Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

[1st_Movement]

Well...to commemorate my playing of Castlevania after so long (and Drakor actually FINDING this impossibly rare game) I think I will review it. Oh and hi everyone I dont know. I havent been around about a year...so yeah.

anyways, lets get to it:

storyline (7/10)

note, this rating is in comparison to the other castlevania games

well...in most Castlevania games, the story is basically...kill dracula cause you have to (you're a belmont, which is the legendary vampire slaying clan), or he stole one of your female friends. not too fun...however in Symphony of the Night (SotN) you take the role of Alucard (dracula backwards...) dracula's son. The first part of the game you play as Richter Belmont in his showdown with Dracula (from Rondo of Blood, a Japanese only game....Dracula X here...but it sucked badly in comparison). He disappears afterwards...and Draculas castle appears... much sooner than the 1000 year interval. You must find out why the castle is doing this.

Graphics: 8/10

Once again, in comparison

For the PSX, this graphics are AWESOME. Sure, they arent 3d, but they have all sorts of things (Such as minute details and movement in the background, or the shadow that follows Alucard everywhere) that add NICE touches to the game. You can see damned prisoners reaching out of their cells, a fountain that turns to blood when you pass by, and so much more (especially the moving writhing bodies that make up the boss legion). The graphics arent the worlds best, but they do more than they should.

Sound effects/music (9/10)

Holy crap...the music is perfect. It fits with the area of the castle you are in, and succeeds in creating a feeling to go along with it (I wouldnt play the arena alone, the music freaked me out that badly). I have all the music on my Ipod now, just because its so amazing! The music ranges from choirish and chapelish to freakish and hard rock. Simply must be heard. The sound effects go with everything happenning on the screen as well. The prisoners mentioned above moan, and the bodies from legion scream when they are hit.

Controls (10/10)

In most Castlevanias, you cannot do a lot of things. This is all blown away in SotN, and the controls needed to do them arent difficult at all. You can change direction in air, pull off spells (which arent given to you, you can cast them at any point...you just need the button combos), and change form, plus loads of other things. It is not hard AT ALL to do any of these things!

Multiplayer (0/10)
there isnt multiplayer...

Gameplay (10/10)

Basically, you wander around the castle fighting minions until you find a boss, which you defeat and get a new ability, allowing you to access new parts of the castle.

Now, the long version.

Instead of having a whip like the belmonts, you have an array of swords, shields, armor, boots, and accessories to use. Enemies drop these, and they can also be found lying around the castle, bought from the librarian, or found in hidden walls (which are found by slicing walls and some of them break open). You can equip them from the start menu.

You level up in this game, like any RPG. Cant beat a boss? Level up. Stats level up giving you more HP MP and other stats.

While wandering around the castle, you gain new abilities. Some are not too useful except for bypassing obstacles (ability to turn into mist). Others, are very very handy. You can turn into a bat to avoid obstacles, go places very high, etc. All of these are found around the castle.

The unique thing about the items in this game are that they all do different things. Some swords slash, some poison, some do all sorts of things (the vorpral sword slashes 4 times in succesion very quickly. to compensate, it is weaker than some other swords.) to find what you like, just experiment! There is a weapon called the "shield rod". Alone, it sucks. But with a shield, just hit some button combo (forgot what it is) and voila! It generates an effect from the shield you have equipped (if you have one). There exists a godly ability to destroy anything in the game if you have the right shield. Such strange abilities are truly fun to find. Even some ACCESSORIES have effects on the backgrounds/rooms you travel through.

There are also little spirits called Farmiliars to find. These will summon a different farmiliar which has different effects. One you need to access a certain area (which is optional) and the others do unique things as well. Each farmiliar can level up just like you, and its effects change / grow stronger. Very helpful.

Now...how big is this game? Let me tell you: MASSIVE. When you bring up the map, you look so tiny and insignificant compared to the whole castle. The map LITERALLY takes up MOST of the screen. FREAKING HUGE. AMAZING!!!


(DRAKOR IF YOU READ THESE, I WILL KILL YOU)

*****SPOILERS******









*spoilers START HERE****
if you equip the correct rings (gold and silver) in the correct room, you can reach a new room. In this room, you talk to Maria Renard (Richter's sister) she tells you she thinks something is wrong with Richter {who ends up being the reason the castle has appeared; hes ruling it}. She gives you a pair of goggles that let you see spirits. When you fight Ricther, a strange glowing ball appears over his shoulder, kill that, and he comes out of his trance. The dark priest shaft reveals himself, and calls another castle out of the sky. This castle is the same as the one you are in, but it is COMPLETELY inverted!! New enemies also line the halls. this EFFECTIVELY creates a MUCH MUCH MUCH larger and longer play time.







*spoilers have ended ****


*END SPOILERS***


There is SO much to this game...it takes a long time to finish. And after finishing...you can play as richter (in true castlevania tradition). He has different abilities than Alucard and must be played as such.

Overall Rating (10/10)

Get it. Now. Look everytime you go to a game store just in case. it is EXTREMELY rare, and with good reason. It has been called the "God of Castlevanias" and justly. The only POSSIBLE rival would be Dawn of Sorrow, but thats iffy. Get it. Now. (ebay will cost you around 70$ though...)