Moonbeam the composer of all the actual music in the game, Michiru Yamane, likes smooth jazz. That's why the music in the coliseum is so slappy. The female composers for Rondo of Blood took a decisive turn towards jazz before that as well. I like I Am the Wind, though, tbh... fits how I feel about the game, and I like R&B, so it doesn't sound weird to me. I always think of it as SotN's "Snake Eater" ladder moment.
this was my first Castlevania Game... i was like, 6 years old, and in that time my only language was Spanish, and i was so confused, like, who's this blue guy?, why am i in the ending? who's this girl with powers? what are you doing to the blue guy? and then i was like, what's going on? what was all that? did the game end?!?... who's alucard?... and then, i spent all my days playing this game. the game is very pretty, even the enemies, they are so detailed they game nightmares as a child (the Flame Demon, especially) AND THE MUSIC OH MY GOD, the music of this game is the reason of why i listen to Soundtrack!. after that i discovered there are MANY more other games like this (with Curse of Darkness being the second Castlevania game i've ever played), and then... i entered the dead fandom (hahaha... oh). Alucard is my favorite character from any game, ever, because he is in the best game ever! Later i realized that the game is very, VERY easy. and that you can complete it in 3 hours aprox. or less (that's my case), and that there were games before this one that were kinda different (the classic, whipping games), starring characters that i didn't see anywhere in Symphony (aside from Trevor, he made a very short cameo, but i didn't remember it at that moment) so i started to love the old games too. Every Castlevania game has a unique charm, like PoR, with the Dual Combat resembling the Dual Game in Bloodlines (i need to complete this game but it's so hard!) or AoS/DoS where you collect souls for you to use as an attack... welp, i think i've wrote enough... tldr i love the game and the series in general
Man, I don't know how I missed this one. Great episode as always! Symphony is the kind of game that I tend to forget about after a while, but when I rediscover it I am hooked for days. It truly is a joy to play.
Honestly, this was my first Castlevania, and the intro was so awesome. As a kid I couldn't figure out how to progress after a certain point, so I just kept replaying the intro up until you lose all your powers over and over. Good times.
Your channel has been an amazing discovery and comfort during the pandemic. I’ve added it to my tiny list of go to comfort shows on TH-cam, so amazing job and thank you for doing for what you guys do!
You hit the nail on the head with the incredible variety of material thrown into SotN. I think that was why I never quite enjoyed any of the follow-up titles as much - SotN just had so much random nonsense that it was fun to run around and locate it all. The other games are far more focused (and arguably better) but they lost that throw-it-in feel. Also I'm pretty sure the lopsided difficulty is the result of Iga wanting for everyone to be able to beat the game. The OP spells and equipment are basically an "easy mode" toggle. I think this is also why Maria in Rondo is able to basically break all of that game's rules.
Michiru Yamane is absolutely amazing with her work. I have almost the entire SOTN OST on my i-pod and Spotify. Her music is so enticing and addicting. I think that you hit the nail on the head when discussing her work, Derek.
I have played every Castlevania game in the series and there is no doubt that SOTN is the best of them all. This game is so great that you won't have any problems recertifying it in many years to come. This is my favorite game of all time. Great video my friend.
I like the idea of classic games going to a DMV type thing to get recertified. "Sir, do you have a boss rush mode? " Well at the end of my game you get better weapons to deal wi-" "Answer the question, sir" "... yes" Then the knight from Actraiser does an awkward shuffle.
I love the way the inverted castle is. Its not considered a flaw to me or most others. I really enjoyed experiencing everything completely flipped. Otherwise it wouldn't be an inverted castle...it would be a different castle. Great video though!
exploration is kinda dead, but that's mostly because you've unlocked all mobility options because it's post-endgame. it would take serious efforts to have any extra section after the boss that felt like continued expansive gameplay. i agree the inverted castle is bomb and fun to explore how it's all there with new platforming, navigation, and enemies.
Damn. It's 4AM, I was JUST about to go to sleep! Happy to see that content is rolling out pretty regularly since the change to SSFF, and that the quality has been maintained, if not improved. :)
I'm so sorry you couldn't fully explore the possibility of going in depth of Kenji Eno man. You got me hooked with your Splatterhouse, Disney/Capcom, and D trilogy videos! Love you dude!
I agree that Symphony is a great title. At 7:00, Now, as far as the sprites go in this game, the Super Nintendo could actually handle sprite scaling like that depending on the developer working around the system limitations and that would also depend if the game was made via the Super FX chip or any of the DSP chips in the cartridge. Art of Fighting for SNES retained the zoom-in/zoom-out effect like it did in its original Neo Geo counterpart and that was on a cart with normal SNES memory banking. If any console that wouldn't handle sprite scaling like in SotN would be the Genesis...maybe the Sega CD and 32X could.
you forgot one very important change it brought on future castlevanias. number 5: no more venture to the castle. the spooky atmosphere of graveyards, dim lit caves, lonesome roads and eerie villages.. all gone now! the whole game takes place in dracula's castle and stays there! why? they should combine the strengths of both, the classic castlevanias and metrovanias. and not just that, the amazing control of the whip in super castlevania 4 also never made it out of that game despite how great the controls felt and how well it improved on the action. ideas like that should never be ignored or discarded after proven to work so well. just a thought.
What a kickass series idea in soo many ways!! Nostalgia is great and all but I feel that FAAR too few people look practically at an old favorite of theirs before saying it's "the greatest game of ____" so I can't wait to see how awesome this series becomes ^-^
You summed up why this is my all-time favorite game: the experience!! The art style, the fluid controls, the attention to detail, that f**king soundtrack! This is why despite it being easy, it's the experience and immersion this game had that ultimately mattered.
While it had its flaws (too much voiceacting) I quite liked Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, the new switching mechanic was fun and both characters had different attacks and abilities. Dark Academy level was a blast and the final fight was worth it.
Understandable and I agree. I love Portrait of Ruins. Can't decide if I like this or Aria of Sorrows as my personal favorite Castlevania game in general & one of my favorite games of all time. But you can't go nothing wrong with those games. Every Castlevania games has it's flaws as well. Even the most popular ones like Super Castlevania 4 & Symphony of the Night. But even so & throughtout the most parts, the games as an whole goes really strong on just how good it is that the problems the game has doesn't ruined the gaming experience that your playing. Even with some flaws, any games are mostly positive & just how good it is.
I completely disagree with you about the inverted Castle being a afterthought or 11th hour decision. Do you know how difficult it must have been, to design a Castle that's as big as the one in SOTN, but has also got to be playable both right side up, & upside down? The only way for that to be possible, is if the designers knew from the start, that the castle would also have to be playable while inverted. You can't just go & design a level right side up, & expect it to be playable while inverted as well. Go and print out the map from Super Metriod, & then flip it upside down to see if it's playable or not. I'm betting it's not.
MrBdobb And that's why inverted castle was a bad idea to begin with. They should've made us backtrack through the main castle after the fight with Richter. Only add new enemies and bosses to the old locations. It would've been so much better. No need for the inverted castle.
ThePreciseClimber Right. And also, the upside down castle clearly doesn't feel like it was designed to be oriented like that, at least to me. There are just enough movement options in the game that it becomes traversable by default.
ThePreciseClimber I'm not saying that it is or isn't a bad idea, I'm just stating that making a map playable both right side up & up side down, takes a lot of thought & couldn't of been shoehorned in at the last minute.
MrBdobb "but has also got to be playable both right side up & upside down" That's why you basically get all of your mobility upgrades in the first castle, so you can't possibly find yourself stuck in the second one. There's no way you can get to the inverted castle without some way to go in whatever direction you please, since you are forced to have the infinite-flight bat form in order to find an item to not kill Richter so you can reach said castle. There isn't much of a need to worry about if a player is able to walk or normally jump anywhere when you're required to have FLIGHT to find it.
UltimaKeyMaster The creators would still have to know were to place enemies & what ability will work on what obstacles. Their are a lot of places in the first castle, that you're not able to access without certain ability upgrades as well. They designed the 2nd castle knowing that the player would have all the mobility upgrades after finishing the first castle. They didn't have to worry about the player being to weak on the 2nd play through. So they designed the 2nd castle around the player have to us more of his mobility upgrades to get around.
