Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Encyclopedia
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, known in Japan as , is an action-adventure game
developed and published by Konami
for the Game Boy Advance
. Belonging to Konami's Castlevania
video game series, it is the second installment of the series on the Game Boy Advance. It was released in Japan in June 2002, in North America in September 2002, and in Europe in October 2002.
Harmony of Dissonance occurs in the fictional universe
of the Castlevania series; the premise of the series centers on the eternal conflict between the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the immortal vampire Dracula. Set fifty years after Simon Belmont vanquished Dracula's curse, Harmony of Dissonance focuses on his grandson Juste Belmont and his quest to rescue a kidnapped childhood friend.
Koji Igarashi
produced Harmony of Dissonance with the intent of "creat[ing] a game that was similar to Symphony of the Night", the critically acclaimed PlayStation
game that he had worked on. Harmony of Dissonance sold 126,000 units in the United States and did not become a "huge hit in Japan". Critics praised it as an entertaining game with improved graphics as compared to its predecessor Circle of the Moon, but criticized its soundtrack. In January 2006, Harmony of Dissonance was re-released in North America and later Europe, along with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
, as part of the Castlevania Double Pack.
of gameplay, similar to many of the previous Castlevania video games. The objective of the game is to lead the player-character, Juste Belmont, through the monster-filled castle as he searches for his kidnapped friend. The castle consists of two "layers": Castle A and B. Structurally, each castle has mostly the same room layout, but monster types, items, and other aspects vary between the two versions. Later, the player can use special warp rooms that can teleport Juste to other castle rooms and between castles. The two castles share a connection; for example, the destruction of a wall in one castle can cause a change in the other. The game further divides the castle into various, named areas: the Shrine of the Apostates, for example. Relic
s and keys found within the castle allow Juste to reach previously inaccessible areas. Harmony of Dissonance makes use of the forward dash move, which causes Juste to move forward with a short burst of speed. Unique to Harmony of Dissonance is the ability to collect furniture and collectables to furnish a bare room that Juste finds in the castle. This does not affect the game ending or produce a reward.
Juste primarily attacks at close quarters using the series' traditional whip weapon, the Vampire Killer. It can be brandished to deflect projectile attacks, reminiscent of Simon Belmont's usage of the weapon in the Super Nintendo game, Super Castlevania IV
. A variety of ranged sub-weapons—holy water, a dagger, a holy book, a cross, a gem, an axe, and a thunder gauntlet—are available, one of which can be carried at any given time and combined with one of the five spell books—Fire Book, Ice Book, Bolt Book, Wind Book, and the Summoning Tome—hidden throughout the castle to create a magical attack. Casting a spell renders the player character invincible for a moment.
Harmony of Dissonance also makes use of elements found in role-playing game
s. Defeating minor enemies and bosses will procure experience points for Juste, who will level up when statistical requirements are met. Leveling up will increase his statistics: hit points, the amount of damage the character can receive before dying; magic point
s, which affects how often he can cast a magical attack; strength, the power of the physical attack; defense, the reduction of damage taken from an enemy; intelligence, the strength of the magical attack; and luck, which determines the rate of items dropped by enemies. Certain relics will also affect his statistics: the Fang of Vlad increases his defense points, for example. Equipment in the form of weapon modifications, armor and accessories can also be found scattered about the castle and will contribute to his statistics. Occasionally, an enemy will drop an item after being killed. Items can also be bought with in-game money from a merchant who appears in various places throughout the castle.
Additional modes can be unlocked in the game. For Boss Rush Mode, the player is required to complete the game once and can then fight the bosses from the game in order with the number of bosses depending on the level of difficulty selected. Maxim Mode requires the player to finish the game with the best ending and allows the player to take control of Maxim. Unlike Juste, Maxim cannot equip items and can only use his boomerang
as a weapon. Finishing with the best ending also unlocks an option to listen to the music of the game.
of the Castlevania series. The premise of the series is the eternal conflict between the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the immortal vampire Dracula. Harmony of Dissonance takes place in 1748, fifty years after Simon Belmont defeated Dracula's curse. A result of Simon's fight against Dracula was that the villagers changed their opinion of him and the Belmont family. Producer Koji Igarashi
explained: "Simon was regarded as a life-saver, and people started to look upon him as a hero; little by little, the people started to gather around them. A village, therefore, was formed around Belmonts. Juste Belmont grew up in this environment with his childhood friends Maxim Kischine and Lydie Erlanger."
