Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow -- Final Opinion.

The horror. I have completed Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow at level 71, and with 99.9% of the castle explored, and 99.1% of the souls collected, just shy of thirty hours. What happened? I have no idea. It doesn't detract from the great fun of this game. The game is great looking. It makes amazing use of the NDS' 3D abilities in the backgrounds. The town, and the top of the castle are great examples of 3D use in a 2D game. The gameplay itself is pure classic Castlevania goodness. It's just about perfect in that regard. The Tactical Soul System is my favorite of the GBA / DS line so seeing its return is more than welcome. The weapon fusion system works great in allowing you to power up the weapons that suit your style of play. The music is arguably the best of the entire series. The composition is brilliant and the sound quality is impressive. The story is well, Japanese dramatic. So for those of you who like that sort of thing, you'll love this. Those of you who don't won't care as the core gameplay is just that good. The touch aspect is the best I've seen thus far on the NDS. It's mostly nonintrusive and forgiving enough so it's a welcome gimmick instead of an unwelcome distraction. It remains fun and never becomes a chore. They need to make this style of game on console. Wouldn't that be impressive? Hopefully the NDS or even the PSP will see numerous incarnations of this line in the series this generation. I'm giving Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow a 9.5.