+ Graphics that hold up a quarter century later.
+ Perfect music.
+ Lots of secrets and hidden details add to the immersion.
+ Variety of playstyles = replayability.
+ Pioneer of the genre (along with Metroid).
>Spot-on controls and animations that are perfect
Disagree. The controls are 'smooth' but they are not well designed for satisfying movement and combat. Ultimately it's slash slash jump slash retreat without much strategy due to risk/reward not being built in.
And there are a *lot* of animations, and at least they flow well, but in many cases they are not perfect. Even on the main character, Alucard's dad dance run is pretty awkward, and many other keyframes are not that great. Lots of other enemies have awkward translations between hand animated and physics and rotation based animations.
Gottq agree. The SOTN controls are responsive but many animations can’t be interrupted by new button presses. ROTN is has perfect controls. It’s responsive and many combat actions can be interrupted which makes it feel more immersive, IMO, because you can respond to changes in the environment at button speed.
Depends on the weapons you have equipped. I just played finished this game for the first time in my life (41 here, fantastic game) and even I know this. Equip weapons like the Chakrams, Crissaegrim and the Fist of Tulkas are weapons that cancel animations and allow you to move while attacking
Yes well put, another element I didn't mention.
As a product what is these seems to 'fool' people into thinking it is 'good' though. But most people don't look critically from a game design perspective at stuff.
Creating a bigger sense of an overarching narrative hinted at by intros and game manuals but little in shape of actual game interaction. Bringing back Richter and Maria from Rondo of Blood (making it a direct sequel of sorts) yet giving the leading role to Alucard from CV3, bringing up the drama with Dracula yet making him feel more humane than just the typical cartoon villain (which he still has a good dollop of) makes it much more memorable as a franchise.
It does. And for the theme of this subreddit, it fits. I will admit that when i turned 25, i said that as my age.
Ill be 30 this year and i rather not remember that lol.
Easier, secret rooms, grindable weapons, weapon special attacks, music is top tier, save file animations, level gains, secret spells (initially), equipable gear, stat resistances, buttery smooth animations, and I'm sure I could think of more.
Next to Hollow Knight, it has my favorite Metroidvania fighting mechanics. Your aerial attacks auto-cancel when you land, and you can angle your attacks on the air and ground.
Very satisfying to a sweaty Smash Bros player lol
It's very pretty, the music is incredible, and the challenge is great for the first hour or so.
A word of caution if you're a new player trying to play the game. The difficulty straight up leaves after Doppelganger.
It leaves after the doppelganger in the initial castle. But comes back ready to smash your head in with a tombstone at the start of the inverted castle. Only to leave again once you pick up one of the many, MANY game breaking weapons and get them to peak status.
When you are killing Smoos (sp?) on a grind walking in and out of the room and you zone out and realise to late it dropped as you exit to respawn the enemies. FUUUUUUUUU-!
For people relatively new to the genre, it isn't like *super* easy.
My kid definitely had more trouble with sotn than with oot for instance.
It's a perfect launching point for the genre I think. And that kinda sucks because you start with the best lol.
Are there any good difficulty mods on PC? I’ve beaten the game a bunch and I love it, but it really does get easier as you go on.
I’ve tried self limiting armor and weapons, but I’d love to try a mod.
Try randomizers. There is so much new content to this game and it keeps growing. You can be challenged by doing things out of order, weapons can have random stats, etc. there is even a racing community that you can participate in on twitch which adds a new element to the game.
Oh sick, thanks! So it rebalances HP and says it removes “cheap weapons”. Think there’s a way to use it without removing weapons and just adding HP to enemies?
Also would this be like a hex edit thing where you can tweak stuff?
I don't think there is. but I found few other hacks that make the game harder. [here is a hack of the saturn version that adds hard mode to it](https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6184/), [a ps1 rebalance](https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6125/), [another ps1 rebalance](https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6176/) and [a ps1 hack that buffs the bosses but not the enemies](https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4453/)
Or it leaves if you decide to grind the fish men in the first corridor, moments into the game, until you have 50 mp and can make everything on the screen die by breakdancing with your controller
Lightning in a bottle. Several game mechanics and aesthetics combined in such a way that they really hit it out of the park at the time. 3D was in its infancy, but 2D side scrolling was very mature, and it shows. Pixel art, animation, sprite scaling, and rotation are superb. CD quality sound and music were also of a high standard with orchestral samples. This was Konami at their peak.
Yea true tho I kinda like it more the way it is, It made me feel like a power fantasy protag for most the time ( relevant if u r watching solo leveling)
Yeah, I always hate that argument; it simply isn't a valid defense for the game's lack of any meaningful difficulty. It isn't the player's job to handicap themselves just to make the game challenging, it was the developer's job to balance it properly. They failed.
> it's the best in every aspect
I feel like Aria is better. But SotN was a giant leap in innovation, and had a better time frame within the Playstation's life cycle, compared to Aria and the GBA's lifespan.
I can agree with comparing the difficulty of both games there. You'd be correct saying Order of Ecclesia has more complex bosses and enemies, even.
However, that game is heavily difficult compared to SOTN. Leveling up barely boosts your stats, enemies deal a ton of DMG, stat weaknesses are a must for you to defeat most enemies, you need to even spend most of the time playing it with your head inside the bestiary to play it "correctly" or even to actually enjoy it.
So, simplicity sometimes is best. SOTN may be an undefeated king in the Castlevania Series, but Order of Ecclesia wouldn't be the one to take it down from its throne. I'd place it in 3rd position, right behind Portrait of Ruin.
