I've Never Played This │ Castlevania Aria of Sorrow (GBA) #1

CASTLEVANIA: ARIA OF SORROW is widely considered to be one of the BEST Metroidvania games! Aria of Sorrow for the Game Boy Advance follows the popular genre established by Symphony of the Night. Join Soma Cruz as he discovers his dark powers, levels up and collects all kinds of souls!
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Jared Knabenbauer
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#projared #castlevania #gba

[@skyblade7438]

Jared is doing more for Castlevania's anniversary than Konami ever did.

[@dullahan_of_light6047]

Thats probably a good thing given Konami's track record.

[@ezeakiodarmey9448]

I mean, they released the collection that he's playing from at the moment.

[@excessmaterial]

Konami is so embarrassed they're changing their name

[@Gabu_]

Not a hard bar to clear.

[@xnamkcor]

I didn't even know this game existed. I assumed it was part of the CastleVania Collection.

[@thelaughman7124]

I'M SO DOWN FOR THIS!!! This need to be the next long Let's play. This is still to this day my favorite Castlevania game!

[@magicalsleeper]

This is def a game that deserves a full play through.

[@TrueLooneyman]

Woah! This was my first ever Castlevania games (What a game to start off with) and it's a game I absolutely adore this game. I'm hyped to see you playing this. Full playthrough maybe? EDIT: Those pop-ups can be turned off. It's in the gadget settings on that menu you brought up

[@Obstreperous_Octopus]

Everyone, get this comment to the top so Jared learns how to turn off the pop-ups

[@timothymckane6362]

Your edited comment deserves to be seen by Jared with the most popular votes.

[@danielpalwisegamer]

dont forget about the quick saving system for this game which he can exploit for quick soul farming and items as well for later off cam stuff

[@Alteran]

Please do a full playthrough. This is the first game you've played recently that's truly caught my interest. I have minimal experience with castlevania games, and would love to explore them with you.

[@justinwalker7418]

Absolutely do a full playthrough of this. And yes. Every enemy besides certain bosses have an ability you can gain. One enemy has like a 1% drop rate for its soul

[@retrofiend4818]

YES!!! I Spent Weeks going for that!!

[@Shooter-The-Emu-With-A-Gun]

When you go for the legion boss make sure you destroy all four segments before the center

[@fabuloussuperstar]

Which one is that?

[@kuro-san7237]

I can already tell that this playthrough is gonna be simply incredible! After dawn of sorrow this has to be my second favourite castlevania game, and I can't wait to see you experience it Jared. Oh yeah, the pop up things are only in the advance collection, and they're there to show you if you've collected the soul(which I know you've already figured out), while the number is there to correspond to their number in the games bestiary. Hope this info helped a bit, and I hope you continue to enjoy playing the game!

[@AgaricRook]

Fun fact: It's possible to obtain a straight-up handgun in the game and New Game+ does the opening cutscene with whatever weapon you had equipped for the old game. While Soma pulling out a massive holy sword out of nowhere is amusing, it's downright hilarious when he casually pulls out a gun.

[@ubersasquatch2135]

Boost so he sees this

[@BigaloMax]

Oh shit i never knew about that

[@ceedofevil]

There are three guns you can get. You can get the handgun through first run, silver gun new game+, and the positron rifle in boss rush mode under a set amount of time.

[@zachtwilightwindwaker596]

The gun isn't even that great of a weapon.

[@ceedofevil]

@@zachtwilightwindwaker596 The handgun and silver gun aren't that great, but the positron rifle is. Long range and hits twice.

[@Hei_Darkfire]

"This music's kind of awesome." Yeah... That's one of my favorite things about these games. Not only are they super fun to play, but the music kicks so much ass.

[@MaskedGuyCh]

Aria of Sorrow is one of the best games I ever played. Certainly the best game on the GBA. I would love to see a full playthrough! You said yourself that this is fun, so do what you enjoy man. It's gonna get even better! The game isn't that long anyway, you can finish it in like 5-7 hours. The speedrun is like 30 mins.