Totally agree. Cynthia Harrell is a great vocalist and it's a nice smooth jazz + R&B track that resonates well with the classically trained, jazz pianist tones of Michiru Yamane's compositions. Also speaks to the actual themes of resolution in the game, along with the ethereal, momentous and rootless nature of it's protagonist. It doesn't even have to be all that either, I just like it and appreciate it as a memorable component to my favorite game.
Me too! It annoyed me the first time I heard it, but subsequent releases of the game that don't have it made me realize just how much it belongs there.
Thank you, Darek. honestly, the fact that we can split hairs over the best metroidvania at all should speak to the quality of symphony of the night's quality. I myself put myself firmly in the boots of the Order of Ecclesia camp for favorite metroidvania. The only place where I can truly fault Ecclesia is having some not so good level design towards the front end. The combat balance is incredible and smoehow nails gratifying fights far better than even SOTN. some of the finest boss battles of the series find their home in order of ecclesia, and even old hat monsters you've seen as regular enemies in the past can be threatening and frightening for the ill prepared.
I got this game on a whim in college. I had not played any castlevania since the NES and had only gotten a PS1 to play rpgs on. Once I started playing it though, I was hooked - it was amazing and still is. Also I just found your channel and am enjoying your videos!
Excellent video, by far one of my favorite games of all time, I have bought it 3 time so far (ps1, xbl, psn) and always replay for that 200+% completion. Keep up the good work.
I like this style of video; trying to determine if a classic aged as well as people think without nostalgia is a great idea. I warn that it'll also get some fans to draw their torches and pitchforks though... More over, many points very well made, the soundtrack being incredible has always been part of my enjoyment. But you're entirely right, the inverted castle did have some annoyances and did spam one song far too much. That said, it also has one of my favorite tracks: Lost Painting which is surreal, jarring since it's usually played in more difficult sections, and really captures the haunting feeling of walking on Dracula's ceiling looking for the vampire master himself.
Highly enjoyed this. I had just done a sort of rant video on what I thought were some of the imperfections with the game, as a response to an imaginary mob of people saying it's one of the greatest 2D games ever made (which actually does exist). But there's no denying it's an orgasm on the senses. I still love it, just wish we could have gotten traditional platforming Castlevania games afterwards.
This review made me want to listen to the Symphony of the Night soundtrack immediately afterwards. The music from the clock tower area, "The Tragic Prince", is one of the favorite video game tunes of all time. And who would have thought years ago that the SNES "Dracula X" would one day become more expensive than the PC Engine original "Rondo of Blood"? I remember back in the early 2000's when Rondo was $200 on Ebay, while Dracula X on the SNES was usually only $40 or $50.
RetroGamerAaron Are we talking actually getting the PC Engine original being cheaper than Dracula X? Cause if that's the case, yeah that's very surprising. I would've thought maybe Rondo got immensely cheaper because of the PSP version packing in the original game with a translation, but...you never know with old game prices.
really nice that you were able to praise the game without leaving out the flaws it always had, that so many people seem to avoid talking about due to nostalgia.
Even with it's flaws, it still gets alot of positive on how good the game is. I won't denied the game isn't perfect. No games are. But this game is still fantastic. It's not my personal favorite Castlevania game. But it's in my top 5.
Thank you Derek, I'm completely with you on this one. I get so sick of people treating SOTN like it fell from the heavens and is the absolute pinnacle of Castlevania. Mind you, I adore SOTN and have beaten it many times. I just feel that some of the later entries improved upon the formula. Dawn of Sorrow is probably my favorite Castlevania
i feel like that's a morrowind vs oblivion or skyrim debate. the series is evolving and unique. they can polish and improve, but no matter what, charm that can't be recaptured gets lost along the way sometimes. frankly i think that CotM was a step down from SotN in many ways but in others captured it well and yet more did new good things, and despite lighting issues i feel CotM is the best of the handheld line. it's easy to say the later ones are better, but things like the battle arena and new game plus class modes went underappreciated.
Ever since I got my PS3 from 2010, I kept playing this game yearly. Every October, I always find myself coming back to play SotN again and again because of how excellent it is; seeing how October is the month for Halloween, I find it more fitting to play it on that particular month. I definitely recommend the PSP port in the "Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles," since it comes with the remake and original versions of Dracula X and an enhanced version of SotN with better voice acting and new dialogue.
Hylianguy38 I'm dying to know which version has a crisper, clearer picture, the Dracula x Chronicles version of sotn, or the psn version on the ps store..I want to play it on my vita
To this day, every time I play through this excellent game I find something new, whether that is a new enemy animation or behavior, a new weapon, or a weapon's special attack (always try a Capcom style fireball move with new swords that you find, as some of them have hidden abilities). It remains one of my favorite video games of all time, and is still more fun than any of it's successors due to its presentation and art direction.
I make it a point to run through this game at least once or twice a year. It's one of the few that I can consistently go back to and never be disappointed.
This is a game that I still dig out and play every few years, because the experience and feel is still unmatched. It is a joy to play still, even after I have gotten the 215% clearance rate many times over. Few games have ever been this much fun to play, and if you haven't played it, do yourself a favor, and rectify that. The sheer amount of content in this game is staggering. Almost every enemy in this castle provides a new experience, and in the case of the Shmoo in the inverted library can provide you with an item that breaks the game in a hilariously awesome way. This game, and the fact that we haven't received another like it in so long is why Bloodstained's Kickstarter campaign has done so well. I cannot wait for Bloodstained, and I do so dearly hope it doesn't fall victim to what some perceive as the Kickstarter curse that befell Mighty No. 9
Great vid, I love this game. If I had to rank my favorite "Castlevania" games, I'd say my Top 5 would be, 1.Super Castlevania 4 (SNES) 2.Castlevania:Symphony of the Night (PS1) 3.Castlevania (NES) 4.Castlevania:Lamnent of Innocence (PS2) 5.Castlevania:Portrait of Ruin (DS) I wasn't very appreciative to the game when I first rented it from "Network Video", in fact, I found it too hard. But after I watched AVGN's "Castlevania Retrospective" and played most of the game on PSN, I was hooked to the maximum. I may want to give "Castlevania:Aria of Sorrow" and "Castlevania:Dawn of Sorrow" when I get a chance.
I only played SotN for the first time a couple of years ago, and I had an absolute blast with it. The exploration and combat was simply incredible, and I simply could not put it down. I think that speaks to just how good of a game it still is.
Having played it recently for the first time, I definitely agree; it is a classic. Such a beautiful, fantastic game with an incredible, touching soundtrack. The attention to detail is amazing as well; the animations for when you're standing idle, the interaction with objects such as chairs, interactions of enemies such as the Owl Knight. Great minds were at work; they did of a lot of things that were unnecessary, but add so much charm and value to the experience. I did feel the same way about the gameplay though, I definitely felt there was potential for improvement to make it more interesting in the long term. I'd imagine the GBA and DS games did a lot to that end. I'll see for myself in time. "I am the Wind" is a very cheesy, but also a very soothing song, which is welcome in such a dark game. It is thematically relevant too, if I remember correctly. Plus, it was composed by Rika Muranaka, and she's always great!