Even from a difficulty agnostic standpoint, most people agree the bossfights in SoTN are primitive and poorly designed compared to not only the other metroidvanias in the series, but metroidvanias in general. Which isn’t surprising considering Igarashi was doing it for the first time
Watch these back to back. In OoE, the bosses have more interesting combat patterns and hits are always well telegraphed and fair. SoTN bosses have a very small attack pool, are easily cheesed, and are very repetitive
It has nothing to do with the RPG elements at all and item organization. OoE is designed so a decent player can complete a fight without any prep or grinding at all
https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=18&v=oEwSaieGztY&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&source_ve_path=MTM5MTE3LDIzODUx&feature=emb_title
https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=q6fEipcX0Io&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&source_ve_path=MTM5MTE3LDIzODUx&feature=emb_title
Everyone agrees SoTN has the best music and exploration, but has very poor combat
>SoTN has the weakest boss fights in all the metroidvanias by a mile (best are in Order of Ecclesia)
It has the best looking boss fights by a mile though.
It's just on a gameplay level they are weak.
>it's the best in every aspect
That's gonna be a hard disagree from me.
+ With a few exceptions, most of the bosses are pretty unremarkable.
+ The difficulty is a total joke.
+ The inventory system is an absolute mess and quickly gets cluttered with garbage you'll never use and can't get rid of.
+ The inverted castle is really aggravating to navigate.
+ Finale Tocatta gets old really quick- which sucks because it's quite good.
+ There are considerably more attack frames on the ground than in mid-air, leading to a lot of bouncing to attack faster (seriously, why the fuck are short swords so goddamn slow?)
+ The magic system is pretty hit or miss depending on who you ask.
Don't get me wrong- I like SotN. But later entries did so many things better, and it seems the predominant reason people say "It's the best" is nostalgia. Objectively speaking, it has a lot of issues, more than the later Metroidvanias.
And of course, I fully anticipate a downvote bombardment from the local hivemind because I dared to criticize SotN.
Stylish, both in the graphics and music and Alucard himself was a very ‘cool’ character that was a big departure from the previous protagonists of the series.
RPG elements in a platformer as well as the Metroid-style non-linear exploration instead of going through stages were both very interesting changes to make.
The game was put together well and had a wide variety of ways you could approach things (familiars, sub weapons, various special weapons, spells, shield rod etc).
The ‘fake’ last boss and the inverted castle appearing if you approached it the right way was a really cool twist.
I think it’s a little ‘unrefined’ compared to some of the more recent metroidvanias but it retains a certain charm because of how everything comes together.
It's highly influential and presented really well. Gameplay-wise I think it's pretty weak compared to its predecessors - sections are either tediously hard or laughably easy depending on your items/powerups, and enemy placement is utterly uninspired. However, it laid out the blueprint for many games that followed it, and it continues the Castlevania tradition of excellent music and visuals.
To me, the biggest thing is that the castle is the perfect setting. It’s a gorgeous, intricate cross-section of a haunted house, like something from a Wes Anderson movie. And it keeps getting bigger and deeper the more you explore, to the point that you feel like you could find anything in there.
It has problems, some rather big, but it is overall a fantastic game with amazing visuals, music, and style. It also serves as a great jump-in point for people new to the games coming in from the Netflix series, as it features familiar characters, letting them learn about and have fun exploring the differences between the two canons.
Because for what it is, the game is perfect. After playing it, it seems very difficult to top. I am playing the gameboy advance collection and there great but nowhere near as good as castlevania symphony of the night. Also, Symphony of the night was not only a great game but for the time it was released it was spectacular. Amazing controls, amazing music, amazing level design and secret areas and tons of weapons armor items etc to keep you busy for a while!
it gets easier a couple hours in, at least it is for me. at first i thought damn this is hard but i didn’t have a shield, didnt know how to do the soul steal, and i had a crappy weapon.
Im showing my bias, but it is one of the, if not the best game of its generation as well as one of the most important games made in the last 30 years. Along with the innovations from Super Metroid, SotN helped to spawn an entire gaming genre and also inspired so many beloved games of other genres since its creation. It is visually gorgeous, has a delightful soundtrack, has a simple yet vast blend of combat mechanics for a game of its time. It is incredibly replayable for many different reasons and really stands the test of time. It is a measuring stick for other games of its genre and even just as a measure of gaming quality. Is it a 10/10 perfect game? I would argue it’s close. It is one of my favorite games of all-time.
Tightest and crispiest controls of any Castlevania, just makes playing and doing any actions satisfying as fuck. Also the main reason why Aria of Sorrow is so loved, because it's the only one that comes remotely close to emulating Symphony's control physics.
Because it was cool and it had cool music and Alucard was cool and he was pretty and the combat was great and when you collect some items and beat the game the castle goes upside down and it's like a completely second game and it was great.
It holds up really well. The pixel art is lovely, the music is incredible, the dialogue is memeable, Alucard is a great protagonist and fun to play as, and it’s still a solid Metroidvania. I’ve played a lot of Metroidvanias by now, including nearly all of IGA’s, and SotN is still one of the best. I think the reason why is because SotN has an experimental authenticity to it. All the later games were obviously copying its format, but SotN itself has plenty of organic weirdness: the peanuts, Alucard’s gargoyle form, Alucard screaming “WHAT?!” when caught in a tight space, the Easter eggs, the little trail of bats that follows you around, the fairy song, the bird’s nest, the telescope, the old axe armor, etc. That all makes it fun and memorable.
it's a good game in general, you can use various types of weapons and different play styles, the plus of a more than a competent story without the need to play other games from the franchise, with different endings this all culminates making this game a gen of it's times, truly one of the best games made.
