How Easily Can You Beat Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow With Only a Rocket Launcher

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Once again I go back to Dawn of Sorrow, only this time I try to beat the game as fast as I can using one of the strongest projectile weapons in the series; the RPG, or rocket launcher as I call it. Let's see how easily this game can be beaten using one of the few realistic weapons in the series.
Intro by Lyric: / @lyric3595
#castlevania #konami #dawnofsorrow

[@Nyarly]

Get 20% OFF + Free International Shipping + 2 Free Gifts with my promo code "NYARLY" at mnscpd.com/Nyarly

[@JonVonBasslake]

Not sure if you knew this, so... Here's a hint to making Dimitri even easier on later runs. He copies the latest red soul power used against him. So hit him with something like a skeleton or the mandragora or anything that's easier to dodge than those giant gray fire balls. And if you did know, maybe someone else can use this knowledge in their own runs.

[@chadbot4794]

Love your castlevania vids please do more

[@dragonlord4898]

Promotion Skip Button: 2:58

[@Crazycoyote-we7ey]

Max out spin devil to get a EF5 tornado use the soul eater ring for more cheese attacks

[@Hayastantzi92]

No

[@HybridAngelZero]

"We want more RPG videos!" "But *we* want more Castlevania videos!" Nyarly, an intellectual:

[@Silverman160Zero]

That reminds me of an old joke: *On one side of the door.* :"Quick, hand me the RPG!" *Other side of door.* :"Oh God, their gonna fire Final Fantasy at us!"

[@HybridAngelZero]

@@Silverman160Zero LMAO that's a classic. My favorite variant is the "Throw me the RPG" "Sir, with all do respect,we really don't have 60 hours to spare right now"

[@Mordecrox]

@@Silverman160Zero *throws 40d6s through the window*

[@dustin202]

@@Mordecrox_rolls all ones_

[@ls190v2]

Henry Stickmin had a good one in one of Completing the Mission's routes. In a combo choice section, Henry can choose an N64 controller, and Ellie Rose can choose a rocket propelled grenade. They do end up dying by a tank cannon's bombshell in that choice, making it a fail, but the fail text says something along the lines of "Not the right RPG, but it was still fun". Your move, sir/madam/non.

[@nahuelgauto2829]

Soma be like: "All of you laughed at me when I came here only with my fists, now I came back, WITH A ROCKET LAUNCHER"

[@JupiterClimb]

Speedrunning trivia: The RPG used to be the weapon of choice for both the Any% and All Bosses categories (until it was made obsolete by Malacoda last year). Speedrunners would get partway through the game, save, and invest several minutes clearing the boss rush just for the RPG - it was THAT good compared to other options. Definitely one of the best Castlevania bonus weapons!

[@snapchatsnacks3154]

I feel so ahead of the curve because I always liked Malacoda

[@donovanlocust1106]

@@snapchatsnacks3154 what kind of weapon is the Malacoda?

[@RayzeCruxis]

@@donovanlocust1106 not a weapon but a soul. It does drop a Muramasa though.

[@krastyantheparamount]

It's so cool to see an actual castlevania runner watching nyarly Pog!

[@donovanlocust1106]

@@RayzeCruxis what's special about Malacoda?

[@aegisScale]

"Soma, you shouldn't go into the castle, it's too dangerous!" Soma: _Whips out a rocket launcher and a year's supply of ammo_ ". . . On second thought, go ahead, you'll be fine."

[@amateraceon5202]

I'm pretty sure this is just Soma's method of blowing off a lot of steam after the horror of the fists only run

[@andytan2960]

Aka payback

[@MountainMemelord]

Blowing up a lot of steam*

[@darkyagami5508]

“Rockets deal slash damage” What, did you strap a knife to the front of the rocket?!?

[@kaimcdragonfist4803]

The best guess I can make is shrapnel. Made of razor blades. I didn’t say it was a GOOD guess lol

[@donovanlocust1106]

@@kaimcdragonfist4803 hey at least it's a guess.

