Thanks for all the amazing comments everyone! It's always a pleasure to return to one of my favorite series: Castlevania :) Symphony of the Night was actually the reason why I bought a Playstation at launch instead of a Saturn. In some brochure I saw the name Castlevania among a list of future releases and thought "this means I have to buy a Playstation" :) I still had to wait for more than a year before the game finally got released. Btw: the game had a really limited run here in Europe for some reason, I remember hardly seeing it on store shelves back in the day. I did manage to snatch a limited PAL edition of the game with artbook and audio cd featuring tunes from all Castlevania games up until that point which was already great by itself. The fun thing was I really didn't know what to expect from the game but was quickly blown away as I loved both Castlevania and 2D action adventure games like Wonderboy and Konami's Maze of Galious. Symphony of the Night is the PS1 game I definitely played the most and my favorite game for that console. Rondo of Blood is amazing as well but the PC-engine never got released over here, I eventually got to play it for the first time in the 2000s and loved it! My first experience with that storyline was with Dracula X for the SNES (called Vampire's Kiss here in Europe). I'm glad that port came out because it introduced me to these characters like Richter Belmont.
I remember buying Rondo of Blood on the Wii's Virtual Console. I was living in Germany at the time and the intro's voice acting had me mad for a sec, thinking I was automatically assigned a half-localised version.
I honestly had no clue about Symphony on my PlayStation until I saw it on a PlayStation magazine rated as one of the better games on the system, but they gave away the inverted castle secret in the article. I was interested about it from that fact alone and thought “oh man this game must be good if there’s TWO castles to explore! And one is upside down!” Haha
That's when they were still a TRUE game company. They were one of the top four Japanese game companies along side with Square, Enix (now both of them merged) and Capcom.
To make a quad from two triangles and texture it to act as a sprite is such a simple yet clever idea. It's these stories that keep me going as a software engineer.
Yeah I just played through 4 on my SNES mini not 2 weeks ago. I never played the PlayStation game, but now I'm going to have to. What's the best way to play the PC engine & PS1 game? Emulators or are they sold still
@@drowningin EDIT: just learned about this: If you have a PS4/PS5, check out Castlevania Requiem. It has both games together, for about $20 or so. If you only have a PS3, or an Xbox system (360/One/Series), Symphony of the Night is still available as a digital download. (Also exists physically on Xbox 360, if you can find it, as Konami Classics Volume 1.) Dracula X/Rondo of Blood is harder to find if you don't have a PS4- as far as I know, the only other way to get it is on the Turbografx-16 Mini, although I heard of a physical Turbografx CD rerelease happening soon. (I'd expect that the disc will also be playable on PC, via emulators.) It was on Wii Virtual Console, but that was shut down. There was also a PSP release of both of these games, but it changed quite a bit of stuff, like the graphics and voice acting, and it runs choppier than the original. And now that I think of it, the online store just closed down, so you'd have to buy it on eBay or something anyway.
Man.... SotN aged super well. I didn't play it until the PS4 port.... And yet, it ended up being one of my all-time favorite games. This was a super well done video on these games. Both Rondo, and Symphony had some interesting history behind them.
The reason is the insane amount of work and research he puts into them. That's why they are as good as they are. To say there's no reason discredits all that work.
he was agreeing with the game being good, they didn't have to make the game this good, it was a labor of Love which is sorta reason but it wasn't set to the standard it put itself at with its awesome design
Amazing video! Bonus fact: the female singer in SOTN is Michiru Yamane's sister (she told me when we were hanging out backstage at Castlevania The Concert).
It never fails to astound me the amount of work you put into these videos. At 9:09, you're simply showing off the box art for Bloodlines, and yet you decided to make a 3D background to display the game case on. Just....insane. You truly put every other TH-camr on this platform to shame. Digital Foundry should hire you for their DF Retro series. You're a genius, and I hope to one day be able to afford to support you on Patreon. Keep up the amazing work.
Been re-watching this over and over to take in just the incredible, unnecessarily sumptuous visuals! Also popped seeing OSW and Matt McMuscles in the book at 17:36! Patron names was such a cool touch. A winner is you 💚
Awesome to hear! Yeah I sometimes add the names of Patrons in my videos as a special way to say thank you :) for example the bookcovers in the library setting also have Patron names on them.
I feel like I've watched a lot of videos about Castlevania and specifically SOTN, and I still came away from this having learned a ton of new production detail I'd never heard before. Great job.
The art direction, music, animation work, and vision put into Symphony is miles beyond what most developers are willing to do these days. SotN is a great lesson in art history.
Omg. I've been so obsessed with SOTN this past week and then you drop this on us out of nowhere? Not sure if destiny wants me to keep it around or your timing is impecable, Thank you Strafefox.
During my last couple of college years I sank HOURS into both Dracula X and Symphony of the Night, both games were absolutely awesome, SoTN especially was a timeless masterpiece, it's a living proof that you can pick up a game from the 90s and enjoy it even more than the majority of games that come out today.
I am glad that you brought up that this game was inspired by Zelda and not Metroid . I never knew this game was inspired by Bram Stroke's Dracula and how much work went into Ayami Kojima's drawings. I love Cynthia Harrell's voice, Konami should had use her wayy more!