SotN has the best presentation of any game in the series easily, but I don't think I've ever considered it my favorite game among them. Back in the day it was probably Bloodlines, later I preferred Circle of the Moon, and post Dracula X Chronicles I have to say I'm a big fan of Rondo. I do love that you gave a shoutout to CotM even if it isn't your favorite of the GBA titles seeing as it's so often an overlooked game in the face of the, admittedly fantastic, Sorrow titles. Considering that it is the only one of my top three that's a Metroidvania I feel I should expand on what I like about it and see if you agree at all. Sure it might not have the visual presentation of Symphony or the later games, nor does it have the sheer number of really cool easter eggs, but it makes up for it by having so many different and interesting modes and a supremely well designed castle. While every Metroidvania has a few extra modes after completing it they usually feel stripped down, and more than a handful just plain out suck. Not in Circle, each mode brings it's own challenges and twists on the base game by changing things up just enough to make it fresh without cutting out things like the inventory. It's also simply much more difficult than any of the other Metroidvania titles which keeps it fresh through to the end even on repeat playthroughs where the others seriously start to run out of steam. Also, and I'm just gonna say it outright, IGA irritates me with his dislike of the whip. The whip is simply a fun weapon with it's simple to understand and difficult to properly use, but powerful mechanics. The whip has enough range and versatility in the old games to allow you to beat the entire game without getting touched, and it's obvious that is entirely possible, but it's also incredibly difficult to do so, it makes buster only no damage runs in Megaman look like a cakewalk, and that makes the weapon and games themselves really interesting. In the Metroidvania titles though the whip becomes an even greater tool. Between the tiny bit of overhead hitbox it gives you, the reach combining with your free form jumps to allow for fadeaway hits, and holding the button slightly longer allowing you to deal extra damage as the whip starts to slack in Portrait and the Sorrow titles it becomes an insanely powerful tool once mastered able to keep its usefulness in the face of the best subweapons. And wouldn't you know it? Circle is the only Metroidvania to focus on the whip.
God I love every single metroidvania Castlevania so, so much. I'm playing through Aria right now and then I'll do the DS trilogy. I would kill for a console/pc remaster of Aria that just redoes all the spritework so it's bigger like Symphony. And maybe if it added in the awesome weapon synthesis from Dawn for some new weapons
Great episode. I still prefer the Metroid side of the Metroidvanias, though, for one simple reason: they're less "cluttered." Symphony of the Night absolutely overflows with dead-end passages and useless items, whereas in games like Super Metroid, every screen and every item has a purpose. Nothing is wasted, and you never feel like you've gone on a wild goose chase like you often do in Symphony of the Night. An attention to detail and thorough exploration is always rewarded in Super Metroid, whereas it's sometimes literally pointless in Symphony. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, per se, but it's definitely two very disparate approaches to game design, and personally, I'll side with the Metroid style every time. But I love love LOVE Metroidvanias, so I can't hate on Symphony at all -- it's still one of the best times I had on the ol' PS1. If you're looking for a really good, expansive Metroidvania that has the same eye for detail (both graphically and content-wise) as Symphony of the Night, however, might I recommend La-Mulana? It's an indie title from 2005 that got remade in 2011 (2012?), and it's easily one of the best games I've ever played. If you think Symphony is dense with content, I dare you to try to find any Metroidvania on the PLANET that has as much content crammed into every last nook and cranny as La-Mulana. Oftentimes cruel and obtuse but always utterly engaging, La-Mulana manages to be a game I truly feel more people need to play -- it doesn't get nearly enough respect. Another great indie Metroidvania that offers a lot more freedom as to how you can approach each obstacle is Unepic. It's marred a bit by a wholly unlikable protagonist, pop culture references out the wazoo, and a frankly embarrassing sense of humor, but if you can look past all of that you'll find a brilliantly designed game with a surprisingly good story and AMAZING atmosphere -- with, again, a really cool attention to detail.
Wyrdwad The relationship between the protagonist and the ghost hauting him actually worked in a interesting due to the main character's somewhat reprehensible personality, in my view. Even the ghost which is a cruel monster sometimes is shocked by the protag's perversions. XD I aim to only play La Mulana when I first finish The Maze of Gallious which is it's grandaddy influence.
cormano64 Yeah, I agree, actually. In a way, I thought Unepic's story actually benefited a lot from the main character being unlikable -- but it still didn't QUITE make up for the fact that he really, really was unlikable. ;) I still absolutely LOVED the game as a whole, though -- so well-designed! And some of those bosses were incredibly clever and original -- the brain in particular, and the final boss as well. One of my favorite indie games of all time, without a doubt. Unepic was also heavily influenced by Maze of Galious, actually. As was another freeware indie game called Hydra Castle Labyrinth, and a homebrew MSX game called Caos Begins, and... probably a lot more games too! And I've been playing a little bit of Maze of Galious as a result, since I've positively adored all of the games it inspired. You're smart to play Galious before La-Mulana, though, as La-Mulana is absolutely the better game in every single regard. In fact, all of the games it inspired seem to be better than the original. I'm enjoying Galious enough, but I think I would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't played so many "Galiouslikes" before giving the original a shot.
Wyrdwad By "brain boss" do you mean Neuron? If so, I'll tell you that it has some clever design ideas but horribly implemented as you really have no way to defend against some of them before hand, specially when you get paralyzed and the character starts to waste potions away while you can only watch. If I didn't resort to actually read some FAQ on how to defeat it, I calculated that you'd have to fight it FOUR times to figure out all its attacks. That's why I use a walkthrough to beat it with no guilt at all, lots of cheap shots. The sort-of-medusa boss at first I felt it was also bullshit, bu I eventually defeated without having to look up how, as it was not anywhere remotely as cheap as Neuron. I lost my save since I formatted my PC, but I'll definitely replay it and finish it as I really fell in love with it. I stopped about a third of the way through the area filled with invisible ghosts on the top section of the map. :)
Wyrdwad As far as Gallious goes, yeah I sensed as much. It's a older game after all. The thing is that I love to get a taste of the original game design concepts as they were implemented so it can feed my own design sensibilities, because I don't always agree with the paths later designers took them on, even when I enjoy them. But it's not often that I stop appreciating an older game because of improvements. Hell, I even enjoy the original Dragon Quest even thought the grinding is excessive even when compared to the relatively near 90's japanese RPGs, for example.
cormano64 See, I definitely fell for Neuron's tricks the first two times I fought it (wasting my potions and dying the first time, and getting transported back to the save point as I was about to kill him the second), but each time I did, I wasn't angry -- I was impressed! I really liked the idea of a boss using my own inventory against me, and even as I failed in defeating the thing, I still had to give the developer a lot of credit for thinking up something so awesome. I'm A-OK with "unfair" bosses if they're clever, and especially if I can fight them again with minimal backtracking, so I didn't mind losing to Neuron a couple times to get the hang of its patterns. Old-school games did this all the time, after all, and I play a LOT of old-school games. ;) It didn't feel like bad design to me, but rather like old-school design. Which, considering the game, seemed wholly appropriate! I also quite liked the tower with the invisible ghosts, as it provided a unique challenge that relied on careful resource management to overcome, and I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. That's probably one of the toughest parts of the game, though, and you were VERY close to the end, so I definitely recommend giving it another go sometime, if only to see the incredibly unique final boss battle. Which, I assure you, is not "unfair" like Neuron or the medusa thingy -- you can beat it on your first try if you're careful. But trust me when I say you won't be able to prepare for it in advance, as it is very much unlike any final boss I've ever seen before or since. You'll definitely have to think on your feet! And I appreciate old games as well, and always try to play them "in context" to get the full effect. I just feel Galious has some very questionable design decisions in it that mar the experience a bit. Not as much as some of Konami's other MSX classics (Treasure of Usas has some seriously BS challenges in it, and King Kong 2 has a LOT of problems), but much more so than others that I feel hold up a lot better (Goonies, Hinotori, and even Vampire Killer -- for as much as people like to dis Vampire Killer on MSX, I actually prefer it to NES Castlevania, and feel that Konami made some absolutely stellar design decisions in it). It's actually been really interesting playing some of these old MSX games, and I do owe Unepic and La-Mulana a debt of gratitude for convincing me to buy an MSX (yes, I have the actual hardware!) so I could play Galious and all the other games that inspired some of today's indie devs. Been really fascinating going back and playing these old games that inspired a whole generation of Japanese game developers but were virtually unknown in the West.
200% this a long time ago on the Playstation, then bought it a few years ago from the PSN-store on the PS3 and 200% it again. Once you start playing you are hooked. Amazing game.
6:25 Aerogauge is actually a hidden gem on the N64 IMO. Admittedly, the game doesn't tell you anything about how to play, but once you learn about start and drift boosting, the game makes way more sense and the "unfair AI" becomes rather simple to beat. I understand how it got its reputation for feeling slow and clunky, having an awful draw distance, and a lack of content, but I feel like there was huge potential for a sequel to rectify all the early 3d shortcomings.
