OPERATION: Elucidate

Concerning the monsters and changes in the Castlevania games Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow

Prologue:
They dumbed it down, quite simply. Between the general dialing back of the difficulty of the game at large, the puzzles, and the mysteries (and my own experience making me a better player, I suppose) from Aira of Sorrow to Dawn of Sorrow, swank Soma Cruz gets cut a great deal of slack. In this article I'm going to list the entire bestiary of the second game along with commentary on any version differences and a discussion of the monster and its soul power. I'm not putting any numbers in this review if I can help it, only a spot comparison of more or less menace as delivered.

There are a few general rules that apply to make all the new monsters easier as well.
1. Most monsters now wait until they "see" Soma to start attacking him. In some cases the monster AI for recognition waits until Soma attacks, making them downright honorable for a pack of evil monsters, don't you think?
2. Most monsters do less damage and have less knockback than before. Early Castlevania games gave you 4 to 16 hits before you simply croaked, so there was a lot of avoiding and evasion that you simply no longer have to do. Soma is now a massive tank compared to what most mobs dish out.
3. Monster Combos are simply not as dangerous or concentrated as they used to be. Most of a monster's menace applies when Soma is already under pressure from other monsters. In Dawn of Sorrow, most wait patiently while you knock them off one at a time, or else the combos are not dense enough to limit your space.
4. Monster graphics were given priority. Many of the baddies from Symphony of the Night return after not seeing the dark of night for several games. Yes this does excuse a lot of what I'm talking about.


Let Us Go Out This Evening for Pleasure, the Night is Still Young:

001. Zombie.
Well, what can I say? It's a zombie. No real AI here in either game, so no difference there. These guys pay off in souls much more easily than before, and the ability you get is summoning a zombie which is about as cool as it sounds and way more useful than it sounds. Before it granted poison strengh enhancement, which got overshadowed by about four other soul abilities (including Headhunter, which flat out bested entire categories of soul abilities). On the whole not much change.

002. Bat.
Again, not a lot of changes. The soul power gives you a familiar this time instead of a wee circle of pitiful magic damage. In that sense an upgrade, especially since it is one of the best damage to mp sinks for a long time, and upgrades to two and three bats with enough souls. Excellent power. Also, hanging bats cannot take damage but can soak up targets if you use Rycuda or Witch power for instance. In this sense they are more difficult and entirely an upgrade.

003. Ghost
Total pushovers. In previous games, these ubiquitous floating guys would track you and take more than one hit to go down (at first). If you're a fan of dealing mind damage, these wee buggers pack a whallop, but there's reall no reason to attack them where they are strongest. Even at that, they no longer track you and are useful in one area to see some hidden surroundings.
The power is a most inventive one, although rather poorly executed. Soma hangs limp while a white orb becomes the center of action and hovers about to let you explore. The big downside is that you can get no further than a sword swing away from your body before silver chords haul your ghost-ass back to home. Could have been much better as a Second Sight style astral projection power, but that game was less about killing and more about recon and sneaking.

004. Skeleton
Well if there weren't skeletons, someone would revolt. These guys are never really a challenge, and their placement is about as obnoxious as it ever was, in particular the vertical hallways crammed with the buggers. The power is a little cooler than before, that is with the ability to upgrade to throwing bigger bones. One thing I miss from previous versions is when the vindictive bastards would grab their own skulls and lob those at you. I haven't seen them do that in Dawn.

005. Ouija Table
Before, these guys were called Poltegeist, and on the whole I like the change. It leaves them room to use the name for a more powerful monster or more menacing version with a different palette or something. And it suggests the link between innocent board games and the occult (rather than innocent video games and the occult, hrm). These don't have the punch that they used to, and got moved to the entry area of the dungeon, so they serve a different role now. I'm pretty sure Soma never had to face them himself, but now he gets a power that rocks. When you're near a chair, press up on the D-pad and Soma will kick back and chillax like a jeans model and you'll recover 8 hp per tick with no loss of mp. Great change.

006. Peeping Eye
These guys were best when you could see them watching from the background only to have them slide in a window and hover about menacingly. The enemy model has grown in size by a lot, which makes it easier to strike but harder to avoid. On the whole just as annoying as before, and just as hard to harvest for its most useful ability to spy hidden doors.

007. Axe Armor
Going as far back as Dracula's Curse, these guys have been a menace. They've lost most of that menace over the years, and from Aria to Dawn, the Axe Armor has become less defensive and tank like. They toss the axes with more gusto, but rarely survive to the point where they get a shot off. Once more they are mainly there to give you an enemy at the start of the game that you can't one-shot with your chintzy slingblade, and introduce larger more dangerous versions of themselves.

008. Skull Archer
Way less of a threat than before. Back when they were furries instead of skeletons they had punch, and when they first became bone and bones they would backpedal before taking the shot, often moving just as fast as you and hiding behind bigger, badder dudes. The power they grant this time around lets you charge the shot up to unreasonably powerful levels, which I'm sure is good for something. Still can't scratch that iron golem, though. On the whole less annoying than before, but they still pack a punch and the arrows are harder to see coming if they get shots off. They could be way better if they had been placed next to some tougher dudes to run interference or in multiples.

009. Warg
Big ol' vulfie returns from SotN, just as large and wussy. For grins, you can use double-jump kicking to rebound off of one of these until it howls and dies, making you feel more like a street fighter than a slayer exactly...hell you could even equip Werewolf soul and Hell Boar and but on the Mach Punch or something and have a whole streetfighting set. The warg power itself is rather fun, especially if you feel like biting things vindictively. I used this power against Gergoth to pretty good effect, although it may have simply been satisfying for me to bite that awful chicken-shaped son of a bitch.

010. Spin Devil
I can't recall seeing similar dudes to this in the other games, although if they were there then they must have appeared less like the monster head in tornado and more of just a spindly wisp of air or poison gas or something. As is they can knock your ass around like a champion and never really seal the deal with damage. Maybe if they had put these guys in some of the spikey chambers like in the clock tower, or if there were open pits in the game that spelled doom for Soma would these guys be dangerous. As is they just kindof...blow. The power never did it for me either.

011. Armor Knight
These purple assholes still have as much annoying knock as they ever had. Their AI still goes after you at random. They can still stab up and down and sideways and swipe at you. And they are still far more annoying in multiples than singly. By the time you beef yourself up a little and get a decent weapon you should be single stroking these jerks into a flaming doom, but they'll still get a poke in every now and again. The power you get is possibly the worst in terms of damage per mp, but harvesting their souls in multiple is pretty good for crafting so there's a benefit I suppose. I still hate these guys and they're as hard as they ever were.

012. Student Witch
I'm not sure what the curriculum for being a witch is like, but JK Rowling probably never dreamt of Soma tear-assing through them as part of the training. They don't notice you until it is too late usually, they swipe at you with the broom more lethargically and generally look like their weak little arms can barely support the massive broom they amble about with. If they manage to get aloft on the thing they wobble about, ironically their most dangerous attack pattern. Oh, and they can summon cats. They just used to be much more aggressive and less comic relief. The power you get is as good as ever, though, and despite its simplicity and relatively low damage, I used it for a lot of the game as an extra attack on top of my waves of katana slices. Of course, it covers a different range than the katana class weapons, so maybe that had something to do with it.

