Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

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Viper821
Posts: 1043
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Postby Viper821 » February 1st, 2008, 4:32 pm

Well, I finally got to play this mega popular title thanks to the PSN. I was so pumped to play this game, being a huge 2D platformer and Castlevania fan and hearing how this is one of the best games of all time. What a dissapointment it has been so far! I was going to post a review giving the game an D-, but before I do I thought I should ask some fans of this game for a second opinion. On paper, I should love this game: I'm a huge fan the RPG style setup and using swords. Why then do I think it absolutely, positively sucks?

I can't figure out where the heck I'm supposed to go and what my goal is. I keep dying before I find any save slots and the game is far too open for a platformer. Any boss means instant death since there's no way to heal and it seems it's pointless to fight them and they don't lead anywhere. I feel like a mouse trapped in a maze in this game. It also seems to be a step down graphically from Super Castlevania (SNES). Since it's so popular, I keep playing on expecting to find the big secret as to why this game is so popular but clearly I haven't found it.

Am I missing something?



Gentlegamer1
Posts: 687
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Postby Gentlegamer1 » February 1st, 2008, 6:37 pm

I generally agree with you: SotN is massively overrated and nowhere near being the best Castlevania game.

QF

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Postby QF » February 1st, 2008, 7:59 pm

It just seems like you just need to learn the game.

-Strewtho-

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Postby -Strewtho- » February 2nd, 2008, 8:49 am

I like the cheesy dialogue & voice acting, the bosses, being able to change items/weapons, secrets etc.
I found the game to be fairly straightforward, in terms of which areas to go to because you can't get to certain places until later in the game when you have items to unlock those areas. I'd suggest going to the castle library and buying a map.
Healing is done through getting items from enemies/buying them, though you don't get them that often.
The graphics while not great for ps1, have some top notch animations and are at least twice as good as Super Castlevania 4.
If anything it sounds more like you're talking about Circle of the moon, that game was tough at the start, always dying and no save points.


m0zart1
Posts: 3117
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Postby m0zart1 » February 2nd, 2008, 10:54 am

I did like SOTN.  It was like a combination of Super Metroid and Castlevania II to me.  How can that not be good?!?

Sure there are some bad things -- the awful dialogue (though that became funny), the fact that we were never treated to a release of its direct prequel, and the truly AWFUL Disney-esque song at the end of the game, etc. etc.

I didn't like it as much as Super Metroid, but it certainly was a nice addition, given we weren't treated to another Metroid game for eight years.

ajsmart1
Posts: 609
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Postby ajsmart1 » February 2nd, 2008, 12:25 pm

The music alone is worth the price of admission.


Paul Campbell

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Postby Paul Campbell » February 2nd, 2008, 12:45 pm

I haven't played the game in a really long time, but it sounds to me like you are doing things in the wrong order, and have gotten ahead of yourself.  If these bosses are delivering instant death to you then you must not be ready for them.   That's all I can think of.

Or it is possible that you really suck at videogames and should consider taking up scrapbooking. 


Viper821
Posts: 1043
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Postby Viper821 » February 2nd, 2008, 2:17 pm

[quote]Or it is possible that you really suck at videogames and should consider taking up scrapbooking.  [/quote]

Hey now, don't get me started. I'm beaten some sadistically difficult NES games in my day. Of course, I might be losing my edge.

I'm going to give the game one last try. You'll find out in the upcoming review how I made out but so far, this game might dethrone Final Fantasy 7 as the most overrated game of all time. Well, off I go!


kev

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Postby kev » February 2nd, 2008, 3:16 pm

I remember getting this game back when I first got my ps1 in '99 after not playing console games hardly any for a couple years. I got through it without much dificulty, and at the time I was struggling with a lot of the old nes games that I used to be great at. If it is that hard, maybe you did somehow get to a section you're not supposed to be at until later?

ActRaiser1
Posts: 2726
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Postby ActRaiser1 » February 2nd, 2008, 4:57 pm

If you're having trouble, try the old school method of level grinding before going to a boss.  The other thing to do is to just make sure you equip the right armor and weapon.  Try to balance a faster swinging sword with a shorter range than something really long and slow as you'll be able to hit the enemies many more times than using a big, slow ax.

All else fails, head over to gamefaqs for some additional tips.  Good luck!



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