Two Floors

Recently while playing through Portrait of Ruin, it occurred to me that the level design was noticeably worse than Aria of Sorrow. Not only were there significantly more rooms feeling like "straight lines", but there was also significantly more repetition in the design, not even counting the four dark portraits towards the end. This got me thinking about what makes Aria of Sorrow's level design so good. I decided that a comparison between two thematically similar levels would help illustrate my case.

Top Floor

In the SOTN inspired Castlevanias, the Top Floor is an area of much importance. It is usually(but not always) a late game area, and often has important plot points occur, either to determine the player's ending or introduce significant twists to the story. As such, it is safe to presume the designers put a ton of effort into it.

I'll start by first looking at what makes Aria's Top Floor work, and then compare it to Portrait of Ruin's equivalent, the Master's Keep. This will hopefully do well to highlight both the differences in approach and style, as well as the general characteristics that (in my opinion) make Aria's level play better.

Aria of Sorrow

Right from the first room, the level imposes a huge sense of scale. The player walks into a completely safe room, with only a few grandfather clocks and armored statues in the back greeting them. The game wastes no time pointing out where to go - up. 

It is worth noting that this room can be entered quite early in the game. It would be easy to forget about it if it was just a "normal room". However the designers were likely aware of this, and they thus make it distinctive, both by making it more grim and imposing than either the Inner Quarters or Castle Corridor (both areas with exits to this room) and by avoiding gameplay obstacles. This allows the player to observe the room at their leisure and carefully note the obstacle they have to overcome - their lack of height - before proceeding on the rest of their adventure.

When the player finally acquires flight, the next room dramatically shifts the tone while retaining the core aspects established. Instead of a cold empty room, Soma is greeted by a hellish inferno. Gone are the grandfather clocks, with metal torches taking their place. There are still many curved arches and armored statues, but both look more menacing under this new light.

This room is also an excellent demonstration of the dangers found in this level. The player will almost immediately be set upon by an erratic gargoyle, however it's not alone. A more predictable flyer, the Erinys, is right to its opposite side. On the floor, a succubus poses as Mina. While no player is going to be fooled for long, this sets up a situation where neither the air nor the floor is safe. This is quite important considering the player needs flight to even get here, as it establishes it as not just a fancy "key", but a legitimate evasive option.

The two paths forward continue to build on this theme. The room on the left has an enormous enemy, the Final Guard, guard some treasure. The right path, in addition to another Final Guard, has a Gargoyle flying around and a slow, huge petrifying creature patrolling the floor above. Both further emphasize the idea of flight as an evasive option, which is good design since it meaningfully expands the player's movement without making the obstacles pointless.

The Left Path

The next few rooms have some interesting challenges. The second room features a similar layout to the first room on the right, only instead of a Gargoyle and a Basilisk, there's a Gargoyle and Erinys. This setup has less durability but is more efficient at keeping pace with a fast player. There's a secret in the ceiling, which further utilizes flight for general movement. 

The third room is entirely horizontal, however it features two fast flying enemies, the Lubicants, pursuing the player. On the floor, a huge summoning enemy, the Stolas, blocks direct passage. Thus, even this room continues the theme set by the first encounter and provides an appropriate escalation of difficulty.

The Right Path

The right path has one major room. It's a climb to the top. This may be the only room with combat, but it's filled with no less than 4 Lubicants. They are all placed at appropriate spots to force the player to dodge or fight them without being overwhelmed. What makes this setup work is that the way up is through narrow holes in the floors, making each floor almost a self contained battle. The Lubicants can fly through the walls and pursue the player adequately well once alerted to their presence, making it so that evading them is not trivial and gets more dangerous as the player heads up.

The Central Room

The central room from the left

The same room from the right

 

Both paths eventually meet up in a central room of sorts high above. This continues the general theme of the level by making both the air and the ground a threat with an Erinys chasing the player and two succubi and a huge Red Minotaur blocking the way forward. What's especially interesting is that the arrangement is clearly intended to be an obstacle only to the left path - from the right path, the player can simply choose to ascend further, or cover the other path in reverse. This is perhaps to make up for the arduous climb from earlier, and it's good to note that the designers recognized the general difference in difficulty while designing both paths.

The Tower

The keep itself is an immediate jump in complexity, distinguishing itself both with its more spartan decoration and with higher enemy density than any room before. The player is constantly harassed by two gargoyles, a succubus on consecutive floors, and a Bael moving downwards. The Bael adds an interesting element to the standard theme of both air and ground being dangerous, as it's significantly faster and more durable than either enemy here, but it can't ascend floors. The player can thus either rush upwards and risk running into it, or wait it and dodge gargoyles to have less problems with the upper floor. 

Upon successfully ascending this room, the player is given a choice of two routes. Ascending further presents a series of sloping inclines, a bunch of rooms to the right, and exits to the courtyard and the throneroom staircase to the left. These rooms are completely devoid of combat, giving the player some time to rest and more freedom to explore. This is important, since this area holds the save point and a route back to the Clock Tower. Missing the save point in particular would put too much strain on the player, and the Clock Tower passage neatly puts the keep in perspective with the rest of the castle(within limits - this is an action platformer set almost entirely indoors, so some dimensional oddities are to be found).

The throne room is, as is appropriate for a Castlevania, camp and creepy. It's particularly interesting that the background features a weeping Mary shedding tears, and Graham himself is made of two disfigured women sobbing blood. Of course, since Graham isn't the true villain of this game, there's a fairly plain gazebo right afterwards, with both one of the best armors of the game and a power that lets you simply dash past most enemies. These goodies, and the existence of this room are both reserved for players who figure out the secret to the true ending, which is appropriate.

The Courtyard

If the player wishes to press on below, they will find themselves in what's perhaps the largest room in the game. The courtyard is the peak of the general theme of this area - a place where neither the air nor the ground is safe, and where flight is useful not just as a key but as an extension of the player's movement. This area has three rough layers, and every one of them has its own threats. Basiliks roam the ground, and as mentioned earlier, they are huge beasts that can petrify at range. Red Minotaurs, also huge monsters, patrol the ramparts. It's worth noting that they get an additional mechanic here, where they can choose to charge the player instead of walking upto them with their axe ready. It's an interesting mixup that keeps the player on their toes, while being telegraphed enough to dodge. Erinyes roam both close enough to the Red Minotaurs, and high up in the sky. 

Should the player make it all the way to the bottom side of the staircase, they will run into two gargoyles guarding one piece of treasure. However, even making it to the top of the previous room is rewarding, since one of the strongest straight swords of the game, Kaladbolg, is stored in the top left.

There is one last thing worth mentioning. If the player chooses to go down the courtyard rather than up,

they get rewarded with a high jump power up behind a secret wall. Personally I'm not a big fan of high jump powerups in platformers - while they are undoubtedly fast and sometimes fun to use, they do devalue the flight powerups, which often require more careful movement and allow for more interesting obstacle design. However it's not so bad here, as this is literally near the end of the game and the player is rewarded for ignoring their instincts and exploring opposite to the expected direction. Exploration generally being rewarding is good design, as it encourages players to go off the path and find surprises without feeling stifled. Such behavior also leads to more memorable and personal moments in level design.

This concludes my look into Aria of Sorrow's Top Floor. The next article will cover Portrait of Ruin's Master's Keep and compare it to this level in relevant areas.