013. Slaughterer
Probably based on pro wrestlers to some degree, this 800 pound pig-faced anthropomorph is every bit as pretty as the pros, and telegraphs his moves even more. I think the closest comparison would be the tiger men from Aria, as they had some of the same attacks and give the same powers. The changes are that piggy here has a much larger corpse to strike, moves more slowly, spits fireballs that you can defeat with an attack of your own, and hits for way more damage and knock if he ever connects, which he won't because you'd have to sit there and beg him to do it before he'll try, and by then the bomber armor at his side has probably already lit you one. You get a street-fighter punch for a power from this guy, something to augment the fist class weapons I suppose, or maybe substitute? We'll get to the better power later. For know, know that the tiger men came in multiples and could run up and juggle your yankee blue jeans whereas this bumbling colossus is better suited for a Vallydale parade.

014. Bomber Armor
You'll usually find these guys right next to Slaughterers, and the pairing doesn't really add anything to either. He throws bombs not often enough to be dangerous, and can't lead you or toss them very far, and oh yeah, they no longer explode if you touch them, but only on their timer. Realism in this case kills the fun as it used to be a legitimate threat to go after these guys, as one misstep could end in your quick combustion. Sure the blast is still a doozy, but again, unless you're begging for it, bomberman here just won't deliver. The power to throw bombs of your own is pretty cool, and there are plenty of places you can find to lob them from a distance or from above and clear out whole groups. A hit for bombermen of all sorts.

015. Golem
They just can't stop making room tall rock men. The guy this is based on used to be called "Rock Golem" of all things, and was at one point tough enough to be an early boss, even seen in the boss rush. He used to cover even more area, and look like he was made of rocks that had been sitting around collecting moss. Dawn's version has a head shape more similar to the Lament of Innocence kind, who was himself a boss. This poor idiot doesn't live up to either of them, and isn't even close to a boss in the game (physical proximity to Balore aside). You do want to have a healthy nine of their souls, though, because a +18 to str is great for all kinds of activities.

016. Slime
I'm torn on the slime, really. Even in Aria there were the two kinds, and they were easy to tell apart, and they had mostly the same attack pattern and were just as easy to kill as the other. Sometimes they would get into weird places, though, and were a living nightmare in some rooms where the other monsters put on the hurt while these guys blocked you off. This is the lesser version, though, and isn't that much of a challenge in either game. I think the Dawn version has a new type weakness, but that may just be for the bludg/slash/peirc split. The power you get is a slight variation on the original, and fun to play with, although there's no longer a legion boss to freaking ruin with it.

017. Une
Never has been threatening and never will be. At least in Dawn they serve to give you a guessing game as to whether it is this kind or the Corpseweed or the Alura Une. Also they got rid of the propagating kind, which was fun to mess with and in some cases a genuine threat. The power you get is pretty good for nerfing a boss when you get to him, but that's about it. It fails to live up to, say, holy water as wielded by any Belmont, but what are you gonna do?

018. Skeleton Ape
Donkey Kong returns from the dead to hurl an exploding barrel at you. I thought for sure this cat was a joke at first, but this is one comedian who can switch-hit for a dramatic role whenever he likes. They attack at the least provocation and have a good idea of where you are. Sometimes they get generated facing opposite you, at which point they pretty much switch off and are no trouble at all. Soma never tangled with one of these guys before, but Alucard had (and Juste I think) and they were never this aggressive. The power is an enchantment type that sends some of your bullet types into overdrive, which is really the designers' excuse to make those powers a little lackluster in the first place. On the whole an upgrade.

019. Manticore
More majestic looking than before to be certain. He no longer telegraphs his moves quite so obviously, instead opting to have two attacks and two slightly different telegraphs for them. You're never at a loss for breathing room when you face them, vastly reducing their threat potential. Also they no longer chain their fireballs so much, so you've pretty much won as long as you're paying attention. The power you get never did it for me in either game, so I feel unqualified to rate it.

020. Mollusca
This guy freaked me out when I first saw him. Seriously, a slug that takes up the entire room and retracts a deely-bopper when you whack it while he inches the other one in is cause enough to exit and form a plan. Their main use is to ward you away from a boss door that you don't have the seal to undo just yet, so mostly you should ignore them anyway. You get to summon this splendid terror for yourself when you use its soul power, and it is at least good for a gag, although it may fall in the Student Witch range of usefulness if you press it, which would make it a solid choice for a lot of problems. I'm not sure there was a beast quite like this in the other games, and I welcome him into the bestiary with open arms.

021. Rycuda
Then there are disappointments. Rycuda has a flight pattern like some Harpy types, but doesn't even have the punch of, say, the red crows from Aria. If you wait patiently, they will hover about in the corner for a bit, take aim, and zap you for a pittance and almost no knock. If you slay them you may find the Colonel's best, though, so really there's no reason to let them take a swing. I guess this guy is supposed to replace the Lightning Doll from Aria, and that thing could get freaking ugly, especially when combined with others or put in a small passageway. Rycuda has none of these qualities. The soul power is still great, although different. Power it up and you get chain lightning that rebounds off every available baddie in range, and even some off screen for a way. Go to the room with all the Mermen for maximum enjoyment.

022. Mandragora
I don't say this often; this is one of the enemies who is much more intimidating in Harry Potter novels. Even in Aria, what you saw was a skeleton tugging at the ground, and then pulling up a turnip or something, only to have it yell like banshee and fill the entire screen with heavy damage, destroying the skeleton in the process. They were a pain and a terror in Aria. In Dawn, they uproot themselves, serving as yet another Une disguise, but they have none of the damage, area cover, or knock that they used to. Bonus though is that they now appear in multiples, so happy digging. In case you want to use this soul, consider what kind of game you're playing carefully. I would suggest using it as a Graedus-style attack with this as your bullet, Skelerang as your enchant, Bat as your guardian and equip your best gun or throwing weapon. Then it has a place. Otherwise it is overkill on regular enemies and piss poor against bosses.

023. Yorick
The skeletons may never leave the comic relief role in these games, nor ever get released in a Chinese market. This kind of skelly chases and kicks its own skull about, and gets pissed off if you destroy the skull (wouldn't you?). They didn't really appear in Aria, but they did in SotN, where they appeared singly and were less of a threat (if any) and chased the skull, which moved on its own, rather than kicking it at you. In Dawn, they form teams of soccer hooligans and can really rack up the damage if you don't see it coming, which you probably won't the first time because the skull is tiny and blends well. Listen for the clues instead and you can avoid a lashing. You can also punt the skulls away yourself, and they'll be compelled to chase. A great and fun mob and an upgrade from previous versions. The power is kinda blah, though.

