Halloween request: Aria of Sorrow/Minuet of Dawn - help!

[Skykid]

I've been going batty trying to solve this, hoping someone with some knowledge in Japanese can help me out.

I'm trying to finish the game with the proper ending, and I've got the succubus and Flame Demon souls. I just need the Giant Bat soul, and I've scoured the castle looking for one but can't find the right enemy. As the game is in Japanese, I'm not even sure I don't have it already...

Could someone with a bit of knowledge point me to where I can find a Giant Bat, and also, if someone could list a Japanese to English translation for these three that would be so helpful. I have no idea where they are in the three different sets of soul menus.

Thanks in advance fellow Vampire killers!

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

You can get it after defeating Balore (one eyed giant.) It's in the room next to the boss room if I remember correctly. It is a blue soul that allows you to turn into a white bat. If you're at Graham, you must have it.

I haven't played the game in Japanese so don't know how they call it in Japanese.

[Skykid]

You can get it after defeating Balore (one eyed giant.) It's in the room next to the boss room if I remember correctly. It is a blue soul that allows you to turn into a white bat. If you're at Graham, you must have it.

I haven't played the game in Japanese so don't know how they call it in Japanese.

Oh for crying out... I had that ages back.

Not a complete loss, I'm nearly level 60 after all that trekking. I know where the bat is, I'll see if I can trial and error the Japanese menus to find the succubus and flame demon and then I'm going to go and kick some vampire ass.

Thanks!

[Skykid]

Okay, so I'm stuffed without translations. I have two souls in the same section (red) producing flame, don't know which is which, and I have no idea which the succubus is. The only one I know I have equipped for sure is the bat.

Anyone?

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Succubus heals you with each hit you deal.

Flame Demon shoots out fireballs. When you have it equipped you're able to shoot fireballs in bat form.

Not to be an ass or anything but you could've played the English version...

[Mortificator]

The reason you have to equip these particular souls is because they duplicate some of Dracula's traditional Castlevania powers. There are a few different red souls that create fire, but the one you want shoots out a spread of three fireballs, like Dracula's attack in the original Castlevania or Rondo of Blood. The succubus soul doesn't let you drink blood to heal yourself like Dracula did in Curse of Darkness or on the N64, but it imitates that ability; when you have it equipped, a number will appear over your character's head when you hit an enemy to show how much HP you've regained (such as "+5").

Aside: the next boss after the opponent who's normally the last boss is hella awesome.

[ZOM]

Flame Demon - フレイムデーモン
Giant Bat - おおこうもり
Succubus - サキュバス

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Aside: the next boss after the opponent who's normally the last boss is hella awesome.

That's one of the kewlest Castlevania boss fights ever.


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The Julius fight was the climax of the whole game for me. There's a motivation for the fight, the music is perfect, the character is badass, and what happened to the background was totally unexpected and awesome .

I am really mad at Konami for making Julius such a geriatric mess in DoS. His new art sucks, and the sprite itself is even worse (same could also be said everyone else too), imo. He looks like he has problems running and jumping, and let's not even get into how badly they gimped him. Damn you, Konami. Give me that 1999 game and fix that mess you did to Julius!

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[ZOM]

Damn you, Konami. Give me that 1999 game and fix that mess you did to Julius!

[Ed Oscuro]

To hell with the 1999 game (unless it has Frank Black in it). I liked Iga's games (the two GBA ones he did, that is), but it's time for something better and less "ZOMG STORYLINE" centered.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

To be honest, Classicvania is suffering more from lack of innovation than the Castletroids. I love Classicvania, but they should try something new with the formula. Castletroids tend to have some kind of new mechanic with each game. Even DoS, which is a sequel to AoS, had a lot of innovative stuff like the puppet and doppelganger (equipment switch) souls, and demon sealing (I used to hate this but it's cool.)

[Skykid]

Not to be an ass or anything but you could've played the English version...

Sorry, I bought a Castlevania bundle with this in it - I didn't expect to encounter a problem that couldn't be overcome by a quick faq reference.

Flame Demon - フレイムデーモン
Giant Bat - おおこうもり
Succubus - サキュバス

LOVE YOU MAN!

That's just what I needed, thanks so much ZOM. Off to wrap things up now.

[Skykid]

All done!

Wow, that Julius fight ruled. Some proper whip slinging battle-action right there. The last actual battle was a bit poor (and easy) but I loved the alternate castle stuff.
Problem is my map completion is at 99.4%, and I have no idea why...


This was a particularly neat Castleroid - the presentation and design was really nice - one of the better I'd wager. The only one I haven't played is the first DS one (with the anime-ish cover), Dawn of Sorrow?
Is that worth playing?

[ZOM]

Personally I think Aria of Sorrow is the best IGA produced CV; Just don't expect the exact same quality with Dawn of Sorrow and you're good to go to very well enjoy that game too - it surely is worth to be played at least once. After DoS it's downhill.

That being said, I might add that I still enjoyed Order of Ecclesia for what it's worth. I'm just not good friends with Portrait of Ruin.
And I really agree with Ed Oscuro that we're in dire need of a good ole whipping classic Akumajou title; IGA is a cool guy and I like his games but it's getting tiring, I wouldn't mind if the only lines in a Castlevania were "Go and kill Dracula, dude!"

