are modified ROMs that removed the requirement to use that feature (which I would argue completely improves the game tenfold 🤷🏻♀️). Its in-game touch screen interaction is rather gimmicky and holds no importance to the story, and I say this as someone who played the both unmodified and modified ROMs. So basically, I would only recommend the sequel if you just genuinely love the characters and gameplay mechanics of AoS - it’s really up to you
@@yani4349 Thanks for the reply and heads up. Yeah already found the no-touch roms a good long while ago (wrote this a long time ago after all), just need to look where I put them or re-download, but thank you for the tips anyway. Still haven't gotten around to the DS games but that's how I will likely play them; without the touch BS (I skipped the Wii entirely due ot the gimmicky controls). That or get a flash-cart for my OG DS (actually never booted that console up despite owning it for years; was just a random part of a trade). Unsure how well they emulate on my old Anbernic. Saw there were also art changes made to the DS series (portraits) as well as color changes to HoD (probably won't make me like that game better but still). OG portraits or new ones in your opinion (purely aesthetic change I assume)? Guess I'll try AoS first. 👍
After a bunch of googling and testing of shaders, I finally found a similar-looking shader in this video :D. Its a retroarch shader called kawase glow, though it kinda looks a bit more glowy compared to the video. Hope it helped ^^
@@NoraTSS2077 you're right, they put a lot of effort in the title, the results couldn't be different. And we can't forget the fact that they developed this game for a simple game boy advance system
Used this as a guide to progress through the game. Some parts are tricky to do as a new Castlevania player But it gives a nice challenge. Just managed to get claimh Solais with really low heath/bad souls by rushing back to teleporter. Dogded the devil with 40 health and teleport close to spawn so could buy potions. Made it to a save point now😂 what a Journey what a game so far! ❤❤
At first, I was mad he skimmed through the story parts, then realized this move forces me, even more, to purchase the Castlevania Advance Collection. Well played Maverick. Well played.
I think his luck must have been modified to make the video more entertaining. He also got the basilar don like the first one or two zombies which is stupidly lucky.
Awesome. That's all I got to say about it. I hope (if you haven't) do Circle of the Moon soon its my all time favorite Castlevania game. Its a bit simple in comparison to most of the metroidvania's but its still a grand time in my humble opinion.
@@chesspunk489 What I mean is that while the DSS is interesting when you mange to scrounge all the cards I say it has a less depth than the stuff you can pull with the right soul combinations.
i have been waiting for you to play more castlevania games. thank you for gracing me with AoS hopefully DoS(pls no mandragora cheese) will also be played
As somebody who has played this game way too much, I gotta say..I winced every time you were a PIXEL away from getting hit. Amazing video, Maverick. Can't wait to see what else you No damage. Also I like what you did with the textures, idk if it was an HD version or you edited it but it looks great. Edit: Ahh yeah, I was talking about shaders while watching the video, thank you Soren. (Cant see your comment for some reason assuming it's TH-cam or you deleted it) ALSO ALSO, was not expecting you to use a zip. That shocked me.
@Juan Miguel Cantuba I sadly do not, I believe you could look up "GBA Shaders," "Castlevania Aria of Sorrow Shaders," or "Emulator shaders." Best of luck
There was a sword that I didn't see being picked up on this video. It was close to the beginning, on a ledge where it was hard to reach in normal means but maybe in bat form was the only way because to reach it and fit one has to either double jump, but then one has to fit in crouching position and there was no place to stand and crouch, so to me it was only in Bat form that it could be grabbed.