Watching this again makes me realize what an incredible couple of teams worked on these two games. Kojima's process is so elaborate, I didn't realize she had so many steps to her work. I just appreciate it more now.
It's amazing how much freedom they had to develop games back in the 90s, and it truly shows, the result was inspired by works of art and became itself art. Except felt a lot more alive, interactive... Truly espetacular to see the creative process behind such a masterpiece as SOTN.
Magnificent work as always. Most TH-cam videos I have on in the background whilst I work, but these ones always require me to sit down with some sandwiches and take in every frame.
Fun fact: For the PSP rerelease and also the Wii VC version they rerecorded the german part of the intro. I don't know who the original VA was, but in the new version they got famous VA Klaus-Dieter Klebsch (as heard in this video) who is the VA for Hugh Laurie in Dr. House or Josh Brolin as Thanos
It's a shame that they also retranslated and dubbed Symphony of the Night, which went over like a lead balloon with fans. While the new dub was probably more competently acted, the amateurish camp of the original dub was beloved b the fans, much like the original dub of Resident Evil 1 or the original translations of Final Fantasy 6
@@slamshift6927 tbh, as a latecomer who first played SotN on the PS4 collection (I played other CV games much earlier), I like the non-meme dub better, as well as the more accurate localization, enemy names and such.
An amazing look at probably my two favorite games of all time both Rondo of Blood and SOTN were astounding for their time and still are great to this day.
Over a few months ago, I had the pleasure to find a physical copy of Symphony of the Night at a local retro game shop in my part of town, and I never regretted getting the game. Loved every moment of it! The art has inspired my art, the music is incredibly and beautifully well crafted, and the tale is as old as time. 37 years later, and still loved by the fans.☺️
Just. Magic. All. Over. Just when I thought I knew all about this series, along comes strafefox and reminds me there is always SO MUCH more to know and learn! SO MUCH INSPIRATION!!
It's insane how much work and innovative technology it takes to make a videogame, even 30 years ago. I know very little about programming and game design, even though I've been gaming since the 80's. But this stuff truly impress me to no end. Takes geniuses to come up with it all.
Yes, and the music is also underappreciated. I never knew how good a lot of VGM is until I heard these amazing guys: th-cam.com/video/_fKGYF3WG0w/w-d-xo.html
Rondo of Blood is the best of the pre 32 bit era Castlevania games, full stop.........It is one of the best designed games of the early-mid 1990s 2D era.
What to say? So high quality content on youtube is so rare and your products, Strafefox, are one of them. Bless the day when I came across in one of you video, never missed one of your uploads
15:59 I'd also like to point out, as far as "all kinds of details" go, using a magical rod on a leather shield to summon the spirit of the cow it was made from is one of the greatest visual gags in all of gaming. Plus, the spirit cow helps you in your battle against Dracula by granting you a defense buff! It's like there's a whole story behind this cow Dracula killed just waiting to be told. One day, I shall tell it!
This is one of the best made documentaries I have EVER watched, and I am not exagerating. The pacing, the visual examples that display while you are explaining technical aspects of development, and the graphics created specially for the video that give the whole piece an atmophere and cohesion, plus really specific and well researched bits of trivia.. it's just wonderful. Bravo!
Making me fall in love with Castlevania all over again. Excellent work on the video, I love watching every second of it! I'm going to boot up Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night and play them again. Thank you.
SOTN is a work of pure genius. Everything from the characters, writing, and design. I cant count how many times i loaded this up just to listen. I eventually learned to play them myself so i still play them when i have time. SOTN, A true work of art.
The TH-cam algorithm finally blessed me with this video of yours, and after binging all of your content, I deeply regret not discovering your criminally underrated channel earlier. Thanks for keeping up this insane quality over the years!
Even as a kid in the 90s who didn't understand anything about video game development, I could tell there was something extremely special about Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I had been a fan of the NES and SNES Castlevania games, but I still remember getting this PlayStation Underground demo disc that had a trailer for the Japanese version of SotN on it. Watching this trailer kind of blew my mind as I realized the new direction the series was going, and even as a kid I realized how cool these changes could be. It would be a few years before I ever even saw the game on sale in the States, but I remember getting it years later and loving it as one of my favorite PS1 games of all time.
@@strafefox Ah, editing to avoid "mirroring" in the background was a nightmare. But cutting is a stroll in the park nowadays. I have to keep translating your amazing episodes, but I lack time so much lately. Let's keep doing our best tho. Thanks a lot for the in-depth on Castlevania franchise. Absolutely enlightening.
Definitely a good idea for extra documentary. To help sell older games, or remasters. I'd love remasters, or just bundles of a older series to have something like this included
Thanks! And good idea! Unfortunately I don't have the time for big freelance projects next my regular job and channel right now. But perhaps in the future.
Additionally to your already mind-blowing extra visuals, you are doing a great job in highlighting how key to SotN's success it was, that everyone on the team was an expert in his/her craft. Thank you for this fantastic video!
The best team to cover the commonly regarded best Castlevania entries. Thoroughly enjoyed it; even learned something new that other hours-long videos did not cover. Five stars!