024. Skeleton Farmer
I suppose they all had different walks of life before turning to the undead side. Some were people who threw shit at other people. Some were waiters. Some chased their own heads about (lawyers). And there were some who said screw it and played Harvest Moon. In fact there's only one of these guys in the game, and he can give you a fun fight if you ignore him for too long. And since there's other stuff to deal with in the room, its likely that he'll get at least one season off on you, including a Mandragora or two that he'll cover his ears for. I can only imagine how nasty it would be to have something that summoned those in Aria, but in Dawn it seems...well fair. The ability powers up plant moves...which...I suppose could be good. It is at least good to have the option, as a lot of other classes of move have a power-up for them.

025. The Creature
With as much copyright as Konami flat out ignores, I'm surprised this one got changed. This is a Frankenstein's Monster, kids, make no mistake. He will amble toward you and punch and kick if he feels like it, and when you first meet he probably has enough tank in him to stave you off while he gets a punch in. He falls hard and has an excellent death animation where each piece gets vaporized by its own bolt of lightning from above. He takes half damage from lightning. Imagine that. The power is a staple, though, and shouldn't be overlooked. Well...unless there's a chair nearby.

026. Catoblepas
One day I'll have to look up the word for this one, because I'm not sure how "catoblepas" translates to "stone breathing bull" at all. They still drop milk for you (are they really bulls, I wonder?) and still let you hitch a ride on their backside where you can prey upon them without fear of reprisal, at least from the beast itself. I will say the Dawn versions are larger, better looking and more sluggish. The stone breath can chain-gank you for a gaping wound or two if you get caught, so don't. Seriously don't. Being stoned is no fun. The power let's you unleash the breath weapon yourself. You can check to see if an enemy is vulnerable to it in the monster list in game. It is the rock shaped icon over on the right by the red-eyed face.

027. Ghoul
Fungool! Zombies have a palette swap. Where did they get that? Anyway nothing to write home about here. They give you the power that used to belong to the Flesh Golem, who himself did all his pivoting in Flash and was super gross. Here's a hint, though, equip this power and then feast on a rusty food tin to make the power of botulism your own (that is, it's a full heal, itadakimasu!).

028. Corpseweed
Now here is some shit they either couldn't or didn't want to do in Aria. These rooty, heady fellows first broke ground in SotN, where they also failed to intimidate or pester in the slightest. In Dawn, they're an Une disguise, so don't be surprised if you cross an Une that you thought was harmless, only to watch it grow to twelve feet tall and form a misshapen head and continue to be harmless. The power let's you summon one up for yourself, sprouting from your head like so many Seussian protagonists. I don't think hers ever spit little lumps of stuff at enemies, though. Hrm.

029. Yeti
You have to lure him from the background with the promise of hot curry. I'm not sure there's a similar monster to compare him to for this entry, so I'll go on about how freakishly cool his power is. After summoning and killing him a number of times (that is, after reading about him in the local rag), and getting his power, all of which is fun in itself, you get to form a mighty and menacing white orb of evil power that grows while you roll it! That's right, its a snowball, and if you play your satanic powers right, it is a massive snowball calibrated for killing. Great fun with the Chaos Ring. Okay fun with the Rune Ring, and good for embarrassing bosses all the same. Snowball in your face, Death!

030. Tombstone
Another baddie new to Soma. They are sneaky little buggers who can occasionally meet you in a closed corridor where they leap at you to great effect. Other places they only blend in with candles, though, or with the background. Kindof a tough shell to crack, but no difficulty at all later on. Having the ability to not turn to stone is also really good in certain unforeseeable clutch situations.

031. Ghost Dancer
Honestly, I liked these better when they were a cool mirror effect in that one ride in Disney World. I suppose I was playing Castlevania IV at the time, so those probably seemed extra cool at the time. The Dawn version is about as threatening as a Disney movie, too. At least they resist physical like a good ghost. You'd think all the weapons in the world were covered in silver powder and blessed by the fae queen. They are now the last game in town in terms of boosting your luck, so any serious collector will harvest a playset of these and roll with +18 luck whenever he feels. Later on you encounter loads of them and can blast through them without a second thought, but then they were always kinda like that. Enjoy all the tea you'll get while collecting them, by the by.

032. Flying Humanoid
Uh...this isn't so much a fight as a background interaction. Instead of summoning him to the foreground, you kill him from there and watch his soul spiral in to you. You'll need to yell pretty loudly to get him to notice you, though. The power he grants used to belong to the Sky Fish, which was a deuced devil to try and collect, and didn't even work when you got it. This one sprouts you some wings and claims to boost your strength and luck, but the huge mp cost never did it for me. Quite satisfying for thirteen year old fangirls for their poofy heartthrob to grow angel's wings and call himself incubim or something. You can almost hear the Depeshe Mode in the background.

033. Mini Devil
Squeaky and obnoxious, but not as much as before. You get to do about what they do to you, which is always kinda satisfying in a power. In Dawn they play a little more stealth, though, and can be a real pain while you're striding about that one room with the bells. I also have a soft spot for familiars, and I'm glad to see this one return.

034. Quetzalcoatl
This time, he has a fleaman riding him. A cool touch to an otherwise annoying-as-ever monster. You can tell where he'll end up but not really where he'll leap, it is hard to time your strikes against him and his vulnerable spot is his fastest-moving. He also comes in tandem with other mobs who limit your space, so he's pretty much the most dangerous enemy in the game, proportionally speaking. You should have a plan against these guys, even if that plan is "run away." He's also a familiar power, so go nuts. I think he used to be one of the luck-tier powers in Aria, which I'm glad they did away with. You can never have too many familiars to choose from.

035. Treant
This enemy model must have been a big hit in focus groups or something because they just keep making variants. Ol Colfenor here will kick your fleshy, supple body into the next room without a second thought, and will in the meantime lumber about taking up the space from floor to ceiling. They even sometimes have a flying stabby guy with them. All in all a fun fight that I would want to see as a first or second boss fight or something. The power you get lets you recover mp faster, which would be a shoe-in for a mage run and almost useless to anyone else. I mean, there's always the chaos ring, and failing that, the rune ring, and failing that...um...hearts in every candle?

036. Amalaric Sniper
This guy has charisma pouring from every pore. The entrance, the trail effect, the aim and fire. If he could follow up on that with menace, he'd be the coolest enemy in the game, barring none. As is he ends up being a lot of show for no payoff, as he waits always too long to take the damn shot. Sometimes you'll get bumped by the Ghost Dancers while trying to hit him and his cool ass name, so he still has some menace left. The power lets you summon one of your own for a straight shot as a bullet, which you could pair with Skeleton Archer for a tandem-fire effect, which would be props to you if you did.

037. Valkyrie
The Valk has the same general plan and attack pattern as she had in Aria. Only this time, she's much more alone all the time, is a larger target, moves more sluggishly and in a straight line instead of a swoop, and oh yeah, doesn't nearly have the punch. Enjoy slapping the shit out of these silly bitches with darkness powers, too. In Dawn, Valk is one of the "I become a big dude" powers, only this time you're a woman...so...erm, keep modeling them jeans.

