It's been established that Igarashi is intensely fond of the Castlevania series, in particular the NES trilogy. Harmony of Dissonance was his stab at a sequel, or a sort of reimaging of those games; his way of recapturing the grandeur of the original series, after it had been dragged in so many directions. You've got to admit, Castlevania's center had kind of been misplaced, amidst a decade of foster care under a series of random internal development teams.
Circle of the Moon, to pull a recent example, is a Random Castlevania Game, skillfully woven out of the best elements of earlier Castlevanias. It is enjoyable, and technically well-made, but it has no context or real inner coherence. It spits in the face of the established series timeline. Its whole purpose is to be A Castlevania Game, after the template. It is designed with a great talent in what I've come to refer to as aesthetic math.
So. Yes, it is fun to play -- just as Wind Waker and Metroid Fusion and Starfox Adventures are fun to play. Again, technically. That is, however, all that it really is. Now, I'm not bashing fun. To be fair, the game is so innocently, blissfully oblivious -- and so technically well-made -- that it doesn't really matter how incongruous it is unless you're set on cross-referencing it with the rest of the Castlevania series.
That said, this is exactly what I'm doing. I think a series like Castlevania deserves this kind of attention. For a series with such an established history (within both the medium and itself), you'd think that legacy would tend to demand a careful flavour of respect. Kobe never seemed to grasp this idea, resulting in headaches for anyone else set on making a coherent Castlevania game (and for any fans who might be trying to keep track of the series).
Harmony of Dissonance, perhaps in direct response to Kobe's games but certainly in contrast, is Igarashi's rather blatant tribute to the original NES trilogy, and to the series history in general. A great number of the enemies, backgrounds, and subtle references are taken directly from Dracula's Curse; the plot extends from the events in the first two games in the series, as does the atmosphere. Harmony has that same kind of flickery creepiness that you get from grainy black-and-white silent horror films, or from stop-motion animation.
I mean, hell. Igarashi even threw in the original NES sprite of Simon Belmont, with all of its trademark sound effects, control quirks, and musical cues. This ain't random. In comparison to the abject or fanciful kind of retro-sampling that has become common in Castlevania over the years, this all is conscious reference, laced with context and meaning. Igarashi's doing something specific here.
Likewise, the music in Harmony is an intelligent (if largely unappreciated) evolution of the internal style of that core literature. If you will. I'm starting to wonder, now, whether the NES-quality voices were used intentionally.[2]
Take some time to listen to the NES Castlevania soundtracks; to the careful way that their voices interact. Halfway through a phrase, the leads cease being leads; they perform backing doodles while the underlying tracks (particularly the bass) adopt the melodic role. Then the lead jumps or slides back into place, or the two parts play off against each other, conversing, completing each others' thoughts.
This is exactly how Hokkai's score behaves -- only, far from mime them (as most composers have been content to do for the last decade), Hokkai makes an evolutionary leap, effectively bringing the classic stylings to altogether another level of sophistication.[3]
Again: the Harmony of Dissonance soundtrack is written with a mind to the compositional concepts behind the original three Castlevania scores; the particular manner in which the given voices rely on each other to build a coherent and effective melodical foundation.
The Aria of Sorrow soundtrack, meanwhile, is just... written to sound like Castlevania music. If you follow. Frankly, I want to say that I'd almost expect it a better fit in Circle of the Moon. Conversely, slide the (excellent) Circle of the Moon soundtrack into Aria of Sorrow as a substitution, and maybe you're onto something. But. Well, no. The Circle score is too happy-go-lucky; it doesn't really fit anything other than the boppy atmosphere that it was created to support. It was written too well.
My point is made, though (I hope): the Aria music, save a few specific pieces, is unfortunately bland.
Now, let's backtrack a bit.
[Next: BACKW4RD!!1!]
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