The protagonist and primary player character is Juste Belmont, the grandson of Simon Belmont and descendant of Sypha Belnades, who at the age of sixteen, gained the Vampire Killer whip. Together with his amnesia
c and injured best friend Maxim Kischine, he sets off to rescue his kidnapped childhood friend, Lydie Erlanger. While exploring the castle, he encounters a merchant who stumbled upon the castle and Death, Dracula's servant.
every now and then. Regardless, in one of their meetings, Maxim reveals that he went on a journey to find and destroy the remains of Dracula, something Simon Belmont had previously done, but when he collected all six, his memory went blank.
Juste encounters Death again, who explains that the castle has been split in two "layers" to accommodate the two spirits living in Maxim's body: his original spirit and an evil one created from Dracula's remains and his suppressed jealousy
of Juste. Maxim later confirms this and admits to being Lydie's kidnapper. Juste meets his friend again in the other layer of the castle where he reveals that he lost his memory to protect Lydie. He then gives Juste his bracelet
to help him locate her in the castle. However, when Juste finds her, Death kidnaps her so he can use her to unite the two castles by destroying Maxim's original spirit. Juste defeats Death, and proceeds to search for Maxim.
Along the way, he collects Dracula's remains, which are scattered throughout the castle. In the center of the castle, he finds Maxim with an unconscious Lydie, whom he has bitten. Maxim then declares that he has destroyed the original one's spirit. Angered, Juste begins to fight him. However, during the fight, Maxim noticed that Juste wore his bracelet and resists the evil spirit's control over his body. The evil spirit within him flees into a weakened form using the gathered remains and fights Juste, planning to use his blood to return himself to full power. Vanquishing Dracula, Juste escapes the castle together with Maxim and Lydie, whose bite marks disappear. She regains consciousness outside the castle.
video game series for the Game Boy Advance
. Its predecessor Circle of the Moon had been developed by a different studio, Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe. Igarashi began with the goal of "creat[ing] a game that was similar to Symphony of the Night for the Game Boy Advance." Igarashi disliked the dual-card system introduced in Circle of the Moon and replaced it with a fusion-spell system. Another change from Circle of the Moon was the brightening of the graphics and better control. Ayami Kojima
, who had previously worked on the character designs for Symphony of the Night, designed the characters of Harmony of Dissonance. In production at the same time was Aria of Sorrow, and as a result, the two share similar programming engines and gameplay elements. Originally slated for a mid-June release, Harmony of Dissonance was not released until September 2002. It was released in Japan on June 6, 2002, in North America on September 16, 2002, and in Europe on October 11, 2002.
creating the additional stage music. Igarashi later noted that the quality of the music had been "sacrifice[d]" for the graphics of the game.
assigned it a score of 87 of 100 while GameRankings gave it an 84%.
At the time of its release, Harmony of Dissonance received positive reviews from English-language critics. GameSpot
commended it as "not just a fine Castlevania game--it's also one of the better Game Boy Advance games to come around in a while". Gamespy
stated: "Despite its unevenness, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a quality adventure that represents the best attempt yet made at miniaturizing the brilliance of Symphony of the Night." While worrying about the loss of originality of the franchise and noting that "Harmony of Dissonance almost obsessively copies Symphony of the Night", GamePro
called it "a fun action game and a fine Castlevania game in its own right." The improved graphics of Harmony of Dissonance, especially the backgrounds, 3D effects, and multi-jointed bosses, received praise from reviewers, who called them "plentiful and visually stunning", and "top-notch".
The soundtrack of the game was less well-received. Critics panned the music as "easily the worst Castlevania soundtrack" and "muddy, plodding, and reminiscent of the days of four-channel NES soundtracks". Conversely, GameSpot found that the music was "decent" and occasionally "fitting or even catchy", but failed to live up to the high expectations of the series. IGN
felt that while not "quite as bad as importers have made it out to be", the songs "aren't nearly as nice as they have been in past Castlevania adventures." Reviewers also disliked the lack of difficulty with GamePro describing it as the game's "biggest flaw". Other criticism included predictable and easy boss battles, and "a much smaller explorable area and somewhat less compelling map design".