Great video! I'm so glad you started this off right with a look at Rondo of Blood, one of my favorite games of all time, for which SOTN would not exist without it. For years many SOTN fans didn't know about it or it's connection, even though it starts off in game with the end of Rondo and many of the exact same sprites were used throughout. This isn't too surprising since it was never officially released here till more recently but I for one bought the import for PC Engine CD back when it came out while I was still in high school, I couldn't not have it! Still the best Castlevania.
This is unbelievably well produced!! Holy crap man, you did Symphony of the Night justice. I feel like I have to sit back and take a minute to realize the beauty of what I just watched. Thank you for exploring the behind the scenes details of these masterpieces and shining a light on the people who don't get enough recognition, and presenting everything with such passion.
what a perfect video, as always. they keep getting better. goosebumps at the end. its surreal how much of an impact symphony of the night had on the industry and on indie games later. half of the indies games releasing nowadays are inspired by this masterpiece.
Symphony of the night is one of the finest video games I have ever played and this video manages to demonstrate it very well, congratulations I loved it.
It's humbling to see all the hard work and effort that went into some of these games. SoTN is an incredible piece of work, a real masterpiece. Great production value as always
This video is a master piece. I would have loved to see you talking about the music a bit more in depth given that this OST is one of the main reasons this game was a success.
Castlevania Symphony of the Night is my favorite Castlevania game. The music, the pixeled art and animation is outstanding❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Love this documentary ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Another great video discussing masterpieces we all adore! Excellent choice of music and loving your presentation! Each video has gotten better and better!
This video is very detailed and well-explained on how Symphony of the Night was made. Thank you! Symphony of the Night is the best amongst all the entire Castlevania titles
You never disappoint and always amaze me. The archival footage of Kojima's illustrations is such a find, and the level of quality in all of this is fantastic.
Amazing work, imo Castlevania hit a pinnacle with the graphics of Rondo of Blood. I love the other Castlevania's and they have a great aesthetic but the music and graphics of rondo of blood/sotn is just so vibrant and raw. Would love to see another Rondo of Blood or Sotn pixel style with maybe some experimentation with polygons like sotn but not change too much. They could have even better fluidity
Good lord, I feel like that was one of the best documentaries I’ve ever watched about anything in general. The fact that it was about videogames, let alone my favorite videogames of all time…?? I’m thanking you and the universe for this treat!!!
I played it for the first time just about a month ago. I was completely awed. I liked it even more than Super Metroid, which for me was one of the best games of the genre before this one.
I absolutely love the Naoto Shibata Projects take on SOTN and Rondo's OST. It's badass that Konami went out of their way to hire an 80s metal band to cover the tracks.
What a treat of an episode, I love SotN. Despite beating it several times tho, I don't remember seeing that scene with his mother burned at the stake. Edit: I looked it up and now know how to activate that scene lol. Very informative, awesome, high-production episode as always, Strafefox!
@@firebreathingguy561 Probably. Been a while since I played the normal game. I'm currently playing it, but with a randomizer so all items are changed (I had to equip a diamond and a zircon in the clocktower, and needed the ballroom mask to see the orb above Richter's head, lol).
@@armorvil wait, i use the gold and silver ring to open the clock tower. And then Maria gave me the mask that allow me to see through illusions. When i fight Richter i didnt see any orb above his head? But i still able to go to the Inverted Castle after beating him anyway?
@@firebreathingguy561 Is it a question or a statement ? If this is a question, the answer is no. You have to equip the piece of gear she gives you and attack the orb, not Richter (easy way is to use a holy-elemental weapon so you don't kill Richter by mistake since holy doesn't hurt him). If you're describing what happened in your game, it is weird indeed. Perhaps you were so focused on Richter that you didn't see the orb, and luckily it "died" first? I know I didn't see the orb at first, it's a bit hard to see.
Huh...that info about how the audio streaming being stopped in those connecting corridors in order to load other data makes me think of what I suppose was a bit of a graphical easter egg...I seem to remember several of those corridors having 'CD' in them, inscribed in the ceiling...and now I know why. :-)
I'm playing these fantastic games for the first time and I am in awe of them. This video shows up in TH-cam and It's such a compliment to the games...outstanding video!
Fuck I love this channel! Peerless graphical displays and research; topics I'm always interested in learning about; narration that's calming, well-written, and easy to digest. Strafefox has it all. I know the "🅰️lmighty 🅰️lgorithm" doesn't prefer channels with infrequent, high-quality, lengthy content. But I do, dammit.
what a game. i'm grateful having grown up in the 90s and getting to experience the ps1/n64/dreamcast era when games were starting to be worked on more seriously. this game and its soundtrack will always be one of my favorites.
@@armorvil this game got crystals that you have to collect this game got so much stuff that you have to learn it's really addicting I really like blood-stained ritual of the night very good
I’ll never forget Symphony of the Night. It was released the same year as Final Fantasy VII. My friends and I debated endlessly on which was the better game. Then and now, I am still somewhere in the middle. All I know is that I was blessed with two of the greatest and most influential games of all time within one spectacular year. Thanks for the retrospective.