[Skykid]

Thanks for the tip, I might give it a go then. I enjoyed Portrait and Ecclessia, even if they weren't the best I've played - but I'm desperate for a new classicvania done with as much love as PCE Drac X.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

If I had to pick a favorite between AoS and DoS, I'd say that DoS is better. AoS radically changed the formula by introducing new kind of weapons and the soul system (with many innovative ideas.) AoS strength is its innovation. It's exciting to play something new and different but going back and replaying it after DoS, it feels rather unpolished. Despite the bad artwork and character sprite malfunctions (Soma wears go-go boots arrrrggggh,) DoS does things better. Most of the levels are cool (especially the last one,) the bosses were awesome and there are a number of songs that are stuck in my head forever.

When I started playing OoE, I swore it to be the greatest castletroid ever. The art, music, and graphics are top-notch for the most part. However, it carried over problems from PoR, mainly the level design. They reuse several of the level tilesets and the castle is sparse (too few tilesets for the amount of castle) and boring (too few enemy types and bosses.) Though, I must say that I still like this castle better than PoR's.

PoR is extremely meh, imo. Some people love it to bits but I don't understand why.

[Skykid]

I think Circle of the Moon is pretty underrated actually. After going back to it on GBA SP and actually playing it with a backlight it was like a whole different game.

[BulletMagnet]

If I had to pick a favorite between AoS and DoS, I'd say that DoS is better.

The main problem I had with Dawn was the amount of grinding needed to get any worthwhile equipment - while in Aria you could find decent stuff lying around if you explored enough (if anything, the game was a bit TOO generous in this area...Claimh Solais, anyone?), Dawn went to the other extreme, and required you to grind not only for the equipment itself, but the souls needed to upgrade it. By the time I finished the bugger the best weapon I had by a long shot was a Great Axe, IIRC.

Still a good game, though - of course, while others grumble at them I've always had something of a soft spot for "Metroidvanias" in general. The closest I've come to genuinely disliking one was Harmony of Dissonance.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

If I had to pick a favorite between AoS and DoS, I'd say that DoS is better.

The main problem I had with Dawn was the amount of grinding needed to get any worthwhile equipment - while in Aria you could find decent stuff lying around if you explored enough (if anything, the game was a bit TOO generous in this area...Claimh Solais, anyone?), Dawn went to the other extreme, and required you to grind not only for the equipment itself, but the souls needed to upgrade it. By the time I finished the bugger the best weapon I had by a long shot was a Great Axe, IIRC.

Getting Claimh Solais in AoS takes some work since you need a "transform" soul to get past the waterfall, but yeah, it's actually much easier than obtaining any of the stronger weapons in DoS. Luckily, you can make do with a couple of great easy-to-get souls (two stars or less rarity). My favorite combo is Mandragora (no need to level up, very powerful and Holy damage), Black Panther (for dashing) and Skelerang (equip Throwing Sickle as a weapon and it's almost broken.)

[TLB]

AoS and DoS were incredible fun. I want another one, to be honest. I'm thinking about giving DoS another runthrough one of these days. So deep, so much crap to do, such cool enemies all over the place.

Congrats on the good ending, Skykid! :)

Also, Claimh Solais is so broken >_>

[shinsage]

funny, I came back to the Double Pack after 3 years and beat Harmony last week and Aria today.

I'd say Harmony is maybe a better game while Aria is definitely more playable (thanks to an excellent castle design).
Harmony's music is also really incredible, although I seem to be in the minority on this.
Compared to HOD, Aria's graphics and music are just way too bland...


yes the Julius fight is absolutely the pinnacle of Aria. when he got serious and did that giant HOLY CROSS and fucking tore up Drac's castle by his sheer power, man that was excellent. one of my favorite boss battles in the series, most definitely.

[Zejiro]

Awesome game

Skykid:
Your map is at 99,4% because you've probably missed a few secret rooms. Now go break some walls

[Skykid]

funny, I came back to the Double Pack after 3 years and beat Harmony last week and Aria today.

I'd say Harmony is maybe a better game while Aria is definitely more playable (thanks to an excellent castle design).
Harmony's music is also really incredible, although I seem to be in the minority on this.
Compared to HOD, Aria's graphics and music are just way too bland...


yes the Julius fight is absolutely the pinnacle of Aria. when he got serious and did that giant HOLY CROSS and fucking tore up Drac's castle by his sheer power, man that was excellent. one of my favorite boss battles in the series, most definitely.

That is pretty odd, I thought some of the HOD music was unbearably bad (especially in the caves). I could deal with it, but Aria's much closer to SOTN in arrangements with some really nice hooks.
I did enjoy HOD, it was a bit different with such a messy castle, although the lengths you have to get from A to B is seriously nutty. But I did think Juste's sheer speed made it entertaining to play.

On the whole though, I think Aria has the edge.

@zejiro - I can't figure out where man! I'm going to have to pull up a complete map online and do a comparison.

[ZOM]

Either that or... double check the whole castle with the peeping eye soul.
(you probably missed some breakable ceilings; they're easy to miss first time around)