master-wiki/games/castlevania-symphony-of-the-night.md

developers	genres	release	status	times_played	title	url
Backbone Entertainment Konami Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo	Platform Role-playing (RPG) Adventure	1997-03-19	Playing	0	Castlevania: Symphony of the Night	https://www.igdb.com/games/castlevania-symphony-of-the-night

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Brief

A seminal 2D metroidvania in which after the events of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993), a man named Alucard arrives at Dracula's castle after it rises from the rubble, and seeks to defeat the evil contained within it once and for all by exploring, fighting its inhabitants and collecting the various weapons and abilities hidden in its depths.

Thoughts

So far so good

At first it was a little disoriating because I didn't event have a goal in mind, okay, alucard wants to destroy the castle, but how?? maybe I need to kill dracula, so I wonder around until I found him??

nonetheless I just start going around and was find by myself, it took me a while to actually find a key that opens new paths though, and I need to get it from the shop, that was strange, it was to be this way?? or did I miss it and was made available in the shop??

Anyway, I never round out of options to go, and after doing somo back and forts, the castle is not that big to navigate but not that small eather, is just that sweet spot so you can navigate around even with the slow walking animation of alucard.

with the shop I also found the map, I like that thats reveals the principals areas of the castle, but not all of them (you can see some dors that leaves to nowhere), a make on doors would be appreciated though, and not with the lock type (like blue doors or bars), only the doors but I let it slip as is one of the game that started everything

What I think would have make this game better is a little guidance of where to go or what to do. Sure I managed but maybe a little hint would have been apreciated, some ideas:

• After the encounter with dead, alucard could have said something on the lines of "without my abilities I'm gonna need help, maybe the old man in the library has something for me..." so I would thing "Oh, I need to find the library".
  • This would change anything gameplay wise because the encounter with dead is in the berry begining of the game and I don't know where the fuck is the library or where to search for it, but it would give me a more concrete objective
• Maria could have said something related to the doors and how "his magic abilities help her" or something
  • idk but I think it would made the encounter a little more meaningful and also gives you a little hint

I said this because I spend some time trying to do a jump with the wolf that was imposible, is not a bad thing, it's a classic metroidvania moment, but since you can do the first jump in clock tower from the outer wall but not the second it seems like I was doing something wrong instead of "it's not that way", If I would have the hint of the blue doors maybe I would have leave sooner, idk

I'm really interested in the big clock in the center, in that room the left angel moves when the minutes are even, maybe I have to go back when the hours are even??

I spend some time trying to figure it how the clock works, I though it was a puzzle between the clocks in the left and right room but I could interact with them, then I though I could move the hands of the clock by myself because the minutes move when I attacked, but after some time I realize it was a coincidence, then I though "okay, maybe the further I go into the game, the later is in the night", you know, like, the game happends in one night, but the minute moves again by just being there

So how or why did it move?? I waited some time and... it moved it on it's own... like a real clock... Does this thing have a real seance of time!? but i'm not playing at 1:20 (neither AM/PM) and also the the PS1 didn't have an internal clock (not to my knoledge), and then it hits me...

I pause the game and yea, it's my playtime, I have been playing for 1 hours and 25 minutes, and that clock interacts with it.

I think that's brilliant, I big landmark (even more since there is the first time you encounter with maria), someplace you really remember, and a pourpose to get back to it eventually. I'm waiting to pass the 2 hours to go back and see what's happend when the hours and minutes are even, maybe nothing, but it's a little adventure to look forward to, and that is what make a metroidvania so good

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La ubicación de las mejoras es extraña, es como "random" y en lugares super poco significativos, en un pasiillo nada más o algo por el estilo. Además he recorrido un buen trazo del castillo y solo he podido usar el doble salto, el lobo no lo he podido usar

Esto tiene algo positivo y negativo, he tenido poquitos momentos de "Ajá!, ahora puedo ir a este lugar que recuerdo", pero he tenido muchos momentos de "no encuentro nada por aqui, revisaré en otro lado" y me topo con un camino que no me había dado cuenta, reigniting my adventuring spirit

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Estoy amando aste juego, es muy bueno y sobre todo entretenido, con todo y sus limitaciones de la época y algunas desiciones de diseño algo extrañas

tengo unas 4-5 horas de juego y encontré al "boss final" (puto spoiler), pero antes de enfrentarme a el quiero revisar algunas ubicaciones que me causan curiosidad ahora que tengo todas (idk si será cierto hasta este punto) habilidades básicas.

Y que un juego de exploración (o metroidvania más especificamente) te haga querer explorar, es una de las mejores cosas que se pueden decir de este juego.