Retrospective reviews, however, have been more critical of the game. Considering Harmony of Dissonance "one of the more disappointing titles of the series" and "the least-impressive of the three GBA titles," retrospective critics cited the dull castle design and frequent switching between castle layers as some of the game's biggest flaws. PALGN
's David Low criticized the inclusion of the "possessed ally" element from previous Castlevania titles along with the game's easier gameplay, the player character's badly animated sprite
, and the occasionally gaudy environments. Looking back on the series, Mark Bozon of IGN concluded: "Still Harmony of Dissonance shows off some decent visuals as an in-between, mid-generation game, and paved the way for GBA's strongest Castlevania title, Aria of Sorrow."
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance was re-released in North America in January 2006, along with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, as part of Castlevania Double Pack. Both games are contained on a single GBA Game Pak. This pack also appeared in Europe later that year. It was picked as the IGN Gameboy Game of the Month for January 2006.
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
developed and published by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
. Belonging to Konami's Castlevania
Castlevania
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
video game series, it is the second installment of the series on the Game Boy Advance. It was released in Japan in June 2002, in North America in September 2002, and in Europe in October 2002.
Harmony of Dissonance occurs in the fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
of the Castlevania series; the premise of the series centers on the eternal conflict between the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the immortal vampire Dracula. Set fifty years after Simon Belmont vanquished Dracula's curse, Harmony of Dissonance focuses on his grandson Juste Belmont and his quest to rescue a kidnapped childhood friend.
Koji Igarashi
Koji Igarashi
, also known simply by the nickname IGA, is a Konami employee and one of the producers of the Castlevania video game series. He is best known as the assistant director of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, his first major involvement in the Castlevania series , also known simply by the nickname...
produced Harmony of Dissonance with the intent of "creat[ing] a game that was similar to Symphony of the Night", the critically acclaimed PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
game that he had worked on. Harmony of Dissonance sold 126,000 units in the United States and did not become a "huge hit in Japan". Critics praised it as an entertaining game with improved graphics as compared to its predecessor Circle of the Moon, but criticized its soundtrack. In January 2006, Harmony of Dissonance was re-released in North America and later Europe, along with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, known in Japan as , is an action-adventure game developed and published by Konami for the Game Boy Advance. It is part of Konami's Castlevania video game series, and the third installment of the series on the Game Boy Advance. The game was released in North America on...
, as part of the Castlevania Double Pack.
Gameplay
Harmony of Dissonance makes use of a 2D side-scrolling styleSide-scrolling video game
A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology...
of gameplay, similar to many of the previous Castlevania video games. The objective of the game is to lead the player-character, Juste Belmont, through the monster-filled castle as he searches for his kidnapped friend. The castle consists of two "layers": Castle A and B. Structurally, each castle has mostly the same room layout, but monster types, items, and other aspects vary between the two versions. Later, the player can use special warp rooms that can teleport Juste to other castle rooms and between castles. The two castles share a connection; for example, the destruction of a wall in one castle can cause a change in the other. The game further divides the castle into various, named areas: the Shrine of the Apostates, for example. Relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
s and keys found within the castle allow Juste to reach previously inaccessible areas. Harmony of Dissonance makes use of the forward dash move, which causes Juste to move forward with a short burst of speed. Unique to Harmony of Dissonance is the ability to collect furniture and collectables to furnish a bare room that Juste finds in the castle. This does not affect the game ending or produce a reward.
Juste primarily attacks at close quarters using the series' traditional whip weapon, the Vampire Killer. It can be brandished to deflect projectile attacks, reminiscent of Simon Belmont's usage of the weapon in the Super Nintendo game, Super Castlevania IV
Super Castlevania IV
Super Castlevania IV, known as in Japan, is a platform game developed and published by Konami and the first Castlevania game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was originally released in 1991 and later re-released on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console in 2006...
. A variety of ranged sub-weapons—holy water, a dagger, a holy book, a cross, a gem, an axe, and a thunder gauntlet—are available, one of which can be carried at any given time and combined with one of the five spell books—Fire Book, Ice Book, Bolt Book, Wind Book, and the Summoning Tome—hidden throughout the castle to create a magical attack. Casting a spell renders the player character invincible for a moment.
Harmony of Dissonance also makes use of elements found in role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s. Defeating minor enemies and bosses will procure experience points for Juste, who will level up when statistical requirements are met. Leveling up will increase his statistics: hit points, the amount of damage the character can receive before dying; magic point
Magic point
Magic points are units of magical power that are used in many role-playing, computer role-playing and similar games as an expendable resource that is needed to pay for magic spells and other abilities, such as special attacks...
s, which affects how often he can cast a magical attack; strength, the power of the physical attack; defense, the reduction of damage taken from an enemy; intelligence, the strength of the magical attack; and luck, which determines the rate of items dropped by enemies. Certain relics will also affect his statistics: the Fang of Vlad increases his defense points, for example. Equipment in the form of weapon modifications, armor and accessories can also be found scattered about the castle and will contribute to his statistics. Occasionally, an enemy will drop an item after being killed. Items can also be bought with in-game money from a merchant who appears in various places throughout the castle.