I usually don't care to comment or share my thoughts on things as I don't see the benefit of going through the hassle of doing so, but after coming back to your series - and this video in particular - time and time again for the otherworldly experience it provides me with, I'd like to at least try to hopefully contribute to your motivation by saying that I, too, think this is the best (web) show I have ever seen in my life. I get the feeling we share the same exact taste when I see the CG sections looking like they're specifically designed to remind of 3D FMVs from Softimage 3D days, which they do a spectacular job of achieving and making the experience just perfect - same as the VA's incredibly professional voice and tone. At least for my tastes, there isn't a single aspect I'd ever want to change, "look more up to date" or similar arguments that could be made. I hope you'll get the support you need to keep this train running this exact same way and - if so desired - make it even bigger. An episode on Super Metroid would be incredible to see as well. Looking forward to the LD and / or VHS releases!
I was just playing SOTN again and wondering about how it came to be. The game is a masterpiece and we are all glad, the developers pushed to make this happen... ESPECIALLY the inverted castle... Without it, the game woulda been too short... I literally spike aloud to myself not even 24 HRS ago, "how is this game sooo good?!" Thanks for the answer!
This is absolutely super high quality. The production value, the cohesive script, tone and overall feel is just great. Most likely one of the best videos in this genre.
By far the best video game channel on youtube these days... Professional and humble, not vying for clicks, delivering stellar production value and not once asking for subscription or begging for support. Kudos for the video and overall approach.
Out of all of the videos I've seen, this one is the only I've seen without skipping it and it's well worth the time as I am incredibly satisfied watching it.
This truly is one of the best and most criminally underrated channels on TH-cam. Thank you so much for all your hard work--and for bringing back the memories.
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Thanks for all the amazing comments everyone! It's always a pleasure to return to one of my favorite series: Castlevania :)
Symphony of the Night was actually the reason why I bought a Playstation at launch instead of a Saturn. In some brochure I saw the name Castlevania among a list of future releases and thought "this means I have to buy a Playstation" :) I still had to wait for more than a year before the game finally got released. Btw: the game had a really limited run here in Europe for some reason, I remember hardly seeing it on store shelves back in the day. I did manage to snatch a limited PAL edition of the game with artbook and audio cd featuring tunes from all Castlevania games up until that point which was already great by itself. The fun thing was I really didn't know what to expect from the game but was quickly blown away as I loved both Castlevania and 2D action adventure games like Wonderboy and Konami's Maze of Galious. Symphony of the Night is the PS1 game I definitely played the most and my favorite game for that console. Rondo of Blood is amazing as well but the PC-engine never got released over here, I eventually got to play it for the first time in the 2000s and loved it! My first experience with that storyline was with Dracula X for the SNES (called Vampire's Kiss here in Europe). I'm glad that port came out because it introduced me to these characters like Richter Belmont.
I remember buying Rondo of Blood on the Wii's Virtual Console. I was living in Germany at the time and the intro's voice acting had me mad for a sec, thinking I was automatically assigned a half-localised version.
Indeed the PS1 was the console of choice for this game. I wish the development team had more time to fine-tune the Sega Saturn version.
This video was an absolute masterpiece. Thank you
I played Rondo on the PS4 (Castlevania Requiem), it's amazing
I honestly had no clue about Symphony on my PlayStation until I saw it on a PlayStation magazine rated as one of the better games on the system, but they gave away the inverted castle secret in the article. I was interested about it from that fact alone and thought “oh man this game must be good if there’s TWO castles to explore! And one is upside down!” Haha
And this is why I never watch TV anymore. Quality of this film making is astounding. Thank you mate.
I concur . good sir
90s Konami was a POWERHOUSE.
Rondo and Symphony blew my mind when I played them few years ago.
Suikoden and Vandal Hearts too :-D
Too bad they've fallen.
That's when they were still a TRUE game company. They were one of the top four Japanese game companies along side with Square, Enix (now both of them merged) and Capcom.
SOTN arguably is the best game ever.
@@davosholdos1253 yea it has like most genre in one game and the story is superb so as the art style and designs! A true Golden Game
To make a quad from two triangles and texture it to act as a sprite is such a simple yet clever idea. It's these stories that keep me going as a software engineer.
I feel like playing Castlevania again.
Yeah I just played through 4 on my SNES mini not 2 weeks ago. I never played the PlayStation game, but now I'm going to have to.
What's the best way to play the PC engine & PS1 game? Emulators or are they sold still
@@drowningin emulation is best on pc. I believe PSN store has symphony of the night.
@@drowningin @ good choice is Castlevania Requiem, available on PS4 and PS5. It packs Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the night
@@drowningin EDIT: just learned about this: If you have a PS4/PS5, check out Castlevania Requiem. It has both games together, for about $20 or so.
If you only have a PS3, or an Xbox system (360/One/Series), Symphony of the Night is still available as a digital download.
(Also exists physically on Xbox 360, if you can find it, as Konami Classics Volume 1.)
Dracula X/Rondo of Blood is harder to find if you don't have a PS4- as far as I know, the only other way to get it is on the Turbografx-16 Mini, although I heard of a physical Turbografx CD rerelease happening soon. (I'd expect that the disc will also be playable on PC, via emulators.)
It was on Wii Virtual Console, but that was shut down.
There was also a PSP release of both of these games, but it changed quite a bit of stuff, like the graphics and voice acting, and it runs choppier than the original.