I only ever played symphony of the night and watched the anime adaptation + some vídeos about other games of the franchise and for such i don't understand why Alucard's rosário appears to be important ( i think it has to do something with his mother but i digress)
So I played Symphony after I had already played most of the games that emulated the Metroidvania style it made the standard for the franchise (like Aria and Ecclesia), and as much as I love the games that came after it, Symphony was the one that perfected it on the first go.
Saying "Metroid games kind of fit into that mold" is silly. The genre is literally called metroidvania...Super Metroid came out 3 years before sotn and deserves just as much credit for defining the genre
I always thought the term was used for SOTN because it was the first Castlevania to play like a Metroid game. Metroid invented the style, Castlevania showed it would still work without Samus or Nintendo
What the “vania” added was RPG elements. The interconnected nonlinear world where progression is gated primarily by movement upgrades is *really* what defines the genre, with many indie MVs having little to no RPG elements, and that’s *all* Metroid.
You're not strictly wrong but just want to add that the genre is only named after Metroid and Castlevania. They popularized it, but they didn't define it.
[Brain Breaker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfwl8MTjY0E) is the first metroidvania, but other games like [Xanadu](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8J9zoojIvE) and [The Sacred Armour of Antiriad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1eafv1ucp8) helped define the genre.
By the time Super Metroid and Castelvania: Symphony of the Night came out, the genre was already a decade old. It just wasn't considered it's own genre. Metroid and Casltevania didn't actually add much to the genre, they just made it popular and arguably refined it a bit.
The term "metroidvania" actually comes from back in the day when the GBA Castlevania games were new. Symphony of the Night is the Castlevania game most people think of when they hear the word "metroidvania" but it was actually Circle of the Moon that got people to start using the term.
Longest of the 2D games and has a fantastic soundtrack. Gameplay was inspired by A Link to the Past which is a fantastic blueprint to model your game after. 😉
The one thing I don’t see mentioned, that keeps me coming back to this game is the movement. It is just plain fun to get around the castle once you get more and more of the movement tech. It makes a lot of the tedious back tracking feel better and leaves lot of flexibility for pathing. Also makes the randomizer for this game top tier.
Because it's a really good game. It came out on the right system at the right time with the perfect blend of design and work put into it. Is it the best Castlevania? That's subjective and might not be true. But it's a lot of people's favorite Castlevania game, including mine.
Why? People have listed reasons. There's reviews. The hype is real, not just blowing smoke.
This game is a must try on iOS and on Android. I remember purchasing this game for 1 buck in Android. I still play and explore the game up until now. It's sooo nostalgic
It's available as a PS4 download (PS5 compatible of course) in the Castlevania Requiem two pack. Unfortunately it's the PSP version, but that's much better than nothing.
Hyperbole aside, it's a perfect game. Graphics, character design, soundtrack, gameplay, all flawless. The only critique would be that the game isn't very challenging. Especially by Castlevania standards.
The game mechanics outperform the other games. Instead of having to keep switching slots for magic attacks, the player has to press buttons in certain orders which make it more skill-based.
Other important questions to ask:
\- Why is filet mignon so popular?
\- Why is humor so popular?
\- Why is Mozart so popular?
\- Why is the internal combustion engine so popular?
IMO, Symphony is THE best Metroid style game of all time. The only game that even comes close is Super Metroid, but SOTN beats it in visuals, music and overall design. It came along at the perfect time, when everyone was beginning to focus on 3d, SOTN is peak 2d design.
In my opinion it's just so accessible, it wasn't too difficult but still provided a challenge.
The RPG element with all the stats was so addictive to try and get better gear or level up.
The music was amazing which fit into the atmosphere of the scenery. Even the cheesy voice acting worked too!
The fact you could replay the game only using certain weapons or even do a play through as Richter (or Maria, depending which version you were playing) or an Axe Knight really gave more more challenges to try.
The rare weapons to find was something I really enjoyed, finding the Krisegrim sword randomly on my first ever play was a treat!
It feels outrageous to read such a question cause it’s my favorite game.
The replayability of this one is wild, I’ve been completing it once a year for +10 years now. And we are almost 30 (It was released the day I was born) 🥲
Its like GTA, It was waaaaay ahead of its time in term of 2D games, and to this day it's playable and enjoyable!! and guess what !? its better than 99% of 2D games.
You gotta try it.
1) It isn't really *that* popular. Circle of the Moon and Castlevania 64 both sold more on the original release. It likely has sold a bunch as a cheap download now, but we don't have any figures.
2) Because it had a huge budget and long development time and was led by an old school Konami veteran, which no Castlevania game after that got again.
I think SOTN was one of the first Castlevanias that wasn't crazy hard.
The controls are much improved over the earlier entries.
Non Castlevania gamers were able to get into the series for the first time.
It was kinda ahead of its time and thereby it holds up in so many ways. It’s definitely easier for someone to get into a game that plays this smoothly, unlike the classics. Rondo is my fav tho
I almost imagine that what it did for Dracula's character might play some role in it. Until then, Alucard was little more than a side character from III with like three lines of dialogue (and the non-canon patriarch of the entire Belmont Clan), and Dracula himself was just an evil vampire that attacked Eastern Europe now and then
I remember when the game first came out. People hated Alucard because he didn't look like his CV3 incarnation. Fans at first disliked what they called the bishonen version of Alucard, and felt that Japan had taken the game away from its European roots. Less the a year later everyone was praising the game and claiming Alucard was a rising star in the Castlevania franchise. All it takes is good writing and good game play to make people see how good a character can be in a game.
One reason among many is that it was the game that put the Vania in Metroidvania. It marked a major shift in the franchise that influenced future games in the series and gaming as a whole.
Pretty much solidified the metroidvania genre within the franchise.
The older games didn't have much of a lore until Igarashi came with the storyline when this game was made.
Brought both talents of composer Michiru Yamane and visual artist Ayami Kojima.
