Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

But, this time, with swords!

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is considered a genre defining entry largely responsible for the Metroidvania titles alongside Samus and her Metroid series. It's even more expansive than prior titles (or at least the one I've played), so I understand why it gets that acclaim. I'm not going to compare RoV to SotN through this entire thing, but I will discuss similar aspects because they're in the same franchise, a character's story arc, and they're both great! 

SotN takes place five years after Rondo of Blood. We even replay the Dracula battle as Richter. You can die, but Maria shows up to save us! Four years later, Richter goes missing, and Maria sets out to find him. One year later, Dracula's Castle returns to Transylvania. Alongside it comes Alucard, the son of Dracula, who shows up to settle the feud with his father. This is Alucard's second game after Castlevania III, where he's a supporting character. This time, though, he's the main event! I'll get more into the story later, but there's much more of it here, even if it's still secondary. The game is still about combat and exploration. 

Symphony of the Night is very similar to Rondo of Blood but plays much differently. Gone are the whips, replaced with a sword. The secondary items are still here, and there are even more of them. You also have the option to wield a third weapon (or shield) in your off hand, including food and potions. The sword is significantly faster than the whips and easier to wield against the monsters inside Dracula's Castle. You know where everything will hit, and you don't need to hope you timed it right to drag it against the target. The blades themselves come in three types, each with its own moves. Some are fast and reliable, while others are slow and strong. Many also have special attacks with a proper button combination. Maces also exist, but the gameplay doesn't change much between them. 

Throwable weapons are also a thing and can be equipped in either hand, although you only get a small number of them. Knives, shuriken, and TNT are all options. You can also use a shield, but it's not quite reliable. Magic might be the strongest thing you can use as a secondary item, but those, too, are limited in nature. But the fact they exist is pretty rad! 

Of course, the secondary items are back. The Item Crash mechanic has not returned, though. There are more of them, but I didn't test them out. 

Exploration has been expanded. It's no longer stage after stage, but we're in one cohesive location. We find new moves and can return to find new places in earlier wings of the manor. A Double jump allows you to reach higher ledges, a relic lets you ignore "damage" in water, and you can even transform. Alucard can turn into a bat to fly above everything or turn into mist to get past various walls. He also has access to a wolf, but I never found that useful. Throughout the game, he finds more relics to empower them, giving them access to more attacks and utility. Gas Cloud makes dealing with the medusa head rooms manageable! 

Familiars are another new mechanic. A tiny creature follows Alucard around the castle to fulfill its purpose. Most attack, but I'm fond of the fairy that heals you. If she uses my potions, I don't need to worry about having them equipped. She can also revive us if we die! At least two of them are also used to open new areas. The fairy can inform us a breakable wall is nearby, and the demon can activate switches (all one of them). `

The breakable walls, puzzle rooms to open new areas, wall chickens, and random floating candles are all here. It's a Castlevania game, and the basics aren't going anywhere. Everything is solid, especially when you consider all the novelness of so many things. A few things could have been adjusted, but it's their first time at the ball, so I'll let the magic and shield stuff slide. 

But let's talk about the story. Alucard, the son of Dracula, has come to kill his father again. He's let the Belmont's do it for the last three hundred years, but where have they gone now? And why is Dracula here anyway? Alucard fights his way through the castle, getting his stuff stolen by Death, who's working for the vampire lord. It's a nonfactor to Alucard, and his goal remains the same. Along the way, he finds a seventeen-year-old Maria Renard. Maria is searching for Richter Belmont, who vanished a year ago. The appearance of Dracula's Castle pretty much called her here for that reason. The two run into each other a few times and discuss the elephant in the room, which seems to make Maria grow fond of our dhampir. After finding our way into the Colosseum, Alucard discovers Richter. He's calling himself the Lord of the Castle and attacks us by summoning two demons. We'll later meet Maria again to inform her the fate of her adopted brother, and she runs off to think. From here, the story branches off as much as the exploration does. If we find two rings, Gold and Silver, we can find Maria in the heart of the castle. She'll give us Holy Glasses because she knows Richter has been possessed. Before the fight, Richter tells us he revied Dracula to gain more fame. He wasn't content with being a one time hero and wanted more. Richter wanted to fight forever! But, with those glasses, we can see the truth. Without those, we'll kill Richter and get a "bad" ending. 

With them, though, we can explore the upsidedown castle. And here's where the game takes a turn for the worse. The inverted castle is frustrating and annoying, making me hate the game. It's less about combat and more about being knocked down the holes in the floor or cheesy boss strategies. Enemy AI becomes obnoxious, the game gets harder, and you spend more time in bat form. SotN was made for the first half of the game, and the second half feels tacked on to add playtime. It's a pretty short game, so I can understand why. I can't understand why THIS, though. And a few of the bosses on this site are just stupid and tedious. 

But you find the five parts of "Vlad" and make your way to the center of the castle. Not gathering the five parts is another ending. We'll fight through Shaft before confronting our father. After we defeat him, Dracula asks about our mother, Lisa. Alucard tells his dad her last words, and Dracula accepts eternal wandering in the void (or wherever). And peace falls onto the world again. Or, at least, until 2047. Maria and Richter are waiting for Alucard, who only comes to say farewell. He wants to go back to sleep because of his "cursed blood," but Maria runs after him (with 160 percent exploration). Should you finish the game with over 180 percent exploration, you unlock two new modes: Richter mode and Maria mode. I don't know how they play...yet...

I could not put down Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It was all I wanted to do every night and all I thought about during the day. It's been such a long time since I felt this way towards a game. At least this strongly. I'm bummed to be done with it, even if the last half started to grate on me. I had so much fun I looked to see if Mara found Alucard. She does, but it's only in a Japanese audio drama. There's a video on Youtube with English subtitles, so I'll check that out later. But, for now, let's review C: SotN! 

Gameplay: Almost perfect. Some of the new mechanics are nice, but I wish they'd have been expanded. Make the familiars feel different, or at least make them quicker to level. It can still be pretty hard, but the difficulty is much more manageable, even for me. I really wish there were more teleporters, though. Getting around could sometimes suck. I gotta ask, though, why was the axe the only good secondary weapon? 7/10

Art Style: A bit faceless. Character models don't have emotions. To get around this, portraits appear during dialogue, and everyone is voice acted. Even the mobs get to scream when they die. Otherwise, everything is fine. There are palette swamps here and there, but they're only for a few rare creatures. 9/10

Music: Surprisingly expansive. The first half is a lot of action oriented songs, which fit. The second half, though, surprised me. There are a couple of softer melodies that got my attention in the way I like. A few of them can be downright creepy. I was always too distracted to give them a proper listen, what with the horde of monsters trying to kill me, but I'll be giving them a second listen. Sadly, nothing has stuck with me. Bloody Tears isn't in this version, which is the only thing I'd probably recognize. 8/10

Story: Expanded. It's still pretty barebones, but it's always secondary in Metroidvania games, so I can't knock it. It opens a lot of ideas for sequels, and it did in a rather interesting way with Aria of Sorrow. I saw someone play that a few months ago on Youtube, which inspired me to begin my journey with the franchise. 7/10

Charm: Still there. It's always the small things with this, but SotN has them. The fairy familiar gets a crush on Alucard, the confessional booths, and all the other random happenings. And with the addition of two replay modes, I feel obligated to give this plenty of spotlight. 10/10

41/50 That's surprisingly low...

But I asked a question about my SSBU stable at the start of my Dracula X review. I can finally answer it now: Yes. Don't tell anyone I'm planning on stealing Alucter!