Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

[Warlock]

Has anyone been playing this game? I got it a few weeks ago, finally got 100% souls and beat the boss rush mode with a decent time (about 4mins).

Anyways, this game is pretty damn fun. I have to say, Julius mode is by far the most fun I've had in any of these GBA Castlevanias in a long time. If you havn't played the game, essentially this is, at first glace, the same "play the same game with a new character but no objectives" crap they throw in every GBA Castlevania. But it's so much more, which is what I think really sets it apart. First off, you start out as Julius Belmont who controls pretty much exactly how you would expect a Belmont to control. You get a whip, same somewhat stiff controls, and a "special item selection" of holy water, cross, axes, and some sort of wierd "clear the screen" type cross (I guess this was a Dracula X/SotN Richter thing?). But what is cool about this mode is that you also get two other characters. This is really cool because it plays a lot like Castlevania 3 for the NES. If you visit Yoko Belnades' shop, you can play as her. She is a decendant of Sypha from Castlevania 3 and has (I am told, I havn't played CV3 much and in a long time) the same attacks. Her main attack is a crappy short range staff that restores a minor amount of HP on hits, but she gets three spells (one fire, one ice, one lightning) that kick major ass. They do insane damage. Finally, you can also play as Alucard who controls pretty much exactly as he does in SotN. He has his sword, can use the classic Dracula 3-fireball attack and can turn into a bat.

So yeah, you can switch between these three any time by pressing X which is great as you can use different characters for different situations. Another nice thing about this mode is that it's extremely hard. Unlike the other "play as a supporting character" modes that are basically "how fast can you one-hit kill everything in the castle", you level up in this and you cannot use any items like potions. So it becomes quite difficult rather fast. Boss battles are suddenly extremely rewarding as you can't potion-spam your way through them. You actually have to use some clever strategy and I found myself dying to some of the bosses several times before I actually learned how to dodge all their attacks with great precision. They also injected a bit of story into this, but not much. There are a few short scenes when you find Yoko and Alucard but not much there. But from what I heard the final boss is unique and related to the craptacular ending of Soma's quest (which I won't give away but if you went to face Celia without equiping Mina's ring then you've seen it.. if you didn't, you should, it's kind of cool).

But yeah, that's fun :) I havn't beaten it yet. I took a break from Julius mode to collect the rest of the souls I was missing. Iron Golem soul = pain in the ass. But the ring you get basically gives you unlimited mana which is awesome. I also did some boss rush mode after that and it took awhile to get a good time under 5 mins. But you can win some cool items that way. The RPG is basically a missile launcher which is kind of funny, and there is a "Terror Bear" which is just some big teddy bear that does a lot of damage I guess (too slow for my taste). After Julius Mode I guess I have Soma's New Game + hard mode (though really, I get most of my souls and all my bad-ass weapons? How is this hard?). Of course Mario Kart DS comes out next week so I better freakin hurry up :)

[Saffith]

Yeah, you gotta finish Julius mode. "Unique" isn't precisely the word I'd use, but it's quite a cool boss nonetheless.
Hard mode... I'd have to say it isn't much harder, considering all the stuff you start with. Some of the bosses get very strong, though. If you don't have Dracula's Tunic, you might want to find that.
Unfortunately, unlike Aria, there aren't any extra items lying around in hard mode. But at least you'll get more boss souls for Yoko.

[Warlock]

Yes, I have Dracula's Tunic.

Oh, and I forgot to mention: Julius Mode - the Dark Chapel. Best damn background music ever. I freakin love Castlevania 2. I don't care how different it is, I love that game and it has some bad-ass music. It's kind of cool that the music is unique for that mode too. I was wondering how the hell I didn't notice it before and then I go back there in Soma's game and it's different :(

Edit: Incidentally, a cross between the open style of Castlevania 2 (at least in that you didn't spend your entire time in the same castle that has the same rooms in EVERY GAME) and the character switching mechanics of stuff like Castlevania 3/Julius mode would make an excellent next Castlevania game. I do have to say I am getting sick of running through the same castle playing essentially the same game every time. They need to get back to the areas outside the castle. And maybe go back to the past again.. maybe even to Simon Belmont (he's coo)

[MottZilla]

You reminded me I still need to finish playing CV DS. :O So many things to do.. It's got great graphical and sound quality too, and ofcourse good design. I was very pleased with what I've played of CV DS thus far.

