Introduction
Today we are going to look at a winner of the Castlevania poll from a long time ago. My wife and I have been trying to play all the poll winners and finally started The Symphony of the Night on the PS4. This game is in the Castlevania Requiem together with the game Rondo of Blood. Even though Symphony of the Night is an old game, we want to see if this game holds up after this many years. Can you still have fun with an old game that is quite often referred to, the top of Castlevania games?
What did I think before playing Castlevania Symphony of the Night!
I have never played Symphony of the Night, but I did have owned the game and always intended to, but somehow I never started Symphony of the Night, most likely due to our huge backlog! This time we finally got around to playing this game! I knew this game had Alucard as the main character, but that is about it. Excited for another/old 2D Castlevania adventure, we went to the PS4 page for more information!
The PlayStation Page
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0101-CUSA13434_00-CASTLEVANIA00001
This page does not offer quite as much information as I had hoped, but looking on other sources for information, I found out that this game actually plays a lot like Aria of Sorrow. This game called Aria of Sorrow is my favorite Castlevania, I was stoked, but my wife did not know if she would like this game. I assured her it is exactly what she wants in a game, and thus we installed the game. We were also interested in the extra mode where you play as Richter!
Rating
I rate Castlevania Symphony of the Night with a 9.5 before playing.
I was excited to start playing this game as I have been interested in this game a long time. Even though this game won the sixteenth poll of the week, I have not yet gotten around to the game, but finally it has arrived!
Story
The story starts where Rondo of Blood ends, Richter Belmont is about to face Dracula and once again seal Dracula away. Richter Belmont succeeds with the help of Maria, and five years pass. Even though Dracula is sealed away, his castle reappears way before its time. Richter Belmont disappears, the assumption is that he once again went to face Dracula in his new old/castle. However, Alucard, the bastard son of Dracula, has his own agenda by sealing away Dracula. Alucard soon learns that Richter Belmont is indeed missing and since the castle is still here, Dracula is still alive. Alucard needs to save Richter Belmont and defeat Dracula!
Rating
I rate the story of Symphony of the Night with an 8.5.
You actually take control of Richter Belmont before you take control of Alucard after defeating Dracula with Richter Belmont. A fun factoid, depending on how well you deal with Dracula when using Richter, your stats of Alucard that you begin with will change!
Gameplay
Symphony of the Night has role-playing elements like leveling up, but this game is mostly a Metroidvania where you will need to backtrack a lot. In the beginning, not many areas or rooms of the castle will be available in the beginning. It is your goal to collect more relics and defeat bosses that stand in your way!
As you level up, your strength will grow. Finding new equipment will also strengthen Alucard. Your strongest equipment was taken by Death and the only way to follow him is by saving Richter Belmont, as saving him will unlock access to the true ending in the reversed castle.
If you need new items, you can also visit the shop run by the librarian. He only takes gems for gold, no other items. If you have enough gold, you might get some pretty good equipment early on! This would mean that you can take on better enemies to farm more experience points, Even though this is not a pure role-playing game, leveling up will help you immensely in the battles to come!
While traversing the castle you will find relics, these can show the damage that you do to enemies or even give you new abilities! Three of the major relics that you need to collect will give you the power to transform into new forms!
Rating
I rate the gameplay with a 10
Imagine the game came out in 1997 for the first time, the gameplay is amazing! There are even two castles to explore!
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
We have to keep in mind that the graphics are from a time long gone, as this is not a remake but just a port those graphics will stand but are they good for now? Yes they are great, thinking on how someone could achieve this in the year 1997 is amazing. I can happily say that we have encountered zero graphical glitches or bugs, they are out there of course, but you have to seek them out. You don’t just wander in these glitches.
Sound
The soundtracks are glorious, I can only think of a few games with better soundtracks. We have to keep in mind off course that these soundtracks were made a long time ago, back when quality before release was a necessity. Nowadays, we have a lot of early access games and unfinished games. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is often used in the term of, we will add better sound later. I liked the idea of buying a completely tested game, which is not something you can do these days. Unfortantly day 1 patches are here to stay.