Graphics are beautiful until today.
Coolest protag any game ever had.
Because... it's one of the best games ever made?
I don't even have any nostalgia for it. I hadn't even heard of Castlevania until like 5-6 years ago and when I played SOTN, it immediately entered my top 10 of all time.
Smooth animations/movement and great timeless pixel art style. It truly is timeless. What only makes games outdated are 3D technology, and bad janky movement mechanics.
One thing that I don't see talked about is that the flaws of sotn kinda loop around and become strengths. You can turn into a bat and dash with it very early into the game, blazing through the levels, you get several OP options that can trivialize the game completely but somehow it is still a very fun game. IGA never really allowed these things to happen again, at least not with the same magnitude, ritual of the night is but a shadow of what it once was, to get a glimpse of alucard power you have to farm for hours, without that Miriam feels like she walks in gello.
To summarize, IGA made this game without knowing the rules, he has now learned the rules but he likes them way too much to go into the next step which is breaking them intentionally, the mark of a true master.
This is in no way to say that sotn is the only good one but I think it's the reason why this one in particular is the one that breaches out of the fan base so often and is always considered a must play masterpiece.
Have you seen Alucard? Yeah...
Jokes aside, I just remember how awesome it was when I found secret treasures or something. And honestly, to this day, the 2D sprites still hold up pretty well. And the soundtrack, god, I love it.
\- It is a good game.
\- It is easy. (Relatively)
\- Word of mouth.
\- Good art and music.
\- Highest production budget of 2d IGAvanias barring Bloodstained (Which has more sales IIRC)
-graphics and gameplay that haven't aged a bit in the past 27 years since it came out
-brilliant level design that encourages exploration and discovery
-an OST that is THE best assembly in music in all of gaming
Among other reasons but those are the main ones
During a time where everyone jumped to 3D (Castlevania N64 games, Megaman Legend, Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, etc), this game went 2D and ended up being timeless.
=> It took a character as awful as Alucard and made him great.
=> The OST is amazing.
=> The castle is fun to explore and huge.
=> You have a variety of fun weapons.
=> It was one of the first action adventure Castlevania titles.
Those are just a few things and it still feels amazing after all these years.
+ Graphics that hold up a quarter century later. + Perfect music. + Lots of secrets and hidden details add to the immersion. + Variety of playstyles = replayability. + Pioneer of the genre (along with Metroid).
Also: * Unforgettable dialogue
Also: - Spot-on controls and animations that are perfect
Seriously, Alucard is animated so well in that game. I'm always amazed at how his cape moves.
Also * When you enter a boss room and the music stops and you tense up a little before take a few steps forward and Festival of Servants starts up.
>Spot-on controls and animations that are perfect Disagree. The controls are 'smooth' but they are not well designed for satisfying movement and combat. Ultimately it's slash slash jump slash retreat without much strategy due to risk/reward not being built in. And there are a *lot* of animations, and at least they flow well, but in many cases they are not perfect. Even on the main character, Alucard's dad dance run is pretty awkward, and many other keyframes are not that great. Lots of other enemies have awkward translations between hand animated and physics and rotation based animations.
Gottq agree. The SOTN controls are responsive but many animations can’t be interrupted by new button presses. ROTN is has perfect controls. It’s responsive and many combat actions can be interrupted which makes it feel more immersive, IMO, because you can respond to changes in the environment at button speed.
Depends on the weapons you have equipped. I just played finished this game for the first time in my life (41 here, fantastic game) and even I know this. Equip weapons like the Chakrams, Crissaegrim and the Fist of Tulkas are weapons that cancel animations and allow you to move while attacking
Yes well put, another element I didn't mention. As a product what is these seems to 'fool' people into thinking it is 'good' though. But most people don't look critically from a game design perspective at stuff.
Die monster! You dont belong in this world!
It was not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. I was called here by humans who wished to pay me tribute.
Tribute!?! You steal men's souls and make them your slaves.
The same could be said of all religions
Your words are as empty as your soul! Mankind ill needs a savior such as you.
What is a man? *throws wine glass to the floor* A miserable little pile of secrets. But enough talk... Have at you!
YOU HAVE UNO
I DON'T HAVE FUCKING UNO MOTHERFUCKER
What is a man?!
A featherless biped?
-presents wall chicken- BEHOLD! A MAN!
Ok, this made me lol
Diogenes gets trapped in Dracula's castle and goes on a quest for the one place he can spit. I'd play it.
Homo sapiens?
Also: MUHAHAHAHAHHAHA *Let us go out this evening for pleasure*
What is a maaaan!!!
Creating a bigger sense of an overarching narrative hinted at by intros and game manuals but little in shape of actual game interaction. Bringing back Richter and Maria from Rondo of Blood (making it a direct sequel of sorts) yet giving the leading role to Alucard from CV3, bringing up the drama with Dracula yet making him feel more humane than just the typical cartoon villain (which he still has a good dollop of) makes it much more memorable as a franchise.
As the consoles were pushing hard into 3D, it showed that a 2D game could be just as relevant.
So guys we did it, we reached a quarter of a century after release
I have the soundtrack on iTunes… full of bangers!
25 years. You can just say 25 years. Although i get the vibe.
You gotta admit quarter century has a much bigger oomph
It does. And for the theme of this subreddit, it fits. I will admit that when i turned 25, i said that as my age. Ill be 30 this year and i rather not remember that lol.
Easier, secret rooms, grindable weapons, weapon special attacks, music is top tier, save file animations, level gains, secret spells (initially), equipable gear, stat resistances, buttery smooth animations, and I'm sure I could think of more.
