History Videogame / CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance

** There is an enemy that looks like a skeletal version of Simon Belmont. Its name is Shimon Wraith in the Western release, but "Shimon" (with the kanji for "death gate") in the Japanese.

* {{Chiptune}}: Due to difficulties with dealing with the GBA's hardware limitations, the game's soundtrack consists of simpler tracks with a sound more reminiscent of earlier game consoles.

* StandardStatusEffects:

''Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance'' is the second ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' game for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, released in 2002, and the first one on the system to be directed by Koji "IGA" Igarashi.

* AnachronismStew: You can find an "Old Radio" as a decoration for your room, despite the fact that the game takes place in 1748.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The "widget" assistant included in the ''Castlevania Advance Collection'' port displays how many items are in each section of either castle, with blue items being relics and red items being optional collectibles. Since ''Harmony of Dissonance'' eventually becomes a scavenger hunt for the many Dracula relics and pieces of furniture, this makes it easier to narrow down where everything is.

* AnimatedArmor: Several of the bosses and GiantMook enemies, the biggest one being Talos, the enemy that chases the player character over the drawbridge at the start of the game and returns as a late-game bos.

** It's possible to get the Ring Of Vlad early using the Ice-Fist Fusion. [[DevelopersForesight The developers even planned for it]] by rewriting a later conversation, but that's actually rather minor. (The developers were likely ''expecting'' players to backtrack here after obtaining the DoubleJump, which also allows the player to score the relic.)

* BraggingRightsReward: Collecting all the furniture, and the "Good!", "Cool!", and "Excellent!" ratings you can get for jumping and whipping at the right moment after the post-boss fight orb appears. The orb ratings get you nothing at all, and the furniture quest gets you a very slight change to one of the endings.

''Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance'' is the second ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' game for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, released in 2002, and the first one on the system to be directly by Koji "IGA" Igarashi.

* AndYourRewardIsInteriorDecorating: Much of the optional collectibles in the game are pieces of furniture, which Juste can place inside a vacant room of the Castle Treasury (the room is the same in both castles). Finding and placing every piece of furniture slightly modifies the best ending of the game.

* NewWorldTease:
** Some areas offer a sneak-peek on them before sending you backtracking for items that let you properly inside.
** Also a plot point. [[spoiler:After passing through the warp in the Room Of Illusion area, Juste notes things seem different compared to before. Turns out, from there to when he went to the Sky Walkway, he'd been in Castle B. When Juste runs into Death again in the Clock Tower and uses the warp there, he figures it out. If the player hasn't, they can look at the map and notice the Treasury they'd explored earlier was in Castle B.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: It's arguably a case of this trope happening prior to the game proper, but it bears mentioning: [[spoiler:Maxim, you mean well, buddy, but maybe you should've left collecting the Relics of Vlad out of your whole training expedition plan.]]
** In the game proper: [[spoiler:Juste, why the hell are you just standing there with a hand on your hip while Death literally kidnaps Lydie?!]]

* NothingButSkulls: Parts of the Cave of Skeletons. Then again, other parts of it are based around various other kinds of bone, so one could argue this case is actually justified, albeit by [[VoodooShark something that is also weird]]: whoever built the place started with a huge mixed assortment of bones and sorted them.

* PaletteSwap: Gold Medusa Heads, liquid skeletons, just to name a few.
* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: There's a room full of skeletons in tanks in Castle A's Skeleton Cavern. These enemies are called Skeleton Glass, and once they burst out of the tank, they're not much more dangerous than [[TheGoomba regular skeletons]], and [[OneHitKill go down as fast]]. But their experience drop, while not the best, is pretty high up there.
* PimpedOutDress: Lydie's, with all the frills it has.

