Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (a play on "HD") is a multi-player Xbox Live Arcade game featuring characters, sprites, and locations from several different Castlevania titles. The story, such as it is, involves a cursed book called the Grimoire, in which the story of the evil citadel Castlevania is recorded. However the castle comes to life within the pages of the book, taking various forms from previous incarnations, and the heroes of the past, also recorded in the book and coming to life within its pages, must once again fight to put an end to the curse. This story allows characters from eras ranging from 1797 to 2036 to come together in the same castle to fight evil. There is up to six-player online co-operative play, and while it is beneficial to stick together, as characters can perform powerful combo attacks together, players have the ability to wander the castle freely, regardless of the location of the other players. There is no local co-op. Koji Igarashi has stated that the game may come to the Playstation Network in the future. Downloadable content includes new characters and stages.

Chapters

 * Ch1. Caught in the Cradle of Decay - Boss is Gergoth, music is "Ruined Castle Corridor" from Aria of Sorrow. Hidden item is the Bell.
 * Ch2. Lord of Unseen Strings - Boss is Puppet Master, music is "After Confession" from Dawn of Sorrow. Hidden item is the Crown.
 * Ch3. The End of Chaos - Boss is Menace, music is "Phantom of Fear", an original composition. Hidden item is the Moai.
 * Ch4. Esquisse of Violence - Boss is Brauner, music is "Gaze Up at the Darkness" from Portrait of Ruin. Hidden item is Goemon.
 * Ch5. Song of the Unslakable Blade - Boss is Death, music is "Ebony Wings" from Order of Ecclesia. Hidden item is Vic Viper.
 * Ch6. Come Sweet Hour of Death - Boss is Dracula, music is "The Colossus" from Order of Ecclesia. Hidden item is Konami Man.

DLC Chapters

 * Ch7. Beauty, Desire, Situation Dire - Boss is Astarte, music is "Hail from the Past" from Portrait of Ruin. Hidden item is Vick13. Released on September 29th, 2010. Costs 400 MSP.


 * Ch8. The One Who Is Many - Boss is Legion, music is "The Lost Portrait" from Symphony of the Night, hidden item is Lucky Cat. Released on January 12th, 2011. Costs 320 MSP.


 * Ch9. Lord of Flies - Boss is Beelzebub, music is "Castle Dracula" from Symphony of the Night, hidden item is Twin Bee. Released on January 19th, 2011. Costs 320 MSP.


 * Ch10. Origins - Boss is R. The Count, music is "Vampire Killer" from Castlevania, hidden item is unknown. Released on January 26th, 2011. Costs 240 MSP.


 * Ch11. The Legend of Fuma - Boss is Ryu Kokki (literally "Dragon Bone Demon"), music is "Go! Getsu Fuma" from one of Konami's older games known as Getsu Fūma Den (Legend of Getsu Fuma, literally "Legend of the Lunar Wind Demon"), hidden item is unknown. Released on February 2nd, 2011. Costs 240 MSP.

Downloadable Characters
4 characters are now available on the Marketplace for 240 Microsoft Points each.

Future Characters
''There is evidence from in-game sound files that Konami may be planning on offering Hammer as a playable character in the future. This has not been confirmed by Konami, however.'' Full Artwork in Characters official Pages.

Sound test
For more information about music, please see Castlevania: Harmony of Despair Original Soundtrack.

Main Game Music
The game contains arrangements from various games of the series and a few new original tracks. Below is a list of the songs found in the game sound test. Other songs can be found in the game, but aren't added in the sound test.
 * 1) Ruined Castle Corridor (Aria of Sorrow)
 * 2) After Confession (Dawn of Sorrow)
 * 3) Phantom of Fear (original track)
 * 4) Into the Dark Night (Dawn of Sorrow)
 * 5) Piercing Battle Fury (Dawn of Sorrow)
 * 6) Tanz mit einem Clown (Dance with the Clown) (original track)
 * 7) Hail from the Past (Portrait of Ruin)
 * 8) Gaze Up at the Darkness (Portrait of Ruin)
 * 9) Piercing Silence (Portrait of Ruin)
 * 10) Esquisse of Violence (Portrait of Ruin)
 * 11) Crimson Blood (original track)
 * 12) Ebony Wings (Order of Ecclesia)
 * 13) The Colossus (Order of Ecclesia)
 * 14) Symphony of Battle (Order of Ecclesia)
 * 15) Order of the Demon (Order of Ecclesia)
 * 16) Dance of Illusions (Dracula X: Rondo of Blood)
 * 17) Ein Weltherrscher (One World Ruler) (original track)

Released 10/13/10

 * 1) Pitiful Scion (Symphony of The Night)
 * 2) Invitation Of A Crazed Moon (Portrait of Ruin)
 * 3) Hidden Curse (Portrait of Ruin)
 * 4) An Empty Tome (Order of Ecclesia)
 * 5) Pitch-Black Intrusion (Dawn of Sorrow)

Released 11/10/10

 * 1) Heart of Fire (Aria of Sorrow)
 * 2) Aquarius (Dracula's Curse)
 * 3) Slash (Rondo of Blood)
 * 4) Divine Bloodlines (Rondo of Blood)
 * 5) Simon's Theme (Super Castlevania IV)

Released 1/12/11 (with Chapter 8)

 * 1) The Lost Portrait (The Lost Painting) (Symphony of the Night)
 * 2) Poetic Death (Death's Ballad) (Symphony of the Night)

Released 1/19/11 (with Chapter 9)

 * 1) Dracula's Castle (Castle Dracula) (Symphony of the Night)
 * 2) The Horde's Festival (Our Festival) (Symphony of the Night)

December 2010 Patch
In December of 2010, the game was given a patch which rebalanced the games. Some of the changes include: 1. Death is stuck against a wall and won't die. 2. After fighting Dracula, first stage does not appear again. 3. After fighting Dracula, secound stage he become a big statue.
 * The MP consumption rates of Jonathan, Julius, Richter, Maria, and Yoko's sub-weapons/spells was reduced
 * The strength of many of Alucard's and Soma's strongest weapons of a class was increased (Alucard Sword, Heaven's Sword Daybreak, Moon Rod, Mjollnjr, Holbein Dagger, Muramasa, Nebula)
 * All of Soma's spears increased in attack strength.
 * The speed of Yasutsuna was reduced for Alucard
 * The attack power of Yoko's Blue Splash went down, while Holy Flame and Holy Lightning went up and now deal Holy damage
 * Charlotte's Heal spell was modified to give less health and consume more MP.
 * The Miser Ring was made available in Chapter 7.
 * Robe Decollete gains a STR, INT, and MP Regeneration boost.
 * Skeletons can now duck and slide dash.
 * Can obtain gold chest even after death (Multiplayer).
 * Sprites have been added to the game's files for future DLC, namely 8-bit weapons for Simon, new glyphs for Shanoa, new subweapons for Jonathan, and the Jewel Sword and Shield Rod for Alucard and possibly Soma.
 * 3 Glitches appeared with the patch.
 * Data for additional chapters added, along with new items.

Videos
Official E3 Trailer RTVCSktkXY8

Related Pages

 * Harmony of Despair Bestiary
 * Harmony of Despair Inventory
 * Achievements/Trophies
 * Harmony of Despair Gamerpics (Category)
 * Harmony of Despair Locations (Category)
 * Castlevania: Harmony of Despair Original Soundtrack