038. Great Armor
Batman! Your first one of these will probably give you the willies, but keep in mind that there are much harder versions in store that these guys let you practice for. Really they don't have as much defense as you may imagine, but they'll still bean you for quite a bit if you let them. In Aria, any part of the sword or body would damage you, but now the sword only hurts if they're swinging it, and other times you can approach right there without a care in the world. Well, except maybe caring about the thirty foot tall man trying to crush you. He's not as fun as a familiar as you may imagine, but give him a go. Then put his soul to better work upgrading your gear.

039. Killer Doll
Aside from the general creepiness of seeing dolls this size, or seeing them auto-animate as if being controlled by strings, these floaty buggers are the closest I've seen so far to being the same between Aria and Dawn. They still curse you, too, which in this game means your mana quickly drains. I sortof miss the day when being cursed meant you couldn't run or attack. That was much more of a hamstring than simply reverting to pure warriorism, which you spend most of the game doing anyway, unless you're specifically doing a wizard run, which would make you a champion and would make Killer Doll here dangerous in the extreme.

040. Waiter Skeleton
Another skelly, another comic relief role. In Aria, these guys would toss their platter at you, then their skull, then some bones or another plate of curry or something, but anyway Soma tended to steamroll them before they became a problem and they were a simple upgrade of the regular skeleton. In Dawn, they have a sudden alert flash, toss the plate and then run like hell, diving apart when they reach the other side of the room. They're never really a threat for this reason, but they can be a nuisance. The power is much the same as it ever was, and is Soma's closest excuse for holy water; a way to put out some fire damage. You can't stack plates though, so enemies will only get one helping at a time. DELICIOUS.

041. Persephone
Alright, now we've come to the reason I'm writing this in the first place. Poor Persephone here always had a quirky name, but at least she had some inputs and attacks. When you met your first Persephone in Aria, it probably felt like fighting a miniboss. She walks up to you gingerly and bows and then starts throwing kicks in your direction until you croak or she does. There was no holding back and no second thoughts. Persephone was an asskicking. In Dawn, she's simply not the same monster anymore. She still curtsies and bows, but she moves much more cautiously. She will slide up in fighter stance until almost next to you before trying to throw a power kick, and I say trying because if you get hit by one of these, your hands are malfunctioning. I have seriously never been hit by a Persephone kick in Dawn, simply because she only throws it when you're really close and there's no reason to ever do that. Her soul power is the same as ever; I didn't like it in Aria and I don't like it in Dawn, but given as there are so few powers that can get you health back, you may end up using it all over the place anyway. I suppose it is good that you can have Soma move and attack while the vacuum is up, but I would much rather have had, say, a Chun-Li familiar pop out and throw some kicks.
One more thing, Persephone even has an anti-combo with other monsters. If you catch a devil close to one and kill it nearby Persephone, the vortex from its death animation affects her and makes her freeze in place while she tries to keep her skirt from flying up in the wind. Why they felt the need to further hamstring Persephone is beyond me, but I may attempt a "fists only" run just to make her more dangerous. I admit that the skirt in the wind thing is cute.

042. Witch
Well the student has passed, and although the game claims she has a wide variety of spells, she keeps using the same one on me. This wee magic missile seldom actually connects although it does track you a little. She no longer summons a huge fireball or throws up a solid shield to ward you off, and the cat she releases as part of her death animation doesn't have an attack in it anymore. The Witch power in Dawn is the Ghost power from Aria, which makes a lot of sense as she uses the same spell on you a whole bunch. It is rather terribly useful, and its upgrades confer an mp reduction and hastened casting. It strikes for weapon damage, though, which is a downer as this little missile used to be one of your first applications of holy damage. Still dead useful for playing keep away.

043. Buer
One of the monsters who changed almost none between versions. There's no longer a discernable lion's head in that rolling mass of burning legs, but I'd still probably turn the other way if I saw one coming at me from the top of a staircase. The power still has some criminally useful applications, and you can subtly control where the flames go by turning back and forth and making use of your backdash. If anything, the Buer got an upgrade as he now appears in later areas of the dungeon and cascades down at you probably before you have power enough to one-shot him.

044. Lilith
I remember this name being attached to some rather terrifying monsters before. She never had the same terrorizing power in Aria, so to be fair we'll compare her there. In Dawn, she still gets placed among others, and can backdash and laugh at you in a sinister pestering fashion. Thanks to Persephone no longer being around her, or as dangerous, Lilith takes a backseat to more pressing monsters like the killer clowns or Buers or Ghost Dancers nearby. I will put my hat in for Lilith soul power being dead useful, so collect a bunch. Either pumping your int or fusing a high level weapon is a fine activity for Soma. It may be obnoxious to kill them again and again, but well worth it.

045. Killer Clown
An excellent new addition to the bestiary. They're a little passive in normal mode but much more aggressive in hard mode. You can defeat their projectiles with an attack, and avoid it most of the time, and sometimes you can even kill them before they get the cards off. No matter what happens, though, these hardy jollymen will slow you down, and that's usually enough to make a monster considerable as a threat. The nastiest places to run into these guys are in areas with low ceilings and other monsters for backup. The power is fun to use and upgrade, and they explode into puffs of confetti and particoloured smoke when they die, which is about how I'd want to go if it were me. An excellent, excellent monster.

046. Skelerang
You may miss these guys on your way up passages, at which point you'll stop to fight some other monster and then have two huge boomerangs flying at you. They have quite a bit of distance and coverage and accuracy with those oblong blades, and you cannot defeat the boomers with an attack, so its best to kill these guys before they get a toss off. Granted they're not much in the tank department, so doing so is usually quite easy so long as you spot him in time. You'll probably hear the boomerangs coming and when you do, they'll probably hit you. He's a genuine threat for that, but if you close the distance and get up in his face, he'll start cowering from you and quiver, not doing anything. A cute trick, sure, but could we include some extra behavior like this that serves to make the monster more dangerous rather than less? Just tossing that out there. The power let's you turn throwing type weapons from gag item into splendid utility, and is a lot of fun.

047. Fleaman
In all the years there have been Fleamen, they've never been quite as trivial as in Dawn. They were nothing special in Aria, either, certainly not up to the level of supreme annoyance from other console games. Anyone with a sweeping attack should have no trouble at all with these wusses, so maybe you'll find them bothersome on your fist playthrough. Still likely not. The room with the wakwak tree can rapidly fill with these bounding buggers, though, so don't let that happen. Bad enough there's a limitless supply of Ghouls in the same place. The attack let's you toss out a fleaman of your own, which is great fun and trying to get him to go a certain way is an art form. Don't worry about these guys until they start throwing knives at you.

