Current Events > how does symphony of the night hold up?

(+) Yeah! (+)

worth playing?

What you've never played?! Its near perfect. To this day.

Definitely, I still think it's one of the finest Metroidvanias and it's one of my favourite games of all time. You may need to look up a guide to get to the second half of the game but it's still a must play.

WalkingLobsters posted...

worth playing?

Hell yes! I got it free as part of Games with Gold on Xbox a while back and I felt I was making out like a bandit getting to play something that awesome without any sort of entry fee. Do yourself a favor and play it asap!

Noumas posted...

What you've never played?! Its near perfect. To this day.

nah unfortunately. I played bloodstained a few years ago and enjoyed it a lot

Flop

Still my favorite Metroidvania. Last time I played it was on Requiem, right after 100% clearing Rondo of Blood, so that playthrough felt even more cathartic than usual lol.

100%

The visuals, animations, music, enemy variety, and level design (for most of the game) are still quite good and definitely worth experiencing. It's also not that difficult of a game and is thus surprisingly accessible considering some of the other 90s Castlevanias that came out shortly before it.

i think its better than bloodstained, imo its still the best game in the genre.

Often emulated, never paralleled.

Play it.

i remember trading mortal kombat trilogy for it back in the day to my friend

how does it play on the iphone?

Dunno. I presume like shit.

It's great still. Definitely worth a go.

WalkingLobsters posted...

how does it play on the iphone?

Fine, if you're using a controller. Fuck that onscreen button nonsense.

Like this:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/2/2/AAN8dNAAE6He.jpg

It's still great. I think a lot of other Castlevanias are better though, mainly AoS and the DS ones.

It's a really good game. The second half isn't as well thought out and the difficulty is way too easy, but overall not much to complain about. For a genre that is absolutely saturated on Steam thanks to indie games, I can safely say it's still one of the best.

Timeless piece of art

It's great and still playable.

But it has this weird position where it's (near) perfect, but yet you have feel another castlevania game is better despite having more flaws.

Reminder: when you get to the upside-down library, murder the hell out of those floating head ghosts until a sword pops out of one.
Then, a really great game suddenly becomes ludicrously awesome.

I still break that out on my PS3 every now and then.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Reminder: when you get to the upside-down library, murder the hell out of those floating head ghosts until a sword pops out of one.
Then, a really great game suddenly becomes ludicrously awesome.

Oh God he ain't lying. Makes the low stat luck run much more manageable.

Its overrated af. But thats because its good and everyone agrees.

But its just a good game you should play.

Good game to this day. My only complaint, it's a little easy.

burns112233 posted...

My only complaint, it's a little easy.

Well, I mean, you don't have to spam holy water, or murder those ghost heads in the upside-down library, or obliterate that one boss in fifteen seconds with the Alucard Shield.

Honest opinion from someone who didn't play it back then; You can definitely feel how old it is, and how later Castlevania games used a lot of the ideas it came up with, so it actually feels kind of clunky and "Oh, I've done that before" in places where it should feel more special I suspect.

That said I really need to give it another try because I highly suspect a game praised this much will reveal why it's still worth playing if I get past that. Unfortunately, I have a version on a PSP castlevania collection so the screen real estate is also super tiny and has borders.

TheWizardOfOrz posted...

Unfortunately, I have a version on a PSP castlevania collection so the screen real estate is also super tiny and has borders.

Also you need to shim the dpad on original PSP to get any of the spells to work worth a damn. Mushy PS1 dpads weren't so great about it either.

TheWizardOfOrz posted...

Honest opinion from someone who didn't play it back then; You can definitely feel how old it is, and how later Castlevania games used a lot of the ideas it came up with, so it actually feels kind of clunky and "Oh, I've done that before" in places where it should feel more special I suspect.

That said I really need to give it another try because I highly suspect a game praised this much will reveal why it's still worth playing if I get past that. Unfortunately, I have a version on a PSP castlevania collection so the screen real estate is also super tiny and has borders.

I played it when it first came out or atleast in 2000 when it was getting traction.

Lets just say the Igavanias made afterwards are structured better. SOTN feels too random, less hand holdy for sure, but also barely any direction atall. Esoteric in its design in some areas a lil too much. It was nice as people in the schoolyard can tell kids how to get to certain stages but now its a lil annoying having things like time dictate when a part of a level opens up.

it was a bit too experimental. Its why the GBA and DS games are so well done, they cut the extra fluff SOTN had, and instead gave us a structured game with objectives and well planned out secrets.