Good work on collecting the souls. But you forgot to pick up the Chaos Ring. With that, it will replenish your Mana so you don't have to worry to use Man Prism
Always found it kinda strange you can find the (arguably) strongest weapon in the game so early. And on Hard you can find the strongest armor (Deaths Robes) and the strongest neutral damage weapon once you get the bat skill.
bro this was probably one of my favorite games on the Gameboy advance ill never forget the day I bought it on a bad day I had this changed my day and was one of the hardest games I played on Gameboy to see u beat it so easily is like wow still love this game still want to play and beat all game boy advanced castlevanias cause of this one game that got me to be so in love with castlevanias since I got some of these games on ps2 later in life
My first Castlevania is Harmony of Dissonance and since then, I played a lot of Castlevania and always request my relative ro buy me Castlevania cartridge (when I was young). I love the game especially this one (I like the soul collecting - challenging)
It's an option in certain emulators to enable smoothing of the pixels. I think it looks like garbage, but most emulators allow for it as an option so everyone wins
I have a question: Is it the game in another platform or in another emulator with high render settings? I play AoS a lot but the graphics doesn't smooth like that in any GBA emulator i ever used
first castlevania game i ever played, love this game and holds a special place in my heart, every now and then i watch this vid and skip to the areas which are most memorable, this game will forever be my fave on gba
@@urstoff6352 although I didn't like the part in Aria where you were supposed to equip specific souls for the true ending. And grinding souls. Damn why lol Well those are my only problems but it still is a great game
@@virusINJUSTICE getting souls were so bad that Iga decided to use this as the main system for Miriam in Bloodstained, huh? And at this point he had developed other growth systems like Portrait of Ruins, Order of ecclesia and still this one was elected. I mean, i love the DS games but even with the RNG involved in the process, Aria got the most fun growth system, then it got even better in Dawn of Sorrow, and in Bloodstained it reached a new level of development. My opinion
@@staysharp2453 Aria: grinding souls was ok but equipping specific souls for the true ending was super weird Dawn: super grind and why is the black panther soul at the end of the game? Portrait: ok so sub weapons are the one being leveled up? Ok. I'd rather use my main tho. Gotta grind the spear or was it javelin for the lecarde spear tho Ecclesia: grindy and the glyph names were so annoying. Just call it hammer glyph or something easier to remember. Aria is the best when it comes to collecting souls. Dawn was so annoying but still a great game
Dawn of sorrow was the first castlevania game I played and now I get to play the prequel also I see where the game rogue legacy gets its influence from
this probably gets really fun by the time it's time for farms on stuff like Final Guard and Shadow Knight when you're trying not to get hit and farm these tanky enemies but also you have Black Panther on for the mobility but you accidentally bonk on one, ending your run.
Looking like some luck boosting hacks for those soul drop rates 🧐 Not saying he’s using any but there does seem to be some suspect drop rates. Though I’d prefer that than constant farming, so whatever Great spacing and reaction time btw An entertaining run to be sure
When you first use the Hrunting, it looks amazing... magenta and blue instead of the usual magenta color. Is that just because of the soul-set, something else, or is the game modded? I think you had zombie soldier + flying armor + minotaur, set right before headhunter boss. Is it the minotaur soul that does it?
Some emulators have "shaders" option to put in your game, in android the unique emulator who got it is myboy,but for use it you need to download the shaders in the playstore (Srry if my english is bad)
Aria of Sorrow was my first ever Castlevania game. I loved it. I've fallen in love with SOTN and Dawn of Sorrow now too. SOTN is one of the few games that I will replay multiple times because I find it so enjoyable.
SOTN... So so good
U should also try portrait of ruin very fun gameplay and same kind of unlockables as AOS
i recently was able, FINALLY, to play SOTN and i loved it! the handheld Metroid-vanias don't really hold a candle (pun intended), but i still love them too :)
I repeat SOTN cause my goal in RPG games is max lvl and max number of itens. I'm close to lvl 80, but feels hard doing that without any trick.
SOTN set the bar so high in all aspects, the only ones that can get close to it is Aria, Dawn and Portrait within the franchise.
2:04:06 This man defeated Julius using CATS. And no dark based weapons. Immediate respect
IKR
In X maverickhunter world, cat = burning lion
Cats are unironically one of the best souls in this game, especially against large or mobile targets
@@HowlingGale oh, i get it, multi hits
@@HowlingGale... I would have never thought of that. I used to rely on the Bloody Knife soul to make multi hits. Thanks for the info.
