Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance for GBA

[Ack]

I didn't see any problem with it. He mixed in a historical background, personal anecdote, a game review, and some comparisons with what he felt was the highpoint of the series. Sure, label it a retrospective, I still enjoyed it moreso than most of the reviews I've read because it provided me with more information that I'm interested in as opposed to the general "I didn't like the jumping mechanism and the camera bothers me" bit I find in game reviews. If nothing else, at least this provides a background for him giving us his opinion, which is all a review is.

So toadhall, nice "retrospective." Keep up the good work. And don't let a couple of spelling errors get you down, it happens to all of us.

[Mr.White555]

I actually appreciate this type of "retrospect" than the generic reviews of " slap a score of X out of XX and I'm done!" The guy didn't try to impose any artificial objectivity to something that is entirely subjective. He told us what he liked and offered some context for the game.

[toadhall]

I would encourage you to read other gaming websites' reviews to figure out on how you would want the readers/audience to follow. And figure out what style (methodical, humor...) you can bring to the readers.

I personally follow Jeremy Parrish's articles on 1up.com, and the editorials on Destructoid .

I read a lot of gaming sites actually so I'm familiar with how reviews are written. (And get this, I'm actually a published book reviewer, all of them in national newspapers )

My mistake was to call that blog post a review. I admit I should've called it something else, like a "retrospective" or something. I just didn't expect so many people to call me out on that... after all it was just a blog post. Makes me rethink my standards for blog posts now!

Also, I LOVE Parish's work, but I can't write like him. He's really good with puns (or really lousy, depending on your view) and I can't hope to match that! So yeah, have to agree with Noise that I just want to write like myself rather than aping other writers.

Hmm... that reminds me I need to get GSQ7.

And don't let a couple of spelling errors get you down, it happens to all of us.

Thanks, but it always annoys me when I find them!

Regardless, thanks for reading guys, whether you liked or hated it).

[cyborc]

I enjoyed the read. nice blog btw I will continue to follow it.

[noiseredux]

[k.vlaros]

I flippin loved the sound track of Dissonance. Not only does it indeed have some dissonance, it is packed with back beats and triplet feel. I re-listened on Youtube after reading your article and through headphones the bass lines come across as dense and tense. Although I do not believe most people could nor should make meaningful comparisons between GBA and PS1 soundtracks. Thanks for the read and yeah, I liked the blue outline, too.

[skyknight]

I want to get some things clear, and I'll lay low on this afterward.

First off, I do appreciate the effort he put in for this article, especially talking about the production background of the game - from director and creators that worked on it. I do think if he was do a series of retrospect on the handheld series of Castlevania - which dominated the release of the series from the early 2000's until last year with Lords of Shadow on home console - that also included articles on Circle of Moon and Aria of Sorrow, it will be a great article to read, especially coming from a fan of the Castlevania series.

I had no beef with the writer, as the article was well written, which is much better than the words of fanboys/haters' that I usually stumble upon, such as "this game SUCKS, controls SUCKS, music SUCKS... EVERYTHING SUCKS!" The issue that I had, which is minor, is the diverge of focus - for me, the article is more of a retrospect than a review, as I felt the focus was greater on the development of the game than actual gameplay of the game; I do respect others' opinions and I do wish others can do the same as well.

When I suggested to him to read articles by others, I am not degrading him to simply follow what others have wrote and copy their styles. NO, to improve on things such as writing skills and other knowledge pursuits, you must be open to things that you are unfamiliar with and to learn from others, thus expanding your mind and further developing your own style. I am sure all of us don't always agree upon on any given articles, but say if you and I did love the same game - you offer your perspective on it, and I could offer mine with different focus on different areas; together we may have full understanding of why we loved that game.

I will encourage him to write more in the future, as this article is a good start; but I do hope others can give helpful critiques, not empty praises that don't improve his writing. I'm sorry if the previous posts made me look like an a-hole, but I do want to give thanks to toadhall for his work and willingness to listen to others.

[toadhall]

I don't think you came across as an a-hole at all. In any case I do appreciate the feedback and I admit my mistake.

I do like the idea of a series of retrospectives of the handheld castlevanias. I might actually do that (but maybe I'll leave out circle of the moon for now... I played that to death years ago and still didn't get 100%. I really don't want to revisit that game any time soon...)