9-16-2002		6-2-2002
	10-11-2002		-

Two years ago, Maxim went off for a training expadition with his friend Lydie. Suddenly he has returned, and tells Juste of her obduction. Maxim has lost all of his memory, but he does remember where Lydie was Kidnapped.
He leads Juste to the location, only to find that a mysterious castle now stands, where none should be. Juste, sensing the power within wonders if this is the fabled Castlevania, home of the Dark Lord Dracula. He and Maxim go in to save their friend. Maxim remains at the entrance, while Juste goes to investigate.

The second title to the GBA recieved very mixed reviews. There were those who loved the game, and everything to go with it, and there were those that just hated it. I made the mistake of reading the reviews, before actually playing the game, thus this is the last of the new titles coverd. I was in for a shock, when I played it. It is actually a darn fun game to play, and the openess of it makes it even better. But we will go over everything that has been said about Harmony of Dissonance, step by step.
The game follows the suit of the titles from Symphony in the Action-RPG format. You will explore a duo of large castles, defeating enemies and gaining items and experience. Armors have been expanded to include Arm/leg guardings, accessories, and helmets. The mrechant seems to return in HOD, though it is not known if this is the same one from Symphony. (There is a resemblance though) You can purchase items and other things from the shops located throughout the game. Each shop holds different items from the others.
Graphically, HOD drops the darker graphics of Circle, which was its biggest complaint, for brighter, easier to see colors. This made it far easier to play on the GBA than that of COTM. Even the characters, items, weapons, etc are given a bright colored border, to make it easier to locate them. On the GBA this was a great addition to the game. With the use of the DS, it does get annoying.
There is also better animation in this title, than its older counterpart. There are more multi-jointed creatures, and all the sprites have included more frames of motion than before.
There are also several unique oddities in the game, that show a great deal of graphical detail. The skeleton trapped in the wall of the chapel, or the flash of light when the lightning hits, that sometimes bears a Shadow figure. The paintings in the Clock Tower give a more horror feel of the game, VS the majestic style of the older games.
That said, HOD was not without its complaints. One of the biggest complaints was the over accessive use of Grey and Red. The Grey proved to be too dark to see on the GBA (Again thank god for the DS), and the red was just irritating to the eyes in any fashion. I myself had a hard time with the red areas, simply for that. The main characters of the game, being Maxim, Juste, and Lydie also seemed to be a step backwards from the graphics of say Nathan and Hugh from COTM. The character sprites of these characters could easily be done in MS Paint, with little to no effort.
Unlike COTM, in terms of difficulty, HOD takes a more easy route. Though it has some challenge to it, it is no where near as difficult to get through as the prior. The game is set more to a corridor-like structure found in classic Castlevania titles, rather than the platforming of the newer ones. This makes it give more challenge to the enemies, rather than getting through the castle. And there is more of a open feel of the game, allowing you to take different routes each time you play. There is no real secrets, or hidden rooms in the game, which was kind of shocking to me, considering they are numerous in the previous titles. There is a thing of collecting various pieces of furntature for a room. Outside of that, there is little diversion from the main focus of the game. For some that is great, but for others...
My personal big complaint about the game is the music quality. Basically it is on par with that of the NES Castlevania series, in terms of sound. I was taken aback by this, considering the great sound of the other titles I have played on the GBA from both Castlevania, as well as Final Fantasy. I spent more time with the sound off, listening to music from the radio. It was such a shock to get such poor quality from the sound.
HOD was the first of teh GBA series to include other player modes, in the fashion of some of the older titles. Once you beat the game, you can unlock Maxim as a playable character. You can even play as Simon Belmont. (See the Character Modes for more details.) In addition, there is a boss rush mode that allows you to face each of the games bosses in succession.
Despite the complaints on the game, it is fun to play. I enjoyed playing this title a lot, though I did do it with the sound off. It is a very fun game, and can be played repeatedly. I suggest giving it a shot. Either you will really enjoy it, or you won't. But do not do what I did, and base your opinion on the critics. You might find you were wrong as well.