Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (悪魔城ドラキュラ Harmony of Despair, Akumajō Dracula: Harmony of Despair, lit. "Demon Castle Dracula: Harmony of Despair") (a play on "HD") is a multiplayer Xbox Live Arcade and PS3 PlayStation Network game featuring characters, sprites, and locations from several different Castlevania titles.
The story, such as it is, involves a cursed book called the Grimoire, in which the story of the evil citadel Castlevania is recorded. However, the castle comes to life within the pages of the book, taking various forms from previous incarnations, and the heroes of the past, also recorded in the book and coming to life within its pages, must once again fight to put an end to the curse. This story allows characters from eras ranging from 1691 to 2036 to come together in the same castle to fight evil.
There is up to six-player online co-operative play, and while it is beneficial to stick together, as characters can perform powerful combo attacks together, players have the ability to wander the castle freely, regardless of the location of the other players. There is no local co-op for the 360 version, but the PS3 version does have 4-player local co-op. Downloadable content includes new characters and stages.
In December 2012, Harmony of Despair won the PlayStation Store Special Prize in Japan. On March 2019, the game has been added to the Backward Compatibility program, therefore, allowing it to be playable on Xbox One.