And now that I think of it, the online store just closed down, so you'd have to buy it on eBay or something anyway.
@@poetaaprendiz3592 my only gripe about requiem is it doesn’t have the original voice acting for symphony of the night.
Man.... SotN aged super well. I didn't play it until the PS4 port.... And yet, it ended up being one of my all-time favorite games.
This was a super well done video on these games. Both Rondo, and Symphony had some interesting history behind them.
Loved every second of this video ❤️❤️❤️
Awesome to hear! Thanks :)
this video came out 31 minutes ago. how is he viewing the video a day ago?
@@dylanpotato8739 cause if they are patreons most likely they have faster access to the releases i guess
Well I loved every frame so 😜 lol
@@dylanpotato8739 I'm a Patreon, videos get released a couple days in advance with no adds :)
As a 3D mograph artist, I know this is a labor of LOVE!! there's absolutely NO reason for these to be as good as they are!
The reason is the insane amount of work and research he puts into them. That's why they are as good as they are. To say there's no reason discredits all that work.
We are the reason that they are so good. Us gamers and Castlevania lovers
he was agreeing with the game being good, they didn't have to make the game this good, it was a labor of Love which is sorta reason but it wasn't set to the standard it put itself at with its awesome design
@photogasm5 you necro'd a 2 year old comment to aggressively miss it's point? If that doesn't just sum up youtube comments in a nutshell.
Never disappointed by the insane production quality of your work.
Peter you are here too? Wow
@@justaadhdgamerwesley6244 i grew up with this era of games so go figure
Amazing video! Bonus fact: the female singer in SOTN is Michiru Yamane's sister (she told me when we were hanging out backstage at Castlevania The Concert).
It never fails to astound me the amount of work you put into these videos. At 9:09, you're simply showing off the box art for Bloodlines, and yet you decided to make a 3D background to display the game case on. Just....insane. You truly put every other TH-camr on this platform to shame. Digital Foundry should hire you for their DF Retro series. You're a genius, and I hope to one day be able to afford to support you on Patreon. Keep up the amazing work.
A collab between strafefox and John Linneman on DF Retro would be amazing.
Been re-watching this over and over to take in just the incredible, unnecessarily sumptuous visuals! Also popped seeing OSW and Matt McMuscles in the book at 17:36! Patron names was such a cool touch. A winner is you 💚
Awesome to hear! Yeah I sometimes add the names of Patrons in my videos as a special way to say thank you :) for example the bookcovers in the library setting also have Patron names on them.
I would have overlooked it. Great detail!
And the music !
I feel like I've watched a lot of videos about Castlevania and specifically SOTN, and I still came away from this having learned a ton of new production detail I'd never heard before. Great job.
What I find particularly interesting is Alucards room that could have been decorated had there been more time.
What an absolute master work of media and research. Pure quality.
Unmatched, phenomenal production quality, as always!
Awesome to hear! thanks so much!
@@strafefox Great video, but the shimmering in the footage was very prominent throughout.
The art direction, music, animation work, and vision put into Symphony is miles beyond what most developers are willing to do these days.
SotN is a great lesson in art history.
Omg. I've been so obsessed with SOTN this past week and then you drop this on us out of nowhere? Not sure if destiny wants me to keep it around or your timing is impecable, Thank you Strafefox.
Ha that's cool to hear! and thanks
Wait, I've ALSO been obsessed with SotN, also this past week... maybe there's some magic castlevania wave passing the planet right now
Wait a minute... I have also!
I even changed my desktop to Ayami Kojimas work. Ive also been grabbing sprite rips for stream backdrops
I've completed the game once a year for roughly 24 years now. It is golden, always.
During my last couple of college years I sank HOURS into both Dracula X and Symphony of the Night, both games were absolutely awesome, SoTN especially was a timeless masterpiece, it's a living proof that you can pick up a game from the 90s and enjoy it even more than the majority of games that come out today.
I am glad that you brought up that this game was inspired by Zelda and not Metroid
. I never knew this game was inspired by Bram Stroke's Dracula and how much work went into Ayami Kojima's drawings. I love Cynthia Harrell's voice, Konami should had use her wayy more!
ahhh yes! the castle map looks identical to the Zelda's maps
Watching this again makes me realize what an incredible couple of teams worked on these two games. Kojima's process is so elaborate, I didn't realize she had so many steps to her work. I just appreciate it more now.
As an amateur game designer, on top of it having a huge historical value, I find your work to be incredibly inspiring ❤
It's amazing how much freedom they had to develop games back in the 90s, and it truly shows, the result was inspired by works of art and became itself art. Except felt a lot more alive, interactive... Truly espetacular to see the creative process behind such a masterpiece as SOTN.
The production quality is insane!!! Liked.
Insane production quality on the game and this video to be sure!
Magnificent work as always. Most TH-cam videos I have on in the background whilst I work, but these ones always require me to sit down with some sandwiches and take in every frame.
Fun fact: For the PSP rerelease and also the Wii VC version they rerecorded the german part of the intro. I don't know who the original VA was, but in the new version they got famous VA Klaus-Dieter Klebsch (as heard in this video) who is the VA for Hugh Laurie in Dr. House or Josh Brolin as Thanos
Thank you!