I love the shit out of this. It's a great start to a series. You said that the tobal.9 demo disc for ff7 was as close as you were going to get to a review and I feel like you'd do it for this series. Good stuff D
Don't forget about the Tolkien references (specifically The Silmarillion) with items like the rings of Varda and Feanor, the Fists of Tulkas, Crissaegrim, Mormegil, and the Nauglamir necklace.
This game is one of the best games for the PS1 by far! I'd put it up there in my top ten. Spent hours with this game. Me and an old friend spent hours searching for everything to make the complete mark ... forget the percentage but it was like over 200% or something? I think the only thing you forgot to mention is the super secret code you can enter after to complete it 100%! You can play the whole game, as the original hero AND play it like an original game. Sweet episode man, keep them coming :)
One of the best games, ever! Though..I think the term MetroidVania came directly from this game just from the map! Ever noticed the similarity between SOTN and Super Metroid's maps? Blue, outlined with white, and certain symbols for certain places? If you needed MetroidVania defined, I hope I helped you. Peace!
I haven't played this game yet, sad but true... But I did get my hands on the PSP game, Dracula X Chronicles. I'll have to play through it and unlock SotN. ;) Great video! Is this going to be a continuing series - Re:Certified Classics? Sounds like a great idea! Can't wait to see which classics you revisit. ;)
The inverted castle* has a bunch of new enemies, bosses, and completely new weapons that aren't mere re skins. Its brilliant how the upside down castle manages to re-imagine the castle you knew so well.
Regarding balance, there's something I've noticed in games: It's fun to get the super powerful thing. It's not fun to waltz through the rest of the game with no challenge. So it seems to me that having a huge jump in power scaling is absolutely great, but then you've got to gradually bring up the power of the enemies so that an area doesn't feel too punishing, it just steadily becomes another, "I need a new version of that super powerful weapon I got ages ago!", and you do the same trick, and once again you provide the same enjoyment. You can't do it too much, eventually it'll start to get old as anything does, but providing the player with a jump in power might sometimes seem like poor balancing, yet it can be beneficial if delivered at the right point in the game. I don't know if SotN got it right all the way through (in fact, it didn't), but it wasn't so far off as to ruin the game. It's still a great game today, and I would argue that it's partly because of the haphazard balancing.
the art and music in this game makes it a masterpiece. Add on we probably will never another 2d game of this quality. They really dont make games like this anymore, and never will again. Indie cant replicate this.
Hm... your dislike for early 3D polygonal games has gotten me interested in a Super Mario 64 Re:Certified Classic episode. It did (for it's time) show everyone how 3D platformers are done and I still love it to death, but how does Derek Alexander feel about the game almost 20 years after it's release?
The exploration genre is even older than metroid. It was a genre pretty much from MANY MSX games, pretty much a mix of action and RPG. Instead of leveling up and getting loot, you got power ups. I don't remember the name of the game. I think it was Maze of Galious, it's the game La Mulana was inspired in. And it's pretty old. Even if metroid came first im sure it's not the first 2d exploration game. But it's the game that defined the genre
I have no direct nostalgia for SotN as I never had a Playstation growing up (and didn't become a serious Castlevania fan until much later in life). So, having just played and finished the game for the first time ever over the last several weeks, I feel your take is spot-on. It may have a few clumsy or unfocused design choices here or there (I could count on one hand the number of special items/weapons I used during my playthrough, for example)...but overall it is an absolutely fantastic game. Gorgeous visuals, cool bosses and some of the best VG music ever produced. While it may play second fiddle for me in both the "Castlevania" and "Metroid" categories (with both of those trophies belonging to titles on the SNES), I have a hard time imagining that I'll ever encounter a better game on the Playstation and could certainly call it one of the best game experiences I've ever had, period. It is seriously a game that I think everyone should play at some point in their lives. ...And yeah, the end credits music is baffling to me as well.
I still enjoy the game and get the urge to pick it back up. My ps3 finally died on me so I just bought the game again on 360. Such a great game and has aged incredibly well.
my first Castlevania game is Aria of Sorrow and im instantly hooked in playing other Castlevania titles, although i didnt have a chance at playing the symphony of the night, i can see that its definitely claims the top spot out of the bunch
Even after 20 years, this game is still amazing & it's one of my favorite games of all time. You summed up alot of the positive & some minor criticism; though still outweigh it with the positive, of this game perfectly well. Fair review. This game still holds up tremendously well & it's definitely one of the best Castlevania games out there. Along with many others. And one of the best video games out there as well.
FUN FACT: SoTN was built on a 3D engine, which starts to make more sense as the Saturn was a 2D powerhouse, but rather shortcoming on 3D, which is in part why it had terrible performance. FUN FACT 2: I am The Wind, vocals sound familiar? She did a more Iconic song for another Konami game... What a thrill.. FUN FACT 3: It still holds up better than most games, It's been years and I've beaten it 20+ times over that span and still find new ways to play, new approaches with a refreshed approach.
I love your reviews!!! Still think your "Demons quest" video was the best though...I feel I watch it at least once a month lol. You should re-review the series!!!
One of my favorite games of all time. I had 2 videogame friends back in the day. We would get 3 large pizzas, doritos, beer and soda. And take turns playing the game. We would even say the opening dialog along with the game cause we knew it so well. we would play all night and call it a day when it became day lol. Oh the good times before we all got married and got time consuming jobs.
Nice review. I agree that AoS and DoS had gameplay improvements, though their stories are not as strong as SotN. I still can't pick which is my favorite, I love them all.
![Resident Evil 4 | Re:Certified Classic [SSFF]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/u03YTvRoHtQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![Resident Evil 4 | Re:Certified Classic [SSFF]](/img/tr.png)
![[SSFF] Faxanadu (NES) Review by Derek Alexander](/img/n.gif)
The only reason I can think of for the ending song is that vampires like smooth jazz.
Moonbeam the composer of all the actual music in the game, Michiru Yamane, likes smooth jazz. That's why the music in the coliseum is so slappy. The female composers for Rondo of Blood took a decisive turn towards jazz before that as well. I like I Am the Wind, though, tbh... fits how I feel about the game, and I like R&B, so it doesn't sound weird to me. I always think of it as SotN's "Snake Eater" ladder moment.
SotNist Ah, that makes sense.
Aww it's so smooth, I'm slipping and sliding all over the place!
HicksZ34 but in MGS it made sense because it was like a James Bond movie, which has a long history of jazzy sort of pop ballads.
this was my first Castlevania Game... i was like, 6 years old, and in that time my only language was Spanish, and i was so confused, like, who's this blue guy?, why am i in the ending? who's this girl with powers? what are you doing to the blue guy? and then i was like, what's going on? what was all that? did the game end?!?... who's alucard?... and then, i spent all my days playing this game. the game is very pretty, even the enemies, they are so detailed they game nightmares as a child (the Flame Demon, especially) AND THE MUSIC OH MY GOD, the music of this game is the reason of why i listen to Soundtrack!. after that i discovered there are MANY more other games like this (with Curse of Darkness being the second Castlevania game i've ever played), and then... i entered the dead fandom (hahaha... oh). Alucard is my favorite character from any game, ever, because he is in the best game ever!
Later i realized that the game is very, VERY easy. and that you can complete it in 3 hours aprox. or less (that's my case), and that there were games before this one that were kinda different (the classic, whipping games), starring characters that i didn't see anywhere in Symphony (aside from Trevor, he made a very short cameo, but i didn't remember it at that moment) so i started to love the old games too. Every Castlevania game has a unique charm, like PoR, with the Dual Combat resembling the Dual Game in Bloodlines (i need to complete this game but it's so hard!) or AoS/DoS where you collect souls for you to use as an attack...
welp, i think i've wrote enough...
tldr i love the game and the series in general
I love the idea of looking back at these legendary games and re-evaluating them with a modern mindset! Here's hoping this becomes a regular series!
I agree. I wish he would have stuck with the series. They seem to have moved away from it for whatever reason.
Man, I don't know how I missed this one. Great episode as always! Symphony is the kind of game that I tend to forget about after a while, but when I rediscover it I am hooked for days. It truly is a joy to play.