[Grasshopper]

Oh, and I forgot to mention: Julius Mode - the Dark Chapel. Best damn background music ever.

Bloody Tears rocks. :)

It too me a while to get 100% of the souls, but I think the Chaos Ring really helps on getting the RPG in Boss Rush Mode. Terror Bear is a funny weapon, and the RPG is cool, but even my Golden Axe still out ranks it. I want another death soul to get the Death Scythe, but that will come later.

I'm almost through Julius mode myself, but dang, Abaddon is hard. I didn't think he was hard with Soma because I used Great Axe and Death souls, but I don't have any of that, and dodging the locust is proving very difficult, considering hes fast with summoning a new horde.


I do have to say I am getting sick of running through the same castle playing essentially the same game every time. They need to get back to the areas outside the castle. And maybe go back to the past again.. maybe even to Simon Belmont (he's coo)

Me too. The game is awesome, but apart from the Lost Village, and the Abyss if you want to count that, you're in the castle the whole game. Just like Castlevania 2 (even though I've only played a couple hours of that), I want a whole countryside to explore.

[DarkDragoonX]

Yes, CV:DoS is awesome.

Oh, and for Abbadon in Julius mode, use Julius. His whip will destroy any insect it touches, making the job of dodging Abbadon's attacks much easier.

[Grasshopper]

Oh, and for Abbadon in Julius mode, use Julius. His whip will destroy any insect it touches, making the job of dodging Abbadon's attacks much easier.

Yes, thats what I've tried. The hanging whip is a good way to get rid of them, of coures, you have to move to the right position and face the right direction. Which I have some problems doing. :tongue:

[Kairyu]

Use Yoko. Her fire spell does good damage, she has the longest backdash, and she recovers health if she hits locusts.
Find the safe spots on the floor for his attacks (I'm pretty sure the triple horizontal row attack is the only one without a safe spot). Hit him with the fire spell until he starts to pose, then run to the appropriate safe spot. When the locusts get close (Or right before they start hitting you if he uses the triple row or you mess up) use her crouching kick repeatedly to recover some life.

[vegeta1215]

I reserved the Mario Kart DS Bundle, so I'm pretty excited about that. Dawn of Sorrow is a game I'm thinking about getting. My main concern is that's its gonna play just like SoTN, CoTM, and HoD. How much different is DoS from these.?

Julius mode sounds cool if you can play as 3 different characters. Do you play in a different castle than the one in the main game?

[DarkDragoonX]

Julius mode uses the same map as the normal game. It's still very good, though; certainly better than the bonus modes in other recent CV games.

Anyway, it plays pretty much the same as AoS, which in turn plays pretty much like all the other castleroid games. Nothing groundbreaking, but fun nonetheless.

[Warlock]

Holy crap Abaddon (sp?) is hard in Julius mode. That guy is such a cheap ass. "Oh look, here comes 1 million locusts.. don't get hit by ONE because you will flinch and automatically get hit by ALL THE REST and probably die".. he is so freaking cheap. The only character I have that can last two seconds against the guy is Julius since he can hold his whip out and block a lot of the locusts (though Alucard can turn into a bat which sort of helps except the locusts start coming so fast that you can't transform in time). But still there will always be one that flies just above the whip or something and I'll insta-die because I get hit by all the locusts (that do like 60 dmg per hit, and average that over about 600 life and the fact you lose that 60hp about every half a second while they are flying through you and you CANNOT move during this time).

Death was a freaking pansy compared to this guy's cheap ass tactics. And what's worse is he's always freaking trying to jump on top of you. So you have to jump over him, but then he stays facing the same way so the locusts come from behind you instead of in front. That's even worse. I hate this guy so much.

[Grasshopper]

Sheesh, I just beat him. I had to be quick on my toes too. I used to uses Yoko most of the bosses because her magic is just so powerful, but not this time. I dont' know how many times I've died, and from the exact same reason ^^^.

But I used Julius, and Holy Water. Threw one holy water and jumped in the corner, crouched, and held my whip out. I just keep swinging that as fast as I can until the locust are finished, then throw another Holy Water, get in the corner and repeat. The only locust attack I can't dodge is when they come from above and drop down. I swing that whip as fast as I can, and I still get hit by one.