I recognized Klaus-Dieter Klebsch immediately but moby-games and imdb listet someone else as narrator. Drove me crazy.
It's a shame that they also retranslated and dubbed Symphony of the Night, which went over like a lead balloon with fans. While the new dub was probably more competently acted, the amateurish camp of the original dub was beloved b the fans, much like the original dub of Resident Evil 1 or the original translations of Final Fantasy 6
@@slamshift6927 tbh, as a latecomer who first played SotN on the PS4 collection (I played other CV games much earlier), I like the non-meme dub better, as well as the more accurate localization, enemy names and such.
@@laziestoldman It's not a "meme dub" its the "Not bland" dub
An amazing look at probably my two favorite games of all time both Rondo of Blood and SOTN were astounding for their time and still are great to this day.
Impeccable production. Legendary game! Just listening to the soundtrack activates my brain's pleasure regions. Love and admiration from Brazil!
Over a few months ago, I had the pleasure to find a physical copy of Symphony of the Night at a local retro game shop in my part of town, and I never regretted getting the game. Loved every moment of it! The art has inspired my art, the music is incredibly and beautifully well crafted, and the tale is as old as time. 37 years later, and still loved by the fans.☺️
Just. Magic. All. Over.
Just when I thought I knew all about this series, along comes strafefox and reminds me there is always SO MUCH more to know and learn!
SO MUCH INSPIRATION!!
Erik, you make me feel magic all over.
It's insane how much work and innovative technology it takes to make a videogame, even 30 years ago. I know very little about programming and game design, even though I've been gaming since the 80's. But this stuff truly impress me to no end. Takes geniuses to come up with it all.
Yes, and the music is also underappreciated. I never knew how good a lot of VGM is until I heard these amazing guys: th-cam.com/video/_fKGYF3WG0w/w-d-xo.html
Rondo of Blood is the best of the pre 32 bit era Castlevania games, full stop.........It is one of the best designed games of the early-mid 1990s 2D era.
What to say?
So high quality content on youtube is so rare and your products, Strafefox, are one of them.
Bless the day when I came across in one of you video, never missed one of your uploads
23:47 Idea with a room later implemented in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA)
and i absolutely haaaaated it
Juste Belmont - Vampire Killer and part time interior designer!
15:59
I'd also like to point out, as far as "all kinds of details" go, using a magical rod on a leather shield to summon the spirit of the cow it was made from is one of the greatest visual gags in all of gaming. Plus, the spirit cow helps you in your battle against Dracula by granting you a defense buff! It's like there's a whole story behind this cow Dracula killed just waiting to be told. One day, I shall tell it!
Unbelievable production. Fantastic as always! Two of my favorite games of all time.
The music and visuals along with story and theme are a match made in heaven. Amazing and spectacular that game was and still is to this day
videos like this belong in a museum. super informative and inspirational
This is one of the best made documentaries I have EVER watched, and I am not exagerating.
The pacing, the visual examples that display while you are explaining technical aspects of development, and the graphics created specially for the video that give the whole piece an atmophere and cohesion, plus really specific and well researched bits of trivia.. it's just wonderful.
Bravo!
Making me fall in love with Castlevania all over again. Excellent work on the video, I love watching every second of it! I'm going to boot up Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night and play them again. Thank you.
That's awesome to hear and have fun with the Dracula X games!
SOTN is a work of pure genius. Everything from the characters, writing, and design. I cant count how many times i loaded this up just to listen. I eventually learned to play them myself so i still play them when i have time. SOTN, A true work of art.
i'm in absolute awe by your editing skills and all around artistic sensibilities. you won a subscriber
If one is a classic gaming fan and hasn’t subscribed to this channel, that person could use a helping hand!
Every Halloween I play through Symphony of the Night. It is probably my most favorite 2D adventure game.
The TH-cam algorithm finally blessed me with this video of yours, and after binging all of your content, I deeply regret not discovering your criminally underrated channel earlier. Thanks for keeping up this insane quality over the years!
Even as a kid in the 90s who didn't understand anything about video game development, I could tell there was something extremely special about Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I had been a fan of the NES and SNES Castlevania games, but I still remember getting this PlayStation Underground demo disc that had a trailer for the Japanese version of SotN on it. Watching this trailer kind of blew my mind as I realized the new direction the series was going, and even as a kid I realized how cool these changes could be. It would be a few years before I ever even saw the game on sale in the States, but I remember getting it years later and loving it as one of my favorite PS1 games of all time.
Why would anyone dislike this? Its a great documentary for 2 amazing games. Excellent video
I cried every second of this video, the way they put so much effort and love to the Castlevania games warms my heart.
Oh how I sync with Ayami Kojima's artwork. Recognized the candles from Alucard painting, which I've made a shadowbox of.
Must have been a lot of work to cut that artwork. Your shadowboxes always look great, everybody should check them out!
@@strafefox Ah, editing to avoid "mirroring" in the background was a nightmare. But cutting is a stroll in the park nowadays. I have to keep translating your amazing episodes, but I lack time so much lately. Let's keep doing our best tho. Thanks a lot for the in-depth on Castlevania franchise. Absolutely enlightening.
