Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (SotN) is one of the games I've wanted to play since finishing up Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow last year. I know it's seen as the progenitor of the modern Castlevania games, and is held up along with Super Metroid as the co-creator of a genre which I have been really enjoying the last year or so. So I picked up my copy of Konami Classics: Volume 1 (seriously, have you seen how expensive copies of this game are for PS1?) and hunkered down for the ride. This review, thus, is for this particular port of the game, although it seems identical to the PS1 version as far as I can tell.
The basic mechanics of the game are fairly similar to that of the NES Castlevania games, in that you can jump, attack, and use special attacks to move through Dracula's castle and stop his resurrection/kill him. You control Alucard, Dracula's son, who is concerned when Dracula's In addition to the basic mechanics, however, SotN adds in some critical features which help to take the series in a different direction while still maintaining the feel of a Castlevania game.
The first among these changes is the inclusion of RPG elements such as different weapons and armor for Alucard, the primary character, as well as the ability to level up by killing enemies in the castle. There is also a cool little magic system in which you can input button combinations (think Street Fighter) to cast different spells.
The most important change in the game, however, is a stylistic one. Rather than following the approach of previous Castlevania games in which you moved through a set of levels within the castle, SotN takes a more open approach, allowing you to explore the castle at your leisure. Much like Super Metroid, a great deal of the castle is walled off to you until you get different items and powers that help you bypass obstacles keeping you from new areas, and like Super Metroid, you're provided a map which helps you to keep track of where you've been. The flow of the game is much more player centric thanks to this change, encouraging exploration and discovery over following tightly controlled scripts.
So, knowing the basics, how does this game stack up? I absolutely loved playing this game. Even 20 years later, and even with all of the polish that later games in this genre have tacked on to the formula, the raw daring and creativity of SotN shines clearly, despite a handful of blemishes that can barely tarnish this work of genius. The game's attempt to put the player's exploration at the forefront of the works incredibly well. There are things to find in every corner of the castle, and secrets everywhere. All along the way, you level up, growing stronger, and giving your quest a real sense of purpose. The powerups you get mostly make sense, and feel incredibly rewarding when you're finally able to fly into that ledge with the item that's been taunting you for hours, or able to submerge yourself in water at last and explore the caverns under the castle.
The best part about the exploration is that it's not quite like other pale but competent imitations of the genre such as Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, such that getting a power unlocks new areas on a 1:1 ratio, with a few other secrets unlockable behind you in your path. In SotN, getting new powers unlocks dozens of little areas throughout the castle, as well as two or three big wings of the castle. Some of these areas have little rewards, while others have boss fights and new powers critical to continuing your quest.
You have no way of knowing which is which, but clearing out more of the map is a spiritually rewarding in this model, as this bold exploration is the only way in which you can delve the mysteries of the castle and get strong enough to conquer its master. There were plenty of situations in which I would happen upon wings of the castle that I had missed earlier, and find that I was so strong that clearing them out would be easy, while there were plenty of others in which probing into this section would prove perilous to my precious health, warranting a hasty retreat, exploring other areas, and returning upon grinding out more of the map, better items, and more levels. This learning was based solely on your exploration, as there's absolutely 0 hand holding here, making you feel like the brave explorer in hostile territory that you are.
The setting of the game is absolutely haunting, as you would hope from a Castlevania game. Horrifying enemies lurk everywhere you turn, and the surroundings are lovingly render using then-outdated 2D sprites. This retro style fits the game exceeding well though, and they're able to use the increased power of the PlayStation to produce what would have likely been among the best looking SNES games ever at that point, all while having environments that are probably far too large and expansive for a more retro medium.
The controls are fine. I'm not sure if my not being thrilled with them was due to the fact that I was using an XBox 360 controller, or if it has to do with the game, but there were times that I felt they were slightly clunky. I ended up having to use the analog stick for the game, which definitely worked better than the D-pad, but I love D-pads, so this was sad. The 360 d-pad is frankly trash, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is a 360 thing rather than a SotN thing.
The music was very good, but not quite as effective as the flawless Super Metroid soundtrack. There are a lot of good standout tracks that cover a wide range of musical genres, but I frequently found myself wanting the more eerily absent approach of Nintendo's contribution to the Metroidvania concept.
Speaking of Super Metroid, however, SotN improves on it in one really important way. The castle in SotN is just leaps and bounds more well designed to facilitate your exploration than is Planet Zebes in Super Metroid. Rather than the doors which close behind you and can't open, and the far reaching planet which takes huge amount of time to traverse, SotN rewards you with little shortcuts between areas upon completing them, as well as teleporters which allow you to quickly reach each quadrant of the castle.
The voice acting absolutely blew me away, to be honest with you. For a PS1 game, it has a surprising amount of voice acting, and it's all very good. The dialogue between characters allows for a surprising amount of character development and attachment that impressed me.
All of these things would be enough to warrant a 9.0/10 without breaking a sweat, but the most impressive thing about SotN is the plot twist halfway through the game, which I won't spoil as it will leave you absolutely disoriented and delighted. Like Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, you have a chance to beat the game with multiple endings depending on how you perform in the game. Unlike this game's spiritual successor on the GBA, however, SotN buries an extra half of the game if you manage to avoid the bad ending, and it's no simple task to do so! What's more, the half of the game after avoiding the bad ending is by far the best half of the game, and I would imagine that many kids playing this game in the 90s may not have even known that this half of the game existed! The absolutely brash burying of your best material behind a challenging wall was so delightful to me that I couldn't help by taking this review WAY up.
There are a few warts on this gem, and they bear mentioning. The 3D elements in the game aren't used terribly well, to be honest. They don't really mesh all that well with the 2D sprites, and can be pretty disorienting. There is one spot in particular where you fly in front of a purple background of clouds, and if it were not for the map, you couldn't even tell you were moving at all.
I feel like there was far too little in terms of an invulnerability period between getting knocked back and being eligible to be hit again, which wound up in a lot of frustrating times in which you would get knocked back constantly and be unable to fight back. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow does a really nice job of polishing this up, but it's definitely notable here.
I felt like the plot twist in the middle was a bit too buried, to the point when unless you had a strategy guide or a friend with one, you may never know about it. I like secrets, but I'm not sure how discoverable this one was without help. In the modern era of having help everywhere, however, this is not such a big deal. I'd have been a little mad to discover it back in the day, though.
The magic system is frankly pretty unusable, although I'm not sure if this is because of the imprecise controls of the XBox 360, or just having to do with the game itself. I'm generally very good at performing fighting game inputs (I can nail Zangief's 360 piledrive probably 80% of the time in Street Fighter II), but doing these inputs really evaded me. They reminded me a lot of the inputs in the dreadful Street Fighter, rather than the more polished and user friendly inputs in Street Fighter II.
All in all, I'll always remember my first run through Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and it shot up my rankings for best games and best PlayStation games. While it has a few more warts than Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, it's also ferociously innovating and pushed the genre light years forward in a way that its GBA sister can't claim. I absolutely loved this game, and would highly recommend it to absolutely anyone. I'll give it a 9.6/10.
I'm going to be replaying a fun old friend next on route to finishing one of its sequels that I never finished, so it's going to be a bit before I get to a new HD game here, but here's a hint for what it'll be...
-TRO
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