Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (commonly abbreviated DoS, although the correct abbreviation would be DS or CDS) is a game for the Nintendo DS, part of Konami’s popular Castlevania franchise. The game was first released in August 2005 in Japan, which is known as Demon Castle Dracula: Cross of the Blue/Pale Moon (悪魔城ドラキュラ 蒼月の十字架 Akumajō Dracula: Sōgetsu no Jūjika?). The subtitle is also based on “Aria of Sorrow”, known as “Minuet of Dawn” in Japan.
The game is a direct sequel to Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, with Soma Cruz as its protagonist; other characters from Aria of Sorrow also appear in the game, including Genya Arikado and Julius Belmont. It takes place one year after Aria of Sorrow, in 2036, and deals with an enigmatic cult (unrelated to the cult led by Aria of Sorrow antagonist Graham Jones) who seeks to kill Soma and revive the dark power of Dracula sleeping inside him, as a sort of retribution for Soma ‘denying his destiny’ in becoming the Dark Lord incarnate in the previous game. In the cult’s mind, Dracula represents the ultimate evil that must exist for there to be an ultimate good, and with the Dark Lord sealed, that cannot happen. Instead of running from this new threat, however, Soma decides to take the initiative and confront his foes head-on, eventually discovering a castle and monsters similar to those owned by Dracula, supposedly constructed by the cult as the scene for the ritual required to sacrifice Soma and revive the vampire lord.