Awesome to know that Bram Stoker's Dracula was an inspiration for Symphony of the Night. Gary Oldman was absolutely phenomenal in that movie
Are you hiring your services to dev teams who want to showcase their involvement in games? Regardless these are top notch.
Definitely a good idea for extra documentary. To help sell older games, or remasters. I'd love remasters, or just bundles of a older series to have something like this included
As long as they aren´t shit like the Capcom Arcade Stadium deal.
Thanks! And good idea! Unfortunately I don't have the time for big freelance projects next my regular job and channel right now. But perhaps in the future.
would be great extra content in the games menus, like Mortal Kombats extra behind the scenes videos in MK Deadly Alliance and Deception
@@strafefox would love to work with you in some way
Additionally to your already mind-blowing extra visuals, you are doing a great job in highlighting how key to SotN's success it was, that everyone on the team was an expert in his/her craft. Thank you for this fantastic video!
The best team to cover the commonly regarded best Castlevania entries. Thoroughly enjoyed it; even learned something new that other hours-long videos did not cover. Five stars!
The renderings used for the cutaways / transitions in this presentation are absolutely fantastic…well done
Great video! I'm so glad you started this off right with a look at Rondo of Blood, one of my favorite games of all time, for which SOTN would not exist without it. For years many SOTN fans didn't know about it or it's connection, even though it starts off in game with the end of Rondo and many of the exact same sprites were used throughout. This isn't too surprising since it was never officially released here till more recently but I for one bought the import for PC Engine CD back when it came out while I was still in high school, I couldn't not have it! Still the best Castlevania.
This is unbelievably well produced!! Holy crap man, you did Symphony of the Night justice. I feel like I have to sit back and take a minute to realize the beauty of what I just watched. Thank you for exploring the behind the scenes details of these masterpieces and shining a light on the people who don't get enough recognition, and presenting everything with such passion.
what a perfect video, as always. they keep getting better.
goosebumps at the end. its surreal how much of an impact symphony of the night had on the industry and on indie games later. half of the indies games releasing nowadays are inspired by this masterpiece.
Symphony of the night is one of the finest video games I have ever played and this video manages to demonstrate it very well, congratulations I loved it.
Top quality as always, on every aspect. This channel could release a video of drying paint and it would be absolute fantastic.
Thanks! and Hmm that could be the topic for my next video: Drying paint ;)
It's humbling to see all the hard work and effort that went into some of these games. SoTN is an incredible piece of work, a real masterpiece. Great production value as always
This video is a master piece.
I would have loved to see you talking about the music a bit more in depth given that this OST is one of the main reasons this game was a success.
Castlevania Symphony of the Night is my favorite Castlevania game. The music, the pixeled art and animation is outstanding❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Love this documentary ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Another great video discussing masterpieces we all adore! Excellent choice of music and loving your presentation! Each video has gotten better and better!
This video is very detailed and well-explained on how Symphony of the Night was made. Thank you! Symphony of the Night is the best amongst all the entire Castlevania titles
Amazing production values, on point narration and information. You never cease to amaze us. The wait is always worth it.
You never disappoint and always amaze me. The archival footage of Kojima's illustrations is such a find, and the level of quality in all of this is fantastic.
Amazing work, imo Castlevania hit a pinnacle with the graphics of Rondo of Blood. I love the other Castlevania's and they have a great aesthetic but the music and graphics of rondo of blood/sotn is just so vibrant and raw. Would love to see another Rondo of Blood or Sotn pixel style with maybe some experimentation with polygons like sotn but not change too much. They could have even better fluidity
Again for god sake Netflix sign this man for a series , production quality is out of this world , please keep them coming.
This was incredible. You never fail to impress.
Good lord, I feel like that was one of the best documentaries I’ve ever watched about anything in general. The fact that it was about videogames, let alone my favorite videogames of all time…??
I’m thanking you and the universe for this treat!!!
Symphony of the Night is just too damn good 🏆 The whole game is just so AMAZING... it has nice art, nice sound, and very nice aesthetic
I played it for the first time just about a month ago. I was completely awed. I liked it even more than Super Metroid, which for me was one of the best games of the genre before this one.
@@Ouromia I bought it on ios. I forgot how hard old games were
I absolutely love the Naoto Shibata Projects take on SOTN and Rondo's OST. It's badass that Konami went out of their way to hire an 80s metal band to cover the tracks.
What a treat of an episode, I love SotN. Despite beating it several times tho, I don't remember seeing that scene with his mother burned at the stake.
Edit: I looked it up and now know how to activate that scene lol. Very informative, awesome, high-production episode as always, Strafefox!
Mmm... This means you didn't really beat the game since you need one of the items from that cutscene to progress to the inverted castle.
@@armorvil you mean the silver ring?
@@firebreathingguy561 Probably. Been a while since I played the normal game. I'm currently playing it, but with a randomizer so all items are changed (I had to equip a diamond and a zircon in the clocktower, and needed the ballroom mask to see the orb above Richter's head, lol).
@@armorvil wait, i use the gold and silver ring to open the clock tower. And then Maria gave me the mask that allow me to see through illusions. When i fight Richter i didnt see any orb above his head? But i still able to go to the Inverted Castle after beating him anyway?
