Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow Endings guide

All good things must come to an end, and that certainly applies to this one. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Although this is certainly one of the best Vania Castle game, reaching its ending can be bittersweet. Here’s how you can get the best ending possible.

Getting the best ending can be a pretty confusing process. But it’s not just about getting the cutest cutscene. It’s also about those yummy unlocks! Whether you want to make sure you’re on the right track or find out what went wrong, we’re here. And don’t worry about spoilers; we’ll keep this as immaculate as possible.

How (not) to get the worst ending

If you’re not thorough, it’s very simple to miss a key requirement for completing the first ending. There’s a boss named Dario that you’ll fight twice throughout the game. The second time will be in a part of the map called The Pinnacle. When you get to him, you might notice something very suspicious about his fight. In the background is a giant mirror with a demon reflected in it.

If all you do is defeat Dario, you’ll get the worst ending in the game. It gives no rewards and is essentially the same as “Game Over.” If you’ve noticed the giant mirrors in other parts of the castle, you might have figured out that you need to interact with them somehow. This is key to defeating Dario properly.

You will need the soul of a boss monster named Paranoia. To find it, head west from the lower reaches of The Pinnacle to enter a novel part of the Demon Guest House. Simply head west through this novel area and you will come across this boss. Defeat him, take his soul and you can utilize it in any of the enormous mirrors in the castle. This involves using it in Dario’s boss room and fighting the demon inside. This will allow the story to progress properly.

How to get the bad ending

While it’s still a crappy ending for our heroes, it can at least unlock Julius Mode. This is a novel gameplay mode where you take control of Julius, Yoko, and Alucard, playing through the entire game with unique powers. It’s a nippy bonus mode and definitely worth unlocking. But you should probably just skip to the next ending and get it later.

After beating the worst ending above, you’ll be challenged to meet Celia in a locked room in the Garden of Madness. There’s a key element that affects whether you get the bad ending or open up the rest of the game. If you want to quickly unlock Julius Mode or just want to see what happens, enter the central chamber without Mina’s Talisman. A cutscene will play, and then the credits will roll. Technically, Julius Mode is a sort of “what if?” continuation of these events.

How to Get the Best Ending

The true ending requires defeating Dario by defeating his mirror-verse demon and facing Celia with Mina’s Talisman, which has an accessory slot. Once you do these two things, you’ll open a secret path in The Tower that leads down. Follow this path and complete the last parts of the game. You’ll reach the final boss, defeat him, and finally get the best ending.

Beating the best ending of the game unlocks Julius Mode, as well as a number of novel options. The most captivating is New Game Plus. There is a “Clear” icon above the save file. Selecting it allows you to start over at level 1, but you keep all your extraneous souls, equipment, and gold. You also get the option to play Hard Mode, which adds an extra challenge. Beating Hard Mode rewards you with the unique Hell Flame Soul. This gives you Dracula’s aged “cape fireball” maneuver that he’s been using since the original Vania Castle.

You’ll also unlock Sound Test and Boss Rush mode. In addition to being a fun challenge, Boss Rush also has a few unique unlocks that you can send back to your main game. These are timed, and unfortunately you can’t unlock everything if you get it right the first time. You’ll need to play through the mode at least five times, provided you manage to get the high score each time.