[@mr.stoneface7699]

15:00 I felt that pretty hard. There's a special place in my heart for pure Metroidvania games that is rarely satisfied. I'm glad you're immediately enjoying your first time playing this awesome game!

[@jaretco6423]

This & Metroid: Zero Mission are probably my most favorite games on the GBA and some of my favorite games period. It took everything that was really great from it's predecessors ( particularly Symphony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, Super Metroid & Fusion ), polished up some of it's design an little bit more here & there and add some new mechanics to make it an spiritual and IMO; an superior successor. I love it's predecessors and they're still amazing. Don't get me wrong. But these 2 are very dear to me. Oh! And also Wario Land 4. It's in my top 3 favorite GBA games next to Aria of Sorrow & Zero Mission.

[@Macop]

Full playthrough? YES. I haven't played the game myself, so being able to watch you play through it with your commentary would be awesome!

[@heethanthen706]

I recommend getting the game on the switch with the Castlevania advanced collection. And if not, emulate it! It’s a great game, you won’t be disappointed :)

[@23Scadu]

Jared's reading of Arikado's lines slipped so gradually into Riff Raff from Rocky Horror, I barely even noticed.

[@joelford6382]

The gameplay loop of these styles of games is so incredibly addictive

[@HElHACHl]

YOOOO!!! This was my entry into the Castlevania series!! I'd LOOVE to see this game played to completion here!!

[@Igotjello]

NEVER CLICKED SO HARD IN MY LIFE. Best castlevania game IMO. The spiritual successor and "true sequel" to symphony of the night

[@SemiJuggaloNumber2]

This is easily in my top 5 Castlevania games, and I would totally be down to watch you do a full playthrough!

[@Spider926]

I would love to see a full play through of this. Hope it does get the views as I do love even new series how if it can continue though again hope it gets the attention so we can see a full play through as it is looking really amazing so far. Looking forward to the next upload!

[@Spaceboy02111]

Keep it going I would 100% watch a full run of this game :O

[@Quantaur]

This is one of, if not my favorite of the Metroidvania Castlevania games! SO stoked to see you play it!!

[@nicholaseverill2441]

I would love a full playthrough of this! and symphony of the night!

[@Obstreperous_Octopus]

I would absolutely watch a full playthrough of this game, or even just a partial playthrough. It's an awesome game and I love it! (I'm tempted to play through it again myself)

[@Dos2Guys]

My first Castlevania game ever, and still one of my favorites. Very happy to see you playing this!

[@nightsong81]

Jared, go back to where you first met the Peeping Eye. There's a secret room right behind it. You need to break the wall. And if you get the Peeping Eye soul, you can see where the secret rooms are!

[@miyokohirosuke9164]

Super fun to watch, good to see you actually having fun and hear the enjoyment in your voice =D

[@raziyatheseeker]

Holy cow! I've played this game so much in my teens. Dude, surprising pick and a great time ahead.

[@LanEXHikari]

Hey Jerd, glad you're taking this one for a spin! I hope you continue with Dawn in the near future 🦇

[@CountMonsparkle]

I'm playing this game for the first time as well rn so I would totally be interested in seeing your spin on this. I hope they will also re-release the DS games on Steam, I really want to experience them too.

[@TheShadowDragon26]

Definitely want more of this. These kinds of games are always fun to just watch and see both how people approach it, but also just the commentary that can spawn from it.

[@WillKeaton]

_Dawn of Sorrow_ was my first _Castlevania._ As a result, when I got around to playing _Aria,_ I already knew the plot twists. Now, while I do think that _Dawn_ is the better deigned game, the plot is, in a lot of ways, just spinning its wheels, and lacks the narrative impact that came from the big reveal in _Aria._

[@Dhyfis]

I would absolutely love if you're able to do a full playthrough of this.