[@raziyatheseeker]

@@kaimcdragonfist4803 Shrapenel might make sense, yes. I figure blunt damage (shockwaves from the explosion) or fire (also from the explosion) could also make sense. But for the sake of fighting Dario and Aguni, it's probably a good thing the rockets aren't fire damage!

[@simplemindedsage]

I mean the US military put knives on a hellfire missile.

[@jruler93]

I guess the shrapnel from the exploding rocket would shred through the monsters pretty well.

[@luisyanez6261]

Haven't seen the video yet but the title has some "I am done. No more punches, I'm going for the rocket launcher" energy

[@jruler93]

The RPG actually isn't affected by your strength or attack stats; the amount of damage it does is fixed for each enemy and boss. Because of this, you should equip your best defensive gear when using it.

[@rjante2236]

Wait really? What a strange mechanic.

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

@@rjante2236 It does make sense in a way. Why would being strong make a _gun_ hit any harder? Should still be signposted though.

[@rjante2236]

@@LonelySpaceDetective Good point, haha

[@jruler93]

@@LonelySpaceDetective Being stronger does make the Handgun and Silver Gun stronger, just not the RPG.

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

@@jruler93 Oh, that's still a thing in Dawn of Sorrow? I know that was the case for Aria, but after reading that tidbit about the RPG I would have thought otherwise. Weird. Maybe they just wanted the RPG to always be effective even if you're underleveled.

[@BigGnome]

13:18 As someone who recently played Dawn of Sorrow for the first time and had to look up how to do that exact seal, the issue is generally that Dawn of Sorrow prioritizes drawing fast over drawing accurately. Drawing the outer perimeter of the shape as a circle helps significantly.

[@MegidolErin]

This might be the first time the notification has worked correctly and not shown up hours or days after the upload

[@DeitySkullKid]

Let's just all agree that the magic seals were a bad idea.

[@fae_gavan7582]

There should have been an option to turn them off. I don't exactly mind them, but it gets kind of boring at times.

[@t-universegamer7609]

Nah, theyre not great but they arent really that bad either. The problem is ppl playing on emulator and not on a DS screen, as it was intended, and the complaining its "unnecessarily difficult".

[@Llortnerof]

@@t-universegamer7609 Eh, even on the DS i found them more annoying than anything. They don't really add to the game.

[@t-universegamer7609]

@@Llortnerof Maybe you should read what I said again. I said even though theyre not great, theyre not nearly as bad as people make em out to be because theyre not playing the intended way. I'm not defending the obviously obligatory double screen mechanic because I think its great or innovative, I'm criticizing people's bad criticism.

[@Llortnerof]

@@t-universegamer7609 And i'm disagreeing with your criticism. So what's your point here?

[@WhiteFangofWar]

Dracula's servants are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you... you will be worse.

[@calemr]

Now I want a Chainsaw as a bonus weapon in another Soma Cruz Castlevania.

[@WhiteFangofWar]

@@calemr The fourth character in Castlevania 64 was originally going to have a Chainsaw. He got turned into the Gardener enemy, who is cool but still... missed opportunity.

[@corryjamieson3909]

I just realized, Soma is literally firing all the castle workers.

[@otaku2567]

Nyarly really feeling the burn with that magic seal bs, imagine dark souls with such a mechanic

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

Would a DS Dark Souls have a subtitle that abbreviates to DS, or would it not have a subtitle because it already is DS

[@Reynsoon]

Props for using the Judgment version of 'An Empty Tome'. That game's soundtrack carried it on its back. Also, here's an apropos line I found from Alvin and the Chipmunks: "Your Kung-Fu is no match for my rockets."

[@cuddlebug9699]

Death Scythe is still the best weapon in the game in my opinion,It took me ages to grind it as a kid. But the power and protection it gives you is amazing

[@nice-guyhunter4013]

Living for the Castlevania content. If Konami won’t make more games at least we can challenge run the old games

[@pokepress]

Feels like there should be some secret weapons from Contra or something. Imagine having the spread gun.

