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When I talked about both Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance, my experience with Aria of Sorrow was relatively low. To the point that I didn't have enough experience to even really talk about it. As I'm going through the Castlevania Advance Collection, I'm juggling between both Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow since I have enough experience with Circle of the Moon, it being the first Castlevania game I ever played as well as being the one I have gone through many many times. As much as I like Circle of the Moon, I'm finding that I'm enjoying both Harmony and Aria a lot more. It's a shame that I didn't pick these games up back when I originally played Circle of the Moon, but later is better than never.

So what do I think so far? Well, Aria of Sorrow certainly looks incredible from the backdrops of levels all the way to the character sprites and everything else in between. I've heard that Aria of Sorrow is the best looking game boy advance game, or at least it's up there as being one of the best looking, and I'm inclined to agree. Keep in mind I have seen some gameplay of Aria of Sorrow before going through it myself, however I feel like personal experience trumps all when it comes to gaming. As Aria of Sorrow is also seen as the quintessential Castlevania game, I feel like as a fan of the series, it's a must play. And I'm certainly glad I have given it my time as I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

It comes jam packed with new ideas and mechanics that separates this from the previous entries while also being a staple in metroidvanias in general. Castlevania to me has always been like an adventure, and that certainly doesn't fade with Aria of Sorrow, if anything it just defines it even further and refines it to a point that the game as a whole just feels fun to play.

Previously, I had mentioned that based on what I knew of Aria at the time, I stated that I felt that Harmony of Dissonance looked a little better and while I still really like the way the character sprite looks in Harmony of Dissonance, I honestly would say that Aria of Sorrow looks much much better as a whole, and Harmony of Dissonance certainly shows its age. I've seen platformers released in recent years that almost look or look very very similar to how Aria of Sorrow looks, and mix that with a great feeling of controls and some fun mechanics to learn and have fun with, really puts Aria of Sorrow ahead of the other two for me.

As far as the soundtrack goes, I think between Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow, Circle of the Moon would go first, with Aria of Sorrow coming second, then Harmony of Dissonance coming third. When playing all the games again like this, you can really tell the difference when the music in a game like this doesn't feel like it should. Both Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow have a sort of essence with their music whereas Harmony of Dissonance doesn't feel as interesting and well thought out. Definitely the weaker of the 3 when it comes to the music.

Overall, I'm absolutely thrilled to continue playing Aria of Sorrow just as well as I'm excited to play Harmony of Dissonance and finally put these two games along with Circle of the Moon in my games that I have played, and thoroughly enjoyed. I'm definitely having a blast. I can also understand why people hold Aria of Sorrow in such high regard when talking about the Game Boy Advance era of Castlevania, because it truly is the experience you want when getting into Castlevania. And once again, if you haven't picked up the Castlevania Advance Collection, I highly recommend it.