Retro Review: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSN)

One Long Night.

 1997's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was one of the PlayStation's finest games, with many fans and critics citing it as one of the best of its time and one of the best games ever made. It also would set the standard for many Castlevania games to follow. Knowing that, I was excited to play it and understand what was all the fuss about. Now after completing it, I can give my thoughts on the sleeper hit. 

STORY- 1792, vampire hunter Richter Belmont has successfully defeated Count Dracula and destroyed his castle, bringing peace to the world. However, four years have later and Richter has mysteriously disappeared and Dracula's castle has appeared once again. Awakened form his deep slumber, our protagonist Alucard must rise up and defeat his father, Dracula. The story is straightforward and keeps the pace going. By no means groundbreaking, I still liked the characters despite them being mostly one-dimensional. 

GAMEPLAY- Symphony of the Night is a 2D side-scroller that has you controlling Alucard as he defeats waves of enemies pitted against him. Unlike its predecessors, Symphony of the Night is non-linear and has a great emphasis on exploration. Having all of his equipment taken away from him by Death, Alucard must explore the castle for weapons, shields, and items to help him stay alive. The map keeps track of Alucard's progress as he explores the castle. However, I wished it was a bit more detailed and highlighted the names of areas in the castle since it was hard for me to remember where was that place located. 

 At the beginning of the game, there are certain path that are inaccessible unless you acquire one of Alucard's shape-shifting abilities. For example, to access a room that is located high above Alucard's reach, you'll need his bat ability to reach it. Finding relics will grant Alucard abilities such as a double jump and additional features for his other forms. Additionally, he can also learn and perform spells which pack a great deal of damage to enemies.


 New to the series is are the role-playing elements that are incorporated. Alucard's life level is represented by HP located at the top left. His magic level is represented by the blue meter next to his health. It drains when Alucard uses his shape-shifting abilities. Additionally, the hearts underneath the magic meter are used to perform attacks from various special weapons. As he defeats enemies, Alucard will earn experience and will level up and so will his four attributes: Strength, constitution (defense), intelligence, and luck. 


PRESENTATION- Symphony of the Night packed some neat production values back in '97. The character sprites and detailed backgrounds were impressive at that time. Also, the game used some of the PlayStation's 3D features, which blended well with many areas of the game. Ayami Kojima nails it with the slick and amazing character designs. Additionally, the soundtrack is haunting yet packing some rocking tracks. While much of the presentation is wonderful, the same can't be said for the voice acting. The only good ones were the performances for Alucard and Death, the rest is just plain bad. 


OVERALL- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night exceeded my expectations. I came in looking for a fun side-scroller to pass the time but I got something better. The story, while predictable at times, was engaging and kept the pace going smoothly, the gameplay is damn addicting and I had myself exploring every inch of the castle, and the presentation holds up remarkably well (despite the voice-acting) While it has some minor issues, Symphony of the Night is still a great game and I'd recommend fans of platformers, side-scrollers, or even RPGs to check it out.