* PlayerTic: Forward dashing, backwards dashing, sliding... pick you poison.
* PowerOfFriendship: If you remember to wear Juste's and Maxim's bracelets when going to the final battle, you can clear Maxim's mind of the darkness — which turns out to be Dracula himself! It also saves Maxim from his needless death after his defeat.
* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: In addition of the series mainstay Axe Armors, there's bigger AnimatedArmor called Boomerang Armor which guards a secret path.

* RandomDrop: There is a whole bunch of items that the monsters may drop, naturally leading to...
* RapidFireFisticuffs: The Sacred Fist sub-weapon can do this.
* RareRandomDrop: There is even an item which is exclusively a rare drop from a monster that's [[MetalSlime rare itself]]. Fortunately, the other drop which is exclusive to it can be found in the castle.
* RealMenWearPink: Or rather, Real Belmonts Decorate Rooms.
* RedIsHeroic: Juste wears a red coat.
* RegeneratingMana: Mana replenishes itself over time, and there are some equipmrnt that hastens the process.

* RomHack: Multiple ROM hacks exist to alleviate some of people's complaints, the two most notable being a "Music Overhaul" hack that replaces the music with other tracks from the franchise, and ''Definitive Edition'', which makes the graphics less garish on backlit displays.
* RunDontWalk: You will likely spend more time dashing than walking. Unfortunately, because of the control scheme, this means that you will spend long stretches mashing one of the buttons, as opposed to holding it down. You can also slide, which is about equal and mash a instead. Fortunately, if playing on a Game Boy Player accessory for the Nintendo [=GameCube=], you can set the controls so that the more accessible, comfortable, and durable X and Y buttons do the dashing.

* SaveThePrincess: Kinda played with. Lydie's rescue is ostensibly Juste's main goal, but he soon seems to be more interested in saving Maxim from the darkness within him.

** Maxim yells "JUSTEEE!" when beaten.

** The ratings you get from the boss-orb-things seem to be reminiscent of ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution''.

** Just take a look at Dracula Wraith... Does it not remind you of one of the bosses in [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Salamander]]?

* SpeedRun: Taken to absurd heights with Maxim mode, which has provided the shortest ''Castlevania'' speedruns to date.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: If you've played ''Symphony of the Night'', chances are you'll find Juste's movements eerily familiar. Right down to copying the way Alucard runs instead of doing the traditional [[FanNickname Belmont Pimp Walk]].
** Except when he is [[StandardStatusEffects cursed]]. In that status, he does the Pimp Walk.

* TrickBoss: Peeping Big. At the start, you fight a lone peeping eye with much ease. Then suddenly a giant one appears!

* WarmUpBoss: The Giant Bat. Which also happens to be a SkippableBoss.
%% How does skipping the Giant Bat lock you out of getting either Maxim's Bracelet or any piece of furniture?
* WarpWhistle: There are two types of warp rooms: rooms that transported you to a set location, and others that were linked together.

''Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance'' is the second ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' game for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, released in 2002.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: The level maxes out at 99, though that's far more than required. [[SarcasmMode Also, have fun]] grinding on bats after level 53, considering you get 1 EXP from everything respawnable after reaching it (and that still applies to bosses after Lv. 59).

* AndYourRewardIsInteriorDecorating: Using furniture as a gameplay reward.
* AnimatedArmor: Several of the bosses and GiantMook enemies, biggest one being Talos, the enemy which chase the player character over the drawbridge at the start of the game.
* ArrangeMode: Beating the game unlocks the Maxim Mode, where you play as the speedy Maxim, who can triple jump, dodge faster, and even somersault. [[FragileSpeedster He's more frail compared to Juste to compensate]].
* {{Backtracking}}: A frequent complaint about the game. Both castles are ''extremely'' similar, and you'll have to backtrack a lot through both of them for OneHundredPercentCompletion.

* BossInMookClothing: The Victory Armors act as this in the early game, often guarding items - if you can beat them, you'll be able to get certain decent items early. Not in the sequence breaking sense, but good armour and the like.
* BossRush: The first game in the series to have this. Also includes an ''extra'' bonus character.

