Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Although Aria of Sorrow is braindead easy most of the time and the game also removes a lot of cool mobility options for something more stilted, it's salvaged by it's cool soul system. While a lot of souls overlap in utility and it's laughably imbalanced, there's a lot of cool utility that emerges from them and there's a lot of fun in playing with the system, even despite the annoying RNG that comes with it. The music is stellar, but I actually think this game's aesthetic is overrated.

99.8% map complete, 92.1% soul complete

Roughly tied with SotN in my mind. The difficulty is higher and the exploration more fun due to the lack of map recycling; I also like the soul system more than the previous implementations of magic and subweapons. Making hearts give mana was long overdue. The production values are worse, but the art design is very good. And surely this is the best looking save room so far. My main issue is that the combat still felt a bit too easy; I felt sentimental for Circle of the Moon a few times.

A GBA entry finally rediscovers the right balance. What that means in terms of this series is throwing new powers and abilities at you left and right, some more useful than others, to keep you interested, some from grinding (the new "soul absorption" mechanic), and some from Metroid-style exploration (the rarest weapons and armor). Also, a fun bonus character lets you eschew all that action-RPG nonsense and make a beeline for the bosses with a more agile take on the classic Belmont arsenal.

Secretly the best Castlevania.

In a lot of ways the Symphony of the Night formula has actually been polished and improved by 2003, and I found the major plot twists of this game compelling back when I played it. I admit that I almost always cheat and pull out up a map at some point before I reach the end of these games, but the castle was fun to explore here, good boss fights and special abilities and music and everything, albeit with a bit less pure aesthetic gothic majesty than Symphony.

one of the very best games on the GBA and easily the best in the Castlevania series. the role-playing elements mesh well, and the soul absorption abilities give the series a new level of fluidity and customization that suits it like a glove. the characters are also memorable, with Soma in particular finding a nice balance between the comically macho Belmonts and the typically feminine Japanese protagonists of other series. highly recommended.