Honestly, this was my first Castlevania, and the intro was so awesome. As a kid I couldn't figure out how to progress after a certain point, so I just kept replaying the intro up until you lose all your powers over and over. Good times.
Your channel has been an amazing discovery and comfort during the pandemic. I’ve added it to my tiny list of go to comfort shows on TH-cam, so amazing job and thank you for doing for what you guys do!
4:00 I'd still totally be down for this, especially with Dread being a thing now
You hit the nail on the head with the incredible variety of material thrown into SotN. I think that was why I never quite enjoyed any of the follow-up titles as much - SotN just had so much random nonsense that it was fun to run around and locate it all. The other games are far more focused (and arguably better) but they lost that throw-it-in feel.
Also I'm pretty sure the lopsided difficulty is the result of Iga wanting for everyone to be able to beat the game. The OP spells and equipment are basically an "easy mode" toggle. I think this is also why Maria in Rondo is able to basically break all of that game's rules.
Oh shit, had no idea Igarashi worked on Tokimeki Memorial. That was a great Game Center CX episode.
It's OK to hug lots of girls!
I'm not gonna lie. I'm interested in this!!
This game is amazing forever...and the soundtrack? God daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!
Luke James greatest soundtrack ever , still go to sleep to it to this day lol
I still have the tracks from the game on my playlist
Daaaaaaaaaamn indeed
Dance of Pales for days! And every other track, but yeah.
Michiru Yamane is absolutely amazing with her work. I have almost the entire SOTN OST on my i-pod and Spotify. Her music is so enticing and addicting. I think that you hit the nail on the head when discussing her work, Derek.
I have played every Castlevania game in the series and there is no doubt that SOTN is the best of them all. This game is so great that you won't have any problems recertifying it in many years to come. This is my favorite game of all time. Great video my friend.
I like the idea of classic games going to a DMV type thing to get recertified.
"Sir, do you have a boss rush mode?
" Well at the end of my game you get better weapons to deal wi-"
"Answer the question, sir"
"... yes"
Then the knight from Actraiser does an awkward shuffle.
One of the best games on PSX!
I love the way the inverted castle is. Its not considered a flaw to me or most others. I really enjoyed experiencing everything completely flipped. Otherwise it wouldn't be an inverted castle...it would be a different castle. Great video though!
exploration is kinda dead, but that's mostly because you've unlocked all mobility options because it's post-endgame. it would take serious efforts to have any extra section after the boss that felt like continued expansive gameplay. i agree the inverted castle is bomb and fun to explore how it's all there with new platforming, navigation, and enemies.
I was really impressed with this new series. I really want to see what else you can talk about.
Damn. It's 4AM, I was JUST about to go to sleep! Happy to see that content is rolling out pretty regularly since the change to SSFF, and that the quality has been maintained, if not improved. :)
I'm so sorry you couldn't fully explore the possibility of going in depth of Kenji Eno man. You got me hooked with your Splatterhouse, Disney/Capcom, and D trilogy videos! Love you dude!
I agree that Symphony is a great title.
At 7:00, Now, as far as the sprites go in this game, the Super Nintendo could actually handle sprite scaling like that depending on the developer working around the system limitations and that would also depend if the game was made via the Super FX chip or any of the DSP chips in the cartridge. Art of Fighting for SNES retained the zoom-in/zoom-out effect like it did in its original Neo Geo counterpart and that was on a cart with normal SNES memory banking. If any console that wouldn't handle sprite scaling like in SotN would be the Genesis...maybe the Sega CD and 32X could.
you forgot one very important change it brought on future castlevanias.
number 5: no more venture to the castle.
the spooky atmosphere of graveyards, dim lit caves, lonesome roads and eerie villages.. all gone now! the whole game takes place in dracula's castle and stays there! why? they should combine the strengths of both, the classic castlevanias and metrovanias.
and not just that, the amazing control of the whip in super castlevania 4 also never made it out of that game despite how great the controls felt and how well it improved on the action. ideas like that should never be ignored or discarded after proven to work so well. just a thought.
What a kickass series idea in soo many ways!! Nostalgia is great and all but I feel that FAAR too few people look practically at an old favorite of theirs before saying it's "the greatest game of ____" so I can't wait to see how awesome this series becomes ^-^
You summed up why this is my all-time favorite game: the experience!!
The art style, the fluid controls, the attention to detail, that f**king soundtrack!
This is why despite it being easy, it's the experience and immersion this game had that ultimately mattered.
But those fucking Yellow Medusa heads in the upside down Clocktower...
I can agree.
While it had its flaws (too much voiceacting) I quite liked Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, the new switching mechanic was fun and both characters had different attacks and abilities.
Dark Academy level was a blast and the final fight was worth it.
Understandable and I agree. I love Portrait of Ruins. Can't decide if I like this or Aria of Sorrows as my personal favorite Castlevania game in general & one of my favorite games of all time. But you can't go nothing wrong with those games.
Every Castlevania games has it's flaws as well. Even the most popular ones like Super Castlevania 4 & Symphony of the Night. But even so & throughtout the most parts, the games as an whole goes really strong on just how good it is that the problems the game has doesn't ruined the gaming experience that your playing. Even with some flaws, any games are mostly positive & just how good it is.
Really enjoying these new videos Derek! Symphony of the Night is one of the most beloved games. Great work, very excited for the next episode.
Where’s that re-certified Super Metroid Derek?? Give the fans what they want!
Only in 1990's Japan can a developer hot off the heels of a dating sim muscle his way into developing a Romantic platforming RPG.
I completely disagree with you about the inverted Castle being a afterthought or 11th hour decision. Do you know how difficult it must have been, to design a Castle that's as big as the one in SOTN, but has also got to be playable both right side up, & upside down?
The only way for that to be possible, is if the designers knew from the start, that the castle would also have to be playable while inverted. You can't just go & design a level right side up, & expect it to be playable while inverted as well. Go and print out the map from Super Metriod, & then flip it upside down to see if it's playable or not. I'm betting it's not.
MrBdobb And that's why inverted castle was a bad idea to begin with. They should've made us backtrack through the main castle after the fight with Richter. Only add new enemies and bosses to the old locations. It would've been so much better. No need for the inverted castle.
ThePreciseClimber Right. And also, the upside down castle clearly doesn't feel like it was designed to be oriented like that, at least to me. There are just enough movement options in the game that it becomes traversable by default.
ThePreciseClimber I'm not saying that it is or isn't a bad idea, I'm just stating that making a map playable both right side up & up side down, takes a lot of thought & couldn't of been shoehorned in at the last minute.
MrBdobb "but has also got to be playable both right side up & upside down" That's why you basically get all of your mobility upgrades in the first castle, so you can't possibly find yourself stuck in the second one. There's no way you can get to the inverted castle without some way to go in whatever direction you please, since you are forced to have the infinite-flight bat form in order to find an item to not kill Richter so you can reach said castle. There isn't much of a need to worry about if a player is able to walk or normally jump anywhere when you're required to have FLIGHT to find it.
UltimaKeyMaster The creators would still have to know were to place enemies & what ability will work on what obstacles.
Their are a lot of places in the first castle, that you're not able to access without certain ability upgrades as well. They designed the 2nd castle knowing that the player would have all the mobility upgrades after finishing the first castle.
They didn't have to worry about the player being to weak on the 2nd play through. So they designed the 2nd castle around the player have to us more of his mobility upgrades to get around.
I love "I Am the Wind" tbh.
Totally agree. Cynthia Harrell is a great vocalist and it's a nice smooth jazz + R&B track that resonates well with the classically trained, jazz pianist tones of Michiru Yamane's compositions. Also speaks to the actual themes of resolution in the game, along with the ethereal, momentous and rootless nature of it's protagonist. It doesn't even have to be all that either, I just like it and appreciate it as a memorable component to my favorite game.
Me too! It annoyed me the first time I heard it, but subsequent releases of the game that don't have it made me realize just how much it belongs there.
No shame
Thank you, Darek.
honestly, the fact that we can split hairs over the best metroidvania at all should speak to the quality of symphony of the night's quality.
