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The colors were very vibrant and more beautiful with this patch, some areas were darker but nothing that bothered them.

It was a no-brainer to use this patch to replay this game again after a while of not doing so and man the whole vibe of the game feels different to me as it's not as brightly lit but get the atmosphere right.

I chose to use the SotN patch as I liked that game when I played it a couple of years back and wanted a similar experience. I wasn't disappointed when I loaded it up on my DS Lite that's for sure. I can also confirm it works with the weapons patch which overhauls the weapons and the drops for them to make them more unique as one criticism of the game is that most of the weapons aren't that great. Beyond that, this is the way to go with this game and I will continue playing it and try to get everything like before.

I understand why the game originally is so bright, and I didn't feel like it took from the game, but the recolor makes it look so good. It also works with my old AoS save data, so I didn't even have to restart the game to use this patch!

I played both patch versions, in original game and mod Alter version so what can I say...

The Recolor version is, for me, the most beautiful version, the darkest theme, with stronger dark colors, it matched exactly with the atmosphere of the game, managing to make it better than it already is, with each new room the eyes shine in contemplating the great work committed...

The Symphony version doesn't disappoint either, the colors here are more vibrant, more colorful, not completely leaving the dark theme aside, treating it more like a more vivid theme... but there's a problem with the color palette of the bestiary, in case you haven't got the monster's soul, you can't read its name in the list, the color of the letters is completely erased in relation to the background, so it's necessary to own the soul or click on the monster to know which one it was selected.

About the two versions in the Alter mod: I really wish I could say that it works 100%, but it's not as it seems, everything goes well and you can even finish using the new colors in the Alter mod (maybe, I didn't get to the final boss using the new colors), but keep in mind that it may be impossible to complete the challenge in the Arena of Death (the game may simply reset due to visual glitches) and also some visual glitches throughout some rooms of the game (on the ceiling of the stairs, in the underground part, and more) as well as it is also possible to get stuck right at the beginning in a room in which the platforms lose their physics, being only as a background, making it impossible to use them to return... To get around this problem is if the player has returned and acquired the necklace from Minna to be able to use this part and return to her...

My final thoughts are that both color versions are great for the original game, I don't recommend using it in the Alter mod due to glitches, the Axe Armor color could be green only in the Symphony version, but not everything can be as we wish... if one day someone comes to make a definitive version of the game, surely the Recolor patch has to be present...

I stood for a few seconds in the rooms admiring how beautiful this work is. I definitely recommend it. But as for compatibility with the Alter hack, there is a vertical room not far away where platform physics fades and a flying eye changes position. This is sad because playing these two super hacks together would be a fantastic experience.Still, it's worth playing AOS with this wonderful new palette!

This hack for Aria of Sorrow is everything that I was looking for. The game looks amazing now, especially on original hardware. I have an Everdrive X5 for the GBA and the screenshots provided by JonataGuitar doesn't do justice on how good this looks on an actual GBA.

My biggest complaint for a lot of GBA games was the weird colour pallets and contrast to make up for a lack of backlit screen, if every game had a quality patch like this one, it'd be perfect.

Now please do Harmony of Dissonance next!

My first playthrough of Aria used this hack. Just from the pictures on the hack's page I could tell that it was a huge improvement. Having now played through the whole game and watching some vanilla footage for comparison, I can now say with confidence that this hack is basically magic. I simply can't believe how much power palette swapping has in improving a game's look. The vanilla game doesn't look particularly bad, but this recolour skyrockets it into one of the best looking GBA games ever. The game genuinely has a lot more atmosphere with this hack. I can't recommend it enough.

Well, I can say nothing new about the original recolor patch. Very interesting and imaginative changes to make AoS experience fresh again.

And now, you have a new SOTN styled option to enjoy, that really stands up and adds a new and, at the same time classic/old mood to the game.

The only negative part is the non-compatibility with Alter, since it somehow breaks the hit detection (unidirectional clipping) of (some) background platforms, making the game unplayable.

Anyway, absolutely reccomended.

What can I say other than this hack makes Aria of Sorrow look even better than it already did? No long does AoS have a slightly washed out look, as it now hosts a darker, yet vibrant art style that better fits the atmosphere AoS is trying to create. This hack is a must patch for anybody looking to play Aria of Sorrow on a device other than the original GBA model.

This is what the game would look like on up to date consoles. Now all we need is one for Harmony of Dissonance

I made an account just to leave a review. Who would have thought that a simple recolour would improve a game this much? This hack greatly enhances the moody atmosphere of AoS and is what the game should've looked like from the start. A few of the enemy recolours are questionable but are by no means bad. Highly recommended!

So yeah, I had to stop playing the game and register for an account because I felt like I had to give massive kudos before I continued playing.

I've played through AoS too many times to count. It's my favorite casual Metroidvania, by far. Just something about the flow of the game, I guess. These days I usually play it on my chromebook or my TV.

And on these high contrast high brightness screens, it used to look washed out and lacking detail. This patch makes the game look absolutely beautiful. To think, this could have been done from day one as an option in the game, kind of like how FFTA handles it with different palette presets.

The patched game looks amazing in Mednafen's goat shader's scanlines. It's just gorgeous.

This patch is absolutely mandatory. To the author: thank you, so very very much, for sharing.

We all know how game palettes on the GBA were brightened up to compensate for the early models' lack of backlight and, sadly this decision comes back to haunt players that want to enjoy their games on any other device besides the aforementioned.

This hack tones down the brightness of the game quite a bit, and even beautifies it in many places, so it's a definite must-have.

I can only hope other overbright GBA games get as much love as this one did.

It's a good hack of one of the best gba games, I honestly liked the change The only thing I want is to be compatible with pal versions so that this hack is one of the best hacks of this game I recommend the hack because it does what it says and looks pretty

Not too long ago, I saw a streamer / YouTuber play this with a randomizer. He was deeply impressed, and so am I.

Aria of Sorrow has always had a good story, fantastic gameplay, has is truly a worth direct successor to Symphony of the Night (since it continue's Alucard's story), but the graphics have always been kind of ]iffy. They aren't ugly or clunky by any means, but they are very bright – which is kind of a thing with Game Boy Advance games. This patch, however, completely and totally fixes that, turning a really fantastic game into something even more fantastic! The bright areas are well-lit, the dark areas are moody and gloomy, and the colors perfectly fit every place where they were changed. It's very clear that a lot of love went into making the game look so nice. Unfortunately, there are one-or-two choices which seem a little questionable.

A lot of enemies have had their palettes completely changed. Some are pretty great, like the Golden Medusa Heads becoming a frightening green-and-red. Others, though, seem like a random, oddball choice, such as making Nightmares more blue-ish, changing Persephone's dress from purple to black, and most jarring of all, shuffling the colors of the various Great Armor enemies. The colors in the base game are consistent with the sequel and some later games, but the chosen recolors in this hack are kind of confusing if one has played the later games. Also, Student Witches look less innocent and more gothic, with this patch. Just some thoughts.

Would I recommend this hack? You bet'cha! For those looking for a perfected gameplay experience, I'd say this and the various fixes (Luck/Int, EXP Border fix, the "Small Improvements" patches) would definitely do the job! The other hacks make the game more balanced, but this is a treat for the eyes, even with the somewhat odd choices here-and-there.

Give this a whirl and enjoy a new world of color!