Castlevania: Harmony Of Despair - The Game Journal Review

Title: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Developed By: Konami

Published By: Konami

Harmony of Despair is no Symphony of the Night, but that's okay because it's not trying to be. The first orginal 2D Castlevania game for HD consoles is best played with friends.

My biggest issue with the game was the single player difficulty. In the first level, I found myself slashing my way through the castle picking up money and loot until I died, at which point I was placed back at the beginning of the level. I did this over and over and over again, picking up money and, occasionally, slightly better weapons and items. There are no checkpoints in this game. You only start at the beginning of the level. When I had finally collected enough money to buy a good weapon I breezed through the level without dying. While I felt a sense of relief, I didn't feel a sense of satisfaction. I played the exact same way I had before, hacking my way through the dungeon, but because my sword killed nearly all enemies in 1 hit I was able to overcome what once felt impossible. I didn't get better, my weapon did. 

Initial frustrations aside, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is a unique entry into the series. 6 player co-op over 6 levels, each with a time limit. Each level is unique and separate from the others, with each introducing new enemies. Each level is meant to be played again and again. While your character doesn't level up, you earn items and more powerful weapons as you play. You can adjust your loadout before hopping into a game or at specific points within each level. There are 5 playable characters, each with their own specific powers and weapons, so you'll want to at least try to play each fo them before settling on a favorite. My favorite ended up being Alucard.

The online setup is nice, with each player receiving loot from the opened chests, so it doesn't matter who gets to what first. There are parts of each level only accessible when playing with others, and because the difficulty doesn't scale with the amount of players in the level, you'll have a much easier time playing with friends than playing alone. 

There is no story to speak of, though this isn't meant to be a story based game, but rather a streamlined, multilayer focused experience, gathering loot, trying to get kill the boss as quickly as possible. This game lets you save a replay once you finish a level or watch replays from people on the leaderboards.

The art style is decidedly old school, with sprites and animations taken directly from the Nintendo DS Castlevania titles. I found the graphical style to be charming, especially with the zoomed out view that lets you see the whole level at once. The music is made up of a bunch of classic tracks from previous Castlevania titles. 

Though I was initially frustrated with Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, once I settled in, and got a feeling of what the developer was going for, I started to enjoy myself. While playing alone can, at times, feel like a chore, it is a much better experience when playing with others. Even if it's not the Castlevania title that most people wanted Konami to make, it's still a solid, decent, game that will be worth a look for fans of the series.