@@firebreathingguy561 Is it a question or a statement ? If this is a question, the answer is no. You have to equip the piece of gear she gives you and attack the orb, not Richter (easy way is to use a holy-elemental weapon so you don't kill Richter by mistake since holy doesn't hurt him). If you're describing what happened in your game, it is weird indeed. Perhaps you were so focused on Richter that you didn't see the orb, and luckily it "died" first? I know I didn't see the orb at first, it's a bit hard to see.
I still can't believe the absolute quality of this channel. Thank you so much for all the work you all put into these videos!
Amazing work, as always. I hope you keep this sub-series going with a look at the GBA or DS games someday.
This documentary was simply amazing! The research and attention to detail involved was really well done. SOTN will always be a masterpiece in my book.
Brazil always watching you ❤️
The production quality of these docs is off the charts.
You've done an incredible job! Thank you very much for the great quality of the content! 🖤
Huh...that info about how the audio streaming being stopped in those connecting corridors in order to load other data makes me think of what I suppose was a bit of a graphical easter egg...I seem to remember several of those corridors having 'CD' in them, inscribed in the ceiling...and now I know why. :-)
lol yup, the CD at the top of the screen was meant to imply that the psx was loading
Stellar video, as always. I really need to get into this series of classic Konami games.
I'm playing these fantastic games for the first time and I am in awe of them. This video shows up in TH-cam and It's such a compliment to the games...outstanding video!
Fuck I love this channel! Peerless graphical displays and research; topics I'm always interested in learning about; narration that's calming, well-written, and easy to digest. Strafefox has it all.
I know the "🅰️lmighty 🅰️lgorithm" doesn't prefer channels with infrequent, high-quality, lengthy content. But I do, dammit.
what a game. i'm grateful having grown up in the 90s and getting to experience the ps1/n64/dreamcast era when games were starting to be worked on more seriously. this game and its soundtrack will always be one of my favorites.
Fitting that this era brought us the best Castlevania games of each sub genre.
26:04 - That barrel puzzle was what finally got me to look up a walkthrough.
Sadly there's no more Castlevania games so I'm playing blood-stained ritual of the night it's just as good
gameplay-wise, sure. Artistically-wise though, no, not by a long shot sadly. I'm hoping Bloodstained 2 improves on that.
@@armorvil that's your opinion my friend that game is really artistic
@@armorvil it honestly that game got more mechanics to it then Symphony of the Night
@@armorvil this game got crystals that you have to collect this game got so much stuff that you have to learn it's really addicting I really like blood-stained ritual of the night very good
@@armorvil I have to go to work today I can't wait to come home to play more
I’ll never forget Symphony of the Night. It was released the same year as Final Fantasy VII. My friends and I debated endlessly on which was the better game. Then and now, I am still somewhere in the middle. All I know is that I was blessed with two of the greatest and most influential games of all time within one spectacular year. Thanks for the retrospective.
Symphony of the Night: The game that put the Vania in Metroidvania!
Oh dear.
The production quality here is remarkable. Excellent video.
I usually don't care to comment or share my thoughts on things as I don't see the benefit of going through the hassle of doing so, but after coming back to your series - and this video in particular - time and time again for the otherworldly experience it provides me with, I'd like to at least try to hopefully contribute to your motivation by saying that I, too, think this is the best (web) show I have ever seen in my life. I get the feeling we share the same exact taste when I see the CG sections looking like they're specifically designed to remind of 3D FMVs from Softimage 3D days, which they do a spectacular job of achieving and making the experience just perfect - same as the VA's incredibly professional voice and tone.
At least for my tastes, there isn't a single aspect I'd ever want to change, "look more up to date" or similar arguments that could be made. I hope you'll get the support you need to keep this train running this exact same way and - if so desired - make it even bigger. An episode on Super Metroid would be incredible to see as well.
Looking forward to the LD and / or VHS releases!
Thanks so much for your awesome comment!
The Dracula X Games! Events include Night BMX Night Snowboarding and Night Skateboarding.
i swear that ALL your videos are piece of art. I wish that TV put show of THIS QUALITY instead of what they broadcast daily. gosh I'm crying
Unparalleled quality in every aspect.. the KING!
There’s millions of videos on youtube...this one became one of my TOP 10. An incredible example of how to make a perfect making of... Congrats.
I was just playing SOTN again and wondering about how it came to be.
The game is a masterpiece and we are all glad, the developers pushed to make this happen... ESPECIALLY the inverted castle... Without it, the game woulda been too short...
I literally spike aloud to myself not even 24 HRS ago, "how is this game sooo good?!" Thanks for the answer!
This is absolutely super high quality. The production value, the cohesive script, tone and overall feel is just great. Most likely one of the best videos in this genre.
By far the best video game channel on youtube these days... Professional and humble, not vying for clicks, delivering stellar production value and not once asking for subscription or begging for support. Kudos for the video and overall approach.
Out of all of the videos I've seen, this one is the only I've seen without skipping it and it's well worth the time as I am incredibly satisfied watching it.
In-depth analysis in both historic and technical matters without even once mentioning the word "Metroidvania". That is some skillful writing. Bravo 👏
Another magnificent video! You're work is phenomenal
This truly is one of the best and most criminally underrated channels on TH-cam.
Thank you so much for all your hard work--and for bringing back the memories.