[@mstiefan6996]

Ah, yes, the third game in the GBA era of Castlevania games, and the one they finally got things perfect. I loved this game. It and its direct sequel as canon wise, they are the final games in the timeline. I do wish we could have gotten a game about the events in 1999 that was mentioned, but alas...

[@Gabu_]

I'd rather not have modern Konami ruin Julius' backstory. All we need to know is that he's crazy strong and his battle with Dracula was epic.

[@LordZemus]

Jared, you're playing one of my favourites from all time so YES, please do a full playtrhough. Also, you can turn off the enemy soul prompt by pressing L2 (or the equivalent) and then Gadget Settings to OFF. Have fun!

[@genesisSOC]

Love this game and would love to see a full playthrough. I recently replayed all the Metroidvanias starting with Circle of the Moon to Ecclesia and loved every minute of it. I think Portrait of Ruin might be slightly better than Aria but they're both the best in the series IMO. I didn't enjoy Dawn nearly as much. I got every soul in Aria because I just love the game so much, but Dawn I found my self wanting to rush through it and be done.

[@ReidTHVx]

Heck yeah to a full playthrough! Aria Of Sorrow is amazing!

[@riemaennchen]

Never played but I always wanted it for my GBA back in the day. Looking forward to this playthrough.

[@MizuFujimori]

This is, personally, the best Castlevania!! Glad to see you playing it!

[@Kaldin0203]

Yes to a full playthrough! Seeing this, I just realized how extremely Bloodstained has been inspired by this, you could basically call it a reboot, lol. And by that I mean SPECIFICALLY by this Castlevania. (Or Igavania, as the man would say.)

[@Drhanave]

Bloodstained was made by the creator of the Castlevania series. When he quit Konami, he made the Bloodstained series, due to Castlevania being the IP of Konami.

[@Kaldin0203]

@@Drhanave Aye, I know. I followed the Kickstarter, wanted to back back then when it was further along, but couldn't afford it at that point until it closed. It really shows, but we also have someone acclaimed to be the daddy of Mega Man who spearheaded a renowned shitty game called Mighty No.9 through Kickstarter, so saying that as credit is always a bit meh. I mean, I am referencing him with calling it Igavania at the end. Still waiting for the promised Co-Op in Bloodstained though. But yeah, I just didn't realize just HOW close the formula was since it had been decades or so since I last played Aria of Sorrow.

[@sleepingkirby]

I've actually never played any castlevania past the original NES one. And yeah, it's amazing how much bloodstained is like this. I still need to play it through as Zangetsu. And same here, would love to see the co-op. But also, Curse of the Moon is soooo good.

[@Kaldin0203]

@@sleepingkirby True it is indeed. Curse of the Moon would also be great for Jared on this channel, me thinks. XD

[@EtherSalad]

Please have a full playthrough! It's such a fun game and I'd love to watch more!

[@bellathorne123]

Do it! Full playthrough

[@joelford6382]

So excited for this! Saw you say you were loving playing this on your stream so I'm super excited to see this!

[@mario_maniac9368]

This game is dope af man I loved it and the sequel. I'm down for a playthru I enjoy this game if people don't know it I'm sure the story won't be bad for them

[@ExileOfBrokenSky]

One of the few castlevanias that I 100 percented. Zipping around at max level with the best everything is nice.

[@FenexTheFox]

Yes, Jared. _All_ the enemies have souls to acquire. Also, you seem misguided on the reception of this game. This is actually one of the most beloved games in the franchise. It's considered just as good, and sometimes better, than Symphony of The Night. SoTN definitely wins in sheer amount of content, but a lot of it is completely useless and purely cosmetic, although charming (like boots that make you a few pixels taller, or a cape that can have its color customised on the menu), and others are just completely broken equipment, in an already very easy Castlevania game. Aria of Sorrow, on the other hand, definitely doesn't have that as much, but it's a lot better balanced because of it, and the soul system definitely compensates on the content department. So basically, SoTN is just a mess of shallow but charming and funny systems, while AoS focuses on a single deeper system. The critique really comes from Dawn of Sorrow, but that game is still really good, I think all the critiques from that game are superficial, like the original artist not being present, so it has a much more generic looking anime art style, and it's on DS, so it has forced touch controls. That said, yes Jared, I want a full playthrough of this. That's one of my favorite Castlevania games.