[@LordHonkInc]

Hey, Nyarly, I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but please never apologize for uploading a video. And don't worry, self-imposed challenges don't always have to seem impossible to be fun (for example, RE4 speedrunners tend to favor the NG+ categories to the standard New Game ones; the game itself is easier, but they're still really entertaining to watch)

[@seanstone749]

I've been absolutely loving your new runs! I've never been into Castlevania but your videos have made me respect the games

[@quizlaire]

There should be a rom hack that does the magic seals for you, but fails 50% of the time

[@donovanlocust1106]

That's evil

[@cliftonsavage2636]

@@donovanlocust1106 still higher than my success rate

[@chrisavenell3172]

Yeah menace is not the real final boss of dawn it's the meatball monsters that are the real true final challenge and it becomes a dps race to see if you can kill menace before they kill you.

[@xelthos2051]

Glad to know there are rom hacks for the Seals. Been wanting to replay this on steamdeck but dreaded using the thump pad for seals.

[@cidredwood6170]

If fighting is sure to result in victory then you must fight!

[@douglasthequilava]

Soma: kaboom? Nyarly: yes Soma, kaboom. Soma: =D

[@deltaquarayza]

I actually did this run casually, and it was a heck of a lot of fun. Would recommend.

[@alxcus2962]

I guess you could say that Soma... Stopped pulling his punches!

[@darienb1127]

Fun Castlevania Fact: For the US version of Castlevania 1, the Holy Water was translated to the Fire Bomb in order to avoid ties to religion. I'd like to imagine that this run is just an "advanced" fire bomb. Or the rockets are just filled with holy water idk.

[@ianh1504]

Rockets would work fine underwater as long as the fuel mixture carries its own oxidizer. Maybe even more effective because the pressure wave would propagate much faster in water

[@raziyatheseeker]

Much as the Positron Rifle from Aria seems fun (and great at giving everyone in the castle cancer!), I'm pleasantly surprised at how stupidly good the RPG is. I was never able to obtain it from the boss rush in Dawn (same with Aria's posi-rifle), but an easy mode run of just blowing everything up was a great idea.

[@donovanlocust1106]

Wait how does it give everyone cancer?

[@raziyatheseeker]

@@donovanlocust1106 Well, a positron rifle would be a particle beam weapon. And one of the issues of weaponizing particle beams is that they would likely irradiate stuff with gamma radiation. Very well, in fact. It's not as safe as a laser weapon would be (and apparently, a laser powerful enough to blast someone could also permanently blind anyone in the vicinity without eye protection), nor a plasma weapon (which has its own issues with sustaining the plasma). I like energy weapons in sci-fi a lot, but there's good reasons why we don't have them yet. Portable power sources notwithstanding for an energy gun.

[@donovanlocust1106]

@@raziyatheseeker wow this was really interesting to read.

[@krastyantheparamount]

Soma Cruz straight up went Leon Kennedy mode

[@ritachikorita6916]

You think needing to hit the mannequins in the Puppet Master fight twice is difficult? Try needing to hit them four times on hard mode. I ended up using the knife special to get around fighting the Puppet Master until after Zephyr, by which point I was much better equipped.

[@ZorotheGallade]

The Nunchaku from the Boss Rush make that much easier, but I don't know if you have access to them by that time.

[@irishguy167]

Yes man! Absolute favourite type of video you do

[@themaskedmark92]

Mina:soma is a good guy 🥰 Soma:i m gonna kill everyone with a rocket launcher 😅 Mina: ok maybe not that much 😐

[@noxturne16]

Soma is everyone’s dream man

[@rjante2236]

Soma: Just because I'm a good guy doesn't mean I play fair

[@marcosdheleno]

here's a very "in brand" run you could do. either a "summoner" run, or a "minion" run. summoner would be using only summon blue souls, and yellow souls. minion would be more broader, with would include any ability that summons a monster, which includes the witch aprentice and the zombie dog(or abbadon).

