Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

[sorrowscall]

I had either the great fortune or horrible misfortune (depending on how I look at it) of playing this game before the one that had preceded it. You see, I'd started playing without the knowledge that this was a sequel. In other words, I ran in blind. On the other hand, once I figured out that this game was not a linear kind of side-scroller and that it was more exploratory in nature, I became instantly hooked. Back then, some Ps1 CD's would have a song or soundtrack that would also be playable on the stereo if you put the game disk into it'd CD's drive and this game was no exception.

It's a game that confused me a lot and thus I couldn't finish it since I was still really young when playing it. However, it's on my list of nostalgic classics to revisit in the future.

 

[Goldie]

I love this game but I honestly never even knew about it until just a few years ago when I got to play in on an emulator on my PSP. Once I did get into it, though, I couldn't stop playing and I spent the next few days just trying to finish it. I've heard of Castlevania games before this one though but I just never found any of them to be all that appealing and when I finally got to try this one out I was really surprised.

 

[TheTempleKnight]

I can say that I absolutely love this game, but have never actually played it myself. I simply love WATCHING people play Symphony of the Night. One of my best friends came over to my apartment over two nights and beat the entire game. I loved every second of it. I tried playing it myself and it just wasn't quite the same.

I also am a big fan of speed running, and while you don't get the game in it's full glory and excitement while speed running... It is still a super exciting speed run and very much worth the time you sit there watching it, regardless. Both while watching my friend play it and watching it streamed online, there are so many little secrets and tricks to this game for its time that make is really special.

There is something new around every corner and a lot of the stuff you can find aren't something you would just casually stumble across on your own, ha.

 

[Maou]

Ah, the first Metroidvania... The best decision they ever made, in my opinion. I'll have to agree that it was a bit confusing at times and at a younger age but it's such a great game and with an awesome soundtrack that I still hear to this day!

Definitely revisit it! And go listen to Travel Demon by S.S.H. you might like it.

 

[squallsnake]

SotN is a great game. Dawn and Aria of Sorrow are also amazing.
You know is not amazing? The N64 games.

 

[aboleth_lich]

My all-time favourite video game is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night! It just edges out the more traditional Super Castlevania as my favourite game in the series, and I moreover thought that it was a truly refreshing take on the franchise and is vastly superior to previous attempts to mix things up with Castlevania II and Castlevania 64!

I much prefer Alacard to the usual have-whip-will-travel Belmont descendant, and Symphony of the Night did a fantastic job of incorporating gaining experience points, implementing special moves and vampiric powers, and finding hidden special items into the gameplay! And, in addition to that, the bosses had a great scale and true gravitas to them that went well beyond just being another enemy!

Even more impressively, the shift from individual stages to a giant single over-world that you can backtrack and explore at leisure, in a fashion similar to Metroid and Blaster-Master, was truly, absolutely phenomenal! Especially when you consider that half of this over-world was an upside mirror image of the castle from the first half of the game! Many players often thought the completed the game, only to discover that there was a way to re-play it that opens up a second castle of equal size and more difficult enemies!

Symphony of the Night: now that was a game!