D.Lo
Member
So after a few years I played through SOTN again, the Japanese PS1 version. Original disc, on original PS1 via RGB to PVM (CRT)
This was my third playthrough. I originally did a 201% run on the PAL version at release, and sometime about 10 years ago played through the Saturn version.
Best Version
Japanese PS1 is imo the ultimate version because it has the best cover and disc art, doesn't have the horrible/hilarious English voice acting, and also doesn't have the performance and graphical issues of the Saturn version (the Saturn version's biggest sin isn't the slowdown or effects IMO, it's that the map screen isn't an instant single button press away). The PSP version is a blurry scaled mess with crap sound effects and equally poor voice acting to the original so it isn't in contention either.
I played it directly after a 100% playthrough of Akumajou Dracula X: Chi No Rondo, and shortly after a recent played through of Super Metroid. So in a lot of ways I played comparing it to those games.
My conclusion: SOTN is a beautifully presented, detail packed, dull game with pretty poor overall game design.
It's a 6.5/10 game dressed up as an 10/10 game. Ultimate result is an 8/10 game. It's a good experience, but not because it's a good game. When compared to the genius design of Super Metroid, it falls way, way short.
Mechanics
Character movement at first seems nice. Very fluid. But the whole mechanical design is a misinterpretation of satisfying combat and platforming mechanics. It's a stark contrast from Rondo, whose mechanics, like all good action games, mean you need to find patterns in boss and enemy behaviours you can exploit with the abilities you have available. Limited attack and movement options are part of that strategy. Enemies and environments are puzzles and dexterity challenges at the same time.
SOTN on the other hand has partly turned combat into mindless grinding hack and slash. Slash/retreat. Getting through a room of igors and platforms required perfect timing in the classic games. Here you can accurately slash as many times as necessary to defeat them along the plain flat floor. Many enemies you simply stand in front of and slash slash slash, maybe dodge once if there's no save room nearby.
The RPG elements also ruin combat, which leads me to...
RPG stuff
The RPG stuff like levelling and item collection appeals to the collector freaks in us, but is superfluous clutter that prohibits it from being a tightly designed game.
Why are there items to give you extra health (like Metroid) and also experience health boosts? That's really demonstrative of the cluttered design, one is about the design syncing your power level and progress, the other negates that.
The levelling completely breaks the game. The only way to stay weak enough that you can't simply cheese your way through every boss is to avoid attacking enemies. Maybe later bosses are cleverly designed so you have to exploit weak spots and move in patterns to avoid their attacks? Hard to know because by the time you get to them you can just slash away with minimal strategy.
The combat just isn't fun in-and-of itself, simple as that.
Now when it comes to all the collectable items, it adds content but also adds pointlessness. There are some nice 'toys' (eg shields and shield rod, swords with special moves) but in terms of the actual game, at any point you really just want the best armour and weapon. This beautiful game and you spend a chunk of it in an ugly windows 3.1 menu screen checking which numbers are higher.
'Event items' like the two rings, and spike armour are the closest thing this system has to integration with the actual main game design, and that's clunky as hell - add an item in an ugly menu to act as the key? Most abilities are also transparently just keys as well, none have much in the way of combat use. There are only a couple of times where you completely open up areas now you have a new ability (flying is really the only one). By comparison, Metroid games constantly tease you with inaccessible parts of areas, completely changing your perspective on the same areas later in the game when you return with more equipment.
The Inverted Castle.
The inverted castle is garbage. At first it seems like 'oh my god the game is twice the length' but it's really just the last quarter. It's clearly a sloppy last minute addition because they had some extra enemies/bosses left, as the layouts have not been designed to navigate well when upside down - you often jump up into a room only to hit a block and fall back down, and hence stuff like the clunky additional platforms in save rooms. And you already have all your navigation abilities (flying etc) so there are no extra 'doors' that need new 'keys'.
But the level design, from a gameplay (not graphical) perspective is also pretty bad in the regular castle. Well, extremely bland at least. Corridors and stairs actually feel like a chore to navigate, since all they have become are passages to new places with some enemies strewn throughout, not traps/challenges like in good action games (i.e. most classic Castlevanias). You move quite slowly, much more slowly than in say Super Metroid (wolf running isn't integrated to work in the environments anywhere near as well as speed boots, and involves a state change animation so mostly isn't worth it.). The items that act as keys are in most cases just keys - mist has basically no use outside of getting past a grate, might as well be a 'red key' or whatever, and there's actually an item called 'jewel of open' for gods sake.
