Game of the Month #7 - August: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a platform-adventure video game developed and published by Konami in 1997. It is the sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and features Dracula's son, Alucard, as the protagonist. It is the progenitor of the 'Metroidvania' style of game.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night uses a 2D side-scrolling style of gameplay. The objective of the game is to guide the main player character Alucard through the undead-filled castle as he sets out to defeat the vampire Dracula. The game uses a non-linear style of gameplay; at the beginning, Alucard can access only certain areas of the castle. By obtaining forms and upgrades, he gradually explores the castle.

NinjaRic be like

NinjaRic be like

I just finished Dracula x Chronicle, When should i count this game as beaten ? i finished the first part, got the credits. Now i need to do everything again to save the girls and get the true ending i guess.

Gonna start SOTN soon, maybe gonna finish the x360 3D one as well, Lord of shadow

I just have to say, I'm working through the proper remake part of Dracula X Chronicles, and good lord this game is emotionally taxing. Not sure if it's hard or I suck at it (or both; probably both).

It is brutally hard, but at the same time really satisfying. It took me a while to get to grips with the game's physics; it does become a bit easier once you do.

That said, just wait until you get to (the completely new to the remake) Stage 5' ...

I just have to say, I'm working through the proper remake part of Dracula X Chronicles, and good lord this game is emotionally taxing. Not sure if it's hard or I suck at it (or both; probably both).

I can't tell if this game is hard because it's hard or because I'm bad. I hadn't picked it up in a week. Back at the Doppleganger. Died handedly 3-4 times (and taking the minute or so to get back to the boss grinds my gears) then somehow kicked his ass once. Wandered trying to find a save point. Died. Back to where I started. Returned to Doppleganger. Died 3 times. Put Vita down before I threw something. Between this and being super frustrated with the shoddy controls in MGS, my itch to game is waning right now.

Only somewhat related -- are the controls in MGS comparable to the next games in the series? I don't want my bad experience with MGS to ruin playing the rest of the series. I'm not above checking out a YouTube video to see the story for the rest of MGS, but I want to make sure I'm not putting in the work to then get pissed off at the MGS2-5.

I can't tell if this game is hard because it's hard or because I'm bad. I hadn't picked it up in a week. Back at the Doppleganger. Died handedly 3-4 times (and taking the minute or so to get back to the boss grinds my gears) then somehow kicked his ass once. Wandered trying to find a save point. Died. Back to where I started. Returned to Doppleganger. Died 3 times. Put Vita down before I threw something. Between this and being super frustrated with the shoddy controls in MGS, my itch to game is waning right now.

Only somewhat related -- are the controls in MGS comparable to the next games in the series? I don't want my bad experience with MGS to ruin playing the rest of the series. I'm not above checking out a YouTube video to see the story for the rest of MGS, but I want to make sure I'm not putting in the work to then get pissed off at the MGS2-5.

What kind of setup are you playing with? Sometimes a change of approach is the key for difficulty spikes in newer 2D Castlevanias...

As for MGS, the controls for 2 are a pain in the ass - you need to use three different buttons to fire a gun! I played 3 on the 3DS and that was fine (played a lot like Peace Walker on the PSP). No idea about 4.

i'm still at the doppleganger. of the 30+ times i've played him, i only beat him once. and then died before i got back to a save point (my fault). i know it's mostly from my poor hand-eye coordination, but i'm finding the battle really difficult. there are times when i get one hit on him and next thing i know he's drained all my health and im done. other times i get 9-11 hits on him and he gets me still. i've beaten games like guacamelee and shovel knight -- and maybe they're not comparable, but i found those games difficult but fair. there are times in this where i feel like i'm at a big disadvantage. i'm probably just bad. no other excuses.

between getting over a difficulty spike in mgs last night, then the mgs5 reviews coming out, i'm going to do my best to finish mgs1. then once ive cleared out more of my backlog, im gonna invest in the legacy collection to catch up. i know it'll be a while until i get to mgs5, but when im not about to chuck my Vita across the room, i'm really enjoying mgs. hahah.

Finally started this yesterday, and I'm really enjoying it so far! Here's my list-form opinion after 2 1/2 hours in the game (map completion 41.9%, just beaten the Hippogryph):

-The game has (so far) been pretty easy! Helps that I played this straight after Rondo of Blood, which is bloody hard, but still!
-It feels very familiar to the GBA/DS Castlevania games (especially the two of Sorrow games). It is very clear to see that they've drawn a lot of inspiration from SOTN.
-The level design, controls, etc., all still stand up...
-...but in some regards (particularly in the menu and item management) feels quite dated. That might be more pronounced for me, having played most of the recent handheld titles. I know this is like saying Ocarina of Time is dated compared to Twilight Princess, but it's still worth pointing out.
-The warp rooms all loop between each other rigidly, rather than being able to select your warp location. This is mildly annoying.
-The pixel art is stunning.
-The Wolf transformation is absolutely useless.
-The Holy Water sub-weapon is very overpowered. (I <3 stun-locking!)

@miked879 I fought the Doppelganger using the Baislard (sword) and Holy Water. The trick seems to be to zone it out with Holy Water, and hit it in the air when it jumps with your weapon. It did the most damage to me when it was in close, so maintaining distance should be priority No. 1. Play it conservatively, and you should come through fairly easily.