I myself put myself firmly in the boots of the Order of Ecclesia camp for favorite metroidvania. The only place where I can truly fault Ecclesia is having some not so good level design towards the front end. The combat balance is incredible and smoehow nails gratifying fights far better than even SOTN. some of the finest boss battles of the series find their home in order of ecclesia, and even old hat monsters you've seen as regular enemies in the past can be threatening and frightening for the ill prepared.
Real nice that you did an episode on SOTN
Very excited for the next Re:Certified Classic episode!
I got this game on a whim in college. I had not played any castlevania since the NES and had only gotten a PS1 to play rpgs on. Once I started playing it though, I was hooked - it was amazing and still is. Also I just found your channel and am enjoying your videos!
Excellent video, by far one of my favorite games of all time, I have bought it 3 time so far (ps1, xbl, psn) and always replay for that 200+% completion. Keep up the good work.
I'm really digging the new series. It's nice seeing an honest discussion of this classic while nixing the nostalgia. Looking forward to more!
I like this style of video; trying to determine if a classic aged as well as people think without nostalgia is a great idea. I warn that it'll also get some fans to draw their torches and pitchforks though...
More over, many points very well made, the soundtrack being incredible has always been part of my enjoyment. But you're entirely right, the inverted castle did have some annoyances and did spam one song far too much. That said, it also has one of my favorite tracks: Lost Painting which is surreal, jarring since it's usually played in more difficult sections, and really captures the haunting feeling of walking on Dracula's ceiling looking for the vampire master himself.
Highly enjoyed this. I had just done a sort of rant video on what I thought were some of the imperfections with the game, as a response to an imaginary mob of people saying it's one of the greatest 2D games ever made (which actually does exist). But there's no denying it's an orgasm on the senses. I still love it, just wish we could have gotten traditional platforming Castlevania games afterwards.
This review made me want to listen to the Symphony of the Night soundtrack immediately afterwards. The music from the clock tower area, "The Tragic Prince", is one of the favorite video game tunes of all time.
And who would have thought years ago that the SNES "Dracula X" would one day become more expensive than the PC Engine original "Rondo of Blood"? I remember back in the early 2000's when Rondo was $200 on Ebay, while Dracula X on the SNES was usually only $40 or $50.
RetroGamerAaron Are we talking actually getting the PC Engine original being cheaper than Dracula X? Cause if that's the case, yeah that's very surprising. I would've thought maybe Rondo got immensely cheaper because of the PSP version packing in the original game with a translation, but...you never know with old game prices.
I love Symphony. God, I wish the Rondo and Symphony pack were on Switch :-(
5:05
Iga:
''We hated, hated falling to your death.''
Gamers all over the world:
''Who doesn't?!''
really nice that you were able to praise the game without leaving out the flaws it always had, that so many people seem to avoid talking about due to nostalgia.
Even with it's flaws, it still gets alot of positive on how good the game is. I won't denied the game isn't perfect. No games are. But this game is still fantastic. It's not my personal favorite Castlevania game. But it's in my top 5.
Hey I unironically love the song "I am the Wind"! It's so cheesy in the right ways and always brings me back to the old days.
Thank you Derek, I'm completely with you on this one. I get so sick of people treating SOTN like it fell from the heavens and is the absolute pinnacle of Castlevania. Mind you, I adore SOTN and have beaten it many times. I just feel that some of the later entries improved upon the formula. Dawn of Sorrow is probably my favorite Castlevania
i feel like that's a morrowind vs oblivion or skyrim debate. the series is evolving and unique. they can polish and improve, but no matter what, charm that can't be recaptured gets lost along the way sometimes. frankly i think that CotM was a step down from SotN in many ways but in others captured it well and yet more did new good things, and despite lighting issues i feel CotM is the best of the handheld line. it's easy to say the later ones are better, but things like the battle arena and new game plus class modes went underappreciated.
i think the art and design of alucard in SOTN was inspired by the character lestat in interview with the vampire.
*Checks Inbox*
*Very Happy*
Ever since I got my PS3 from 2010, I kept playing this game yearly. Every October, I always find myself coming back to play SotN again and again because of how excellent it is; seeing how October is the month for Halloween, I find it more fitting to play it on that particular month. I definitely recommend the PSP port in the "Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles," since it comes with the remake and original versions of Dracula X and an enhanced version of SotN with better voice acting and new dialogue.
Hylianguy38 I'm dying to know which version has a crisper, clearer picture, the Dracula x Chronicles version of sotn, or the psn version on the ps store..I want to play it on my vita
To this day, every time I play through this excellent game I find something new, whether that is a new enemy animation or behavior, a new weapon, or a weapon's special attack (always try a Capcom style fireball move with new swords that you find, as some of them have hidden abilities).
It remains one of my favorite video games of all time, and is still more fun than any of it's successors due to its presentation and art direction.
I make it a point to run through this game at least once or twice a year. It's one of the few that I can consistently go back to and never be disappointed.
the execution of this game the music/graphic quality is one of the best ever done in 2d.
This is a game that I still dig out and play every few years, because the experience and feel is still unmatched. It is a joy to play still, even after I have gotten the 215% clearance rate many times over. Few games have ever been this much fun to play, and if you haven't played it, do yourself a favor, and rectify that. The sheer amount of content in this game is staggering. Almost every enemy in this castle provides a new experience, and in the case of the Shmoo in the inverted library can provide you with an item that breaks the game in a hilariously awesome way. This game, and the fact that we haven't received another like it in so long is why Bloodstained's Kickstarter campaign has done so well. I cannot wait for Bloodstained, and I do so dearly hope it doesn't fall victim to what some perceive as the Kickstarter curse that befell Mighty No. 9
the fact that half the content was lock behind a secret, remains to this day, the bravest artistic direction ever in a game.
Great vid, I love this game. If I had to rank my favorite "Castlevania" games, I'd say my Top 5 would be,
1.Super Castlevania 4 (SNES)
2.Castlevania:Symphony of the Night (PS1)
3.Castlevania (NES)
4.Castlevania:Lamnent of Innocence (PS2)
5.Castlevania:Portrait of Ruin (DS)
I wasn't very appreciative to the game when I first rented it from "Network Video", in fact, I found it too hard. But after I watched AVGN's "Castlevania Retrospective" and played most of the game on PSN, I was hooked to the maximum. I may want to give "Castlevania:Aria of Sorrow" and "Castlevania:Dawn of Sorrow" when I get a chance.
I only played SotN for the first time a couple of years ago, and I had an absolute blast with it. The exploration and combat was simply incredible, and I simply could not put it down. I think that speaks to just how good of a game it still is.
Having played it recently for the first time, I definitely agree; it is a classic. Such a beautiful, fantastic game with an incredible, touching soundtrack.
The attention to detail is amazing as well; the animations for when you're standing idle, the interaction with objects such as chairs, interactions of enemies such as the Owl Knight. Great minds were at work; they did of a lot of things that were unnecessary, but add so much charm and value to the experience.
I did feel the same way about the gameplay though, I definitely felt there was potential for improvement to make it more interesting in the long term. I'd imagine the GBA and DS games did a lot to that end. I'll see for myself in time.
"I am the Wind" is a very cheesy, but also a very soothing song, which is welcome in such a dark game. It is thematically relevant too, if I remember correctly. Plus, it was composed by Rika Muranaka, and she's always great!
SotN has the best presentation of any game in the series easily, but I don't think I've ever considered it my favorite game among them. Back in the day it was probably Bloodlines, later I preferred Circle of the Moon, and post Dracula X Chronicles I have to say I'm a big fan of Rondo. I do love that you gave a shoutout to CotM even if it isn't your favorite of the GBA titles seeing as it's so often an overlooked game in the face of the, admittedly fantastic, Sorrow titles.
Considering that it is the only one of my top three that's a Metroidvania I feel I should expand on what I like about it and see if you agree at all. Sure it might not have the visual presentation of Symphony or the later games, nor does it have the sheer number of really cool easter eggs, but it makes up for it by having so many different and interesting modes and a supremely well designed castle. While every Metroidvania has a few extra modes after completing it they usually feel stripped down, and more than a handful just plain out suck. Not in Circle, each mode brings it's own challenges and twists on the base game by changing things up just enough to make it fresh without cutting out things like the inventory. It's also simply much more difficult than any of the other Metroidvania titles which keeps it fresh through to the end even on repeat playthroughs where the others seriously start to run out of steam.