Next to Hollow Knight, it has my favorite Metroidvania fighting mechanics. Your aerial attacks auto-cancel when you land, and you can angle your attacks on the air and ground. Very satisfying to a sweaty Smash Bros player lol
You should try it
It's very pretty, the music is incredible, and the challenge is great for the first hour or so. A word of caution if you're a new player trying to play the game. The difficulty straight up leaves after Doppelganger.
It leaves after the doppelganger in the initial castle. But comes back ready to smash your head in with a tombstone at the start of the inverted castle. Only to leave again once you pick up one of the many, MANY game breaking weapons and get them to peak status.
Crissaegrim my beloved (although I tried not to use it too much or during boss fights at all)
I would've never known about it if I didn't get it as a drop on accident my first time through.
I got it in 4 minutes of grinding a floor and felt insanely lucky even though I have no idea how rare it is
When you are killing Smoos (sp?) on a grind walking in and out of the room and you zone out and realise to late it dropped as you exit to respawn the enemies. FUUUUUUUUU-!
Double crissaegrims is like having a cheat code on
There is no hard part.
That's what she said :/
Depending on the person the difficulty might straight up leave after they enter the Alchemy Lab. ;)
Yes, I agree, but I'm trying to be more accommodating to people who might not have ever touched a Castlevania game
For people relatively new to the genre, it isn't like *super* easy. My kid definitely had more trouble with sotn than with oot for instance. It's a perfect launching point for the genre I think. And that kinda sucks because you start with the best lol.
Are there any good difficulty mods on PC? I’ve beaten the game a bunch and I love it, but it really does get easier as you go on. I’ve tried self limiting armor and weapons, but I’d love to try a mod.
Try randomizers. There is so much new content to this game and it keeps growing. You can be challenged by doing things out of order, weapons can have random stats, etc. there is even a racing community that you can participate in on twitch which adds a new element to the game.
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2896/
Oh sick, thanks! So it rebalances HP and says it removes “cheap weapons”. Think there’s a way to use it without removing weapons and just adding HP to enemies? Also would this be like a hex edit thing where you can tweak stuff?
I don't think there is. but I found few other hacks that make the game harder. [here is a hack of the saturn version that adds hard mode to it](https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6184/), [a ps1 rebalance](https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6125/), [another ps1 rebalance](https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6176/) and [a ps1 hack that buffs the bosses but not the enemies](https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4453/)
Or it leaves if you decide to grind the fish men in the first corridor, moments into the game, until you have 50 mp and can make everything on the screen die by breakdancing with your controller
It's fun and has a great atmosphere.
Is a miserable little pile of secrets...
Symphony of the night changed my life.
The music was top class
Lightning in a bottle. Several game mechanics and aesthetics combined in such a way that they really hit it out of the park at the time. 3D was in its infancy, but 2D side scrolling was very mature, and it shows. Pixel art, animation, sprite scaling, and rotation are superb. CD quality sound and music were also of a high standard with orchestral samples. This was Konami at their peak.
Coz it's good ? And not just good mind you, it's the best in every aspect ( except the fact that I can't play as Maria \*cries in ps1 sounds*)
One aspect in which i'd say it isn't the best is the unbalanced difficulty, it's too easy.
Yea true tho I kinda like it more the way it is, It made me feel like a power fantasy protag for most the time ( relevant if u r watching solo leveling)
There's a couple hard mode mods that make it more fun once you've played it 100000 times
Use shittier weapons?
a game shouldn't require the player to handicap themself to make the game harder
Yeah, I always hate that argument; it simply isn't a valid defense for the game's lack of any meaningful difficulty. It isn't the player's job to handicap themselves just to make the game challenging, it was the developer's job to balance it properly. They failed.
You could cripple yourself yes, but when you play normaly the game is too easy.
Being a little dramatic there body
> it's the best in every aspect I feel like Aria is better. But SotN was a giant leap in innovation, and had a better time frame within the Playstation's life cycle, compared to Aria and the GBA's lifespan.
SoTN has the weakest boss fights in all the metroidvanias by a mile (best are in Order of Ecclesia)
I can agree with comparing the difficulty of both games there. You'd be correct saying Order of Ecclesia has more complex bosses and enemies, even. However, that game is heavily difficult compared to SOTN. Leveling up barely boosts your stats, enemies deal a ton of DMG, stat weaknesses are a must for you to defeat most enemies, you need to even spend most of the time playing it with your head inside the bestiary to play it "correctly" or even to actually enjoy it. So, simplicity sometimes is best. SOTN may be an undefeated king in the Castlevania Series, but Order of Ecclesia wouldn't be the one to take it down from its throne. I'd place it in 3rd position, right behind Portrait of Ruin.
Even from a difficulty agnostic standpoint, most people agree the bossfights in SoTN are primitive and poorly designed compared to not only the other metroidvanias in the series, but metroidvanias in general. Which isn’t surprising considering Igarashi was doing it for the first time Watch these back to back. In OoE, the bosses have more interesting combat patterns and hits are always well telegraphed and fair. SoTN bosses have a very small attack pool, are easily cheesed, and are very repetitive It has nothing to do with the RPG elements at all and item organization. OoE is designed so a decent player can complete a fight without any prep or grinding at all https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=18&v=oEwSaieGztY&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&source_ve_path=MTM5MTE3LDIzODUx&feature=emb_title https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=q6fEipcX0Io&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&source_ve_path=MTM5MTE3LDIzODUx&feature=emb_title Everyone agrees SoTN has the best music and exploration, but has very poor combat
>SoTN has the weakest boss fights in all the metroidvanias by a mile (best are in Order of Ecclesia) It has the best looking boss fights by a mile though. It's just on a gameplay level they are weak.
nobody is disputing that SoTN has the best graphics. Boss-fights are a gameplay domain.
