10-4-2005		8-25-2005
	9-30-2005		-

One year after Soma has relinquished his abilities, and freed himself from Dracula's castle, a mysterious woman known as Celia appears and attacks him. Arikado gives him a weapon, and he fights. When he defeats his foe, his Dominence Power re-emerges. Celia swears to end his life to make it possible for another to take the positon of the Lord of Darkness, and ocne again Soma goes to prevent this from happening. Thus the story continues...

Dawn of Sorrow was the first release for the Nintendo DS. It is the sequal to the popular Aria of Sorrow released a few years earlier. The story is a contniuation of Soma Cruz. He is the canidate to become the Lord of Darkness Dracula, due to his time of birth coenciding with the defeat of Dracula by Julius Belmont in 1999.
The story of Dawn of Sorrow is solid, and full of twists and turns here and there. People you thought you knew are revealed as someone else, and the antagonists are far more than they seem. The entirety of the story is a definite step up from its counterpart, and worth the time to play the game alone. But there is so much more to this title, that makes it so fantastic.
First the graphics are wonderful. The use of the DS makes everything just stunning. The detail in the characters, enemies, backgrounds, are fantastic. The improvements of the game are seen in the very first scene in the game, and coninue until the credits roll. Each new area is full of detail, and unique looks to keep freshness in the game all the way through.
The Soul System found in Aria of Sorrow has returned in Dawn of Sorrow. And returned with a vengience. Every single enemy in the game will drop a soul of some type, that will grant Soma new abilities. This is of course the same as AOS. But not only this, but you can collect more of each soul to produce a higher effect of the soul. You can also use souls to fuse with weapons in Yokos shop, to create stronger weapons. And if you have too many souls, Yoko can release them from Soma. This allows more customization of what the souls you have do for you. What? you wanted more to the soul system in AOS...well, you got it now!
The use of the Stylus is in the form of seals that are created to defeat certain bosses. You must copy the lines created on the screen, almost to a fault. This can get a bit frustrating later in the game, if your penmenship is not up to snuff. he stylus is also used to create walkways through blocks of ice, or remove them from blocking the way. Sadly, this is only used in one area of the castle. Makes you wonder if there was to be more involvement with the stylus than they did.
The music is simply breath taking. The entire score of the game is solid, with great new tracks, as well as some old familiar favorites. The mixing was done with great detail, and it just shines above the other hand held titles. Even with as good as the score was for Aria, no one was really aware of how good this title would be. The use of the DS is a main factor for the quality of the sound of course, but I also think that Konami has remembered that the music in their games is as important to the game, as anything else. I can only hope the scoring of Portrait of Ruin, and Order of Ecclasia are just as well done.
The game recieved the best scores of any of the hand held titles to that point. X-Play gave it a 5/5, citing the challenge and feel of the game are outstanding.
EGM gave it the game of the month award, as well as a gold medal for recieving a average score of 9 from all three reviewers.
IGN gave it a 9.3, and gave it the Editors Choice award. This is truly a masterpiece of a game, and has brought the roots of the series back to the forefront of the series. There is no maybe play this game...PLAY IT! The non stop action, story, and gameplay are enough.