"Castlevania: Symphony of the Night"

Reviewed by MarcKal - 4/23/05

What is Symphony of the Night? Just a miserable pile of secrets? Ah, actually, yes, but not miserable. More of amazing, wonderful, and lovable. In Symphony of the Night, you play Dracula's bastard son Alucard, who is awakened to find that there is no Belmont trying to take him down.

          

Concept - 10/10
The concept is really simple. Take something from one of your previous games, learn how RPG's work, get a big orchestra, add four cups of total sweetness, and there's Symphony of the Night, complete with a large castle and the best video game music ever!

Story - 10/10
While the story is pretty simple, it still adds onto the legacy that is Castlevania. Here's how it goes: Alucard, Dracula's half-human son (a dhampir) is awakened, to find that no Belmont is fighting Dracula. Now, he must go on and destroy Dracula on his own (with an occasional appearance of Maria Renard). Why is the story so good? Well, because it's simple, but yet, it's classic and gives the game a reason.

Sound - 8/10
Wow, this is just a BIG wow. The music is AMAZING and even if you don't like Symphony or whatever, you're gonna be into it. Each piece of music really adds onto the feel of the area, making it either more action-oriented, creepy, or whatever floats your boat. The only thing to really "Ughhhh" about is voice acting. First of all, the fairy's voice is much light and sexier in the original Japanese version, making the English version's fairy sound like a guy, second of all, in the English voice acting, where did a lot of the feeling go? I mean, yeah, some of the voice actors do a kinda good job with the acting part, but some really didn't. I mean what the hell? The succubus talks like she's in a kindergarten play and Alucard in the succubus part sounds like he's only in a second grade play. Better, but not good at all. If only the voice acting was better or the game offered an option where I could listen to the Japanese version better, sound wouldn't suffer dropping two from ten. Sorry music, but it seems Konami didn't think that we Americans (even though I'm Asian v_v) should hear the GOOD voice acting and didn't give us a choice in the options.

Graphics - 10/10
This was good stuff back in the day and it still kinda is. Konami took their sweet time making all these sprites and you know what? It was freaking worth it. Each of Alucard's weapons and shields are different, making each one special. The enemy's are mostly different, maybe just a few tidbits here and there that are just changes of color (but it's nothing to get the score dropped down). Another good thing is how good they made the Venus Weed and other ladies of SotN look, if you know what I mean (I'm a big echhi fan, but let's not get into that ^_^). Some cool dude's weapons and sexy female fatales never looked so good in a video game.

Gameplay - 10/10 The gameplay simply amazes me. I could play this game for hours. Hell, I'd play this longer than Morrowind, a game people KNOW I'm obsessed with. The gameplay is simple to learn, yet it's complicated as well, having a learning curve of about thirty minutes. First of all, the inventory system was well made, making it easy for me to know what I could equip in whatever category. Second of all, the fighting was pretty good and bosses made you feel into it, not to mention the stronger of the enemies (and no, giant skeleton heads are not strong ^_^). Third of all, the variety of equipment really makes each one different, from spike breaking cuirasses to nunchaku. And finally, what really makes the gameplay worth it is the non-linear, explore where ever the hell you want thing going on, giving you all the time in the world to finish it and maybe someone out there didn't even bother to go fight Dracula yet, eh?

Multiplayer - 8/10
I know, there IS no multiplayer, but it's a great game to sit around with friends playing. For example, last summer, me and my friends chilled in my room, mostly doing the following: Eating, playing SotN, and watching TV. I mean, yeah, we played other games like Raw and Aria of Sorrow, but SotN was a great game to play while talking to friends, watching TV, and having a huge slice of pizza. The only reason this got downgraded was because there is actually no multiplayer and I will explain what kind there should have been later.

Replay Value - 9/10
Mostly, you'll be popping this game in the PS1 for about a year or two, if, of course, you wanna discover every secret and explore every little nook and cranny. Also, playing as Richter (after completing 70% of the Castle, make a profile with RICHTER as its name) gives more replay. This got downgraded mainly because of the fact that if you didn't go through the main game at a good pace. I mean, you can explore and do a lot of crap, yeah, but if you didn't want it to get boring, you had to continue at a steady rate. I'll explain what could make you play a lot after this.

My Ideas
Multiplayer - Multiplayer should've been in. I mean, it could've been like this: You can load your character while you friend loads his. You choose an arena (maybe one of the areas or special versions of the areas so they're more arena like) and before you go in, you choose the equipment you're gonna bring in. After choosing a weapon, armor, boots, etc, you go in with you're friend and fight with him. Potions are now "pick-up" items that come from candles and such that will respawn every couple of minutes. Hearts and special weapons remain. You can also bet things you have in the game at the beginning so if you lose, you actually lose the item as well. Boss Battle - Boss Battle would be AWESOME. I mean a mode where you can select beaten bosses and re-kick their ass! Also, if it was in, there'd be something where you can make them harder or easier.

The Low Down
Really awesome game that should be on your wish list if you don't have it. If you're young enough, maybe you can get your parents to get it for you, eh?

Back