Order and recommendations for Castlevanias

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I remember seeing a similar thread a month ago or so, but the CAG search seems to be broken right now (I'm getting php errors). So...

I just got a DS Lite and haven't owned a Gameboy since the original. There's a ton of castlevania games I missed out on, and I'm wondering which are the good/great ones and what order I should play them in.

From my limited knowledge it seems like I should go

Aria of Sorrow
Dawn of Sorrow
Portrait of Ruin

For the record, the only ones I've played and not liked are the N64 ones. Though of all the ones on NES, SNES, PS, and PS2, Lament of Innocence is my least favorite (I did enjoy Curse of Darkness).
 
Circle Of The Moon and Harmony Of Dissonance on GBA are also great. As far as I know Circle Of The Moon was the first Castlevania on the GBA, maybe even one of the release titles. Harmony Of Dissonance came shortly before Aria Of Sorrow. As for the order to play them in I'd say play Circle Of The Moon first for it's the weakest of the GBA Castlevanias (being the weakest in a lin eof awesome games isn't a shame though). I played them in the order they were originally released in and I think that's th ebest way. They really get better with every sequel although the gap between Dawn Of Sorrow and Portrait Of Ruin isn't THAT big.
 
I would go Aria, Portrait and then Dawn, personally. They're all super quality games, but Aria edges out Portrait which edges out Dawn.

Unless you're talking about playing them in the order they released, in which case I would so go with your order.
 
Aria and Dawn are connected so you probably should play Aria first. The Castlevania Double Pack is a good buy. Personally, I enjoyed Circle of the Moon for the music even though the game looks kind of wonky. If I were to list them though:

1. Castlevania Double Pack (for value)
2. Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
3. Castlevania Potrait of Ruin
4. Castlevania Circle of the Moon
 
I liked Dawn of Souls more than Aria of Sorrow, but you should probably play Aria of Sorrow first since it's a direct sequel. I played Dawn first, and didn't know who the characters were or what was going on since there's little to no explanation.

I haven't played Portrait yet, but I will when I find it cheap.

Aria of Sorrow can be found for $7-15 at K-Mart as part of the Castlevania Double Pack.

And don't forget that you might be able to find the very first Castlevania for a few bucks at Sears. That's on GBA as part of the NES Classics collection. Very frustrating game, be warned!
 
Portrait's a bigger game then Dawn and probably a better game. I do like Dawn's soul system more then the item/weapon system in Portrait.
 
Circle of the Moon is actually my favorite out of all the GBA/DS releases, it retains a lot of old-school charm but is still a hard RPG. Aria is a little too easy, and Harmony of Dissonance is fun but is confusing as hell sometimes.

Can't go wrong w/ either DS game, though. Play Aria before playing Dawn.
 
Aria, Dawn, then Aria again.

PoR was a pretty big disappointment to me coming off of the Sorrow games. It had levels that were free from the castle, but as a result, it felt like they were just less creative with the room structure and enemy placement. I felt like I was fighting the same three fights for the whole game.

I think it was just rushed. They should've held it and refinded it till this summer. Oh well.
 
PoR
Aria
Dawn
Harmony
Circle
classic NES

PoR is the least intimidating one to get into but also not as good as the others. Aria and Dawn are fantastic (except for soul grinding) and should be played in order. Circle is harder than Harmony so hold off on that one until near the end. Then once you've beat all of them play the Classic NES series release of Castlevania just as an experience.
 
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