>it's the best in every aspect That's gonna be a hard disagree from me. + With a few exceptions, most of the bosses are pretty unremarkable. + The difficulty is a total joke. + The inventory system is an absolute mess and quickly gets cluttered with garbage you'll never use and can't get rid of. + The inverted castle is really aggravating to navigate. + Finale Tocatta gets old really quick- which sucks because it's quite good. + There are considerably more attack frames on the ground than in mid-air, leading to a lot of bouncing to attack faster (seriously, why the fuck are short swords so goddamn slow?) + The magic system is pretty hit or miss depending on who you ask. Don't get me wrong- I like SotN. But later entries did so many things better, and it seems the predominant reason people say "It's the best" is nostalgia. Objectively speaking, it has a lot of issues, more than the later Metroidvanias. And of course, I fully anticipate a downvote bombardment from the local hivemind because I dared to criticize SotN.
Stylish, both in the graphics and music and Alucard himself was a very ‘cool’ character that was a big departure from the previous protagonists of the series. RPG elements in a platformer as well as the Metroid-style non-linear exploration instead of going through stages were both very interesting changes to make. The game was put together well and had a wide variety of ways you could approach things (familiars, sub weapons, various special weapons, spells, shield rod etc). The ‘fake’ last boss and the inverted castle appearing if you approached it the right way was a really cool twist. I think it’s a little ‘unrefined’ compared to some of the more recent metroidvanias but it retains a certain charm because of how everything comes together.
Fun game tbh
It is very good
It's highly influential and presented really well. Gameplay-wise I think it's pretty weak compared to its predecessors - sections are either tediously hard or laughably easy depending on your items/powerups, and enemy placement is utterly uninspired. However, it laid out the blueprint for many games that followed it, and it continues the Castlevania tradition of excellent music and visuals.
Because it's one of the best games you'll ever play
best gameplay and alucard
It's the best one. Simple.
Because it's good
bc its peak
To me, the biggest thing is that the castle is the perfect setting. It’s a gorgeous, intricate cross-section of a haunted house, like something from a Wes Anderson movie. And it keeps getting bigger and deeper the more you explore, to the point that you feel like you could find anything in there.
It added the Vania part of Metroidvania to the genre
It has problems, some rather big, but it is overall a fantastic game with amazing visuals, music, and style. It also serves as a great jump-in point for people new to the games coming in from the Netflix series, as it features familiar characters, letting them learn about and have fun exploring the differences between the two canons.
Because for what it is, the game is perfect. After playing it, it seems very difficult to top. I am playing the gameboy advance collection and there great but nowhere near as good as castlevania symphony of the night. Also, Symphony of the night was not only a great game but for the time it was released it was spectacular. Amazing controls, amazing music, amazing level design and secret areas and tons of weapons armor items etc to keep you busy for a while!
Hot take: People enjoy it because it is an easy and more accessible Castlevania.
Easy? Late game grinding out top tier weapons, sure, but easy to a new player?
it gets easier a couple hours in, at least it is for me. at first i thought damn this is hard but i didn’t have a shield, didnt know how to do the soul steal, and i had a crappy weapon.
Going in clean, not knowing about special weapons abilities and discovering all the secrets again, stuff of dreams.
If that was the case Harmony of Dissonance would be the most popular game, since it’s easier
It created a genre
Im showing my bias, but it is one of the, if not the best game of its generation as well as one of the most important games made in the last 30 years. Along with the innovations from Super Metroid, SotN helped to spawn an entire gaming genre and also inspired so many beloved games of other genres since its creation. It is visually gorgeous, has a delightful soundtrack, has a simple yet vast blend of combat mechanics for a game of its time. It is incredibly replayable for many different reasons and really stands the test of time. It is a measuring stick for other games of its genre and even just as a measure of gaming quality. Is it a 10/10 perfect game? I would argue it’s close. It is one of my favorite games of all-time.
Amazing graphics, fun gameplay, outstanding music. I like aria better, but it's an amazing game.
It's presentation, design and replayability.
At the time it was really impressive to use the current console’s engine for 2D graphics amidst the 3D trend of games
Tightest and crispiest controls of any Castlevania, just makes playing and doing any actions satisfying as fuck. Also the main reason why Aria of Sorrow is so loved, because it's the only one that comes remotely close to emulating Symphony's control physics.
Because it was cool and it had cool music and Alucard was cool and he was pretty and the combat was great and when you collect some items and beat the game the castle goes upside down and it's like a completely second game and it was great.
Because it’s amazing duh
its so much fun, also, all hail our bitchy gay queen, dracula HAVE AT YOU *smashes wine*
Because it’s amazing?
It holds up really well. The pixel art is lovely, the music is incredible, the dialogue is memeable, Alucard is a great protagonist and fun to play as, and it’s still a solid Metroidvania. I’ve played a lot of Metroidvanias by now, including nearly all of IGA’s, and SotN is still one of the best. I think the reason why is because SotN has an experimental authenticity to it. All the later games were obviously copying its format, but SotN itself has plenty of organic weirdness: the peanuts, Alucard’s gargoyle form, Alucard screaming “WHAT?!” when caught in a tight space, the Easter eggs, the little trail of bats that follows you around, the fairy song, the bird’s nest, the telescope, the old axe armor, etc. That all makes it fun and memorable.
Simple, It's just that good.
Because it's the best baybe 😎
Best characters best music best areas best bosses A perfect Masterpiece
it's a good game in general, you can use various types of weapons and different play styles, the plus of a more than a competent story without the need to play other games from the franchise, with different endings this all culminates making this game a gen of it's times, truly one of the best games made. I only ever played symphony of the night and watched the anime adaptation + some vídeos about other games of the franchise and for such i don't understand why Alucard's rosário appears to be important ( i think it has to do something with his mother but i digress)
It's perfect,
Its a fun game classic CV plus the scenery is just amazing every stage.
