Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Two Sandboxes of Violence

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance is the third Castlevania game on the GBA console, and the only one to actually have a player control a Belmont, Juste Belmont, and his time to battle the Belmont family’s greatest enemy, Dracula, though not everything is as it should be.

Harmony of Dissonance begins with Juste and his friend Maxim arriving at the recently restored  Castlevania, something that should not be as Dracula was defeated less than 100 years ago. Maxim, who located this castle, suffering from amnesia and weak tells Juste to continue without him and save their mutual friend, Lydie, from the horrors that lie within Dracula’s restored Castle.

Juste, plays similar to any Belmont, using the family whip, Vampire Killer,  as his one and only primary weapon while having access to various sub-weapons. Unlike many other users of the Vampire Killer, Juste is an experienced spell caster and, upon discovering the spell books hidden within the Castle, can combine the elemental attributes within to add various effects to each sub-weapon costing Mp rather than the traditional hearts, though Juste can use sub-weapons normally and doing so will only cost hearts. The Vampire Killer can also be upgraded with different elemental attributes or flat stat increases. These various weapons and modifications make Juste an incredibly versatile and fun Belmont to play as. It’s not uncommon to find yourself dashing through the castle with a shield weapon and just blazing through what ever poor enemy is foolish enough to get in the way.

Juste’s rampage through the Castle eventually leads him to the truth, courtesy of Death. In seeking to obtain the glory of slaying Dracula, Maxim sought out the remaining pieces of Dracula and became corrupted by them creating two identical castles, with a twisted Dracula-like Maxim trapped within the second castle.  From here Juste continues his rampage, trying to locate Maxim and Lydie and try to get them out of the castle.

Exploring the two castles is interesting and annoying at the same time. Interesting in that you’ll be playing an incredibly non-linear Metroidvania with the game constantly giving you access to long stretches of the castle, some of which you can end up starting at the opposite end of if you go the right way. While you will still need to explore the entire castle if you want to get the true ending, the fact that the game allows you to explore vast sections of the castle before having to backtrack to another location with the new ability or skill the player has obtained. As an example you can bypass the first boss and end up entering from the wrong side fairly soon. It’s one of the most open Metroidvanias that fans can have more fun with just by trying a different route than before.

On the flip side, getting from one end of the castle to the other can be a bit of a slog. Juste has an incredibly varied and effective arsenal but he lacks any high-speed movement ability to get around the castle. And come late game, where you will be scouring the castle for the last relic, it’ll be quite annoying to be moving at the same pace that you did at the beginning of the game. Combine this with having to explore both castles and one can find themselves annoyed at constantly mashing the dash buttons. Mitigated somewhat by the teleportation rooms scattered around the castle, though a few more would make the constant back and forth a bit easier.

All that said, the need for exploration is fairly low, so long as the player collects the remains of Dracula scattered around the castles then they can obtain the best ending in the game. It’s strange though since Juste can locate a room that he can clean up and decorate with random furniture you find hidden in the castle. None of that collecting and decorating has any relevance to the endings. The only thing relevant to the endings are having Dracula’s remains, which castle you fight the final boss in, and whether or not you have Juste’s and Maxim’s bracelet’s equipped before entering the boss fight. What Juste’s furniture room is for is determining how close Lydie stands next to Juste in the ending.

The endings are quite interesting, with all three playing on the connection between the trio and in different ways depending on the ending. The normal ending ends with Juste being forced to kill Maxim, who has been nearly fully overtaken by Dracula’s dark influence. In this ending Lydie survives and helps Juste come to grips with Maxim’s loss. In the bad ending, in which Juste faces off against a fully possessed Maxim without equipping both bracelets, both Maxim and Lydie are killed, leaving Juste alone and lamenting his failure to save either of his closest friends. In the best ending however, obtained by fighting possessed Maxim with both bracelet’s equipped, Maxim manages to fight off the influence of Dracula, who Juste proceeds to puts down. The trio, now free of Dracula’s evil, return to playful banter as they return home, this dark time soon to be a distant memory.

Harmony of Dissonance is a Metroidvania that indulges the player in some of the most open exploration and a vast amount of combat options to suit any play style. It’s a long journey through both Castlevanias and with so many things to find that one could spend several days exploring each nook and cranny of both castles. The small moments one can get between Juste and Maxim helps to sell the connection between the duo and makes the endings more tragic, in regards to bad and normal, or more uplifting, in the case of the best ending. The game’s flaws are little more than annoyances that don’t truly take away from the experience at all. Adding to this, modes such as boss rush and a playable Maxim mode make it a very fun Castlevania experience that one can easily go back to. 

TLDR: Harmony of Dissonance is a fantastic Castlevania that gives the player a surprising amount of freedom and combat experiences that can help players mold their playthrough in nearly any way they like. The only thing holding it back are minor annoyances that truly don’t detract from the experience. Any fan of Metroidvanias would be remiss in missing out on trying it out or adding it to their collection, one way or another.