Also, and I'm just gonna say it outright, IGA irritates me with his dislike of the whip. The whip is simply a fun weapon with it's simple to understand and difficult to properly use, but powerful mechanics. The whip has enough range and versatility in the old games to allow you to beat the entire game without getting touched, and it's obvious that is entirely possible, but it's also incredibly difficult to do so, it makes buster only no damage runs in Megaman look like a cakewalk, and that makes the weapon and games themselves really interesting. In the Metroidvania titles though the whip becomes an even greater tool. Between the tiny bit of overhead hitbox it gives you, the reach combining with your free form jumps to allow for fadeaway hits, and holding the button slightly longer allowing you to deal extra damage as the whip starts to slack in Portrait and the Sorrow titles it becomes an insanely powerful tool once mastered able to keep its usefulness in the face of the best subweapons. And wouldn't you know it? Circle is the only Metroidvania to focus on the whip.
God I love every single metroidvania Castlevania so, so much. I'm playing through Aria right now and then I'll do the DS trilogy. I would kill for a console/pc remaster of Aria that just redoes all the spritework so it's bigger like Symphony. And maybe if it added in the awesome weapon synthesis from Dawn for some new weapons
thaks for the great video derek! i really enjoy the concept behind this series and i look forward to the next installment
Great episode. I still prefer the Metroid side of the Metroidvanias, though, for one simple reason: they're less "cluttered." Symphony of the Night absolutely overflows with dead-end passages and useless items, whereas in games like Super Metroid, every screen and every item has a purpose. Nothing is wasted, and you never feel like you've gone on a wild goose chase like you often do in Symphony of the Night. An attention to detail and thorough exploration is always rewarded in Super Metroid, whereas it's sometimes literally pointless in Symphony.
I'm not saying that's a bad thing, per se, but it's definitely two very disparate approaches to game design, and personally, I'll side with the Metroid style every time. But I love love LOVE Metroidvanias, so I can't hate on Symphony at all -- it's still one of the best times I had on the ol' PS1.
If you're looking for a really good, expansive Metroidvania that has the same eye for detail (both graphically and content-wise) as Symphony of the Night, however, might I recommend La-Mulana? It's an indie title from 2005 that got remade in 2011 (2012?), and it's easily one of the best games I've ever played. If you think Symphony is dense with content, I dare you to try to find any Metroidvania on the PLANET that has as much content crammed into every last nook and cranny as La-Mulana. Oftentimes cruel and obtuse but always utterly engaging, La-Mulana manages to be a game I truly feel more people need to play -- it doesn't get nearly enough respect.
Another great indie Metroidvania that offers a lot more freedom as to how you can approach each obstacle is Unepic. It's marred a bit by a wholly unlikable protagonist, pop culture references out the wazoo, and a frankly embarrassing sense of humor, but if you can look past all of that you'll find a brilliantly designed game with a surprisingly good story and AMAZING atmosphere -- with, again, a really cool attention to detail.
Wyrdwad The relationship between the protagonist and the ghost hauting him actually worked in a interesting due to the main character's somewhat reprehensible personality, in my view.
Even the ghost which is a cruel monster sometimes is shocked by the protag's perversions. XD
I aim to only play La Mulana when I first finish The Maze of Gallious which is it's grandaddy influence.
cormano64
Yeah, I agree, actually. In a way, I thought Unepic's story actually benefited a lot from the main character being unlikable -- but it still didn't QUITE make up for the fact that he really, really was unlikable. ;) I still absolutely LOVED the game as a whole, though -- so well-designed! And some of those bosses were incredibly clever and original -- the brain in particular, and the final boss as well. One of my favorite indie games of all time, without a doubt.
Unepic was also heavily influenced by Maze of Galious, actually. As was another freeware indie game called Hydra Castle Labyrinth, and a homebrew MSX game called Caos Begins, and... probably a lot more games too! And I've been playing a little bit of Maze of Galious as a result, since I've positively adored all of the games it inspired. You're smart to play Galious before La-Mulana, though, as La-Mulana is absolutely the better game in every single regard. In fact, all of the games it inspired seem to be better than the original. I'm enjoying Galious enough, but I think I would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't played so many "Galiouslikes" before giving the original a shot.
Wyrdwad By "brain boss" do you mean Neuron? If so, I'll tell you that it has some clever design ideas but horribly implemented as you really have no way to defend against some of them before hand, specially when you get paralyzed and the character starts to waste potions away while you can only watch.
If I didn't resort to actually read some FAQ on how to defeat it, I calculated that you'd have to fight it FOUR times to figure out all its attacks. That's why I use a walkthrough to beat it with no guilt at all, lots of cheap shots.
The sort-of-medusa boss at first I felt it was also bullshit, bu I eventually defeated without having to look up how, as it was not anywhere remotely as cheap as Neuron.
I lost my save since I formatted my PC, but I'll definitely replay it and finish it as I really fell in love with it. I stopped about a third of the way through the area filled with invisible ghosts on the top section of the map. :)
Wyrdwad
As far as Gallious goes, yeah I sensed as much. It's a older game after all. The thing is that I love to get a taste of the original game design concepts as they were implemented so it can feed my own design sensibilities, because I don't always agree with the paths later designers took them on, even when I enjoy them.
But it's not often that I stop appreciating an older game because of improvements. Hell, I even enjoy the original Dragon Quest even thought the grinding is excessive even when compared to the relatively near 90's japanese RPGs, for example.
cormano64
See, I definitely fell for Neuron's tricks the first two times I fought it (wasting my potions and dying the first time, and getting transported back to the save point as I was about to kill him the second), but each time I did, I wasn't angry -- I was impressed! I really liked the idea of a boss using my own inventory against me, and even as I failed in defeating the thing, I still had to give the developer a lot of credit for thinking up something so awesome. I'm A-OK with "unfair" bosses if they're clever, and especially if I can fight them again with minimal backtracking, so I didn't mind losing to Neuron a couple times to get the hang of its patterns. Old-school games did this all the time, after all, and I play a LOT of old-school games. ;) It didn't feel like bad design to me, but rather like old-school design. Which, considering the game, seemed wholly appropriate!
I also quite liked the tower with the invisible ghosts, as it provided a unique challenge that relied on careful resource management to overcome, and I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. That's probably one of the toughest parts of the game, though, and you were VERY close to the end, so I definitely recommend giving it another go sometime, if only to see the incredibly unique final boss battle. Which, I assure you, is not "unfair" like Neuron or the medusa thingy -- you can beat it on your first try if you're careful. But trust me when I say you won't be able to prepare for it in advance, as it is very much unlike any final boss I've ever seen before or since. You'll definitely have to think on your feet!
And I appreciate old games as well, and always try to play them "in context" to get the full effect. I just feel Galious has some very questionable design decisions in it that mar the experience a bit. Not as much as some of Konami's other MSX classics (Treasure of Usas has some seriously BS challenges in it, and King Kong 2 has a LOT of problems), but much more so than others that I feel hold up a lot better (Goonies, Hinotori, and even Vampire Killer -- for as much as people like to dis Vampire Killer on MSX, I actually prefer it to NES Castlevania, and feel that Konami made some absolutely stellar design decisions in it). It's actually been really interesting playing some of these old MSX games, and I do owe Unepic and La-Mulana a debt of gratitude for convincing me to buy an MSX (yes, I have the actual hardware!) so I could play Galious and all the other games that inspired some of today's indie devs. Been really fascinating going back and playing these old games that inspired a whole generation of Japanese game developers but were virtually unknown in the West.
Completely had that moment where I said, "Hey, I wonder if anyone has a historical view of Symphony?" XD
And thank you for destroying "I Am The Wind".
I am the wind is awesome. you're still talking about it nearly 18 years later!
I just got the black label version in the mail today and I'm celebrating by watching this video. Thanks Uncle Derek!
Strider had an exploration aspect? Had no clue they changed it like that.
200% this a long time ago on the Playstation, then bought it a few years ago from
the PSN-store on the PS3 and 200% it again. Once you start playing you are hooked. Amazing game.