[@aaaamine]

I love your Castlevania video man

[@alexanderkreczkevich8100]

On the topic of sealing death, I've ran into the same problem using original hardware and cart. No matter how fast or precise I did it, the seal wouldn't count and i was thrown back into the fight. I thought maybe you needed to do something special before sealing like hitting 'em with a certain weapon/soul or having a certain item equipped. But finding nothing online and after many, many attempts I just kinda gave up and did it really fast and sloppy (pretty sure i missed 2 nodes) with it actually accepting it, sealing him for the victory. My next two playthroughs same thing; quick but precise = fail. Extremely fast and sloppy = success. My conclusion is that the seal is glitched in that it has to be done in a split second or just over and over again until it glitches itself to work.

[@ssjmatt8424]

You know, after watching you go through torture with the fist only run, you really deserved to have fun and just unleash devastation upon your enemies!

[@shelbyherring92]

Something about action-horror games in the 90s and 00s just wanting to give you an RPG/ATA by the end is hilarious to me.

[@mateusrabelo7890]

As a child i never passed through Death thanks to the seal, just years later, after i lost and found my ds, i managed to beat it

[@typohnebart]

Nice Video, I love your Castlevania content

[@timdoe8895]

Bro yk that nyarly content be hitting DIFFERENT. But man back to back like this? I'm here for it.

[@E-102a]

TL:DR, Local JC Penny model Soma Cruz acquires a Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot and decides that demonic forces shouldn't exist. He proceeds to clear the entirety of Dracula's castle in the span of 10 minutes.

[@Pibbyeena]

God I’m so happy he called those menace meatballs langoliers

[@crucifixmegabuster95]

I love these playthoughs

[@BiscuitsAndGravy69]

I loved this video. I love your videos. Thank you for this recommendation.

[@BossMr51]

alt title: the run where soma is done with everyones shit

[@GlennMagusHarvey]

Bat Company's hitbox is very weird and it took me quite a while to figure out how to avoid it reliably. I mentioned the low-level guide I wrote in one of my comments on your other videos, and in it I also wrote up my findings on this topic. There is a good amount of jump-kicking involved. So yeah, there's that as well as how to dodge Abaddon's attacks. And how to...make do against Menace.

[@Demi-Fiend76]

Slowly switching to castelvania territory and I'm completely OK with it 👌

[@Marqrk]

Dawn of Sorrow if it were made in America

[@Finalrestingplace66]

LETS GO NYARLY UPLOADS FOR THE WIN

[@KirbytPink]

You have done with fists. Guns. And even a rocket launcher.But now...face the worst! Can you beat it with Milican's Sword or Terror Bear!?

[@SaviourV]

Why did you have to mention the Terror Bear? 😅😅😅

[@KirbytPink]

@@SaviourV kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZmUdKR5dshlnKc 😈

[@lunaribeiro2155]

Terror Bear is not that awful, with the Demon soul however, it becomes a S tier weapon

[@SaviourV]

@@lunaribeiro2155 I'm fairly sure that the Terror Bear's been filled with some really heavy material. Chances are that Dracula's minions would be in the sick bay, courtesy of Soma, complaining of immense *BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA.* Or alternatively, *BRUTE FORCE TRAUMA.* 😆

[@ryuzxa]

Imagine being a demon in Dracula's castle and you see a white hair dude holding an RPG

[@rjante2236]

"Hey so, I surrender."

[@Fireafyanimations299]

Some random monster: Nooo you can't just use a rocket propelled grenade because you are doing a dumb challenge- Soma Cruz: haha RPG go boom boom

[@somebody4952]

A part of me wishes that enemies were programmed to see you have a super weapon and be like "Oh shxx! Run!"

[@SeanNH94]

"I'm just a Soma with a rocket launcher"

[@ezrawyvern6795]

16:53 BOOM! Headshot!