This Castlevania was my first Castlevania. I love it.
It's really impressive how you get through the game. I remember very often how many times I failed on this game DX
i just started to play it now.... i think i luv it too
CotM my favorite Castlevania (despite it apparently getting shade?). Played Harmony of Dissonance a while ago; got stuck and didn't like it at all (graphics, main character, map). This supposedly the best of the GBA games (I've heard) so question without spoilers please... Is this a fully contained story with a proper ending or do I NEED to play the DS sequel as well (DS doesn't work quite as well with my emulation handheld)?
@@SicketMog seems like you haven't gotten a response yet
i wish i could tell ya, but i know nothing
@@SicketMog In my opinion, yes, the ending to AoS won’t leave you hanging and feeling like a sequel will answer lingering questions. If anything, most people’s purpose of playing DoS is to just “scratch the itch” after enjoying AoS, and to enjoy the improvements that were made from AoS’s gameplay mechanics. Luckily for you, DoS is still very much playable on an emulator handheld. It hardly uses the touch controls anyway, and there are modified ROMs that removed the requirement to use that feature (which I would argue completely improves the game tenfold 🤷🏻♀️). Its in-game touch screen interaction is rather gimmicky and holds no importance to the story, and I say this as someone who played the both unmodified and modified ROMs. So basically, I would only recommend the sequel if you just genuinely love the characters and gameplay mechanics of AoS - it’s really up to you
@@yani4349 Thanks for the reply and heads up.
Yeah already found the no-touch roms a good long while ago (wrote this a long time ago after all), just need to look where I put them or re-download, but thank you for the tips anyway.
Still haven't gotten around to the DS games but that's how I will likely play them; without the touch BS (I skipped the Wii entirely due ot the gimmicky controls).
That or get a flash-cart for my OG DS (actually never booted that console up despite owning it for years; was just a random part of a trade). Unsure how well they emulate on my old Anbernic.
Saw there were also art changes made to the DS series (portraits) as well as color changes to HoD (probably won't make me like that game better but still). OG portraits or new ones in your opinion (purely aesthetic change I assume)?
Guess I'll try AoS first. 👍
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is my favorite video game of all time and this video was posted on my 22nd birthday :) What a treat!
After a bunch of googling and testing of shaders, I finally found a similar-looking shader in this video :D. Its a retroarch shader called kawase glow, though it kinda looks a bit more glowy compared to the video. Hope it helped ^^
Kinda wished I could use it in drastic if I knew how :/
the shader has a lot of brightness :(
@@Luis-or8kv Wait until you hear about shaders that invert your screen instead of shading anything...
how can i apply this shader in the game?
Looks like sharp shimmerless shader to me
Great gameplay
+
Awesome BGM
=
A vid that is truly worth watching
to the end.
This game is a masterpiece, great choice
Aria of Sorrow is the only 2D Castlevania that can compete with Symphony of the Night for the throne of best game.
@@NoraTSS2077 you're right, they put a lot of effort in the title, the results couldn't be different. And we can't forget the fact that they developed this game for a simple game boy advance system
@@NoraTSS2077 Portrait of ruin is up there too.
@JoJonta True but Order of Ecclesia should also be on that list as well. It's gameplay gave some fresh spin to the series.
@@patrickfischer2932 that too
My hats off to you my good sir. Never have I ever seen such skill with this game.
Used this as a guide to progress through the game. Some parts are tricky to do as a new Castlevania player But it gives a nice challenge. Just managed to get claimh Solais with really low heath/bad souls by rushing back to teleporter. Dogded the devil with 40 health and teleport close to spawn so could buy potions. Made it to a save point now😂 what a Journey what a game so far! ❤❤
surprised to find a run like this being created over a decade since the games creation. a masterpiece for the castlevania series for sure.
