Resonance of Fate
"Resonance of Fate" was first hinted at prior to April 2009, then announced as an untitled "mystery" RPG at the beginning of the month. According to Shimano, its codename "Project Cobra" had been bandied about prior to the reveal, but no-one had suspected anything about its true nature. Its official Japanese title, along with details such as tri-Ace's partnership with Sega, were unveiled on April 8, 2009. "Resonance of Fate" marked the first collaboration between tri-Ace and Sega—most of tri-Ace's previous games had been published by Square Enix. The reason for the choice was two-fold: tri-Ace wanted a different publisher due to the radical nature of their new game, and Sega wanted a title to break into the RPG market. As "Resonance of Fate" seemed unique enough to stand out in the market, Sega agreed to take up publishing duties. According to staff, the Japanese title was originally going to be either "Resonance of Fate" or "Resonance of Time", but Sega asked it to be changed to "End of Eternity". This fell in line with a trend among many Japanese games of referencing endings in their titles. It was officially announced for a Western release in May 2009. The game debuted in Japan on January 28, 2010 with a March release in North America and PAL regions. The European version came with text localization in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Japanese gaming magazine "Famitsu" gave the game a 31 out of 40. At the time of its release, "Harmony of Dissonance" received positive reviews from English-language critics. GameSpot commended it as "not just a fine Castlevania game—it's also one of the better Game Boy Advance games to come around in a while". GameSpy stated: "Despite its unevenness, "Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance" is a quality adventure that represents the best attempt yet made at miniaturizing the brilliance of "Symphony of the Night"." While worrying about the loss of originality of the franchise and noting that ""Harmony of Dissonance" almost obsessively copies "Symphony of the Night"", GamePro called it "a fun action game and a fine Castlevania game in its own right." The improved graphics of "Harmony of Dissonance", especially the backgrounds, 3D effects, and multi-jointed bosses, received praise from reviewers, who called them "plentiful and visually stunning", and "top-notch".