[@madwaltz9812]

Yeah. I like SoTN and AoS about as much, but for very different reasons. SoTN is like a big fun toybox with a ton of cool stuff, but there's not much challenge there unless you impose your own rules. AoS provides a much better structured challenge where you really get to use all the toys you are given, even if it has less "toys" overall. SoTN could be all over the place in terms of balancing, while I feel Aria is balanced very well. Sure, there are some totally overpowered lategame weapons in Aria, but I feel that's intentional and fun. As for Dawn of Sorrow, there are some subtle reasons why I personally prefer Aria, even if in a lot of ways DoS is like a bigger and better AoS (and is ultimately still a very good game). As someone who doesn't like grinding souls, Dawn's "use souls to upgrade weapons" system really annoyed me. Relatedly, it felt like there were fewer unique weapons in DoS, because they were trying to fit all the weapons into distinct weapon types. I also preferred Aria's "1 soul means you get the full benefit" rather than Dawn's "every soul powers up the ability" approach, again because I don't like soul grinding. Dawn had some cool bosses, but at the same time, they felt more gimmicky. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I really appreciate the simplicity of Aria's bosses. Aria's bosses generally feel very beatable even on the first try, because they telegraph their attacks in an intuitive way. In Dawn, it felt like a fair number of bosses you needed to spend a few attempts just to learn their telegraphs, but once you do they become very easy -- Abaddon probably being the best example of this.

[@Gabu_]

Yeah, Dawn of Sorrow's main critique has always been the god awful change of art style - from the classic, somewhat Gothic look, into a generic flat anime style.

[@FenexTheFox]

@@Gabu_ I never minded it, but it was my first Castlevania game after all

[@jaretco6423]

Madwaltz. I agree. I liked both SotN & AoS for an different reason you mentioned and it sums up perfectly. There still some of my favorite games of all time. As for Dawn, again I agree. Still an great game. But you're critiques as to why I don't love it nearly as much as SotN or AoS is spot on.

[@renatocorvaro6924]

Ugh. One of the many Castlevania games that forgot what made the original so good. Oh well. Still happy to watch Jared hack and slash.

[@timrosswood4259]

What made the original good?

[@renatocorvaro6924]

@@timrosswood4259 Linear gameplay.

[@HayatoEvoker]

No, one of the many Castlevania games that followed in on the game that reinvented the wheel so as to not make the games stale These are still fantastic games

[@Mihaen]

Absolutely want a full go on this one. AoS was my jam back in the day, and you genuinely seem like you're having a good time with it! Soul collection absolutely is addicting, I remember maxing out as many souls as possible.. tests your sanity, but hell yeah, definitely want more of this one.

[@RedSoul001]

*L2 -> Gadget Settings -> Off*

[@ProJaredPlays]

Thank you

[@afrothekobold]

I would love to see more! Aria is one of my favorite Castlevania games and it's always fun to see someone experience it for the first time

[@AgaricRook]

Oh man! I only just made a request for some of the Metriodvania Castlevania game in the Discord Game Request channel just a few days ago! I don't know if that had anything to do with this, but man I am SO happy to see this as Aria of Sorrow absolutely was one of my favorites!

[@andrewmcreynolds4341]

YES PLEASE FULL PLAYTHROUGH! This looks SOO good! I kinda want to find a way to play it myself honestly.

[@somemong989]

Why am I watching someone play a game I've already beaten as a kid and as an adult? Why is it so comforting to watch?