You can tell IGA had full control of the games after SOTN, whereas SOTN he only really was the producer IIRC.

ManaYuka posted...

it was a bit too experimental. Its why the GBA and DS games are so well done, they cut the extra fluff SOTN had, and instead gave us a structured game with objectives and well planned out secrets.

I still way the one with blurry sprites and awful sound is the best one.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Reminder: when you get to the upside-down library, murder the hell out of those floating head ghosts until a sword pops out of one.
Then, a really great game suddenly becomes ludicrously awesome.

Reminder: don't waste your time with this just use Alucard Shield + Shield Rod

SOTN is basically super Metroid on the PlayStation.

The Igavanias on the GBA and DS games are action rpg games.

WalkingLobsters posted...

nah unfortunately. I played bloodstained a few years ago and enjoyed it a lot

The first Bloodstained is a modernized NES Castlevania, the second is a modernized SotN, with returning voice actors, similar map layout and hidden room cues, etc.

It's amazing and holds up well, cheesy dialogue and hilarious delivery notwithstanding. I try to play it in October. Best time is ~6.5 hours for complete non-glitched map coverage.

MagnusX posted...

the second is a modernized SotN

Didn't feel as fun, but more grindy. Or maybe I just suck at it.

ManaYuka posted...

You can tell IGA had full control of the games after SOTN, whereas SOTN he only really was the producer IIRC.

He's not even the producer.
He's the assistant director tho, also the scenario writer.

Castlevania had been stumbling towards the "igavania" formula since CV2, and SOTN went nuts with it.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Didn't feel as fun, but more grindy. Or maybe I just suck at it.

Depends on the difficulty you pick. You have to grind on the higher difficulties because you need some high level abilities (the stats aren't as important). Some shards get very powerful at max level.

ssjevot posted...

Depends on the difficulty you pick.

Whatever default is. Had to loop around that first small area grinding to level 10, before I could survive the first boss.

Sticking with the "I just suck at it" theory.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Reminder: don't waste your time with this just use Alucard Shield + Shield Rod

That is another killer method. I use it here and there

DarthDemented posted...

That is another killer method. I use it here and there

Utterly destroys Galamoth, in a handful of seconds.
When you're walking around, though, lawnmower sword is the go-to.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Whatever default is. Had to loop around that first small area grinding to level 10, before I could survive the first boss.

Sticking with the "I just suck at it" theory.

Hmm, I would say level 10 is definitely overkill. The first boss should be easy assuming you got the giant mace knight shard (actually one of the best shards for much of the game).

Questionmarktarius posted...

Utterly destroys Galamoth, in a handful of seconds.
When you're walking around, though, lawnmower sword is the go-to.

Oh definitely. If I remember right it's a one handed sword so you can alternate between the buttons and just shred everything in front of you

DarthDemented posted...

If I remember right it's a one handed sword so you can alternate between the buttons and just shred everything in front of you

I like to pair it with Runesword, as both can be used without breaking stride.
Pop out Runey, lawnmower the hell out of anything it didn't already kill

It's an excellent game that's balanced kind of terribly. As you've seen people mention ITT, it's not super hard to find weapons that just break the difficulty entirely.

pegusus123456 posted...

it's not super hard to find weapons that just break the difficulty entirely.

Runesword is a butt to get.

pegusus123456 posted...

It's an excellent game that's balanced kind of terribly. As you've seen people mention ITT, it's not super hard to find weapons that just break the difficulty entirely.

The crissaegrim has an incredibly low drop rate. One of those you can get within the first few kills or grind for hours to get. I only got it so fast because I was doing the luck run and the lapis lazuli to max out my luck stat.

The Alucard Shield and Shield Rod aren't hard to get though

DarthDemented posted...

The crissaegrim has an incredibly low drop rate.

...and runesword is a rare-drop from a thing that spawns in only one place, one at a time.

Questionmarktarius posted...

...and runesword is a rare-drop from a thing that spawns in only one place, one at a time.

Really? I think I've gotten it a few times. Never thought about it's drop rate. Well that's new info to keep in mind.