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LTTP: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

You got something to say, Lupo? 🐻🐻🐻
Nope, sorrow was so forgettable comparing to sotn that i would not have much to say even if i wanted to :lollipop_grinning_sweat:

I only vaguely remember the shit protagonist compared to my boy alucard and the enemy soul system and not much else.
 
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SotN my favorite Castlevania game.

My others are Rondo of Blood, Castlevania (NES), Bloodlines (Genesis), and Portrait of Ruin (DS).

I've played EVERY Castlevania game including the MSX one, but my favorites are the ones I've felt like beating more than once.

Honorable mention to The Adventure Rebirth which I'm going through now but haven't beaten yet.
 
I need to replay it again. It is GOATED for sure.

I played it a few years ago in the modern collection and I got stuck in that tight ass corridor with the spikes and I couldn't mist or bat my way through it lol. Getting old sucks! haha

Also SHOUTOUT to Super Castlevania IV, my other GOATED Castlevania. I'm also due for a Dominus Collection playthrough.

Contra Zoneoftheenders GIF by KONAMI
 
People comparing sotn with aria of sorrow, like cmon...
Aria is a very good game, by far the best in the GBA trilogy.
But I didn't like the different weapons, nor the character design, nor the stupid anime storytelling that stops the action to tell absolutely nothing and tries to keep things mysterious while you can tell who's the bad guy as soon as you see his portrait.



shitstained

shouldnt even be mentioned next to sotn
Yep. Bloodstained is a poor game considering who produced and directed it.
Having to absorb a randomly-dropping enemy soul to acquire a mandatory skill has to rank among the most moronic game design decisions of the millennium. I don't care if it only takes a few minutes.
It's still a competent 7/10, but a huge disappointment.
 
Never really understood the hate for Silksong. It's one of the best games of this genre ever made.

SotN will always be my favourite though so I agree with you on that part.

I personally can't stand the artstyle in the games and its Souls-isms I just found to be really obnoxious and unnecessary. Plus I thought the map was terrible.

You know what I think is a decent pathfinder (I cant say metroidvania) is Chasm. It's VERY SOTN in its design and gameplay. Great OST as well.

Edit - Bloodstained was really good too I thought, but I mean, it better be right?
 
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Yep. Bloodstained is a poor game considering who produced and directed it.
Having to absorb a randomly-dropping enemy soul to acquire a mandatory skill has to rank among the most moronic game design decisions of the millennium. I don't care if it only takes a few minutes.
It's still a competent 7/10, but a huge disappointment.

I was sort of hyped but when I booted it up I was like wtf is this mediocre shite?! Glad that kickstarter bullshit died, nothing great came out of these ex-devs
 
I remember my reaction when playing SOTN the first time way back then was how much it didn't seem like a Castlevania game. I'd previously played CV1, and 4 and some of 2. The structure of this game was totally different, the music felt out of place at times (electric guitars) and it had this anime art style. You went from whip swinging Simon Belmont who looked like Conan the Barbarian to an effeminate vampire with a sword. I didn't like it at first and returned it without playing it that much. I went back to it a few years later to give it another chance after all the hype it had got and I got into to it a lot more.

I ended up liking it quite a lot and appreciating it's just a different style of CV game to add to the traditional version. In some ways it's still the best of the Metroidvania's when it comes to level design, secrets and art. I really don't like the fact that it becomes too easy though. I like a good challenge and great boss battles. Those are areas some of the others are much better in. Depending on what you value most some might prefer SOTN over everything else. For me there are others I like more due to those aspects and also for giving you a huge range of abilities.
 
Wow you guys didn't like Bloodstained huh? Dunno where I was when the hate train was making its rounds on that one.
For me it's just like...the ultimate example of what I'd expect to come out of a pipeline who's defining characteristic is "do SotN, again!". Remember deep-fried memes, where image was reproduced so many times that everything was bizarrely oversaturated and hypercontrasted?

Bloodstained is deep-fried SotN. Sure, it's got the bones in there, but it's also just...greasy and fatty, and not something you'd ever mistake for fine dining.

I realize I mixed this metaphor all the way to hell, but I think my point comes across.
 
Nope, sorrow was so forgettable comparing to sotn that i would not have much to say even if i wanted to :lollipop_grinning_sweat:

I only vaguely remember the shit protagonist compared to my boy alucard and the enemy soul system and not much else.

At least AoS didn't have ridiculously long hallways or vertical shafts like Symphony did.

Symphony needs a remake that either trims the fat or ups the density of shortcuts/warp rooms.

What's ridiculous really IMO is people suggesting SotN trumps Super Metroid for any reason other than RPG mechanics. Super Metroid's layout is superior by leagues.
 
Loved it. Played it on the PSP first and had a blast. Needed to use a guide to get the inverted castle, though. First playthrough, I only got the normal ending.
Replayed it a few years ago when the Netflix show came out, with the ultimate Dracula's shield OP weapon. Made it easy to 200% the game.
Soundtrack is the goat, so many classics.
 
At least AoS didn't have ridiculously long hallways or vertical shafts like Symphony did.

Symphony needs a remake that either trims the fat or ups the density of shortcuts/warp rooms.

What's ridiculous really IMO is people suggesting SotN trumps Super Metroid for any reason other than RPG mechanics. Super Metroid's layout is superior by leagues.
This is why Super Metroid tops SotN for me too. Castlevania has multiple long corridors that feel like they only exist so that they could connect areas of the castle. Its almost like they ran out of time (or ideas) on how to connect zones and just put long hallways to just make it work. Metroids world is PERFECT. 👌
 
Any day now with that SofN, Rondo of Blood collection on PC Konami :messenger_pouting:
Agree. Both are among best Castlevania games and their absence on PC feels weird, specially when even the DS entries are avaliable in the platform. I know Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night are playable with emulators, but still...

