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Castlevania Aria of Sorrow Kaizo

Original game : Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Platform : GBA

Author : Manekimoney

Release date : 13 March 2022

Category : Improvement

Patch version : 1.1.1

Modifications : S, P

Downloads : 1445

ROM Information

Database match: Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Game Boy Advance (v. 20210227-023848)
File/ROM SHA-1: ABD71FE01EBB201BCC133074DB1DD8C5253776C7
File/ROM CRC32: 35536183

Hack description

IPS patching required.

This is a Kaizo ROM hack, so expect ludicrous difficulty throughout.

----CHANGES----

You are stuck at level 1, enemy formations are made harder, bosses have additional obstacles/enemies in their arenas, you can only heal with save rooms and it (almost) always takes 3 hits to die.

There are also other changes like custom music, weapon rebalancing/reworking and a tiny bit of graphic changes.

----DIFFICULTY----

As for how difficult this hack is (according to the author, who is somewhat well versed in the game, but nowhere near hardcore as some speedruners for example), it will take a lot of dedication to get through.

Moving from save point to save point and defeating bosses will take a lot of practice to master and might be too much for some players that don't like their games too hardcore.

While the whole hack should theoretically be doable without using savestates (with enough practice), if you really feel like you are getting stuck anywhere, feel free to use savestates to get through that point. There's no shame in that.

----CHANGELOG----

1.1.1

-LUCK fix patch now applied (1.1.0 didn't have it)
-Dead Warrior is now ACTUALLY weak to Stone
-Fixed a bug where items with negative luck could make the luck underflow, causing 100% soul drop rates (now no item gives negative luck)

1.1.0

(The new patch is compatible with old version save files and should not break progression)

The main point of this update is to remove some of the more tedious and way too punishing aspects of the hack. This makes the hack's difficulty more consistent and not have ludicrous difficulty spikes. If for any reason, you want to play the older version, the old version patch is included with the new version.

Main changes:

-Underground Reservoir and Chaos Realm gimmicks reverted.

-HP decrease on some enemies that took a bit too long to kill (check Readme for more detail)

-Regular boss music replaced (the previous one could get old quick)

-Hint items added for points where progression differs from the original game

-Soul drops generally increased across the board

-Joyeuse and Claimh Solais locations switched

Check the Readme for more detailed changes.

----CREDITS----

Special shoutout to Dev Anj for creating the LUCK fix patch, which this hack uses and many of the different MIDI composers for their MIDIs.

Check the Readme for a more detailed look at the changes and credits.

Screenshots

Contributions

ContributorType of contributionDescription
ManekimoneyHackingPrimary hacking
Dev AnjHackingCreator of LUCK fix patch

Reviews

Disasterous RedesignAceearly19932022-03-05Version 1.0.1

The HP of most enemies are set way too high and they often come as groups to stunlock you, leaving you no choice to survive (ugh, the devils near Top Floor save room are the worst.) Not to mention the enemies also have attack power buffed to death, they can often end your life with only 2 or 3 hits. And the last few scenes (Julius fight and the whole chaotic realm) are simply a mess to begin with.

In general it's the typically bad redesign of enemy locations and stereotype of examples that people may leave false impression to all romhack scenes in general. By the year of 2022 I was expecting something brilliantly redesigned in a romhack labeled kaizo but ugh. I lost all hopes. Although the version has been updated to 1.0.1 I failed to find any significant improvement to make the hack more enjoyable and accessible.

Not recommended to anyone unless you want to ask yourself for trouble or you want to waste your precious time.so badly. For a decent Aria of Sorrow romhack there's plenty of other better choices including Aria of Sorrow Alter, the recolor hack and more.