I was like 6 when I got a gameboy at a yardsale this game came with it. It's what got me into gaming lol
I love the flesh golem's soul: "eats the strangest things".
This is the best Castlevania, change my mind!
This and Dawn of Sorrow. I really like the idea of Soma being the good reincarnation of Dracula
Sotn?that one is awesome too.
@@AA4AA4 I second that.
OoE the best
Symphony of the Night
Whenever I see Soma walk or do something cool, the song Smooth Criminal plays in my head.
At first, I was mad he skimmed through the story parts, then realized this move forces me, even more, to purchase the Castlevania Advance Collection. Well played Maverick. Well played.
Back when konami was amazing
I loved collecting the souls !
Definitely a fun game
This playthrough filled me with such nostalgia :') gg x maverick hunter :D
You got some of the rare souls so easily! That was awesome
I think his luck must have been modified to make the video more entertaining. He also got the basilar don like the first one or two zombies which is stupidly lucky.
One of the best Castlevania games IMO, thanks for the run.
"No damage"
*Proceeds to cut footage when saving or right before taking damage* LOL
Good walkthrough though
This run is like magic. Love it
Awesome. That's all I got to say about it. I hope (if you haven't) do Circle of the Moon soon its my all time favorite Castlevania game. Its a bit simple in comparison to most of the metroidvania's but its still a grand time in my humble opinion.
I thought Circle of the Moon was the hardest out of all of the Castlevania metroidvanias.
@@chesspunk489 What I mean is that while the DSS is interesting when you mange to scrounge all the cards I say it has a less depth than the stuff you can pull with the right soul combinations.
So X became a foreign exchange student who's secretly a vampire. Cool.
oh aided by not Alucard who became a Japanese Blackhaired senpai
@@juliusmacansantos5282 Thats clearly Black Zero....
@@aulderx1437 and he dyed his hair black as well
you are a gaming god. this playthrough its a work of art.
Amazing graphics! Feels like Definitive Edition almost!
The power of emulator my friend. It's amazing how detailed these old games can be after being upscaled.
Not a single false move. Impressive my friend. I wonder how many tries this took in total lmao well done
i have been waiting for you to play more castlevania games. thank you for gracing me with AoS hopefully DoS(pls no mandragora cheese) will also be played
Great playing, all throughout the gear sections you were very quick and impressive. Great to watch 👍👍👍
As somebody who has played this game way too much, I gotta say..I winced every time you were a PIXEL away from getting hit. Amazing video, Maverick. Can't wait to see what else you No damage.
Also I like what you did with the textures, idk if it was an HD version or you edited it but it looks great. Edit: Ahh yeah, I was talking about shaders while watching the video, thank you Soren. (Cant see your comment for some reason assuming it's TH-cam or you deleted it)
ALSO ALSO, was not expecting you to use a zip. That shocked me.
@Juan Miguel Cantuba I sadly do not, I believe you could look up "GBA Shaders," "Castlevania Aria of Sorrow Shaders," or "Emulator shaders." Best of luck
There was a sword that I didn't see being picked up on this video. It was close to the beginning, on a ledge where it was hard to reach in normal means but maybe in bat form was the only way because to reach it and fit one has to either double jump, but then one has to fit in crouching position and there was no place to stand and crouch, so to me it was only in Bat form that it could be grabbed.
One of my favorite games in GBA. Thanks for your video bro!
Come on! No Chaos Ring for the final boss, it would be funnier for the last boss with that item
Good work on collecting the souls. But you forgot to pick up the Chaos Ring. With that, it will replenish your Mana so you don't have to worry to use Man Prism
Considering how the run deals with cutscenes, I think this is a no spoiler run...
Hope to see the other GBA Castlevania games especially Circle of The Moon with not damage and card glitch. Nice run and like always good job.
Always found it kinda strange you can find the (arguably) strongest weapon in the game so early. And on Hard you can find the strongest armor (Deaths Robes) and the strongest neutral damage weapon once you get the bat skill.