048. Devil
He's back. And he continues his downward trend of power. In Circle of the Moon, this guy would blast you with dark ki in no time. In Aria, he was huge and claw-having and wasted no time bringing the hurt. In Dawn, he's a little smaller and has a flying kick. And that's about it. Granted, he has position tracking protocol, so he can lock on and stay with you no matter how fast you go, and if he chooses he can back away from you pretty fast making him a pain in the ass to kill if you don't have pretty good damage output. He's now the lowest of his tree, though, so its flying kick or bust. The upshot of that is you can't hurt him while he's swooping to kick you, so all in all a sizable threat in Dawn, if only for the general lack of actually dangerous monsters. I think there was a power sortof like this one in Aria, but it didn't work the same way or anywhere near as well. Your pact with the devil makes your hitpoints fall out of you as the devil demands your blood. You get unholy strength in return, so there's bound to be a use for this somewhere. Not taking damage tends to be a better plan than faster killing, though, so I've not yet found that use. File again under gimmick runs.

049. Guillotiner
Aside from looking like some of the mushroom-fed dracoforms from Bahamut Lagoon, I'm not sure how to rate this guy. He has low hp and low attack power unless he gets you with the guillotine, but he probably never will. Even when they put a couple of these in rooms with other dudes, they tend to ignore you until you get close, politely waiting until it is their turn to be beaten to a pulp by whatever Soma is packing. I sortof wish they had an instant kill attack. At least that would justify how easy they are to avoid, and would raise the pucker factor by a bunch. As for the soul attack, I never seriously used it, so try it out for yourself. I can't imagine it is something you'll seriously need to seek out, though. I do appreciate the art and animation for this baddie.

050. Draghignazzo
In Aria, these guys had a slightly different name (although still italian sounding) and would hover back and forth out of reach, spinning their tridents menacingly until they stabbed down at you. It all happened rather quick, and if you didn't stick-and- move, they could really tear you up. In Dawn, they don't really come in multiples, they telegraph quite a bit more, and they stab diagonally instead of straight down, which all makes them much easier to beat. They make up for it in being a useful soul for synthesis and earstwhile royal pain to try and harvest. Just keep reminding yourself that the payoff is worth it.

051. Needles
These get positioned better in Dawn than in Aria to pester you, and I'll be damned if I didn't actually croak once by one of these guys while trying to rush through a place. The soul power is occasionally useful but pretty boring on the whole.

052. Hell Boar
And here we have little piggy's big blue brother. He shoots fireballs straight at you instead of in a gentle upward arc, and has an uppercut attack instead of a straight punch, so he keeps the same coverage while getting a boost in danger level in both areas. You can get his soul to deliver a similar whallop to other enemies as he gives you if you try to cleverly jump over him. Certainly an upgrade from the Slaughterer beyond simply having better stats, but still a pale imitation of the tiger men from Aria.

053. Bone Pillar
About the same as ever. You can still stand on them without worry and they only sortof try to shoot fire at you if you egg them on. There's a room that's full of these guys that can be fun and challenging to explore. And when I mean full I mean you should see it. That is a lot of dudes breathing fire at you. Like a lot. Another of the single-stat boosting souls, and as such is pretty useful on the balance.

054. White Dragon
A slight upgrade to the Aria version, these are larger and have more reach and flail about more randomly and dangerously. I'm pretty sure their fire reaches further as well, making these guys span multiple screens with their threatened area. Once again the soul power lets you unleash jets of fire, which, come on, you know you want to be able to do that.

055. Wakwak Tree
He's not a good comedian, and he doesn't waste time waiting for you to get near him. As soon as you're in the room, the Wakwak Tree goes to work sprouting Fleamen. I'm glad they didn't invent this thing until Dawn here where the Fleamen aren't problematic. Otherwise the fruit of Wakwak Island would be frightening indeed. I like the idea and the allusion for certain, but the execution could use a little sprucing up. Imagine if it randomly grew a ripper, for instance. The soul power is one of the tradeoffs, in this case str for con. You can also play a little game with this thing as soon as you get erinys soul and the soul eater ring, although strictly speaking you don't need either before you can play. Try to juggle the removed branches with your attack and see how many times you can bounce it. The branch model will not break or fade even while the tree does, and you can continue to damage it well past its hp. The challenge of the game is that you have to deal with the Ghouls spawning at the same time, so happy hunting.

056. Imp
Godawful sons of bitches. Sometimes they'll swoop in and get you even if your attack connects, and then they lock you in place while they hammer your attack button. If one of the yellow medusa heads turns you to stone you'll be able to hear just how fast he's hammering your button. He can sneak up on you too, because he's close in colour to the background. They even hit pretty hard for being little pestering buggers. Fully more dangerous than in Aria. His soul power is a little tricky, too. You turn everything greyscale and get a timer, and your attacks make enemies flash blue instead of red. You're dealing mp damage when you do this, which can be spot useful for clearing away some dudes, as everything you come across has an mp score. It can also turn some monsters into absrudly strong tanks all of a sudden, so don't be surprised if you bollix it up, and for God's sake don't try it on Ghosts.

057. Harpy
They lurch and swoop, they throw knives with a flip and can blast you with feathers. They are worse in groups than alone and can backpedal when you approach often hovering over walls and out of reach. Par. The familiar you get for a soul power from these awful wretches is quite powerful and one of the few who follows commands. Careful use of this soul can yield pleasing results. Do upgrade it. There should be plenty enough Harpies to harvest.

058. Barbariccia
Not sure why he's here in the list ahead of Draghagnazzo. He appears earlier and is himself slightly weaker. All the rest I said about 'nazzo applies here, though. Except that this soul power is one of the transformers, which I never liked. You get a great beard, though.

059. Malachi
Now here's a freaking beast. They didn't appear at all in Aria, which is a shame because this guy is an asskicker like none other. I remember them being even more terrifying in SotN, but here in Dawn you get to harvest their soul and use the giant sphere of darkness they do. Very cool stuff, although nearly everything in the game is resiliant to dark power. Great for sweeping Valkyries.

060. Cave Troll
I think he's supposed to be their excuse for the chupacabra. They bound at you playfully and kick or lick you, which would be cute except for the punch behind it. They are also more aggressive than the average beast so watch out for these guys. The power lets you lash at monsters with your tongue, which is honestly best left for insult rather than injury.

061. Larva
I don't remember anything quite like this in Aria...maybe Tsuchinoku or something. Anyway, this monster is more dangerous than the norm because he kindof tracks Soma and kindof wobbles about at random and certainly doesn't wait for you to close the distance. The soul power lets you summon one at enemies, which is like several of the other powers, and is a matter of taste as to whether you'll use it for anything.

062. Heart Eater
By the time you get to these guys, they are a joke. Enjoy thrashing them with your most expensive spell because as they die they leave a trail of hearts that is usually enough to fill 75% or more of your mana bar. This enemy would have had a lot more potential for menace if they had come in areas other than the later ones of the dungeon. They at least move about pretty fast. The soul power you get lets you obtain more hearts, which is almost useless considering the Chaos Ring, Rune Ring, Treant soul, Lilith soul, stolas soul, and simply collecting more candles that serve the same purpose. Bah.