* TheCameo: If you input the KonamiCode when the Konami logo appears on the title screen, you can play as Simon Belmont in BossRush mode. ''8-bit'' Simon, complete with limits on which subweapons he can use, the trademark Belmont pimpwalk, and unforgiving JumpPhysics. And he can ''still'' kill every monster the game throws at him, mostly because he can take the most damage, deals the most per hit, has the highest max heart total AND requires less hearts to use his subweapons than the other 2 characters, which allows him to spam his crosses (and Holy Waters, which are more accurate and damaging than Juste's) with impunity. And when he dies, the death jingle from the original ''Castlevania'' plays and he slumps over instead of exploding into a RainOfBlood.
* CartoonBomb: Thrown around by the Bomber Armor.
* ChekhovsGun: You start the game with Juste's Bracelet, and receive Maxim's Bracelet about halfway through the game. [[spoiler:If you don't wear them both during the [[FinalBoss final boss battle]], you won't get to fight his [[TrueFinalBoss second form]] and you will just receive a [[MultipleEndings bad ending]].]]
* {{Chiptune}}: A main complaint about the soundtrack.
* ContinuityNod: ''Harmony of Dissonance'' repeats ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest Simon's Quest]]'' in having to gather Dracula's remains to finally confront and beat him again.

* DegradedBoss: In true ''Castlevania'' fashion, ''Harmony'' reuses a boss as a regular enemy late in the game. In this case, it's the Devil boss.
* DemBones: The Cave of Skeletons is an entire area of the castle themed around this. It's easily the most original and interesting environment in the game. The game in general has an incredible number and variety of skeleton enemies.

** The BaitAndSwitchBoss. You are not supposed to hit that Living Armor, since it's a cutscene, thus you can't do anything. But if you get Cross subweapon and Wind spellbook... You can hit it, revealing that its name is Revenge Armor, though it doesn't go to the bestiary.
** At one point, you get slightly different dialogue with Maxim depending on whether or not you'd found one of Dracula's relics. Most of the relics are inaccessible at that point, and the one that can be found is not easy to reach[[spoiler:, unless you're smart enough to know the Ice+Fist Fusion propels Juste forward]]. Even without that method, it is possible to backtrack as soon as you get the DoubleJump ability and score the relic that way (all before meeting Maxim in the relevant cutscene), but many players won't think to do that.
** You can still access the Castle B entrance sooner than you're supposed to with use of the double jump and Sacred Fist/Ice book combo, but you need to at least meet Death in the Clock Tower before you can use the Gate.
* DoppelgangerAttack: Maxim's ultimate move, where he fires ''a lot'' of shadow clones on you. Subverted in that they each take only one hit before going down, and it's really easy to take down a lot at once.

* DropTheHammer: The imaginatively named Hammer-Hammer AnimatedArmor uses one. Whenever it strikes the ground, it summons three fleamen to pester you.
* DualWorldGameplay: You go between the two castles to solve puzzles and whatnot.
* DungeonShop: A wandering merchant got lost in the castle, and so he set up shop there. No idea who the rest of his customer base is, though.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: It's the first portable ''CV'' game to have a SuspendSave feature, but it does it differently from later games; instead of being a true suspend save, it just saves everything except for your current location, so when you reload your file, you'll respawn at the last save point you touched but with all other progress kept. Furthermore, suspend-saving doesn't exit the game; you can continue to play, effectively making it a form of insurance. Later games would implement suspend saves in a more conventional manner.

