Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA, 2002)

• More open ended in that two bosses are optional (three if you want to skip the wind book and a HP upgrade, four if you skip the cipher's charm - speeds up MP regeneration) but less in that you can't skip ahead to a later part of the game

• Three different endings

• Map items (shows a sub area of the castle when found, unexplored parts are darker), The map doesn't mark locked doors or other obstacles

• Two castles to explore in parallel dimensions (the layout is almost exactly the same and they don't affect each other except that a few barriers also open in the other one when opened)

• Puzzles get a bit better later on

• Keeps the MP regeneration from CotM (there's also an armor that slowly regenerates HP)

• Some sequence breaking possible (ice book + fist weapon spell activated near ledges that you can't quite reach otherwise lets you get a heart upgrade and Vlad's ring a bit earlier, bouncing on a flying enemy with the dive kick lets you get Vlad's eye earlier, can also get the Lure key earlier using the ice + fist combo to gain access to the castle gateway near the entrance meaning the game becomes more open ended)

• More scripted in-game events like the chase in the beginning

• No card system or battle arena (see CotM)

• No need to go into the menu to switch spells or switch between spells and sub weapons (hold R + Up or L&R + Down respectively)

• More backtracking (you can’t use all gates for teleportation within one castle, you don’t get keys/ways to break walls until much later on so you'll run into a bunch of dead ends in the first half of the game and not be able to teleport back to where you were - apparently the quick save feature can help though as it takes you back to the last save point you saved at with no progress lost?)

• ​Unlockables (play as Maxim (faster walking and attacks but no equipment, all doors are unlocked), hard mode - should’ve been there right away (increased enemy HP and damage - does help many enemies and some bosses become more of a threat even with spells though many still aren't, somewhat higher flyer frequency - small skulls at least), boss rush mode)

• Only one hidden room (ie behind a breakable wall) in the entire game

• New enemies do not appear in already explored areas (see CotM)

• Dashing doesn't affect jump length so most enemies can't be skipped without taking some damage

• Still no sub weapon inventory (uses Rondo of Blood style switching)

• Dropped items disappear much faster

• No config in the main menu

• No wall jump here

Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review

Influenced by: Zelda series (parallel worlds), CV: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania II (multiple endings)

Influenced: Possibly Eternal Daughter, Guacamelee