"gamespot" extolled the game's animation and graphics, describing the backgrounds as "intricate and gorgeous" and the individual animation, especially of enemies, as one of the game's "highlights". ign echoed this assessment, calling the animation "stunning and fluid", and noted the differences in graphics between "aria of sorrow" and "dawn of sorrow", stating that the latter was on a "broader and more impressive scale". reviewers lambasted the use of an anime style of drawing the characters, as opposed to the traditional gothic presentation of illustrator ayami kojima in earlier "castlevania" games. gamespy deplored the "shallow, lifeless anime images" used for the characters and kojima's absence from the production. ign believed the new images were "down to the level of 'generic saturday morning anime' quality". the audio by michiru yamane and masahiko kimura was highly regarded, with gamespot stating that it was "head and shoulders above ["aria of sorrow"]". ign noted that the ds dual speaker system presented the audio "extraordinarily well". in the review from 1up.com, the game's score was compared to the soundtrack of "symphony of the night", with "excellent" sound quality and "exceptional" compositions.