9.9

7.5

Having played Castlevania : Dracula's Curse for the NES as a little boy, I have always held Castlevania at a high regard in terms of depth and gameplay. Harmony of Dissonance was no exception to that. So when I found out that there was a hack of HoD available here on Vizzed, I jumped to the occasion, paid the Viz fee, and began playing it. What I found as I played it was a good - yet flawed - hack that needed a lot of improvements. Hopefully, in this review, I can help bring to light all of the issues that can be addressed, and hopefully someone can improve this game to make it 100% brilliant.Graphics: 7One of the major things that factors into a game's creation is the graphics. Most of the time, if a game has terrible graphics, it will not be engaging to the player.Before I began playing the game, I read a previous review that was left regarding the game and its features. One of the things that struck my attention was the options of playing as different characters. Upon seeing this, I began to experiment playing as them. And this is where I found FLAW #1. Allow me to elaborate by going over each character one at a time.

• Juste Belmont: Juste [the main protagonist from the original HoD] has pretty much the same sprite animation as in the original game. His move sets are the same and the overall playability of him is flawless as it was in the game he is from. After all, this IS his domain.

• Super Mario: As I began playing the game as Mario, I was at first taken aback by his sprite animation. Seeing him as his original 8-bit NES self, I wondered if there was really anything to offer with such a character. I later found out there really wasn't much. For starters, his attack [which is the classic Fireball] does not go very far and you have to continuously jump just to hit any of the candles. This is mostly due to Mario being as he would be in Super Mario Brothers without a Growth Mushroom. That's right...he's tiny. Now, I can see where in some parts of the castle this can be an advantage, but being small effects a lot of Mario's capabilities.

As a suggestion, if there is to be an improved version of this hack made, please remake the Mario Sprite. Here is what I would do: remake Mario to where his graphics are conformed to the style of the HoD game. And, of course, NO 8-BIT VERSION!

• Megaman [aka Rockman]: Megaman. What is there to be said about his sprites? Once again, the NES, 8-bit version is being thrown in as Megaman's sprite animation. And again, this throws in some major issues. His sprites, when compared in size and height, are the same as Mario's, and, like I said before, this effects his capabilities on so many levels. Another factor in his sprites that makes playing him a disappointment is that his Mega Buster only shoots a short distance.

Suggestions for this character's remake would be to: a) conform him to the style and graphics of HoD [WITH NO 8-BIT VERSION!], and b) Make his Mega Buster shoot farther [not so far that he is completely OPed]

• Simon Belmont: There are two different versions of Simon you can play as, and both of them have an 8-bit version of themselves as the sprites for the hack. While this is still a major irk I have with the characters two forms, there is really no hindrance in what he can do, from what I can tell. However, I would still like to see both versions revamped into a sprite the conforms with the HoD graphics style. AND NO 8-BIT, please.

• Julius Belmont: By far, my favorite character to play as. Julius was first introduced in the GBA game Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, and to have him as a playable character was even more exciting to me. His move set is almost flawless, and his most powerful attacks, the Holy Cross and the Hydro Storm, are perfect for him as a character. I only have one complaint...his whip.

When unlocked as a playable character on AoS, his whip can be used in the same fashion as the Belmont Whip on Super Castlevania 4. In this hack, his whip only goes out and back in. I kinda expected it to do the same as in AoS.

Other than that, Julius Belmont is very well done.Now that we have covered the issues with the sprites, let's go into FLAW #2...the map.Having played Harmony of Dissonance before, I am very well familiar with the game and how you progress throughout the castle. The MetroidVania style of gameplay made having to backtrack a must.Here, when playing as the other "playables", all doors are unlocked and you can go to any given location you want to. Only drawback is you still have to go back to collect vital items in order to progress and reach hard to reach items.If there was a remake of the hack, I would suggest that the necessity of backtracking be reimplemented to the point of not going through specific doors until an objective is cleared first.Given the many things I have pointed out, I still give the Graphics a rating of 7. A lot of adjustments and improvements can be made.Sound: 9The game's music is pretty much the same as in the original HoD, except for one thing. In the opening credits, instead of the original music, it plays Heart of Fire, theme main theme for Julius. This music is also played in the first series of rooms in the castle when playing as Julius.The sound for this game gets a 9 on account of the playable characters Mario and Megaman. In a way, with all the Belmonts having their own set sounds for attacking or being hit, I kind of expected the same thing from these two.Addictiveness:9Despite the flaws that I have mentioned, this hack is still quite addictive. Being able to go on through the game as these characters presents a challenge, and it is one that I really enjoy taking. I only have a few thoughts that could make it better.When playing as Juste or Julius, you can pause the game and go to the menu, which can allow you to equip and use items that you pick up. Seeing Mario, Simon, and Megaman pick up these same items, I would have expected you to be able to do the same for them. Instead, pressing Start on the controller only causes the game to pause. No menu, no using the items. If this were remade, I would suggest implementing that all characters have a menu that allows them to use all items picked up. Or, if Mario, Simon, and Megaman still could not use the items, don't have them around in the castle.Another thing I would like to point out would be to translate the entire game. All of the text - with a few exceptions - is in Japanese, and cannot be read unless someone know the language. It would be a good idea - if the hack were remade - to have the text translated and rewritten into the game.Story: 6Why do I give the Story a 6. For this simple reason. Aside for the original story of Juste's journey, THERE IS NO STORY! I can understand Juste having a story for his trek through the castle, but what about the other characters you play as. These are characters from other games. How did they end up here in this world, and why must they trek through the castle to defeat Dracula?I'm sorry, but this makes the game a little less enjoyable to me. If you have a character you can play as, the character must have a story to explain his purpose for being there.Depth: 6The reason I give the Depth of the game a 6 is the same reason I gave the Story the rating I gave it. Enough said.Difficulty: 10This game can be extremely hard to play. For Juste and Julius, it is easy to play as these two. But with Mario, Simon, and Megaman, the limitations caused by the sprites they have make the game REALLY hard to play.Let's Wrap This Up!Castlevania HoD - Revenge of the Findesiecle is an okay game to play. While there are some good things about the game, there are a lot of things that can be improved. I like the game to a degree, and I do recommend people to play it. But I would warn you that there are numerous things that can make it a dull experience at times. My final, overall rating of this game is a 7.5.Thank you for reading this review. I am the RetroGamer9000, signing off! Stay Retro, my friends. :D