063. Merman
Always a wuss. The power lets you shoot jets of water. That's all.

064. Fish Head
I don't remember whether or not you could safely stand on these guys back in Aria, but you certainly can't in Dawn, which for me was rather jarring. They have more of everything than their landlubbing equivalents, and are still about as non- threatening. The power let's you toss a fish head. Huzzah.

065. Medusa Head
Both blue and yellow kinds count as the same monster in your bestiary, which they honestly really shouldn't. The blue kind is a mild annoyance, and the yellow kind is a deadly threat, especially since they place them around areas where you can fall in spikes and get punctured to marbly death in short order. Just keep up with your attacks and pay attention to where you're going and you should be fine. While going down, you can deliver a flying kick to make sure you strike first, or simply use a power that posts minor damage all about you like Buer or something. The power once again lets you hover in place, which is no longer Balore's undoing like it was in Aria, and has limited uses against others. You will certainly find a use for it if you do enough exploring and collecting, though.

066. Ukoback
They were smaller and faster in Aria, making them more dangerous. It is much easier in Dawn to defeat their flames with attacks, and they seem to set fewer fires on the whole. They still appear to be carrying the starter fire in a spoon as they float about, which is whimsical and cool. You get to do the same thing while you use the Ukoback soul power, although the fires fade after a single hit, so blah.

067. Killer Fish
These guys are a disappointment. They no longer lunge after you, but only float casually back and forth. The only upshot is the ability to play anarchist fisherman with them if you equip Bomber Armor soul and stand on a ledge above the water level. Pretty good soul to use in water, but how often will that really come up for you?

068. Mimic
Always blue, so never really a surprise after the first time. I preferred it when there was a genuine doubt as to whether the prize before you would suddenly grow teeth and try to chomp you. They have a pretty good leap and will give you problems if you're unwary, so on the whole not a bad monster. The soul power makes dollars pop out of Soma when he gets hit, which I never found to be useful, although I never did try it with the Gold Ring, so maybe I need to fire up my DS again.

069. Dead Pirate
An excellent addition to the bestiary. I only wish they were a little quicker and more like their predecessor, the Dhuron. I will overlook any flaws in the monster for the sake of this enchant ability, though, because I used it more than any other ability in the game. It lets you attack for double damage if your foe's back is turned, which can happen more often than you might imagine, and rewards you much more for using a fast-hitting weapon. Works on bosses, too!

070. Frozen Shade
More androgenous than before, and more lethargic. You can even knock away the large ice shard projectiles before Frozen Shade throws them at you. Quite a shame. Their power let's you toss an icy shard yourself, which does water damage...erm...because they didn't want to have an ice element I suppose.

071. Homunculus
What a joke. These poor idiots are stuck underwater in the lower part of the Wizardry lab, and tied to the wall via a tether that allows them to breathe. When Soma gets close, they awaken and float at him flailing their limbs like retarded children. If Soma simply moves past, they pull at the tether and detach, at which point they flail faster and turn purple, and then flail more slowly and drown all on their own. Sorry bastards. You get to summon your own if you use their soul power, but I feel way to sad about it to do so myself.

072. Disc Armor
Clearly the worst, most obnoxious, dangerous, annoying, pestering, and downright frustrating armor to defeat, and up there on the scale of all monsters. They attack a large area at a time with powerful sweeping blades that rebound and detach from the yoyo and keep going. There were simply more of these guys in Aria and they were hell on earth then, too. The fewer in Dawn are just as buggerable as ever, and their soul power is the only one in the game that has two levels instead of 1 or 3 or something. Fun to play with yourself, too. Who wouldn't want a yoyo that could be mistaken for the flying guillotine?

073. Decarabia
The sailor's Buer. Tough, obnoxious, starfishlike. Spongebob never had to deal with these bad boys, but if he had the power of Dominance, then he could summon one of his very own like Soma. I suppose there's nothing to stop you from entering your signature as Spongebob on the sign in screen, either.

074. Dead Mate
They send their undead dog after you and then swipe with a lantern. If you kill the dog they go away much more easily, but you can only get the soul if you go after the man, so it is up to you. Your reward is the ability to summon a dog of your own, but Soma is never at a loss for companionship to begin with.

075. Bugbear
I'm not sure where along the lines they got the idea to call an upgrade to Peeping Eye a Bugbear, exactly. Bugbears are goblins. You know, man-shaped, grimy, sometimes strange warped shapes or colours, but always goblinoid. This is a bugbear by no stretch of the imagination, and I'm sure could have been better translated. There was something like this in Aria or somewhere, but it wasn't as big and in-your-face as these. The enchant soul they give confers a resistance to lightning, further crippling Rycuda if you really feel like it. Not much good anywhere else, though.

076. Procel
Not that there was an enemy called Undine anywhere in Aria, but I'm sure if there were it would have looked like this. Not much to compare, really, except that you probably want to harvest this guy if you feel up to it, as free movement in water is a wonderful thing to have.

077. Bone Ark
These guys appeared in SotN, and were nowhere near as much of a drubbing. Their skeleton minions will charge at you frantically if you get rid of the head, and the massive blast they unleash will rock Soma out of his yankee blue jeans. This monster also gets the most obvious upgrade from normal to hard mode of anyone, where they release the blasts two at a time instead of singly. The power is pretty posh, summoning a Bone Ark for Soma to sit on and chill. Doesn't combine with the Ouija Table soul, which is a shame, because that would be straight pimp.

078. Gorgon
See entry for Catoblepas. This guy's colour scheme is terrible and he's pretty lonely as monsters go. And you get a jet of poison instead of flame or stone, which I suppose they had to fit in somewhere.

079. Alura Une
The woman who grows from a giant rose. A terrible prank on anyone expecting a simple corpseweed to appear. She's not nearly as dangerous as she used to be, though, so revel in the terror that is her symbolism all you like, because that's all the terror she has. You can summon one to guard you, the downside being it roots you in place when you do. Drag.

080. Great Axe Armor
That's quite an axe he has there. It's easy to avoid if you spot the right hole, and by the time you meet one he's about as troublesome to beat as a regular axe armor was at the beginning of the game. A replacement for Red Minotaur he ain't. Those guys would swing and leave no quarter. The soul power is the update of Red Minotaur power, which no longer lets you hit the same enemy twice, or deal quite as much damage with the hit you do get, which on the whole that power needed. The Red Minotaur soul power was just ridiculous in Aria so I'm glad of the update.

081. Mothman
No prophecies here, just switch a lamp on and he appears. Not sure what to compare this with exactly. His soul power used to belong to erinys, but she got Valkyrie and Valkyrie got Curly and Curly got the boot, so I suppose it all balances out. He doesn't have any prophecies for you, but is pretty freaky looking in his own right.