Additional modes can be unlocked in the game. For Boss Rush Mode, the player is required to complete the game once and can then fight the bosses from the game in order with the number of bosses depending on the level of difficulty selected. Maxim Mode requires the player to finish the game with the best ending and allows the player to take control of Maxim. Unlike Juste, Maxim cannot equip items and can only use his boomerang
Boomerang
A boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...
as a weapon. Finishing with the best ending also unlocks an option to listen to the music of the game.
Setting and characters
Harmony of Dissonance is set in the fictional universeFictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
of the Castlevania series. The premise of the series is the eternal conflict between the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the immortal vampire Dracula. Harmony of Dissonance takes place in 1748, fifty years after Simon Belmont defeated Dracula's curse. A result of Simon's fight against Dracula was that the villagers changed their opinion of him and the Belmont family. Producer Koji Igarashi
Koji Igarashi
, also known simply by the nickname IGA, is a Konami employee and one of the producers of the Castlevania video game series. He is best known as the assistant director of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, his first major involvement in the Castlevania series , also known simply by the nickname...
explained: "Simon was regarded as a life-saver, and people started to look upon him as a hero; little by little, the people started to gather around them. A village, therefore, was formed around Belmonts. Juste Belmont grew up in this environment with his childhood friends Maxim Kischine and Lydie Erlanger."
The protagonist and primary player character is Juste Belmont, the grandson of Simon Belmont and descendant of Sypha Belnades, who at the age of sixteen, gained the Vampire Killer whip. Together with his amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
c and injured best friend Maxim Kischine, he sets off to rescue his kidnapped childhood friend, Lydie Erlanger. While exploring the castle, he encounters a merchant who stumbled upon the castle and Death, Dracula's servant.
Story
Juste meets Maxim at a castle where Lydie is being held captive; after a brief talk, he leaves Maxim outside and begins to explore the castle. Within the castle, Juste encounters Death, who confirms that the castle is Dracula's. He then meets up with a dazed Maxim, whose memory is slowly returning to him and they split up to cover more of the castle ground. While trekking through the castle, Juste notices that the castle sometimes has different atmospheres. He also meets Maxim several more times, but is baffled by how his friend seems to change personalitiesPersonality type
Personality type refers to the psychological classification of different types of individuals. Personality types are sometimes distinguished from personality traits, with the latter embodying a smaller grouping of behavioral tendencies. Types are sometimes said to involve qualitative differences...
every now and then. Regardless, in one of their meetings, Maxim reveals that he went on a journey to find and destroy the remains of Dracula, something Simon Belmont had previously done, but when he collected all six, his memory went blank.
Juste encounters Death again, who explains that the castle has been split in two "layers" to accommodate the two spirits living in Maxim's body: his original spirit and an evil one created from Dracula's remains and his suppressed jealousy
Jealousy
Jealousy is a second emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values, particularly in reference to a human connection. Jealousy often consists of a combination of presenting emotions...
of Juste. Maxim later confirms this and admits to being Lydie's kidnapper. Juste meets his friend again in the other layer of the castle where he reveals that he lost his memory to protect Lydie. He then gives Juste his bracelet
Bracelet
A bracelet is an article of jewelry which is worn around the wrist. Bracelets can be manufactured from metal, leather, cloth, plastic or other materials and sometimes contain jewels, rocks, wood, and/or shells...
to help him locate her in the castle. However, when Juste finds her, Death kidnaps her so he can use her to unite the two castles by destroying Maxim's original spirit. Juste defeats Death, and proceeds to search for Maxim.
Along the way, he collects Dracula's remains, which are scattered throughout the castle. In the center of the castle, he finds Maxim with an unconscious Lydie, whom he has bitten. Maxim then declares that he has destroyed the original one's spirit. Angered, Juste begins to fight him. However, during the fight, Maxim noticed that Juste wore his bracelet and resists the evil spirit's control over his body. The evil spirit within him flees into a weakened form using the gathered remains and fights Juste, planning to use his blood to return himself to full power. Vanquishing Dracula, Juste escapes the castle together with Maxim and Lydie, whose bite marks disappear. She regains consciousness outside the castle.