[@Loganstonez]

One of my fave metroidvania games. This and the sequel both rocked. I'll watch the whole series.

[@LuccianoBartolini]

Heard much about this game, enjoying this so far and I would love a full playthrough. I hope you get the views Jared.

[@Kerrpllardy]

Yes do a full play through! Love this game and your videos. Also you can turn off the side notifications through the “Gadget setting” in the “Pause menu”

[@jackiebunny3029]

Honestly, I used to not be huge huge into projareds let's olays, but recently I look forward so much to new episodes, I think it's my taist changing but also all the funny edits and just Jared's charisma makes this really enjoyable and one of the best parts of my day

[@Bidoof_7]

My favorite gameplay channel with my favorite host on a full playthrough of my all time favorite castlevsnia? Yes please

[@Plasmos]

A full playthrough of AoS would be a dream come true! And yes! EVERY monster has a soul to collect!

[@ZttackFrmBhind]

Jared, I think it was about a week ago that I said that I wanted you to play games that you haven't played yet... Thanks, you are a gem of a content creator.

[@Dicorays]

My all time favorite Castlevania game! So excited to see you experience it!

[@AgaricRook]

Also another important point about the souls is the more you have of them (up to a maximum of 9) the stronger that ability will be. Possibly why the Merman ability was stronger then the Winged Skeleton one because he had 2 of one and 1 of the other.

[@donnavoelker4443]

I just finished this game myself and you are going to have so much fun with it! Please do a full playthrough. As someone who also played the hell out of Dawn of Sorrow you owe it to yourself to play this all the way through.

[@DerekEidahl]

I love this game so much! Absolutely would love to see more of this game

[@Malkior]

Yes! Would love a full play through of this! This is just a chill time to watch

[@trident042]

I'm in the same boat! I started with the DS 'vania games, never did go back for the GBA titles I missed, just because my time and money were otherwise occupied during the GBA era. Same goes for series that followed GBA > DS like Advance Wars and such. Glad to see this, I hope to watch the whole dang playthrough!

[@arkadarkartist]

DEFINITELY KEEP GOING on the full playthrough!

[@biohazard2236]

Would love to see this series continue. I'm a big Castlevania fan and you said you were enjoying it, so I'm all for more.

[@ImSoFookinGreat]

Excellent first episode. This is one of my favorite games ever, and would definitely love a full play through. Your humor and sense of adventure should combine for a heck of a series.

[@KingVampireZero]

I would say HELL YES to a playthrough!!You won't regret it Jared,this is an amazing game!Go for it,i can't wait to see you play this!

[@connorcoache957]

Man, I would love a full playthrough of this, its one of my favorite Castlevania games!

[@Raibrary]

This was my first exposure to castlevania and what made me love the metroidvania genre. Glad to see it here!

[@rolando2101]

I hope this receives enough views to make a full playthrough, I'd love to see you playing this game as is one of my favorite metroidvanias (that goes for SOTN too)

[@Rosa_Canina]

I will watch this later, but THIS GAME was the biggest surprise I missed back in the GBA days. I stumbled upon it YEARS later (around the time the 3DS hit its third year or so) and beat it like... 4 times in a row. And around 7 times after that. Its my most played non-nostalgia-driven game I own... Cant wait to watch this :)

[@jonathandamattamoreira6324]

I would love the full playthrough!! Always love to see new content from your channel!!

[@EnecoVT]

My favourite Metroidvania Castlevania! I'd love to see a full playtrough of this! Already so invested in seeing what souls you will collect and use!

[@Amaksarei]

Please do a full playthrough!! This one of my favorite Castlevania titles XD

[@reelequalsreal7323]

Even though I've beaten this game is one of my favorites and I want to watch jerd do a full playthrough of this

[@flamesofhell6449]

It's easy to get right into this game and lose track of time. So much fun exploring and doing the boss battles.

[@ReyGArk]

Aria of Sorrow, while being my 2nd Cadtlevania, was the first Castlevania I beat 100%. Seeing a full playthru of this would be sweet nostalgia.