What’s the strongest weapon I never did a second play through
@@nekrovx Claiomh Solais
I have on question, which emulator or filter are you using. Why the light effect is so amazing. Feeling so good
My fav Vania, great help from ya = Thanks !
What shader are you using? the game looks amazing with the shader.
I am pretty sure there is no emulator capable of generating this glistening effect (1:39:36), if thats what you mean.
Probably some editing
okay
@@staysharp2453 damn it
No its a shader or option in emulator. I used the same with pokemon games.
@@Sephy47 dude what emulator are u talking about? I play gba for quite a long time and never saw such a option.
bro this was probably one of my favorite games on the Gameboy advance ill never forget the day I bought it on a bad day I had this changed my day and was one of the hardest games I played on Gameboy to see u beat it so easily is like wow still love this game still want to play and beat all game boy advanced castlevanias cause of this one game that got me to be so in love with castlevanias since I got some of these games on ps2 later in life
The fade out for the soul farming....the rng of this game was cruel at times
My first Castlevania is Harmony of Dissonance and since then, I played a lot of Castlevania and always request my relative ro buy me Castlevania cartridge (when I was young). I love the game especially this one (I like the soul collecting - challenging)
Wow so spooned on souls, but this man it's a legend
i'm glad castlevania games are popular again :33
OOOOOOHHHHH! I I thank you very much for this video!
Incredible run i need to now dig out this game and play it again will you do a Dawn of Sorrows playthrough as well?
yeah, but first I need the route, that will take a while.
LVL 99 SOMA as THE DRACULA IS FABULOUS
because i already done play this game
THE GAME BRING BACK NOSTALGIA
I don’t believe this was done in one go, but your play through is impressive with each room clear.
51:24.. não sei o que vc faz kkk mas no meu essa foice, não fica parada não, vem com tudo pra cima..joga tão bem que parece fácil kkkk
Man sabe onde eu posso pegar o poder do Devil ?? Tô preso na cachoeira a dias
this is the best castlevainia game in my opinion
Nice game and video, X MaverickHunter. 🤩🤩🤩
What's the visual effect being used here? It looks so nice
Capcom psx intro.
@@yogafire646 I think he means for the gameplay, not the intro. And im also interested because it looks decent
Indeed,i played this myself not long ago and it looked like ass in comparison with this.
It's an option in certain emulators to enable smoothing of the pixels. I think it looks like garbage, but most emulators allow for it as an option so everyone wins
Just found my copy under my fridge last night cleaning. I thought I still had it but figured it was long gone.
🙏Congratulations Castlevania Aria Of Sorrow!🙏
I have a question: Is it the game in another platform or in another emulator with high render settings? I play AoS a lot but the graphics doesn't smooth like that in any GBA emulator i ever used
What Emulator did you use? If Its my boy for Android there are some possible improvements you can do in the graphics
@@vpmkooler8408 that is the one i am using. I think i will figure it out
@@sanae99.9.9 Go to settings -> Video -> GLSL Shaders, after downloading Emulator Shaders go back to GLSL Shaders and select HQ4x or HQ2x
How do I do this on pc?
that intro is quite sick mang
I spent nearly ten hour to collect all soul in one playthrough until I realized that I miss Legion soul because I kill it too fast.
Ha! 3 challenges in one! All souls, no damage and 100% map completion!
What impressed me the most was the graphics, Which shaders do you use?
Favorite missile spells: Lightning Doll, Ghost, and Witch's Cat (lol OP AF) and Valkyrie
Just curious, what are you playing this on? The picture quality, and the sprites/graphics, look fantastic!
@@lepepelepub12 Can you tell how to put on this settings I'm looking forward to play this game again but with these great settings?
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!!
Holy shit the Julius fight was real intense, you got all of the patterns to an t
first castlevania game i ever played, love this game and holds a special place in my heart, every now and then i watch this vid and skip to the areas which are most memorable, this game will forever be my fave on gba
*Picks up potions in the run.*
*Never gets hit*
Potions: "Are we a joke to you?"