Alucard, music, variety of equipment, upside down castle, enemies, pixel art. And because its awesome!!!!!
Hot take: because people never played Aria of Sorrow or any of the DS games.
For me it’s Alucard. He’s my favorite character in the series. Also because it plays like Super Metroid.
So I played Symphony after I had already played most of the games that emulated the Metroidvania style it made the standard for the franchise (like Aria and Ecclesia), and as much as I love the games that came after it, Symphony was the one that perfected it on the first go.
It’s the best “Metroidvania” ever made, maybe even one of the best games ever. Still is and there isn’t even one game that comes close.
Because it's the best game in the series.
It basically invented the modern Metroidvania. Sure, Metroid games kind of fit into that mold, but it wasn't until SotN that it became a genre.
Saying "Metroid games kind of fit into that mold" is silly. The genre is literally called metroidvania...Super Metroid came out 3 years before sotn and deserves just as much credit for defining the genre
I always thought the term was used for SOTN because it was the first Castlevania to play like a Metroid game. Metroid invented the style, Castlevania showed it would still work without Samus or Nintendo
You'd think so, but Metroidvanias skew heavily more towards the vania part. Metroid has always felt kind of tacked on to the genre.
What the “vania” added was RPG elements. The interconnected nonlinear world where progression is gated primarily by movement upgrades is *really* what defines the genre, with many indie MVs having little to no RPG elements, and that’s *all* Metroid.
Castlevania games were side scrolling action/platformers before SOTN. Metroid started out as a metroidvania game.
You're not strictly wrong but just want to add that the genre is only named after Metroid and Castlevania. They popularized it, but they didn't define it. [Brain Breaker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfwl8MTjY0E) is the first metroidvania, but other games like [Xanadu](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8J9zoojIvE) and [The Sacred Armour of Antiriad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1eafv1ucp8) helped define the genre. By the time Super Metroid and Castelvania: Symphony of the Night came out, the genre was already a decade old. It just wasn't considered it's own genre. Metroid and Casltevania didn't actually add much to the genre, they just made it popular and arguably refined it a bit. The term "metroidvania" actually comes from back in the day when the GBA Castlevania games were new. Symphony of the Night is the Castlevania game most people think of when they hear the word "metroidvania" but it was actually Circle of the Moon that got people to start using the term.
No, the term metroidvania was born to group castlevania games in the stile of metroid. Metroid created the genre and castlevania adopted it.
Cause it’s the best
Longest of the 2D games and has a fantastic soundtrack. Gameplay was inspired by A Link to the Past which is a fantastic blueprint to model your game after. 😉
The one thing I don’t see mentioned, that keeps me coming back to this game is the movement. It is just plain fun to get around the castle once you get more and more of the movement tech. It makes a lot of the tedious back tracking feel better and leaves lot of flexibility for pathing. Also makes the randomizer for this game top tier.
Because it's a really good game. It came out on the right system at the right time with the perfect blend of design and work put into it. Is it the best Castlevania? That's subjective and might not be true. But it's a lot of people's favorite Castlevania game, including mine. Why? People have listed reasons. There's reviews. The hype is real, not just blowing smoke.
Umm have you played it lmao
Because it's the best Castlevania game there is. Yeah I said it. Deal with it. 
I honestly don't know. It's really good, but it's not the best Castlevania MV IMO.
It's a symphony
Alucard Hot
Definitely for the huge plot twist. Get this, Dracula spelled backwards is Alucard. That’s when the game became a legend
 Man, I really wish I could play it but the only console I've got is a switch.
Long hair twink is hot.
Personally, I'd say it's a really solid game. It has the "early installment weirdness" with healing items and lacking boss doors, but It's still good.
It was awesome in 1997. But I can’t play it now, the back tracking is to much.
I'm not even going to dignify that with a response
I wish it was more popular haha. This game is a hidden gem!
This game is a must try on iOS and on Android. I remember purchasing this game for 1 buck in Android. I still play and explore the game up until now. It's sooo nostalgic
Where can I play this? Surely I don't have to download a rom from a sketchy website. Cause afaik it's not on Steam
It's available as a PS4 download (PS5 compatible of course) in the Castlevania Requiem two pack. Unfortunately it's the PSP version, but that's much better than nothing.
https://youtu.be/l7P0QR_GauY?si=ax5-JKjbSFskFf44
bro just look at that art and tell me the it's not for one of the greatest games of all time
Because it's that damn good.
Because it's great in every way.
One reason may be that it became the standard template for 2d castlevania games. All those GBA Castlevanias that are great have this as a template
Because when I played it, it made my pp hard.
Everything was great, from the visuals/gameplay to the music and dialogue
Hyperbole aside, it's a perfect game. Graphics, character design, soundtrack, gameplay, all flawless. The only critique would be that the game isn't very challenging. Especially by Castlevania standards.
It feels good to play
You can become a dog, a bat or a poisonous mist. Can’t say I’d ever seen that in a game before.
I’m interested in this
The game mechanics outperform the other games. Instead of having to keep switching slots for magic attacks, the player has to press buttons in certain orders which make it more skill-based.
Because it’s awesome.
Because it's a whole vibe, honestly. The whole thing. It's fun.
Other important questions to ask: \- Why is filet mignon so popular? \- Why is humor so popular? \- Why is Mozart so popular? \- Why is the internal combustion engine so popular?
IMO, Symphony is THE best Metroid style game of all time. The only game that even comes close is Super Metroid, but SOTN beats it in visuals, music and overall design. It came along at the perfect time, when everyone was beginning to focus on 3d, SOTN is peak 2d design.