[@techofthegods7310]

Definitely want a full play through of this.

[@apollolux]

Aria is absolutely worth a full playthrough on a big screen, and down the line we hope you do your first Symphony playthrough for the channel too! Me personally, I always regretted that the first time I played through Symphony was on the PSP in the DX Chronicles port rather than the original PS1 version on a TV.

[@AdventurerAlm]

Definitely hope you get to do a full playthrough of this. There's also a randomizer out there for it too, which is a great time.

[@Blade12113]

I'm super excited to see you play this game. By far one of my favoritr games of all time. Also that jump near the end IS possible just extremely difficult

[@VegetaHitsGirls]

Dude, I always love seeing people play games they really like. This is a good one. I'll definitely watch if you decide to keep going.

[@The16bithero]

This one's up there with Symphony of the Night as my favorite Metroidvanias. By adding the monster abilities, main weapon, secondary ability and passive abilities, it's just incredible! Super Castlevania 4 is still my all time favorite, but man, this game just rips!

[@jjinc1957]

I’m just rewatching these playlists before I pick up the new collection. Let the Jerd inspiration begin!

[@doopness785]

This is my favorite Castlevania game please do a full playthru

[@natebetts9426]

Yes full playthrough! I love this game, played it almost weekly. Giving Alucard that voice is great

[@papadokkkdrape6745]

I love watching you have fun, this kind of walkthroughs allways have my attention

[@claycowan1989]

I'd love to see a full playthrough of this! This is my 2nd favorite Castlevania game

[@D1gital-ZER0]

Hell yeah, Jared! I'm here for the full play of it!

[@mimicman06]

Haven't seen you like a game this much since your Metroid Fusion playthrough. Would love to see more, and I'll always love watching Castlevania games.

[@DJMikeNMix]

This is such a good game! Circle of the Moon was my entry into the Castlevania series, and I loved all the GBA titles. Would love to see you keep playing this!

[@nelsonm.22]

woot! love this game also, remember that first peeking guy you saw? the wall behind it reacted funny when you hit it

[@luketeddymh]

One of my favorite GBA games. This will be a joy to watch.

[@Kapputmacher]

UUUUH nice, one of my most played GBA Games. This game is a treat.I would love to see you play through it.

[@rajangeta8334]

Hey more castlevania! I really hope this gets a full playthrough because even without grinding it can be pretty long. On a side note my favourite out of the GBA games is Harmony of Dissonance, I know it's the red headed step child of the 3 but I love it

[@AtlasBlizzard]

The best GBA Castlevania and one of my all-time favorites! Glad to see you playing it! 😁👍

[@yurinoworry]

I agree that Aria is the best but recently more and more I’m starting to feel Harmony of Dissonance doesn’t lag as far behind as I once thought… CotM though… nahhhh

[@jaretco6423]

Yuri. HoD isn't an bad game. But it is the weakest of the GBA Castlevania games. Mainly because the castle layout or the level designs in general aren't very well & Juste is so frickin O.P. throughtout the enitre game in which it puts Alucard into shame. In fact, HoD is by far the easiest Metroidvania style Castlevania game I've seen. I never died once because of how lacking the levels challenges you, the bosses are an total pushover and wasn't nearly puzzling. Circle of the Moon at least had those. Not to mentioned it has one of the worst OST in video game history. The only improvements it has over CotM is the graphics & presentation looked an heck of alot better and it has more lighting. But none of it matters when gameplay lacks in many variety.

[@Altalus]

A full playthrough, always down for it :D

[@mangadude1]

I remember a friend telling to get Aria of Sorrow when I still had my GBA SP (the zelda GBA is what I had because screw the tribal one in my opinion) but I didn't get into Castlevania properly until Symphony of the Night port on the 360. Glad to see that you're enjoying it and I'll be glad to watch this as a series like the other games you've done in the past