Castlevania SOTN - by Shady
Imagine that you are the 400 year old son of Dracula. You go by the name of Alucard and your mission is to rid the world of your cursed blood line. To complete your mission, you must enter Castlevania and do battle with all sorts of crazy monsters in order to face your own father, Dracula. If this story sounds interesting to you, then you may want to keep reading.. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night may be the game for you.
Castlevania has always been regarded as one of the best action/adventure gaming series around. Combine that with the fact that Konami makes the game and you basically have a key to success.
Graphics - 9/10
Castlevania is set in a superb 2D environment. Each portion of the castle is chock full of detail, right down to little things that you probably won't even notice. For example, in part of the Reverce Keep, you may notice a giant eyeball watching you run. I happened to see something pure white flash in the background, and sure enough, there was a gigantic eyeball staring back at me.
Two of the most intriguing environments are the Outer Wall and the Catacombs. The first time you reach the Outer Wall, the room will be full of mist. I really liked the mist and sometimes I would just sit there and watch the mist float around on the screen. On one of the sides of the wall, there is a scarecrow hanging from a piece of brick that sticks out. I didn't notice that at first either, but it is another added touch. The only thing I really liked about the Catacombs was the very cool ice background in one part of it. I would just go back and forth watching the ice move around me because it looked so neat. In fact, all of Castlevania's different rooms are each unique with their own little twists and quirks added in.
One of my favorite parts of the game was looking out for every enemy in the game. There are over 140 different enemies to battle and each one looks marvelous. Enemies range from such creatures as skeletons to knights. The bosses are also enjoyable to look at, but from a distance. One of the bosses that impressed me the most was Beezelbub. Beezelbub is by far the coolest boss I have ever seen. It may not be the prettiest, but it sure got the job done on detail.
Alucard, Richter, and the rest of the main characters in the game are also easy on the eyes. When you run with Alucard, you will detect the animations very quickly. If you equip Alucard with a cloak, then it will float up and down on his back. Depending on the color of the cloak, it can also provide camouflage. It will even stay the same color when you turn into other beings. Even Alucard's hair moves up and down while scampering through the castle. It simply is a work of art, much like the rest of the game.
Sound - 9/10
Ask any old school gamer where to find the best game music and they will probably bring up the Castlevania series. Symphony of the Night is no different than its brothren. There are several classic music tracks, including my two favorites - "The Tragic Prince" and "Requiem of the Gods". Nearly every major room of the castle has its own track, most of which are simply fabulous. Better yet, each selection fits the part of the game it is in. You would think that "Requiem of the Gods" would belong in some kind of chapel, right? Well, it is. It is in the Royal Chapel.
Sound effects is an area where the game struggles, but does manage to come out halfway decent. I really didn't pay much attention to the effects because I was busy actually playing the game, but I do know that there are a lot of 'em. Alucard himself emits several grunts throughout the course of the game when he swings his sword or whatever he has equipped at that time. The enemies also have many different noises to make, but most of them emerge when it tastes the agony of defeat. It adds to the moment, especially after annihilating a key boss.
Voice acting is probably the worst aspect of the overall sound. While it is not completely horrible, it does leave a lot to desire. The voice actors often stress the wrong part of their line, sometimes making the line unintentionally humorous. The lines themselves are not that bad, but it is really just the way it is said. Thankfully, there is not a great deal of voice acting to experience so it does not totally ruin the idea. What's more is that you can skip over the voicing once you have cleared the game, which may make some gamers give a cry of relief.
Gameplay - 9.5/10
Honestly, I do not know where to start in explaining the gameplay. There is just so many things to do that it is almost unreal. Exploring the castle is obviously the most important thing to do in the game, so I guess I will start there.
When you begin a new game, you will start off playing as Richter Belmont, an old vampire hunter. You get to play a scene from "Bloodlines" where you are required to kill Dracula. This whole scene leads into the Symphony of the Night game where you play the part of Alucard, Dracula's son. To find Dracula, you must investigate the castle. While it is not required to explore the entire castle, it should be done if you want to acquire the full 200.6% in the game.