082. Mushussu
They say it comes from ancient Babylonia, and I'm skeptical. It sounds like a yarn. Mesopotamian myth lists a Mussu or something among its pantheon, somewhere alongside Tiamat. Anyway in Dawn it is a palette and skin swap of the Manticore. And where's my chimera, dammit! If you know how to fight Manticore you know how to fight Mushussu. You can attack enemies with a huge tail if you get this soul power. Not my cup of tea, but you may like it.

083. Dead Crusader
These guys used to look like skeleton warriors, and on the whole the switch has done well for Dead Crusader. He's tough as bawls to get rid of, sitting there and blocking everything with his massive shield. If you can get behind him or attack while he's attacking you then you can bring him down pretty handily. The enchant power he gives you confers a 10% damage reduction on everything, which I only wish you could stack. But then, equipping it and blocking mail could be good. Not sure how the numbers stack up but I'm pretty sure this is better than your con bonus can ever do for you.

084. Dead Warrior
The front half of a horse and rider, still as freaky and tough as they ever were. This time around the soul power lets you attack and lob bullet type soul powers at the same time, which sounded good to me but I could never get it to work. Meh

085. Erinys
Same flaws in translation as the Valkyrie, except now Erinys has an attack where she screams and radiates a circle of holy damage, and if you're close enough to get hit by it then you probably already bumped into her. The soul power makes a huge angelic image appear on the screen and shine all over the place for two pulses of holy damage, which becomes a huge utility against a lot of enemies, bosses, monster clusters, and the Wakwak Tree, and really just about everything. I used it a lot. Like a lot.

086. Succubus
Worse colours, but in general just as sneaky, devilish, and life-threatening as ever. They used to appear as a little girl begging for help, but that never fooled anyone. This time around, I was legitimatly fooled and spooked the first time. Try not to let them grab you, as that's a fast ticket to being chain-ganked by them and anything else that's in the room. Like werewolves. Or other Succubi. Eff. Instead of applying a drain effect to your weapon like in Aria, Succubus soul is now a bullet type attack that lets you lunge at things and drain them. Hard to use against most monsters, but an excellent tool for getting health back quickly, and you can use it on some candles, too.

087. Ripper
What could be worse than a Fleaman? Howabout one with more hit points that throws knives at you? Well here you go. In fact they were way worse in Aria, where flocks of birds could drop them in on you and in no time flat fill the screen with these bounding, knife-wielding maniacs. They're just not as nasty in Dawn. I also miss having a trick chest that's full of seven of these. Oh well. The soul power is simply the knife. This used to belong to the Butcher, but he's gone. This means that you don't get the sticky knife anymore, which is too bad because that was a keen tool for a lot of jobs.

088. Black Panther
Now revived from their days as a monster in SotN, and conferring the same soul power as in Aria. They're designed to run interference for other monsters and be generally hard to see. They really do go fast, but they can't take a hit very well so you may end up accidentally killing one while fighting in the Abyss. You certainly want this soul power if you want to bother collecting much of anything, because it lets you go fast fast fast yourself.

089. Mud Demon
I have nothing against the Mud Demon. I get that he's Procel with some dirt mixed in and nothing special on offense or defense. Entirely cool and inoffensive. But damn it all, why do they have to put sand in games? Every game that has sand in it is that much worse for the effort. Stop putting sand in games, you freaking assholes. I hate the sand, and there's almost never a good reason to have it. It is only there to piss you off and make your game less fun. Mud Demon will let you move freely through sand, and is a grey soul so will always be on once you get it. Every one of these games with sand should have something like this as a kind of apology for putting sand in there in the first place. You don't have a reason to put sand in your game; it makes you a terrible developer if you do. That guy who reworked Metroid III figured there hadn't been enough sand in it to begin with and that they didn't do enough creative things with sand, so he decided to throw more sand and sand pits in there for no reason at all, really, and the whole thing was miserable for it. If you design a game, I want you to think long and hard before you make the decision to include sand, because choosing to do so is choosing to hate the player who plays your game. The same goes for anything that applies random or seemingly random physics to the player without warning. This could be called fake-sand or pseudo sand, like some of the water from Blaster Master or those jets of air in Kirby Superstar. What makes a game designer think that sand is the right answer to anything? Did someone slip sand in your coffee while you weren't looking and now you have to make up for it by bringing the hostility of sand to gamer children everywhere? It's your fault in the first place for eating the bounty of the sea and then making coffee from desalinated ocean water.

090. Giant Slug
A Molusca with more stats and a big shell. His soul grants poison immunity, which is handy for dealing with tan jelly. Kindof a let down as far as high end monsters go.

091. Werewolf
There wolf. Of course, this guy used to be a boss, and he has more moves than he did in Aria, reminding us of this fact. He's one of the few baddies to get a one sided upgrade as comared to his Aria version. His soul, on the other hand, allows you to juke forward, which you could combine with backdashing to form a kind of tier dash. Best of luck breaking the tournament scene with that.

092. Flame Demon
This buff badass has 666 mp, the number of the beast. He only has 333 hp, though, which is the number of the cow, and less impressive all around. He's like a Devil that can also throw fireballs at you. Using his power lets you throw fireballs as well, which is highly satisfying. He no longer has the beefy arm swipe that he did in Aria, and the soul has you throw one double-sized fireball instead of three regular ones.

093. Tanjelly
They're more oil-sheen coloured than tan, really. Aside from the goofy name, this is up there for most annoying monster ever made. They crawl along the walls and track Soma, and when he's in the same row or column they occupy, they leap out at him. They get slightly fooled by corners, but often there will be too many of them around to try and keep them all on the corners. When they hit you, you get cursed or poisoned, or if you're on hard mode, both at once. And just try and deal with them while you're poisoned, huh. Hope you have a Giant Slug soul, although to even get to such a slug you'd have to brave many Tanjelly, so really you should try to not get hit.

094. Arc Demon
Singular. He lives right next to a save room, which is the only thing keeping him from the number one slot of difficult enemies. He has over 600 hp (can you guess how many over?) and wastes no time making several projectiles to menace you. Also there are columns of flame nearby to hold you back and make him all the more kill- tastic. His enchant ability gives you resistance to dark attacks, which is less useful than it sounds. Better to equip Dead Crusader if you're going for that angle. Still, there's bound to be some specific, powerful enemy who uses dark magic on you almost exclusively and whose every stat is associated with Satan. Oh yeah, him.

095. Gaibon
Half of Gaibon and Slogra. He's the one who flies and spits fire. He used to be a boss called Wyvern and later became Gaibon. He's experienced a gradual disempowering over the years, as he becomes less and less boss-like as he goes. He didn't appear at all in Aria, so Soma wouldn't know the difference, but from where I stand I'm a little ashamed to see him fall. At least, that is, until there's more than one of him in the room spitting fire at me. Then they get pretty hard to deal with and will roast you to a crisp in seconds. Quantity over quality. He acts as one of the familiars, which I always kindof wanted.