[@renatabronka5353]

Bro is the rpg good? Nyarly: that s a lot of damage!!!

[@DeitySkullKid]

I wonder how many games have RPGs listed as rocket propelled grenades, comes to mind every time a see one, lol Edit: not saying it's wrong or anything, it's a common phrase, it just makes me think every time I see it if any games have the original acronym description rather than the retrofitted one

[@alloounou6900]

Similar with AR being assault rifle when it's armalite rifle.

[@ZorotheGallade]

(Ka-clack) RAWK-IT LAWNCHAIR

[@emperordraygon]

Ancient problems require modern solutions.

[@SinHurr]

So I started blastin' ~!~

[@connorreid8472]

Soma: what I'm funny like I'm some sort of clown? I bet you think i shouldn't have a GUN EITHER!!!

[@tsyumamatsuthehavenofguard32]

Dawn of sorrow completed. S rank. Unlocked infinite ammo rocket launcher

[@raziyatheseeker]

Exactly. I was thinking of killing huge bosses in one hit with a rocket launcher in RE4, when he got to Menace and mentioned how satisfying it was to shoot it in the head.

[@kaimcdragonfist4803]

@@raziyatheseeker I still just use a rocket launcher on Salazar. I hate that fight and the little bastard deserves the disrespect lol

[@tsyumamatsuthehavenofguard32]

@@kaimcdragonfist4803 I also use it on the right hand. Cause money is nice

[@parafaust6201]

Plot twist: the fast forwarding is actually the unedited footage hes just that good

[@xinyyc]

I never had trouble with magic seals on the original DS, even when the touch screen started wearing out and scratches started appearing. I wonder if this'd be even easier on a gorilla-glass screen or using a PC drawing-tablet or something. The worst part about these boss battles was how long they were if you weren't grinding levels & souls.

[@HyahMaster]

Man stays strapped tf up

[@MaledictusXCII]

Order Of Eclesia is my favorite, I hope you do a chalenge run of this game someday.

[@OmegaReaver]

I would just like to point out that you can craft a frigging Gatling gun in Curse of Darkness.

[@Shmey]

I owned Curse of Darkness, but never ended up playing it. I was too addicted to Diablo 2. Now that I don't really care about Diablo 2, I wish I still had some of my old games that I never played.

[@ddjsoyenby]

this was soma's vengeance.

[@Crim-kun]

Did this lvl1 hard mode with rpg and ngl it is fun seeing body parts go flying

[@wubilicious4158]

Now I will wait for "Castlevania Curse of Darkness with only the Gatling Gun" to be made somewhere on the internet xd

[@imthethriller]

Nyarly and the RPG

[@Copaplay-LC]

nice to know: those leech like creatures resemble the langolier monsters from a steven king novel/movie. and there is theory that the 3 heads of menace are Celia/Dario and Dimitri.

[@divineinputs6083]

You should do more videos where you use the most powerful or best thing to trample through the game

[@pokepress]

Can you beat Aria of Sorrow with just Force Light…er, I mean the lightning doll soul?

[@Y00bi]

'I don't know how my RPG would work underwater.' Actually, RPGs work fine underwater.

[@ThebadassXIII]

Nyarly how are you doing all i want to say although i am waiting for a new SMT/Persona challenge run i love to watch all your videos even if it’s not related to it Such an amazing under appreciated youtuber that deserves more credit

[@Galethvia]

I haven't watched the fist only run yet, but here's a bit of advice for anyone that doesn't like Dmitri, and for any possible future runs. Dmitri will copy any soul power used against him, so you can make the fight extremely easy by making him copy the skeleton soul, which overwrites the soul he starts the fight with. Also, it's only after I typed this all out that I forget you're restricting yourself in the souls you'll use in these challenges, but oh well.