6:25 Aerogauge is actually a hidden gem on the N64 IMO. Admittedly, the game doesn't tell you anything about how to play, but once you learn about start and drift boosting, the game makes way more sense and the "unfair AI" becomes rather simple to beat. I understand how it got its reputation for feeling slow and clunky, having an awful draw distance, and a lack of content, but I feel like there was huge potential for a sequel to rectify all the early 3d shortcomings.
I love the shit out of this. It's a great start to a series. You said that the tobal.9 demo disc for ff7 was as close as you were going to get to a review and I feel like you'd do it for this series.
Good stuff D
Don't forget about the Tolkien references (specifically The Silmarillion) with items like the rings of Varda and Feanor, the Fists of Tulkas, Crissaegrim, Mormegil, and the Nauglamir necklace.
This game is one of the best games for the PS1 by far! I'd put it up there in my top ten. Spent hours with this game. Me and an old friend spent hours searching for everything to make the complete mark ... forget the percentage but it was like over 200% or something? I think the only thing you forgot to mention is the super secret code you can enter after to complete it 100%! You can play the whole game, as the original hero AND play it like an original game.
Sweet episode man, keep them coming :)
One of the best games, ever! Though..I think the term MetroidVania came directly from this game just from the map! Ever noticed the similarity between SOTN and Super Metroid's maps? Blue, outlined with white, and certain symbols for certain places? If you needed MetroidVania defined, I hope I helped you. Peace!
I haven't played this game yet, sad but true... But I did get my hands on the PSP game, Dracula X Chronicles. I'll have to play through it and unlock SotN. ;) Great video! Is this going to be a continuing series - Re:Certified Classics? Sounds like a great idea! Can't wait to see which classics you revisit. ;)
The inverted castle* has a bunch of new enemies, bosses, and completely new weapons that aren't mere re skins. Its brilliant how the upside down castle manages to re-imagine the castle you knew so well.
Regarding balance, there's something I've noticed in games:
It's fun to get the super powerful thing.
It's not fun to waltz through the rest of the game with no challenge.
So it seems to me that having a huge jump in power scaling is absolutely great, but then you've got to gradually bring up the power of the enemies so that an area doesn't feel too punishing, it just steadily becomes another, "I need a new version of that super powerful weapon I got ages ago!", and you do the same trick, and once again you provide the same enjoyment. You can't do it too much, eventually it'll start to get old as anything does, but providing the player with a jump in power might sometimes seem like poor balancing, yet it can be beneficial if delivered at the right point in the game.
I don't know if SotN got it right all the way through (in fact, it didn't), but it wasn't so far off as to ruin the game. It's still a great game today, and I would argue that it's partly because of the haphazard balancing.
Derek, you should really try Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon's Trap on Sega Master System. It is Metroidvania before Metroidvania. I promise.
Rondo of Blood on PC Engine CD is the best Castlevania IMO
EDIT: Whoa, my name was on the scrolling credits at the end o.O
the art and music in this game makes it a masterpiece. Add on we probably will never another 2d game of this quality. They really dont make games like this anymore, and never will again. Indie cant replicate this.
Still waiting on that Re:Certified Classic - Super Metroid.
I wanna see more Metroid love on this channel! :D
DO IT SSFF!
Great video Derek! Thanks for all you do man!
Hm... your dislike for early 3D polygonal games has gotten me interested in a Super Mario 64 Re:Certified Classic episode. It did (for it's time) show everyone how 3D platformers are done and I still love it to death, but how does Derek Alexander feel about the game almost 20 years after it's release?
It's terrible.
@@drunkensailor112 No it fucking isn't.
@@johnathonturner2279 it plays like shit. It is shit.
@@drunkensailor112 no but you are
The exploration genre is even older than metroid. It was a genre pretty much from MANY MSX games, pretty much a mix of action and RPG. Instead of leveling up and getting loot, you got power ups. I don't remember the name of the game. I think it was Maze of Galious, it's the game La Mulana was inspired in. And it's pretty old. Even if metroid came first im sure it's not the first 2d exploration game. But it's the game that defined the genre
I didn't realise I Am The Wind is sung by Cynthia Harrell, probably most famous in videogames for singing SNAAAAKE EEEAATEEERRR!
Been watching since the Happy VGN. Love this channel!
Vampires only listen to Patrick Swayze albums. You didn't know that?
SeattleSundown you're thinking ghosts. swayze did the ghost movie
Stop Skeletons From Fighting Lol look up "she's like the wind" (in reference to the credit score in Symphony of the Night.)
SeattleSundown hahaha, well I stand corrected!
Stop Skeletons From Fighting No worries man. If anyone looks lame from that exchange, it's me lol Great video!
+SeattleSundown She did Snake Eater so I am the Wind is redeemed
Glad to see you're still making videos. Liked and subscribed.
Well musical taste is not discussed ...
I am the Wind is an extremely precious song for me
You and the gaming historian are the best!
Alan Cavazos hahaha thanks! i'll tell norm
2019 just started and this game is still TOP TIER
Good video :)
Can we appreciate just how well the aet style of this game has aged. Such beautiful art style.
I have no direct nostalgia for SotN as I never had a Playstation growing up (and didn't become a serious Castlevania fan until much later in life). So, having just played and finished the game for the first time ever over the last several weeks, I feel your take is spot-on. It may have a few clumsy or unfocused design choices here or there (I could count on one hand the number of special items/weapons I used during my playthrough, for example)...but overall it is an absolutely fantastic game. Gorgeous visuals, cool bosses and some of the best VG music ever produced.
While it may play second fiddle for me in both the "Castlevania" and "Metroid" categories (with both of those trophies belonging to titles on the SNES), I have a hard time imagining that I'll ever encounter a better game on the Playstation and could certainly call it one of the best game experiences I've ever had, period. It is seriously a game that I think everyone should play at some point in their lives.
...And yeah, the end credits music is baffling to me as well.
Glad to see you have another series!
I still enjoy the game and get the urge to pick it back up. My ps3 finally died on me so I just bought the game again on 360. Such a great game and has aged incredibly well.
3:59 Man I REALLY hope we get that episode.
This game is an Exhibit A in the “Are Video Games Art?” Debate! To this day the sprite work is beyond words!
best game I've ever played. still play it every Halloween. #tradition
my first Castlevania game is Aria of Sorrow and im instantly hooked in playing other Castlevania titles, although i didnt have a chance at playing the symphony of the night, i can see that its definitely claims the top spot out of the bunch
Even after 20 years, this game is still amazing & it's one of my favorite games of all time.
You summed up alot of the positive & some minor criticism; though still outweigh it with the positive, of this game perfectly well. Fair review.
This game still holds up tremendously well & it's definitely one of the best Castlevania games out there. Along with many others. And one of the best video games out there as well.
Just finished this again. Never gets old.
FUN FACT: SoTN was built on a 3D engine, which starts to make more sense as the Saturn was a 2D powerhouse, but rather shortcoming on 3D, which is in part why it had terrible performance.
FUN FACT 2: I am The Wind, vocals sound familiar? She did a more Iconic song for another Konami game... What a thrill..
FUN FACT 3: It still holds up better than most games, It's been years and I've beaten it 20+ times over that span and still find new ways to play, new approaches with a refreshed approach.
I love your reviews!!! Still think your "Demons quest" video was the best though...I feel I watch it at least once a month lol. You should re-review the series!!!
One of my favorite games of all time. I had 2 videogame friends back in the day. We would get 3 large pizzas, doritos, beer and soda. And take turns playing the game. We would even say the opening dialog along with the game cause we knew it so well. we would play all night and call it a day when it became day lol. Oh the good times before we all got married and got time consuming jobs.
Nice review. I agree that AoS and DoS had gameplay improvements, though their stories are not as strong as SotN. I still can't pick which is my favorite, I love them all.
I think I am the wind fits perfectly with Alucard.
THE SOUNDTRACK OF THE INVERTED CASTLE IS JUST FCKIN AMAZING 🏆
Fun Fact: "I am the Wind" was sung by Cynthia Harrell, the same woman as Snake Eater