If your lucky, he'll hope right in range of that whip and summon locust. Of course you're going to hold your whip out and sling it around, but it smacks him everytime, so 5-7hp off of him each smack. And then he stands there for three more times while he summons more bugs. How great is that.

I just had to be really quick. Soma should be easy after that.

[Warlock]

Sheesh, I just beat him. I had to be quick on my toes too. I used to uses Yoko most of the bosses because her magic is just so powerful, but not this time. I dont' know how many times I've died, and from the exact same reason ^^^.

But I used Julius, and Holy Water. Threw one holy water and jumped in the corner, crouched, and held my whip out. I just keep swinging that as fast as I can until the locust are finished, then throw another Holy Water, get in the corner and repeat. The only locust attack I can't dodge is when they come from above and drop down. I swing that whip as fast as I can, and I still get hit by one.

If your lucky, he'll hope right in range of that whip and summon locust. Of course you're going to hold your whip out and sling it around, but it smacks him everytime, so 5-7hp off of him each smack. And then he stands there for three more times while he summons more bugs. How great is that.

I just had to be really quick. Soma should be easy after that.

See, for when they come from above and drop down I was using the Axe. It's absolutely wonderful at clearing that group. But I might have to try the Holy Water.

Edit: Ok, finally beat him. Damn cheap ass bastard. Now I'm on the final guy who is quite hard. But at least I can say he is not CHEAP like Abaddon.

[Mr. 207]

I absolutely loved this game. Probab.ly my favorite of the "Castle-roids".

I had alot of trouble with Abaddon even in regular mode, I acn't imagine fighting him in Julius mode. Actually most of the bosses in regular mode I didnt think were that hard. But the seal system almost always woud cost me because I'd screw up trying to complete the seal every time.

[KingArthur]

Any Castlevania game with Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears AND The Begining is good in my book :thumbsup:

yes, sadly, julius mode was my MAIN REASON for getting this, lol

[Grasshopper]

Edit: Ok, finally beat him. Damn cheap ass bastard. Now I'm on the final guy who is quite hard. But at least I can say he is not CHEAP like Abaddon.

Yup, seems I underestimated him. But I agree, hes just hard, hes not cheap.

[DarkDragoonX]

Eh, Abbadon isn't too bad once you get his attacks down. He makes very specific motions with his arms that let you know a few seconds in advance which attack he is going to use. Every attack can be:

1. Blocked with Julius' whip (the one where they fly straight at you in 3 lines).

2. Dodged. There are a few attacks that seem to be impossible to dodge at first, but they have one safe place to stand.

Anyway, (SPOILER WARNING)





















The best tactic to use against Soma's second form (if I remember correctly) is to attack with Julius' cross. When Soma gets ready to hop forward and send worms out, quickly switch to Yoko, then turn around and backroll underneath him as soon as he leaps. Repeat until he's good and dead.

[Warlock]

Ok, beat Julius Mode.. the final boss is actually really easy once you figure out how to fight him. But oh well. I'm trying to get through New Game+ Hard Mode but if I don't before Wednesday (aka Mario Kart DS day) then too bad :P

[Kairyu]

Anyone have any suggestions for Boss Rush Bat Company on Julius mode? I keep reaching him with low life and getting killed in the first two seconds.

[Grasshopper]

I know this just kills time, but you can always collect the orb after you defeat a boss. It refills your HP and MP. Only do it for the ones you really need though.

[Kairyu]

Wait, bosses drop those healing orbs in Boss Rush mode? I'll have to do that. Thanks!

[Trusso]

Bat Company dies pretty easly from Aguni fire, if you use the rosery item an another stat boost then you can do about 229 damage per hit, and get about 2 hits each time. The devil soul+Death Sythe is pretty handy as well, using its super attack will do over 600 damage most bosses.

[chis]

this game is awesome :cool: :D :) :rolleyes:

[Kairyu]

Bat Company dies pretty easly from Aguni fire, if you use the rosery item an another stat boost then you can do about 229 damage per hit, and get about 2 hits each time. The devil soul+Death Sythe is pretty handy as well, using its super attack will do over 600 damage most bosses.

I was asking about the Julius Mode Boss Rush. Thanks anyway.

[Lord Cheese]

OMG I was looking at this game last night and now want it... Just so ya know.. If anyone cares... LEAVE ME ALONE!! IM NOT CRAZY!!