Development
Produced by Koji Igarashi and developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is the second installment of Konami's CastlevaniaCastlevania
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
video game series for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
. Its predecessor Circle of the Moon had been developed by a different studio, Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe. Igarashi began with the goal of "creat[ing] a game that was similar to Symphony of the Night for the Game Boy Advance." Igarashi disliked the dual-card system introduced in Circle of the Moon and replaced it with a fusion-spell system. Another change from Circle of the Moon was the brightening of the graphics and better control. Ayami Kojima
Ayami Kojima
is a Japanese game and concept artist who is best known for her work on the Castlevania series of video games with Konami. She is self-taught and enjoys reading shōnen manga...
, who had previously worked on the character designs for Symphony of the Night, designed the characters of Harmony of Dissonance. In production at the same time was Aria of Sorrow, and as a result, the two share similar programming engines and gameplay elements. Originally slated for a mid-June release, Harmony of Dissonance was not released until September 2002. It was released in Japan on June 6, 2002, in North America on September 16, 2002, and in Europe on October 11, 2002.
Audio
On June 26, 2002, Konami published Castlevania: Circle of the Moon & Castlevania: Concerto of Midnight Sun Original Soundtrack (KMCA-162). Soshiro Hokkai composed the soundtrack for Harmony of Dissonance with Michiru YamaneMichiru Yamane
is a Japanese video game composer and musician. She is known primarily for her work on the Castlevania series and other Konami games, including Suikoden. Her debut composition was Twinbee...
creating the additional stage music. Igarashi later noted that the quality of the music had been "sacrifice[d]" for the graphics of the game.
Reception
In the United States, about 126,000 units of Harmony of Dissonance were sold, and in Japan, it was not considered a "huge hit" by Igarashi. MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
assigned it a score of 87 of 100 while GameRankings gave it an 84%.
At the time of its release, Harmony of Dissonance received positive reviews from English-language critics. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
commended it as "not just a fine Castlevania game--it's also one of the better Game Boy Advance games to come around in a while". Gamespy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
stated: "Despite its unevenness, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a quality adventure that represents the best attempt yet made at miniaturizing the brilliance of Symphony of the Night." While worrying about the loss of originality of the franchise and noting that "Harmony of Dissonance almost obsessively copies Symphony of the Night", GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
called it "a fun action game and a fine Castlevania game in its own right." The improved graphics of Harmony of Dissonance, especially the backgrounds, 3D effects, and multi-jointed bosses, received praise from reviewers, who called them "plentiful and visually stunning", and "top-notch".
The soundtrack of the game was less well-received. Critics panned the music as "easily the worst Castlevania soundtrack" and "muddy, plodding, and reminiscent of the days of four-channel NES soundtracks". Conversely, GameSpot found that the music was "decent" and occasionally "fitting or even catchy", but failed to live up to the high expectations of the series. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
felt that while not "quite as bad as importers have made it out to be", the songs "aren't nearly as nice as they have been in past Castlevania adventures." Reviewers also disliked the lack of difficulty with GamePro describing it as the game's "biggest flaw". Other criticism included predictable and easy boss battles, and "a much smaller explorable area and somewhat less compelling map design".
Retrospective reviews, however, have been more critical of the game. Considering Harmony of Dissonance "one of the more disappointing titles of the series" and "the least-impressive of the three GBA titles," retrospective critics cited the dull castle design and frequent switching between castle layers as some of the game's biggest flaws. PALGN
PALGN
The PAL Gaming Network is an Australian based video game news and reviews website that focuses on the videogame industry and culture in PAL territories, particularly Australia and the UK. It was launched in 2003 by a group of PAL forum members on the IGN message boards who were disenfranchised by...
's David Low criticized the inclusion of the "possessed ally" element from previous Castlevania titles along with the game's easier gameplay, the player character's badly animated sprite
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
, and the occasionally gaudy environments. Looking back on the series, Mark Bozon of IGN concluded: "Still Harmony of Dissonance shows off some decent visuals as an in-between, mid-generation game, and paved the way for GBA's strongest Castlevania title, Aria of Sorrow."
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance was re-released in North America in January 2006, along with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, as part of Castlevania Double Pack. Both games are contained on a single GBA Game Pak. This pack also appeared in Europe later that year. It was picked as the IGN Gameboy Game of the Month for January 2006.