A good game for fans who dig cooperative gameplay, but that's about as far as its appeal goes.
The dreaded vampire fortress has emerged in the strangest of places---the pages of an ancient, nameless Grimoire. Within the dust-ridden confines of its hallowed parchment, five heroes of the franchise mythos band together from their respective time periods (which has been done before if you can recall Castlevania Judgment) to traverse its six deadly "chapters" and bury the "Creature of Chaos" once and for all. Amongst the playable lot: Soma Cruz (Aria/Dawn of Sorrow), Charlotte Aulin (Portrait of Ruin), Jonathan Morris (Portrait of Ruin), Shanoa (Order of Ecclesia) and Alucard (Symphony of the Night). Each character handles almost exactly as you'd ordinarily expect them to---albeit downsized to their bare minimum for the purposes of this game (Shanoa can still absorb Glyphs, and Charlotte can absorb enemy spells with her Tome, however.) The goal of each of these so-called Chapters is to traverse the rooms and hallways of nightmarish locales inspired by Castlevanias past, reach the predetermined location of the boss monster, and destroy it before the 30 minute in-game clock runs out.
You can play Harmony of Despair alone, but the game makes it clear where its intentions lie: multiplayer. Each of the game's six levels, or Chapters, are huge in scope; not nearly as big as Castlevanias of the past, but fairly immersive enough for six players to roam around in. Many peculiar elements and puzzles found in the corridors and rooms therein are cleverly architecturalized in a manner that requires two or more players to solve properly. For example, one player might open a switch that would open a door for another player in a different area of the map, or act as a human counterweight for a scale that would help a fellow vampire hunter reach an elevated platform. When you take these things into consideration, you may feel the inclusion of a single player mode to be rather pointless and, unfortunately for some, that's pretty much the idea. Solo play means never being able to reach certain rooms or grab certain treasure chests without the aid of another player. Even more disheartening, there is no option for local play, limiting the cooperative action to online means. This heavy-handed emphasis on multiplayer (intentions well-regarded) may disappoint those who were hoping for a fleshed out, single-player experience in addition to the robust multi-player component---as the charm of exploration enjoyed in previous Castlevania games has been all but compromised in favor of cooperative gameplay. However, the good news is that the game can still be completed in either single and multiplayer modes, but Harmony of Despair could have had greater appeal if it were adjusted for people who either aren't big on playing with others or do not have access to an Xbox Live Gold membership.
Character development is no longer dependent on experience points as it was in previous games. In order to build base stats such as hit points, intelligence and physical strength, you must find food items scattered throughout the levels, so killing monsters is now merely an obstrusive affair. But because these items come few and far between, and many of them cannot be reached without the aid of a second player, character growth can take a long time and become a frustrating exercise of repeating levels over and over again. And due in part to this hindrance, the monsters you'll often encounter tend to be fairly difficult and overbearing at the outset with some of the smaller fry like skeletons taking as many as five hits or more to defeat; even if you're using spells and abilities. And the end-level bosses don't make things any easier; often resorting to some underhanded, tricky tactics. The Puppet Master of Chapter Two, for example, might move to areas of a map that you cannot get to (without a second player helping to flip a switch or open a locked door) and destroy you effortlessly with his voodoo dolls and unreachable Iron Maidens. Again, if you are playing with friends, the game is easier and more meaningful as opposed to the difficulties and restrictions of single-player. And managing items (i.e. equipping armor and such) can also be rather taxing to say the least. You cannot access your inventory without first paying a visit to a Tome (the proverbial Save Station), and the clock continues to count down as you're rummaging through your menus and inventories. Thankfully, the in-game timer is generously abundant and fairly-paced to allow more than enough time to reach the boss area (with minutes to spare.) Most players might grow to appreciate this heightened sense of urgency as an added challenge precedent, while others might consider it unfair and even downright cruel. In either case, so long as you exercise the utmost resourcefulness and do not purposely waste time sifting through menus, you should be fine.
Interestingly enough, Harmony of Despair can be experienced in a rather unique fashion. The screen can be retrofitted to view the entire play field while you're wandering about, and it's as easy as pressing the right analog stick on your controller. This is extraordinarily handy during multi-player components when you want to view the whereabouts of your fellow friends in real-time, and not too shabby for everyone else that needs a quick look at their own position. You can also continue to play as you normally would with the entire level spread out before your eyes, and marvel at the grand design of the level you're playing in, but depending on your preference, it isn't typically recommended because character sprites and enemies can be difficult to see. Still, it's a pretty neat feature when used properly. The graphics are gorgeous---especially when seen in high-definition. You can appreciate the intricacies of the environments, and this is all the more apparent when you are viewing the play area in its entirety. Character sprites and monsters, per usual, are recycled from previous games and, while they look good, I wish they would have been blessed with an update. For what its worth, none of them seem out of place and blend in well with their surroundings. The music is quite good with familiar Castlevania songs given the ecclectic guitar remix treatment, and you even have the option of choosing songs that play during levels and boss fights from a reasonable list.
For all intents and purposes, Castlevania Harmony of Despair may or may not be for everybody. For people looking to share a Castlevania romp with a group of friends, this is a wonderful cooperative gameplay experience. Unfortunately, the relatively weak single-player component has been greatly compromised as a result of its heavy multiplayer emphasis, limiting its appeal to only a select few. More DLC has been promised in the future, so what you see here is just the beginning of things to come. For Castlevania fans of the traditionalist sense, it is probably a good idea to wait for another game in the franchise that would cater better to their preferences---like the upcoming Lords of Shadow.