I have every single Castlevania compilation on PC and I would gladly buy a fourth one with these entries.
 
I have no idea, but that's exactly the reason I stopped playing it. I always need a guide for almost all metroidvanias because whenever I play a game I can't remember shit for backtracking. The only metroidvania that did a great job in this regard was PoP the lost crown, because that game let you do screenshots of the areas you're stuck at so whenever you got a new ability you instantly knew where to use it.

You still get the location of any spots with a door/opening you haven't gotten past yet from the map. Check them all while leveling and finding stuff in between stops, rinse and repeat. You know you need to look harder if they're all dead ends, it means you missed something. This loop worked for me in these games, especially with the map that is one million times easier to read than Metroid Dread.
 
At least AoS didn't have ridiculously long hallways or vertical shafts like Symphony did.

Symphony needs a remake that either trims the fat or ups the density of shortcuts/warp rooms.

What's ridiculous really IMO is people suggesting SotN trumps Super Metroid for any reason other than RPG mechanics. Super Metroid's layout is superior by leagues.
Super Metroid's layout is incredible even today, let alone in 1994.
There are literally no two rooms alike in that game.
It's amazing, considering that Metroid 1 was copypaste corridor after copypaste shaft for a good half of the whole map.
Igavanias are a step back in comparison.
 
Bros, I've beaten every Dark Souls/Borne/Elden Ring game. But I got to the Colosseum boss fight for the first time in SOTN yesterday, and I just don't know if it's worth it. I've got ~140HP, they do something like 40 damage each hit, and my options for best weapons seem to be between Alucard's sword and the Jewel Fists.

Is this a common roadblock/filter boss? I gave it three goes and not sure if I want to go back to it.
 
Bros, I've beaten every Dark Souls/Borne/Elden Ring game. But I got to the Colosseum boss fight for the first time in SOTN yesterday, and I just don't know if it's worth it. I've got ~140HP, they do something like 40 damage each hit, and my options for best weapons seem to be between Alucard's sword and the Jewel Fists.

Is this a common roadblock/filter boss? I gave it three goes and not sure if I want to go back to it.
kobe-bryant-smh.gif
 
Bros, I've beaten every Dark Souls/Borne/Elden Ring game. But I got to the Colosseum boss fight for the first time in SOTN yesterday, and I just don't know if it's worth it. I've got ~140HP, they do something like 40 damage each hit, and my options for best weapons seem to be between Alucard's sword and the Jewel Fists.

Is this a common roadblock/filter boss? I gave it three goes and not sure if I want to go back to it.
You can always explore for a bit then come back. If that was the only place left you'd likely have the stats to carry you through.

Hardest hitting doesn't always correlate to best weapon, as there are different swing speeds and cooldowns to consider.

Maybe go back to the librarian and see what is for sale.
 
Think I just needed to sleep on it and come back. Beat the Colosseum bosses and then Olrox after. Thanks for the push, robot jerk.

By the way, was this game a big inspiration for Bloodborne? The transformations, the leveling up, the unraveling of the environment like a puzzle, the weapon and equipment selection, even some of the storytelling...it's cool to see the groundwork here for what Bloodborne would do later.

Then again, I haven't played many other games like this or the earlier Castlevanias, so maybe it's a bit like:

Mtb1p8FAJtpvm5Mv.png
 
Bros, I've beaten every Dark Souls/Borne/Elden Ring game. But I got to the Colosseum boss fight for the first time in SOTN yesterday, and I just don't know if it's worth it. I've got ~140HP, they do something like 40 damage each hit, and my options for best weapons seem to be between Alucard's sword and the Jewel Fists.

Is this a common roadblock/filter boss? I gave it three goes and not sure if I want to go back to it.
*Alucart
flailing ready to go GIF by Laff


P.S. You are better off using your bare hands (I am serious) unless you find something better.
 
Alucart equpment is kinda a spoof. If you use all 3 of the Alucart equipment you get a 30 percent luck boost. Try to find a regular sword.
 
The GBA and DS games are all cut from the same cloth. None of them hit the heights of SOTN though.

I've played a lot of Metroidvanias, both older and modern iterations. There's lots of great ones out there but Symphony of the Night still stands above all of them even after all these years.
 
shitstained

shouldnt even be mentioned next to sotn
No game should, if we can be perfectly honest.
It will always be king.

But it's still one of the better MetroidVanias to release in the past 10 years and still shits astronomical heights above the likes of Hollow Knight, with it's summer child following and glazing.
 
You could always grind and level up first.

It's what I've always done since 98. At the prologue just go downstairs and fight the unlimited fishmen until you're level 8 (you'll collect some decent cash and maybe a few rings too) and then you'll never need to grind or worried about being underleveled for anything again for the rest of the game.
 
I was thinking about going back and playing through a bunch of Castlevanias this year. Which ones are most like Symphony of the Night that gives the full Metroidvania experience? I know SOTN is regarded as the "Most Metroidvania-y" but what one should I play next that is closest to this and has the most Metroidvania elements(ability upgrades, backtracking, exploration, being able to access new areas, health upgrades, etc).

I have beaten all the 2D Castlevania games. Yes, all of them, including mobile stuff. The very best 2D Castlevania overall, in my experienced -but still subjective- opinion:

96084_front.jpg


So, play that one.
 
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