* ElementalCrafting: The Platinum Tip whip attachment damages enemies more than the Steel Tip does. Granted, it's [[WildMassGuessing possible (although probably not intended)]] that this is because [[FridgeBrilliance platinum is, in fact, much denser than steel and, in an inertia-based weapon like a whip, would presumably hit harder,]] disregarding for the moment how hideously expensive platinum is. A marginally more realistic (albeit even more anachronistic) equivalent would be a Depleted Uranium Tip.
* EnemyWithout: The eventual explanation for [[spoiler:why Maxim's been acting so strange]].
* {{Expy}}: Juste is [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Alucard]] [-[[RecycledINSPACE AS A BELMONT!]]-][[note]]They even look similar![[/note]]
* FashionDissonance: Nice high-tops there on your sprite, Juste. At least you got swashbuckly thigh boots in the promotional art.
* FightingYourFriend: This game pits Juste versus Maxim.
* FireIceLightning:
** And [[BlowYouAway Wind]] too!
** Finally, the [[SummonMagic Summon]] tome! [[note]](If you can find it...)[[/note]]

** The Pazuzu boss also summons Tiny Devils (Imps in any other game of the series) and watches them trying and failing to best you while it stands with its arms crossed.
* FragileSpeedster: Juste himself is already pretty damn fast, but Maxim is even faster, but has much less defense, and speed-based attacks.

** Big Skeletons, who take a swing at you with its equally [[BadWithTheBone big bone]].
** There are spectral floating skulls called ghosts, who are sometimes accompanied by their much bigger friend Large Ghost.

* GoldenEnding Collecting and placing all the furniture [[spoiler:slightly changes the best ending by making Lydie snuggle up to Juste, apparently attracted to his sense of Feng shui]].

* GuideDangIt: The location of the fifth spellbook. It's above the savepoint before Legion (Corpse), meaning you access it via an opening in the ceiling in the middle of the save room. (It ''is'' technically possible to notice this on your map; it's just a tiny detail.)
* HeavilyArmoredMook: The Armoured Fleamen, who have no repercussions on their agaility despite the extra weight they are carrying.

** The aura around Juste, the save rooms, the enemies, some of the doors and warp rooms, the dual castles, even the center cube thing was lifted directly from ''Symphony''.

* KingMook: Quite a few of the bosses qualify, even more so than is normal for this series, with the Giant Merman and Peeping Big being candidates, but the worst being Max Slimer, which is just a big slime.

* LivingShadow: A ClimaxBoss where you discover there is something very wrong with Maxim. It takes on the forms of several things, among others a giant moth, a black panther, and a sabre.
* LizardFolk: Lizard men, who attack you with spears, and later variants have [[BreathWeapon poison breath]] and shields at ther disposal.
* ALoadOfBull: One boss room in both Castle A and B have an undead minotaur boss waiting for you there. The one in Castle A wields [[AnAxeToGrind an axe]], and the one in Castle B has [[EpicFlail a ball and chain]].
* LudicrousGibs: There's one particular instance where you're just exploring some caves, you flick a switch... [[spoiler:a scream is heard, blood starts pouring down like a waterfall, all this blood makes a platform rise, and you must ride it to the top. Once there, you get a glimpse at the source of all that blood. One wonders what that guy did to deserve such a fate...]]

** Interestingly, it means "just" in both senses of the word, including "only". So his name could also be interpreted as "just Belmont", i.e. only another Belmont.
* {{Metroidvania}}: To the point where some designs and plot twists were ripped off from ''Symphony of the Night''. What keeps it out of "RecycledInSpace" territory (except where Juste is concerned) or worse, from being a cut-and-paste of ''Symphony'' is that there is enough new content to make this game stand out.
* MightyGlacier: [[spoiler:Simon Belmont still hits like he used to in the Boss Rush. Justified since he also still moves like he used to. The only new move he gets is the double jump. The drop kick and the slide will wait for the next Harmony game, ''Harmony Of Despair''.]]

** Castle B, the GoldenEnding: [[spoiler:Juste confronts Evil Maxim wearing the real Maxim's Bracelet, and his own (Remember that accessory from the very beginning of the game? You need to put it back on before you land the final blow.) to rally the real Maxim into fighting from the inside. The Relics react to Evil Maxim's desires and Evil Maxim flees into them, creating the Dracula Wraith, the true final boss. Maxim and Lydie both survive, and if all the furniture pieces are found and placed (many players found out the "placed" part the hard way) before the end, Lydie will cuddle up with Juste, apparently attracted to his sense of feng shui.]]

