Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

(Konami, 1997)

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Story:

From what I gather…

The story of Symphony of the Night begins where Castlevania Bloodlines ends, with a meeting between you, legendary vampire hunter Richter Belmont, and Dracula, high in his keep. Everyone’s favourite vampire complains about “hu-mons” (Quark would be proud), religion, and probably the weather. Richter tells Dracula where to go, and a boss battle ensues. Halfway through the fight, the background fades away, and Dracula becomes a gigantic demon. After taking a couple deaths, you realize that Richter Belmont is destined to win this epic showdown (you can’t lose). Dracula cries in defeat as Richter the Vampire Hunter delivers the final blow to his adversary. Peace is restored, and the ruling class can continue to exploit your average 18th Century Romanian. Dracula’s castle will now disappear for another hundred years… or will it?

Flash forward four years, and “under the glare of a full moon,” Richter mysteriously vanishes. Maybe he needed a dust filter for a Hoover Max Extract Pressure Pro Model 60. When Maria, Richter’s gal pal, starts looking for him, she notices that Castlevania, Dracula’s oversized bachelor pad, appeared 96 years early.

This massive disturbance in the force awakens Alucard, Dracula’s son, from a long, self-inflicted slumber. You see, Alucard recognized that he came from nasty stuff. So he took one for the team and sentenced himself to an eternal slumber. Now lucid, Alucard figures it high time to check on his dad.

Cut to a shot of a sprinting silver-haired guy. Why is he sprinting through the forest? Who knows… maybe he has a mad craving for a Frankfurter. The silver fox, or should I say silver wolf, barely makes a jump onto a closing drawbridge and slides into the grounds of Dracula’s castle. Controlling Alucard, you make your way through a couple of rooms, overpowering enemies and trouncing everything in your path. That is until you meet Death. The Grim Reaper tells Alucard to go home and mind his own business. The ever stubborn Alucard defies Death, informing the reaper that he will enter the castle to figure out what is going on. Death, whose hands are tied, says he can’t stop you, but he will slow you down. He then takes all your stuff and hides it throughout the castle. Bummer.

Alucard then enters his old man’s castle, looking to investigate the mysterious vibe he has been getting since Richter Belmont disappeared.

Welcome to Symphony of the Night…

Gameplay:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a 2D side-scrolling action-adventure beat 'em up with RPG elements thrown in for good measure. The game elicits a sense of exploration. There is no correct way to trek through Dracula's castle. You must navigate from room to room, battling enemies and looking for items. Sometimes these items will allow you to access new areas in rooms you have previously visited, unlocking a sea of new possibilities. This is a clever way to design a linear game. The player definitely becomes immersed in the seemingly open-endedness of exploration. In fact, this game, and the Nintendo classic Metroid, spawned a new genre of games, the Metroidvania. There are boss battles around the castle, unlocking key areas or items upon completion.

Here's the thing about this game… There are a ton of items. You can equip items to both hands, usually weapons, shields, and items you can "use." You also can equip armour to your head and body, a cloak, and two jewelry items. These items boost your stats and make Alucard stronger. Alucard gains experience throughout the game by defeating enemies and "levels up" after meeting various experience thresholds. This also makes Alucard stronger.

There are so many weapons in this game. This leads to my biggest complaint with Symphony of the Night. The inventory management is clunky and unintuitive. I get that the developers were defining a genre. Still, I spent large chunks of time looking for items in my inventory. This distracted me from both the gameplay and the story. Like other Castlevania games, you find projectile weapons throughout the castle, with the heart counter essentially representing your ammo. I liked the daggers.

On top of all the items, there are also spells, relics, and familiars. Spells are unique button combos that provide a temporary boost at the expense of MP. You stumble upon these spells throughout the castle. Relics are always on or off items, making life easier for Alucard on his adventure. Finally, familiars are a little sidekick that you can activate who provides various assistance throughout the game. I stuck with the faerie and the monster.

If that seems like a lot, it's because it is. I sometimes found myself overwhelmed with all the items and their corresponding functions. As the game progressed, this became increasingly frustrating, and my inventory screen was overflowing. An ability to sell things to help clear inventory would have been excellent.

There are lots of save points scattered throughout the castle. Save often because this is where you restart if you die.

Overall, this is an excellent gameplay experience which is sometimes hindered by cumbersome inventory management.

Graphics:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night’s 2-D graphics were somewhat of a rarity when the game was released in early 1997. At this time, the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 were both knee-deep in 3-D action platformers. Symphony of the Night’s “dated” look stuck out like a sore thumb. Fast forward 25 years and the low polygon count 3-D worlds of this console generation are the dated-looking games. It’s cliche, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night’s graphics hold up better than 99% of games from the era. The sprit-work is amazing. The movement is fluid. The backgrounds are mesmerizing, especially the cathedral hall with that weird sword enemy. The weather effects, including clouds, rain, and lightning are stunning. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one of the prettiest games of its generation. If you are a fan of 2-D pixel-art, with 3-D elements thrown in for good measure, this game is for you.

Images:

Sound:

You will not be disappointed. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night takes advantage of the increased storage space on a Compact Disc with an unending stream of high-quality rockin’ tracks. The soundtrack is epic and the sound effects are perfect. The voice acting is somewhat cheesy, but who cares. Honestly, my words will not do the music of this game any justice. Just go play or listen to it yourself. As I said before when that electric guitar kicks in during a boss battle… lookout.

Final Thoughts:

Well, the story is great if you are into Castlevania lore. Otherwise, it’s just a room crawler. The gameplay is tight, but convoluted inventory management can hinder the experience. The graphics and sound are both excellent and stand the test of time.

The number one goal of Dad Plays is to let all you Dads out there know if a game is worth your valuable time. Is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night worth a Dad’s time? Depends. If you are into Metroidvanias, you owe yourself to experience a grandparent of the genre. If you are not into Metroidvanias, and you could take or leave the gothic motif, I think you could get away with watching an LP on youtube. This game deserves all the praise it gets, however it is far from perfect and not for everyone.

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