Retro Game of the Month March 2018: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Playstation)

Tanoomba

Tanoomba

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We're tackling a hugely popular classic this month, one of my all-time favorite games, the game that put the "vania" in "Metroidvania":

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

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Wikipedia blurb:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night[a][2] is a platform-adventure action role-playing game developed and published by Konami in 1997 for the PlayStation. It was directed and produced by Toru Hagihara, with Koji Igarashi acting as assistant director. It is the direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood taking place four years later. It features Dracula's dhampir son Alucard as the protagonist rising from his slumber to explore the Dracula's castle which has re-appeared after Richter Belmont has vanished.[3] It marks a break from previous games in the series, introducing exploration, non-linear level design and role-playing elements.

Initially, the game was unsuccessful[4] – particularly in the United States where it was meagerly publicized – but thanks to praise by critics, it gained sales through word-of-mouth and became a hit. It has been re-released on several consoles and is considered a sleeper hit, a cult classic, and one of the best video games ever made.

Enjoy!
 
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Marmac

Marmac

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SOTN is probably the best Castlevania game ever made and we'll probably never get one as good ever again. SOTN is my all time favorite Castlevania game but I will probably never go back to playing it because it's not a pick up and play type Castlevania game that can be finished in a couple of hours or so. My go to Castlevania games for quick plays are Super Castlevania 4, Dracula X and Rondo of Blood.

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Siliconemelons

Siliconemelons

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I enjoy a playthrough of a metroidvania much more than "traditional" CV games - sans my love for cv2

I need to get my ps3 dusted off- I should kick through a SOTN and finally complete mirror of fate
 
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Janx

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Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.
 
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Tanoomba

Tanoomba

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So much for self control.

I can play the original disc on my backwards-compatible PS3 (in fact, I think I may even have a digital copy on the PS3 itself; I haven't turned it on in years), but since I'm at Mire's house I decided to do a fresh start of SOTN on an emulator. Even though I already had a working emulator (previously used to play Suikoden), for whatever reason the resolution was out of whack and I wasn't able to fix it (the beer doesn't help). What really bugs me, though, is that I long ago purchased Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for PSP (which not only includes a port of SOTN but is easily the best way to enjoy a playthrough while binge-watching Netflix) but I have a strong suspicion the disc was accidentally and inconspicuously knocked into a garbage bin at some point.

Long story short: I bought the game again. That's how much I love Symphony of the Night.
 
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Janx

Janx

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I had originally bought SOTN when i first got my PS1. I had read no reviews or anything on it, was just a spur of the moment pickup. Best purchase of my life. Easily my favorite platformer of all time. Also bought it when it came out on the 360 but I'll probably play it on an emu just to clean up the sprites.
 
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Siliconemelons

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Is there an enchanted rom for visuals somewhere?

I also got the drac x chronicals- but for psp I think?

Gatta get my ps3 plugged in to decide what I am going to play.
 
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A

a_skeleton_00

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So I'm playing this right now and honest to god:

WHY ARENT GAMES THIS GOOD NOW?

This story is a fraction deep of what AAA games do now but still does what it has to, and the gameplay is still feeling like top 5 games ever made, I cannot believe how fun this is still.
 
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Marmac

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a_skeleton_00 said:
So I'm playing this right now and honest to god:

WHY ARENT GAMES THIS GOOD NOW?

This story is a fraction deep of what AAA games do now but still does what it has to, and the gameplay is still feeling like top 5 games ever made, I cannot believe how fun this is still.
Click to expand...

SOTN was Konami at its finest. We'll never see a Konami like that ever again. Now they're too busy charging people 10$ for a save slot in Metal Gear.
 
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Siliconemelons

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Yeah, i need to find my "what system do you want it for" survey- I think i swapped from wiiu to xboner, now i want it ps4... I think you can change...

Indeed its been a LONG time- but there is always progress, it should be soon- I think last update said new playable demo for all on steam soon- and all music is done.

edit: found the place to change to ps4...and randomly found my steam backer demo download code...still worked! playing it soon
 
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Szlia

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Never mind the fact I don't like the game (which did not prevent me from playing through the whole thing back in the days), I don't seem to have it anymore! Back in the days I traded some games so maybe it's a victim of that. The other option is that I played the EU version and all those games are in storage. I have lists of the stuff I have in storage... on the secondary hard drive of a dead desktop PC.....
 
Tanoomba

Tanoomba

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Szlia said:
Never mind the fact I don't like the game (which did not prevent me from playing through the whole thing back in the days), I don't seem to have it anymore! Back in the days I traded some games so maybe it's a victim of that. The other option is that I played the EU version and all those games are in storage. I have lists of the stuff I have in storage... on the secondary hard drive of a dead desktop PC.....
Click to expand...
Do you have Castlevania: the Dracula X Chronicles for PSP?
 
McCheese

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SotN is not only my very first PS1 game, but also my very first Castlevania game. For whatever reason, I never played any of the Castlevania games back in the day.

I just beat the 2nd boss (Doppleganger dude) and I'm really, really enjoying this. It's a fantastic game. The controls feel so good, and the animations are top notch. The music and sound effects are great.
 
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Jackie Treehorn

Jackie Treehorn

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It's a great game. The only "bad" part if you will is the fact you can get some items that are basically like turning cheats on. It's been a long time since I've played, but the one I remember is a shield? that more or less makes you invincible while doing incredible damage at the same time, killing even bosses in seconds. Someone probably knows what I'm talking about. Then once you get some of these items you have to force yourself not to use them or it cheeses the rest of the game.
 
Siliconemelons

Siliconemelons

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It's the reason why you go to the library :)

I always in a playthrough to kill the Egyptian God guy "normally" but either use the crissaegrim or the status hacks to kill him, that fucker is hard
 
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