** Castle B, the MyGreatestFailure [[DownerEnding ending]]: [[spoiler:Juste confronts Evil Maxim with any equipment he would have replaced with his and Maxim's bracelets in the Golden Ending, and thus, after losing, Evil Maxim is still in control, laments his failure even armed with Dracula's power, and laughs at Juste's fate to hunt vampires alone for the rest of his life. Maxim dies, and since Lydie wasn't freed, she goes to Hell with him. Juste curses that he couldn't save anyone and wonders what he's going to do now.]]

** In the original Japanese version, there was a subtle reference to the much-maligned ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheAdventure'' for UsefulNotes/GameBoy, by naming the Bullet Tip "Christopher's Soul", after its protagonist Christopher Belmont.
** "Cipher's Charm" is a messed up translation of "Sypha's Charm", and thus a reference to ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse''.

* GuideDangIt:
** The location of the fifth spellbook. It's above the savepoint before Legion (Corpse), meaning you access it via an opening in the ceiling in the middle of the save room. (It ''is'' technically possible to notice this on your map; it's just a tiny detail.)
** There's nothing to tell you that you need MK's Bracelet to unlock the Castle Top Floor.

* BaitAndSwitchBoss: A Living Armor appears in one boss room wielding a {{BFS}}, only to be smashed by the [[BehindTheBlack just off-screen]] Talos.

* SavePoint: The game has the series' most generous save system to date. You can save everything but your position at any time; if you die, you'll load from the last saveroom you used, but without losing any equipment or EXP you'd gained. This eliminates the familiar problem of desperately trying to make it back to a saveroom, low on HP and carrying some precious rare item drop.

Replacing the DDS card system of ''Circle of the Moon'' is a brand new magic system. The various sub-weapons can be combined with spell books at the cost of MP, with each combination providing a different effect. Many DDS cards were RandomDrops while the spell books need to be found throughout the castles, removing much the RNG inherent to the old system.

Replacing the DDS card system of ''Circle of the Moon'' is a bad new magic system. The various sub-weapons can be combined with spell books at the cost of MP, with each combination providing a different effect. Many DDS cards were RandomDrops while the spell books need to be found throughout the castles, removing much the RNG inherent to the old system.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: The level maxes out at 99, though that's far more than required. [[SarcasmMode Also, have fun]] grinding on bats after level 53, considering you get 1 EXP from everything respawnable after reaching it (and that still applies to bosses after Lv. 59)
* AfterBossRecovery: The traditional health-filling orbs are once agin included, and the developers must have noticed how players would try and catch them in every pose possible in the previous games, because if you catch an orb by jumping and attacking, or dive-kicking into it, a little message like "Good!" or "Great!" will appear.

* StockWeaponNames: The Sword of Light, aka Claiomh Solais, which was the sword of a leader of the legendary [[Myth/CelticMythology Tuatha Dé Danann]].

Like ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon'' before it, ''Harmony of Dissonance'' is a 2D {{Metroidvania}} in the vein of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. However, ''Harmony of Dissonance'' also takes more direct inspiration from ''Symphony of the Night'' than its predecessor. Not only is Juste's WhiteHairedPrettyBoy design heavily reminiscent of ''Symphony'' protagonist Alucard, but ''Harmony of Dissonance'' also makes use of a dual castle setup like in ''Symphony''. Though there is a twist -- the two castles are used for DualWorldGameplay, with Juste being able to warp between them and changes to one castle affecting the other.

