Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance est un jeu vidéo de plateforme-aventure développé et publié par Konami pour la Game Boy Advance. Faisant partie de la série de jeux vidéo Castlevania de Konami, c'est le deuxième volet de la série sur la Game Boy Advance. Il est sorti au Japon en juin 2002, en Amérique du Nord en septembre 2002, et en Europe en octobre 2002. C'était le premier jeu Castlevania à être appelé "Castlevania" au Japon au lieu de "Akumajō Dracula". Harmony of Dissonance se déroule dans l'univers fictif de la série Castlevania ; le principe de la série tourne autour du conflit éternel entre les chasseurs de vampires du clan Belmont et le vampire immortel Dracula. Situé cinquante ans après que Simon Belmont ait vaincu la malédiction de Dracula, Harmony of Dissonance se concentre sur son petit-fils Juste Belmont et sa quête pour sauver une amie d'enfance kidnappée. Koji Igarashi a produit Harmony of Dissonance avec l'intention de "créer un jeu similaire à Castlevania: Symphony of the Night", le jeu acclamé par la critique sur PlayStation sur lequel il avait travaillé. Harmony of Dissonance a vendu 126 000 unités aux États-Unis et n'est pas devenu un "énorme succès au Japon". Les critiques l'ont salué comme un jeu divertissant avec des graphismes améliorés par rapport à son prédécesseur Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, mais ont critiqué sa bande-son. En janvier 2006, Harmony of Dissonance a été réédité en Amérique du Nord puis en Europe, avec Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, dans le cadre du Castlevania Double Pack.

Juste meets Maxim at a castle where Lydie is being held captive; after a brief talk, he leaves Maxim outside and begins to explore the castle. Within the castle, Juste encounters Death, who confirms that the castle is Dracula's. He then meets up with a dazed Maxim, whose memory is slowly returning to him, and they split up to cover more ground. While trekking through the castle, Juste notices that the castle sometimes has different atmospheres. He continues to encounter Maxim, but is baffled by how his friend seems to change personalities periodically. Regardless, in one of their meetings, Maxim reveals that he went on a journey to find and destroy the remains of Dracula, something Simon Belmont had previously done, but when he collected all six, his memory went blank. Juste encounters Death again, who explains that the castle has been split in two "layers" to accommodate the two spirits living in Maxim's body: his original spirit and an evil one created from Dracula's remains and his suppressed jealousy of Juste. Maxim later confirms this and admits to being Lydie's kidnapper. Juste meets his friend again in the other layer of the castle where he reveals that he lost his memory to protect Lydie. He then gives Juste his bracelet to help him locate her in the castle. However, when Juste finds her, Death kidnaps her to use her blood as a means to unite the two castles by destroying Maxim's spirit. Juste defeats Death, and proceeds to search for Maxim. Along the way, he accumulates Dracula's remains, which are scattered throughout the castle. In the center of the castle, he finds Maxim with an unconscious Lydie. Three endings exist. In the first, Maxim, possessed, has already bitten Lydie. With Maxim's defeat, Juste escapes the collapsing castle alone and curses his inability to save either friend. In the second, Maxim struggles against the possession and urges Juste to kill him. In his final moments, he thanks Juste for killing him and reveals that he had wished to save him from his fate as a Belmont. Outside the castle, Lydie awakens, unharmed, and tells Juste not to blame himself for Maxim's death. The third ending begins the same as the first, except that, during the fight, Maxim notices that Juste wore his bracelet and resists the possession. Dracula flees into a weakened form using the gathered remains and fights Juste, planning to use his blood to return himself to full power. Vanquishing him, Juste escapes the castle together with Maxim and Lydie, whose bite marks disappear by the time she regains consciousness. Outside the castle, the three resolve to return home.

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