On your expedition throughout the castle, you will meet different people. I won't get into specifics on the characters you meet for fear of spoilers, but let's just say that they are a very integral part of the game. Some will give you key items to get past certain bosses. There is even one who will let you buy and trade with him. It just adds to the adventure.
One of the crucial parts of the game is to get your hands on new items and relics. Items include such equipment as swords, knuckles, money, and potions. Relics, however, are a whole different story. Relics will literally enable you to explore more parts of the castle and they can help you out quite a bit. The three most important relics to find are the soul of bat, soul of wolf, and form of mist. With those relics, you can turn into a bat, wolf, or mist, respectively. Turning into a bat will allow you to fly into places you have never been before. Transforming into a wolf will allow you to fully explore the water parts of the game, but not much else. Finally, the mist will enable you to gracefully go through anything in the game, except for a wall.
Another type of a relic is a familiar. There are three familiars to find - sword, bat, and fairy. You can only activate one familiar at a time, but each can help you in their own way. For example, the fairy familiar will heal you when you are down, or it will even free you of being a stone. Although the fairy is very useful if you are in a tight situation, the demon familiar is even better in my opinion. The demon will fly around you much like the fairy, but the demon will actually attack enemies with you. Familiars will also gain experience with you, so it is a good idea to have one activated at all times.
Speaking of experience, that brings me to another vital part in the game - gaining experience. Symphony of the Night manages to implement a few RPG elements in the game, including gaining experience. To "level up" as RPG fans would say, you need to kill enemies. The stronger the enemy, the more health points you will recieve. You need to keep a high health level if you want to succeed. There are also magic points to acquire and they also come when you kill an enemy. Magic points allow you to turn into the bat, wolf, or mist and it will allow you to work spells. It is very important not to waste your health and magic points.
Yet another significant thing for Alucard to do is to collect hearts. You can obtain hearts by killing enemies or by slashing a candle or light. Hearts will allow you to use special weapons that can also be acquired by slashing candles. The special weapons can be used by pressing up and the attack button and every one of them has its own special function. For example, using an axe will make you throw the axe up high in the air. You need to have good aim if you have any intentions of actually hitting your enemy, though. There are nine special weapons in total, but I only use two of them most of the time.
Perhaps the only thing that I did not like about the game was all of the backtracking. While it is not completely necessary if you are just a casual player, it is required if you want to get the full 200.6%. It can be a pain to venture through the same room over and over again, but it is not too big of a deal.
Overall, the gameplay is top notch. I seriously doubt anything can even come close to Castlevania in terms of gameplay.
Controls 9/10
Despite using a complicated system, the controls are actually quite simple. Nearly every button comes into play, but you do not really need a lot of dexterity to play. You get two buttons for your action keys - square and circle. Square controls your right hand while circle controls your left hand. You can use two weapons at a time, or you can choose to use a shield in one hand and a sword in another. It really does not matter. The triangle button is used as a back dash, but it is not really essential to the game. I rarely would ever use it. The ever important X button is used to jump, which you will be doing a lot of. The top buttons on the controller are also used. The L1, R1, and R2 buttons are used to turn into your other forms, but oddly the L2 button is not used. Select is used to pause the game and bring up your map, and start is used to access the main menu. Like I mentioned earlier, it is very easy to learn and you should have no problem at all.
Overall 9/10
It was a tough decision to give Symphony of the Night a nine or a ten. I finally decided on a nine after reviewing the categories, but I am still not completely sure about my decision. If that is not reason enough for you to go buy this game, which is now a $20 "Greatest Hits" title, then I don't know what to tell you. Castlevania: SOTN is easily one of my favorite games of all time, right up there with Suikoden. It gets my highest recommendation. Once again, thank you Konami.