096. Slogra
Half of Gaibon and Slogra. Clearly the more comedic of the two. A single attack will disarm him of the spear that he's reluctant to use in the first place, allowing you two or three more hits before he's ready to attack you with his claws. Seriously, what happened to the days when this guy was a boss who stood in your way on your climb to go get Grimmy? Well at least that part of it holds. His power lets Soma chuck spears, which, shall we say, is anticlimactic for you by the time you're fighting enemies like him. Still, you could form a spear-tree of powers with this and Armor Knight, and maybe equip the Longinus or something and then Dead Warrior. Spears!

097. Stolas
He's quite a bit more fearsome than in Aria. He's tougher, has multiple attacks, summons more powerful dudes, and faster than before. But he's so much more cute! I want a plushy one to hang from my windowsill or snuggle with at night. Anyway he brings Erinys along with him again and again, and he doesn't run out of them. Every now and again he mixes it up by summoning Devil as well. You'll know the difference because the symbol in the sky will be black instead of white. A great way to farm for exp, I guess. Also a pain when trying to harvest his soul, which annoyingly enough, is one of the kind that stacks to nine. His trades off str for int.

098. Final Guard
Don't you want to wield that sword? Yeah you do. He's quite a whopping and has tough defenses and hp. Sometimes he simply stands back and becomes invulnerable from the front. Getting behind him is possible, but not really worthwhile in my experience. Anything that makes him easier to harvest is welcome, though. You only need one of his souls to get the most out of it. The ability to become invulnerable and rooted yourself. Hoo haa.

099. Malacoda
The last of the italian flying stabby guys. This one has a tail. The tail is his soul power. Boring.

100. Alastor
Go after the sword, not the phantom warrior who wields it. They'll back off and threaten a strike before taking it, but take visible recoil from everything you dish out. Altogether not as tough as in previous versions. Dawn also lacks the lesser version of this enemy type, commonly Nemesis. I wonder what happened to her. Anyway Alistor's power is once again one of the familiars, lacking the great voice effects of Alucard's disembodied sword but possessing plenty of potency.

101. Iron Golem
Certainly tougher than in Aria. They've taken away the ability to hamstring him with the Killer Mantle hp mp swap power, so this time you really have to tuck in. I wouldn't seriously recommend harvesting his soul until you have the Valmanway or something else with multiple hits. Is a great fun power to use, although a bit clunky.

102. Flying Armor
A boss. He wasn't a boss before, but simply a soul in a jar. He doesn't have anything special as a boss, but he's the first one. Give him a break. His soul is a utility for getting through a lot of the entry level areas. Same as it ever was.

103. Balore
He's looking the worse for wear since last time, but will still punch the crap out of you or fry you with his laser vision. You can no longer hamstring him with the Medusa Head power like you used to be able to, but he's also a much sooner boss in the rotation, so less powerful. This is about the point where I mention that the bosses are in general harder than before, and the bulk of the difficulty of the game. Just...don't get caught in that eye laser. Really.

104. Malphas
He used to be a regular, if pretty tough, enemy in SotN, and now he's evolved his attacks to be much wider and more difficult and become a boss in his own right.

105. Dmitrii
One of the plotty human guys. Dull twat to talk to, satisfying to beat the crap out of, and not challenging at all if you get his gimmick. Also, who spells his name that way? Honestly.

106. Dario
One of the plumbing Dario brothers, along with Cuigi. In actual fact, he was born for burning, and is less of a twat to talk to than Dmitrii but more of a jackass, so do what you will. He's power crazed and laughs a lot. Do shut him up. Oh, and he's one of the reasons I love the Dead Pirate soul so well.

107. Puppet Master
He's pulling your strings. If you don't get what he's doing pretty quick, he'll kill you. If you do get it and aren't quick about how to stop him, he'll kill you. All while he's killing you he'll disjoinedly float about like the spider boss from Metroid Fusion and mumble taunts in japanese sounding for all the world like Muzzy from hell. I'm beginning to miss this boss fight already.

108. Rahab
Maybe one of my problems is that I always fought this guy after taking out the next two bosses. It just felt more natural for me to do so. I think the thing that's supposed to dissuade you from doing so is the spike in enemy difficulty, but since they're all pretty stupid or wussy to begin with, I never noticed. Rahab himself is nothing special. His attacks tend to not be aimed at you at all. Now you can explore the water, hurrah!

109. Gergoth
Not sure where they thought up this motherfucker exactly. He's a giant zombie dinosaur chicken with holes for eyes and skin that gapes open at the ribs and slides off of his disgusting head to show more loose flesh and glowing eyes. Cool look all in all. He can jump at you, fire a laser, simply walk up and jam you with his ribs, and release clouds of stone or poison gas. Oh, and peck at you. And the places you have to be to dodge are different for each. Oh, and sometimes he just plain gets you with the gas attack. I don't think it was supposed to multi-hit the way it does, but one hit of the gas usually leads to seven or eight, and you simply can't avoid it sometimes, so he just kills you. As annoying as that is, the fight is still pretty fun, which says a lot for the enemy and boss designers. You get to use his laser after you kill him, which is great fun.

110. Zephyr
Also known as a pleasent breeze. I haven't figured out a good trick to beating this guy, but you can teach yourself his behavior and ways to spot-counter it. Hard single strokes work pretty well. He's generally stupid looking and throws knives that pile up on the floor as you tangle. I wonder how many of those I could end up with...or if he runs out? A beastly fight by any measure.

111. Bat Company
Anyone surprised to see this hasn't really played a Castlevania game. His attacks hit pretty hard but are easy to figure out. Just keep putting on the hurt and your reward is the ability to fly.

112. Paranoia
Yes there's a boss like this. You have to explore a little to find him, which is second nature to a dungeon-crawler, and the puzzle you solve to get to him is very easy by Castlevania hidden boss standards, so I hardly consider him hidden at all. He is a callback to two other things from Aria. Okay three. One, the mirror-enemy from Aria of Sorrow who took the place of Soma's reflection. Two, a boss who simply cannot deal with you if you use the Medusa Head soul. And three, a boss who will kick your ass. If you get this guy on your first try then you're either way more leveled than I am or way more skilled and I salute you.

113. Aguni
A horrid japanophonization of Agni. Yes inserting a single letter is horrid sometimes. He was born for burning, and won't hesitate to swat you in a nasty way, burn you with four or five kinds of fire, or race about like he's got an itch and ignore you for a moment. You get a flame wave attack from him. A harder fight for the impatient than otherwise. This is the level of aggression I expect from regular enemies.

114. Death
Again, shock, there's a death fight. There's always a Death fight. This time, he's a great and fun fight without a doubt. Hoo boy.

115. Abaddon
He has a trick and you're going to hate it. Honestly I ended up getting more annoyed at his fat ass simply bumping in to me.

116. ???
Final boss discussion is best left for a different article. I stretched a point to discuss the enemy comparisons with the bosses of the game, and I draw the line here. There is a final boss. You'll probably hate him.

Hope you enjoy the baddies as much as I do, even if they're flaccid, pathetic versions of their previous selves.

Back to Mad Science