Yes, yes you are.
best GBA Castlevania, fight me
Nah man. You're right
The other titles doesnt even come close
@@urstoff6352 although I didn't like the part in Aria where you were supposed to equip specific souls for the true ending.
And grinding souls. Damn why lol
Well those are my only problems but it still is a great game
@@virusINJUSTICE getting souls were so bad that Iga decided to use this as the main system for Miriam in Bloodstained, huh? And at this point he had developed other growth systems like Portrait of Ruins, Order of ecclesia and still this one was elected.
I mean, i love the DS games but even with the RNG involved in the process, Aria got the most fun growth system, then it got even better in Dawn of Sorrow, and in Bloodstained it reached a new level of development. My opinion
@@staysharp2453 Aria: grinding souls was ok but equipping specific souls for the true ending was super weird
Dawn: super grind and why is the black panther soul at the end of the game?
Portrait: ok so sub weapons are the one being leveled up? Ok. I'd rather use my main tho. Gotta grind the spear or was it javelin for the lecarde spear tho
Ecclesia: grindy and the glyph names were so annoying. Just call it hammer glyph or something easier to remember.
Aria is the best when it comes to collecting souls. Dawn was so annoying but still a great game
Dawn of sorrow was the first castlevania game I played and now I get to play the prequel also I see where the game rogue legacy gets its influence from
i did the same type of play through but for CV2 Simon's Quest, CV3 and CV4
much love to those games
this probably gets really fun by the time it's time for farms on stuff like Final Guard and Shadow Knight when you're trying not to get hit and farm these tanky enemies but also you have Black Panther on for the mobility but you accidentally bonk on one, ending your run.
El primer Castlevania que completé al 100%
Your soul luck is insane in this run.
1:32:54 My favourite moment
Panther+Valmanway=fun
the best almost castlevania game since its inception, just like the belmont ...
Damn I remember the huge difficulty spike once you reach The Arena.
Castlevania legend.
He took damage not even 5 mins in….
this ending is way better than the simple ending, the one i got
Looking like some luck boosting hacks for those soul drop rates 🧐
Not saying he’s using any but there does seem to be some suspect drop rates.
Though I’d prefer that than constant farming, so whatever
Great spacing and reaction time btw
An entertaining run to be sure
Its called segmented run, with a lot of video CUT or save states abuse.
45:05 feel like I’m watching a gameplay of JoJo bizarre adventures
I am so glad I still have mi old Game boy advance SP Silver with the original game inside and still works but can't save the game
Holy moly since when u play castlevania? And I love it btw
@@jruler93 good to know
2:28 Pure cinema
Is this with the modded texture pack? I remember this game is not so colorful and when you gained soul its a different animation?
This is exactly how i played the game on my first go as well
I finished this game in level 75 and i founded all soults but it take time hhhhhhhhh, this game is enjoyable
When you first use the Hrunting, it looks amazing... magenta and blue instead of the usual magenta color. Is that just because of the soul-set, something else, or is the game modded? I think you had zombie soldier + flying armor + minotaur, set right before headhunter boss. Is it the minotaur soul that does it?
I play this game when I was kid back then and I beat game myself
The graphics are very sharp and cool in this...how'd it get like that?
Some emulators have "shaders" option to put in your game, in android the unique emulator who got it is myboy,but for use it you need to download the shaders in the playstore
(Srry if my english is bad)
i like how he dragon ball z flies through the whole castle
Nice and awesome guy, Castlevania dawn of sorrow pliss
- this game is perfect
That filter. Barf.
Which filter is this
Bro what version is this, why there is shaders in the game? Seems a bit modified
All that HP and it never felt so useless.
Best Castlevania game!
That guy called XMHUNTER walks like a boss
Good Job Dude
Great play...can u play castlevania circle of the moon next?
Came here to relieve my stress after playing Dragon Age Veilguard for several hours... Oh man, almost puked