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics of Symphony of the Night with a 10.
The quality of this game is amazing! My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the enemy variety and scenes. The reverse castle is a bit far fetched but in the year 1997 that was revolutionary as for some sprites returning from Rondo of blood. It is a sequel with the same castle, story wise it can be explained and Castlevania is known for re-using sprites. Yes, those annoying flying Medusa Heads are basically in all the Castlevania games!
What did I think after playing Symphony of the Night?
My wife was first unsure if she would like this game but after the intro, my wife was already sold. We both enjoyed grinding some enemies for loot, we even farmed two of the best weapons in the reverse castle and slaughtered Dracula! These two weapons dropped by Smooch called the Crissaegram are so overpowered you can run through the game with blindfolds on!
There are also Easter eggs and joke items, one of these joke items also gives you a lot of luck to find new items! This set is called the Alucart set and even changes your name to Alucart. This set is pretty weak and makes sure that you take hefty hits from enemies in the castle. Be careful when wearing this joke item set, off course we went to Tracula (get it?) as Alucart to defeat him! I do not have to say that it was quite challenging!
Rating
I rate Symphony of the Night with a 9.3 after playing.
I have regrets that I waited so long to play this game, but we are definitely coming back to play this game even more! Even though we managed to 200.4% completion. I believe we are missing 0.02%.
What are my personal thoughts about Symphony of the Night
Who knows, maybe this game will challenge my Favorite Castlevania game! Nonetheless, I enjoy all the Castlevania games, except some new ones. I have nothing against 3D Castlevanias but the mechanics we just not good in the newer ones. When are we getting a new Castlevania in 2D or a 3D Castlevania with Metroidvania elements in it? I believe it has been awhile and since Metroid is coming back who knows, maybe Castlevania will make a comeback as well!
Rating
My personal rating of Castlevania Symphony of the Night is a 9.7.
My wife and I had an amazing time exploring the castle! This time I could not spoil as to where to go next, my wife dislikes when I do that unless she is stuck!
Last Words
Pros
- Play as Alucard and explore two castles to save Richter Belmont
- Amazing graphics and soundtracks for an age of gaming that has passed
- Collect relics and gain new powers!
- Level up by slaughtering the demons of the castle and grow stronger!
- Choose how you want to fight, will your expertise be using a sword and shield or maybe two-handed?
- Reveal the true ending by jumping through hoops, rushing through the game is not the right way!
- Find secrets to find amazing gear!
Cons
- Tracking down the last room can be a pain to accomplish!
If you like 2D games where you need to backtrack, Symphony of the Night is the game that you are looking for!
Final Rating
9.5
Let me know what you think of Symphony of the Night in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
If you liked reading this review, maybe you would like to share this review with your friends!
Simone Krijgsman
I liked taking turns in playing Symphony of the Night, but the farming for the Crissaegram was a bit mind-numbing. I guess it was that hard many, many, many (feel old yet?) many many years ago
supersven
Grinding is always mind-numbing but the reward is usually worth it!
long shade
Good review as always. I hope they do a remake with up to date graphics.
supersven
That would be awesome, but sadly this is not going to happen with the original developer as he is no longer working for the company that makes Castlevania.
The developer made Bloodstained Ritual of the Night as a spiritual successor, if a company remakes Symphony of the night in that style, it would be epic!
Javier del Ríos
Great review and the game looks like fun, but the $ 20 price Sony put on it seems a bit much.
supersven
If you wait for a sale, you can get it for 7 dollars like me, which also gives you Rondo of Blood on the PS4!
mat woj
Great game, aged like fie wine.
supersven
Indeed!
Rain
nice review i dont know why konami doesnt want to launch the game on pc.. it is one of the best castlevanias if not the best, but they always keep releasing the other titles of the franchise..
supersven
Konami is just weird lol