[@melty_x_]

13:20 That right happended to me when i was on that part on the game, i was doing the magic seal perfectly but i still failed, then i just tried doing the magic seal insanely fast, and it did work most of the times

[@raziyatheseeker]

10:23 to 10:36 Catharsis for people with a fear of clowns

[@misterzygarde6431]

Unrelated to the challenge but Soma Cruz is a nice looking husbando.

[@JonVonBasslake]

The Dawn portrait isn't bad, but the Aria one is leagues better. I just don't understand why Konami didn't get Kojima (not that one, Ayami, not HIdeo) to do more of her art. Especially since they did use her after this... The plot isn't that much more anime compared to other Castlevania games. Okay, maybe, just maybe, it's a bit more shonen whereas others are bordering on seinen at times. But like... Even so. Aria soma had some fine drip, especially as dark lord. Now *that* is peak husbando, at least looks wise...

[@James-oj6ru]

Reason why ​@@JonVonBasslake… _because they wanted to become more popular,_ and that is not a bad thing because Aria of Sorrow is _one of the most poorly sold Castlevania game of all time and nearly killed the franchise,_ Castlevania is infamous _AND_ famous at selling very poorly but being developed with a low budget so _they just live on_ Igarashi acknowledged Ayami’s great artistry but _they need to try and gain a wider audiences… TRY_ so they ask a Konami artist and her we are, and to allocate her time to working on the _ambitious 3D main titles_

[@lazysmurf6472]

The moment I saw the title of the video I immediately went "What the...?"

[@TonyTama]

not much of a challenge run but i WHOLEHEARTEDLY enjoyed myself

[@horntuga6080]

Damn he play sorrow remind me about the world end with you

[@Rubedo2k10]

An entire RPG run.... is that "Salil Al Sawarim" suddenly playing in the background there?

[@AndGoatz04]

[Metal slug announcer] *_RAUKET LAOUCHUH_*

[@humblymichael5823]

The rocket launcher blows your enemies minds too.

[@jeffvenancius]

Finally, the Resident Evilvania

[@SHADOMEGA7569]

the reason the RPG is a slash weapon is because of the shrapnel the case of the missile becomes during the explosion

[@HollandTHG]

Immediate Like for the Langoliers reference.

[@darrensherwood4599]

ROCKET LAWNCHER

[@LordPai]

Cultist: HES HERE!! Celia: Good...lure him in and Ki- Cultist: HE'S GOTTA ROCKET LAUNCHER!! Celia: Wha- Cultist: AND A SHITTON OF AMMO Celia: ...... Cultist: *screams, an explosion and the radio goes dead* Celia: O_O

[@RemingtonSmisse]

curse of darkness frying pan only next?

[@BuruKyu]

the only magic seal i had problems with was the last one, because stupid me did it backwards everytime

[@LAZERAK47V2]

Just a tip for Abaddon, the safest place to hit him is in the corner behind him. So if he's facing left, hide in the right corner. Most of his attacks don't reach there.

[@Thozmp]

How do most people deal with Abaddon, just on regular runs? The first time I played it, I had a max level Buer soul (summon a circle of flames around you) and kind of sat next to him. It protected me against the swarms and dealt damage until he died. Hell, I think he didn't even move, just stood there in the middle of the screen next to me and my circle of flames.

[@FoxIord]

If you're gonna be doing fun stuff like this, PLEASE do SotN with Crissagrim. That sword is truly one of the most broken weapons in any game I've ever played, and you can *duel wield it.*

[@marcosviniciusferreira6453]

Pulse rifle was one the best and most entertaining weapons I've used on any metroidvania game sad it didn't make dawn of sorrow arsenal

[@givemysundaeback]

Even the RPG isn’t enough to make Bat Company less annoying

[@crh1985]

I heard “Rocket launcher” and “close range” and thought or Super bullet break and started to laugh There is a boss holding a rocket launcher and says im going to get close and blast you to bits

[@zenkozenko4989]

I don't even NEED to watch the video, I think it'd be VERY easy. /s

[@ilyasykatsuya]

more castlevania please