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Sotn - Blog Posts
First impressions
Castlevania symphony of the night
Castlevania symphony of the night is most popular title in the castlevania franchise considered one of the essential titles of the original PlayStation and my first entry into the castlevania series
Now I’ve never played a castlevania game or even a Metroidvania game before the most I’ve played was a demo for Metroid dread
But now that I’m playing one for the first time how do I feel about it I’ll go over it under the cut
Now just a reminder I haven’t finished the story yet so if I’m leaving out anything that’s why
The story so far
The game starts with us playing as richter facing Dracula at the end of rondo of blood with one of the most infamously cheesy voice acting scenes
Thank the maker for the redub
After we defeat Dracula the game cuts to four years later richter has gone missing and castlevania has reappeared leading Alucard (the son of Dracula from castlevania 3 ) to investigate
The game starts with you at full power blasting through enemies with your abilities until you remember this is a metroidvania game and death comes to steal your weapons and abilities from then on you travel across the castle meeting new people fighting monsters and frequently coming across a mysterious woman named Maria who seems to know something about richter
Hey this is where I am at the moment I’ll save the full summary for the full review
The gameplay
Castlevania sotn has you roaming throughout the castle fighting monsters and exploring what might be there
Like most Metroidvania’s the game is very much open ended meaning you can explore at your own pace however some areas will be blocked and won’t be accessible unless you find a relic that will give you the ability to proceed
The combat in this game has cool twist in it that there are rpg elements attached to it
In this game Alucard can be customized through the weapons and equipment you find from beating enemies or exploring
There are many weapons in this game from long swords short swords rods shields bows and many others and these give a lot of room for customization during combat
Alucard however can only equip two weapons at a time so be smart with how you design him and make sure it’s fitting for the level and enemies you’re facing
I should also note that many powerful weapons you get early in the game are typically one use so be mindful of that
Another thing I should mention is that alucards abilities can be gained through relics you find in the game from the ability to double jump to his transformation powers
There are many enemies in this game that have a lot of cool concepts and designs however they can be difficult to deal with in the beginning however once you get the hang of things the enemies become more easier to deal with
The most annoying enemies however are the smaller ones because while they may take less damage to kill they are much harder to hit
This can make them deadly if they are placed in Large amounts
Another thing I should mention is that early in the game I’d recommend not going
At the monsters considering there’s a good chance of your butt getting kicked and you being faced with monsters while at low heath
Castlevania is divided into many levels that are fun to explore and play through
A lot backgrounds are very cool to look at and there’s a lot a variety in the enemies you face with my favorite’s being the library and colosseum
However the ones I’d argue being poorly designed are the clock tower platforming ones
Not only do you have to deal with flying enemies who could knock you back if you get hit but enemies like crows who attack you when you get to close and are much smaller making them harder to hit and Medusa head who are small as well except they come from the side off the stage
Overall this is a very fun game to play and so far I’m enjoying it I’ll give a full review once I finish the game so have a good day