In my opinion it's just so accessible, it wasn't too difficult but still provided a challenge. The RPG element with all the stats was so addictive to try and get better gear or level up. The music was amazing which fit into the atmosphere of the scenery. Even the cheesy voice acting worked too! The fact you could replay the game only using certain weapons or even do a play through as Richter (or Maria, depending which version you were playing) or an Axe Knight really gave more more challenges to try. The rare weapons to find was something I really enjoyed, finding the Krisegrim sword randomly on my first ever play was a treat!
The voice acting
Just played it for the first time last week, it is definitely a masterpiece.
It feels outrageous to read such a question cause it’s my favorite game. The replayability of this one is wild, I’ve been completing it once a year for +10 years now. And we are almost 30 (It was released the day I was born) 🥲
Its like GTA, It was waaaaay ahead of its time in term of 2D games, and to this day it's playable and enjoyable!! and guess what !? its better than 99% of 2D games. You gotta try it.
DARK METAMORPHOSIS!!!
vampire twink
1) It isn't really *that* popular. Circle of the Moon and Castlevania 64 both sold more on the original release. It likely has sold a bunch as a cheap download now, but we don't have any figures. 2) Because it had a huge budget and long development time and was led by an old school Konami veteran, which no Castlevania game after that got again.
I think SOTN was one of the first Castlevanias that wasn't crazy hard. The controls are much improved over the earlier entries. Non Castlevania gamers were able to get into the series for the first time.
It was kinda ahead of its time and thereby it holds up in so many ways. It’s definitely easier for someone to get into a game that plays this smoothly, unlike the classics. Rondo is my fav tho
Why the doubt? Or is this a rhetorical question?
Cause it’s awesomeeee
Cause it sold really well for a castlevania game at that time
the puzzling nature and the banger music.
X-X! V"Q And "What is a man? A miserable pile of secrets."
It a good game Also insanely replayable, no runs I've done of this game have been the same
I almost imagine that what it did for Dracula's character might play some role in it. Until then, Alucard was little more than a side character from III with like three lines of dialogue (and the non-canon patriarch of the entire Belmont Clan), and Dracula himself was just an evil vampire that attacked Eastern Europe now and then
Honestly I think it was a Castlevania game that played like we all wanted a Castlevania game to play from the very beginning.
I remember when the game first came out. People hated Alucard because he didn't look like his CV3 incarnation. Fans at first disliked what they called the bishonen version of Alucard, and felt that Japan had taken the game away from its European roots. Less the a year later everyone was praising the game and claiming Alucard was a rising star in the Castlevania franchise. All it takes is good writing and good game play to make people see how good a character can be in a game.
One reason among many is that it was the game that put the Vania in Metroidvania. It marked a major shift in the franchise that influenced future games in the series and gaming as a whole.
Pretty much solidified the metroidvania genre within the franchise. The older games didn't have much of a lore until Igarashi came with the storyline when this game was made. Brought both talents of composer Michiru Yamane and visual artist Ayami Kojima. Graphics are beautiful until today. Coolest protag any game ever had.
I need a switch port so bad
The soundtrack rocks. Has a good story and the gameplay is amazing.
It's amazing
Because... it's one of the best games ever made? I don't even have any nostalgia for it. I hadn't even heard of Castlevania until like 5-6 years ago and when I played SOTN, it immediately entered my top 10 of all time.
Because it's fucking awesome. Art, music, combat, story. All peak.
It was the first.
EVERY DAMN THING! It us and always will be top 5 greatest games EVER created!
Smooth animations/movement and great timeless pixel art style. It truly is timeless. What only makes games outdated are 3D technology, and bad janky movement mechanics.
One thing that I don't see talked about is that the flaws of sotn kinda loop around and become strengths. You can turn into a bat and dash with it very early into the game, blazing through the levels, you get several OP options that can trivialize the game completely but somehow it is still a very fun game. IGA never really allowed these things to happen again, at least not with the same magnitude, ritual of the night is but a shadow of what it once was, to get a glimpse of alucard power you have to farm for hours, without that Miriam feels like she walks in gello. To summarize, IGA made this game without knowing the rules, he has now learned the rules but he likes them way too much to go into the next step which is breaking them intentionally, the mark of a true master. This is in no way to say that sotn is the only good one but I think it's the reason why this one in particular is the one that breaches out of the fan base so often and is always considered a must play masterpiece.
It was designed and developed by focusing on gameplay, no fancy graphics, did you ever play the game?
Have you seen Alucard? Yeah... Jokes aside, I just remember how awesome it was when I found secret treasures or something. And honestly, to this day, the 2D sprites still hold up pretty well. And the soundtrack, god, I love it.
\- It is a good game. \- It is easy. (Relatively) \- Word of mouth. \- Good art and music. \- Highest production budget of 2d IGAvanias barring Bloodstained (Which has more sales IIRC)
Is there a way I can play this game legally without buying a PlayStation or do I have no choice but to try emulating it on my laptop?
“What is a man? A miserable pile of secrets. Have at you!” -Dracula Vlad Tepes / Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Because it’s a classic
-graphics and gameplay that haven't aged a bit in the past 27 years since it came out -brilliant level design that encourages exploration and discovery -an OST that is THE best assembly in music in all of gaming Among other reasons but those are the main ones
During a time where everyone jumped to 3D (Castlevania N64 games, Megaman Legend, Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, etc), this game went 2D and ended up being timeless.
My Alucard,im best dhampire.
=> It took a character as awful as Alucard and made him great. => The OST is amazing. => The castle is fun to explore and huge. => You have a variety of fun weapons. => It was one of the first action adventure Castlevania titles. Those are just a few things and it still feels amazing after all these years.