Like ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon'' before it, ''Harmony of Dissonance'' is a 2D {{Metroidvania}} in the vein of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. However, ''Harmony of Dissonance'' also takes more direct inspiration from ''Symphony of the Night'' than its predecessor. Not only is Juste's WhiteHairedPrettyBoy design heavily reminiscent of ''Symphony'' protagonist Alucard, but ''Harmony of Dissonance'' also makes use of a dual castle setup like in ''Symphony''. Though is a twist to this feature -- the two castles are used for DualWorldGameplay, with Juste being able to warp between them and changes to one castle affecting the other.

''Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance'' is the second ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' game for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, released in 2002. Like the other games in the franchise on the GBA, it is a {{Metroidvania}}.

''Harmony of Dissonance'' takes quite a bit of inspiration from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. Not only is Juste's WhiteHairedPrettyBoy design heavily reminiscent of ''Symphony'' protagonist Alucard, but ''Harmony of Dissonance'' also makes use of a dual castle setup like in ''Symphony''. There is a twist however -- the two castles are used for DualWorldGameplay, with Juste being able to warp between them and changes to one castle affecting the other.

''Harmony of Dissonance'' takes quite a bit of inspiration from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. Not only is Juste's WhiteHairedPrettyBoy design heavily reminiscent of ''Symphony'' protagonist Alucard, but ''Harmony of Dissonance'' also makes use of a dual castle setup like in ''Symphony''. There is a twist however -- the two castles are used for DualWorldGameplay, with Juste being able to warp between them and changes to castle affecting the other.

''Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance'' is the second ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' game for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, released in 2002.

The year is 1748, and ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' has mysteriously re-appeared in the woods of Eastern Europe. Juste Belmont and his friend [[TheRival Maxim Kischine]] set out to investigate, hoping to find a childhood friend, [[DamselInDistress Lydie Erlanger]]. Upon entering the Castle, the two friends are separated and Juste begins the search for Lydie and the answers to the castle's reappearance. The plot thickens when Maxim begins to behave very strangely whenever Juste encounters him.

!! ''Harmony of Dissonance'' provides examples of:

Gameplay is solid, if simple, but can be made almost pathetically easy [[note]]Causes include GameBreaker magic attacks, Juste's high dodging ability, Juste's whip has a very generous hit range (covering above and behind him) that makes attacking/projectile deflection easy, and the ability to carry 99 potions (that restore a greater relative amount of your health than standard)[[/note]], and some feel the plot is well-written despite recycling ideas from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. The graphics, however, are a point major of contention. Many gamers feel that the bright colors and cartooney sprites fit poorly with the series' gothic aesthetic, but said sprites ''are'' well-animated and the visuals are quite impressive. It must also be pointed out that these colors resulted partly from overcompensation for criticism that ''Circle'''s graphics were hard to see (which was actually the fault of the [[BackThatLightUp poor lighting]] of the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance's original model).

The music is also a point of contention. The soundtrack, by Soshiro Hokkai (with an arrangement by Creator/MichiruYamane), has the great depth and range characteristic of the ''Castlevania'' series, and true to the name of the game, is very fond of rich and often aptly disturbing dissonance. However, the instrumentation suffered, likely due to space limitations, as the developers were trying to fit the game on the 64 Mbit cartridge rather than the more expensive 128 Mbit cartridge. The result is that the music uses (and sometimes inelegantly) the Game Boy (Color)'s {{Chiptune}} waveforms. After the well-liked soundtracks of the [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight previous pair]] [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon of games]], this became another serious YMMV point.

* AnInteriorDesignerIsYou: You can find various pieces of furniture around the castle. You can also find a room that Juste decides to decorate, even though it's not his castle.
* AndYourRewardIsInteriorDecorating: Using furniture as a gameplay reward.

* WallMaster: There's a skeleton enemy who hides inside [[MirrorMonster a mirror]], and who'll attack you if passed.

* DummiedOut: Gold Headband, Medusa Pendant, and Mirror Pendant are all unavailable in the doublepack version, due to changes in items dropped by enemies.