Just like combat, moving around just isn't fun.
There's lots of other stupid stuff too. Why the hell is Dracula old instead of young, in an otherwise slavish recreation of the final battle on Rondo? Why the change of art style from that game, anime to sort of classical (the same poor decision made in reverse in Dawn of Sorrow)? Why the pointless (and hideous) CGI FMV intro and interludes, clearly tacked on at the last minute. And why the Kenny G sax solo 80s turd of an ending song, completely mismatched to the rest of the game and soundtrack?
What's good?
The graphics, apart from the poorly palette swapped inverted caste, are some of the best sprite work of this type ever, great animation, lots of nice effects. The music, apart from repeating themes in the inverted castle, is great. It's pleasant enough to slash your way through an army of enemies, even though you're overpowered constantly. It's borderline like a Dynasty Warriors thing.
It's a good overall experience. It was and still is great to see so many classic CV enemies again (eg Slorga), it's a borderline Castlevania encyclopaedia in some ways.
It has the graphics, it has the music, it has the content, it just has no compelling game design.
This is a game you play to see and hear all the stuff, not to appreciate satisfying combat or platforming, or clever level design, because there is very little of those. Compared with the perfect integration of all parts of the game it aped, Super Metroid, it falls way short.
It's still a good experience, just not great game.
I haven't commented on all the other Metroidvanias, but they have similar issues of level design and RPG elements breaking the Metroid structure. I'd revisit them, but I never even finished POR and haven't played OOE because I was bored of mindless corridor 'exploring' just to see nice sprite graphics.
TL;DR: Symphony of the Night is an amazing looking and sounding wrapper over a weak Super Metroid clone core.
This was my third playthrough. I originally did a 201% run on the PAL version at release, and sometime about 10 years ago played through the Saturn version.
Best Version
Japanese PS1 is imo the ultimate version because it has the best cover and disc art, doesn't have the horrible/hilarious English voice acting, and also doesn't have the performance and graphical issues of the Saturn version (the Saturn version's biggest sin isn't the slowdown or effects IMO, it's that the map screen isn't an instant single button press away). The PSP version is a blurry scaled mess with crap sound effects and equally poor voice acting to the original so it isn't in contention either.
I played it directly after a 100% playthrough of Akumajou Dracula X: Chi No Rondo, and shortly after a recent played through of Super Metroid. So in a lot of ways I played comparing it to those games.
My conclusion: SOTN is a beautifully presented, detail packed, dull game with pretty poor overall game design.
It's a 6.5/10 game dressed up as an 10/10 game. Ultimate result is an 8/10 game. It's a good experience, but not because it's a good game. When compared to the genius design of Super Metroid, it falls way, way short.
Mechanics
Character movement at first seems nice. Very fluid. But the whole mechanical design is a misinterpretation of satisfying combat and platforming mechanics. It's a stark contrast from Rondo, whose mechanics, like all good action games, mean you need to find patterns in boss and enemy behaviours you can exploit with the abilities you have available. Limited attack and movement options are part of that strategy. Enemies and environments are puzzles and dexterity challenges at the same time.
SOTN on the other hand has partly turned combat into mindless grinding hack and slash. Slash/retreat. Getting through a room of igors and platforms required perfect timing in the classic games. Here you can accurately slash as many times as necessary to defeat them along the plain flat floor. Many enemies you simply stand in front of and slash slash slash, maybe dodge once if there's no save room nearby.
The RPG elements also ruin combat, which leads me to...
RPG stuff
The RPG stuff like levelling and item collection appeals to the collector freaks in us, but is superfluous clutter that prohibits it from being a tightly designed game.
Why are there items to give you extra health (like Metroid) and also experience health boosts? That's really demonstrative of the cluttered design, one is about the design syncing your power level and progress, the other negates that.
The levelling completely breaks the game. The only way to stay weak enough that you can't simply cheese your way through every boss is to avoid attacking enemies. Maybe later bosses are cleverly designed so you have to exploit weak spots and move in patterns to avoid their attacks? Hard to know because by the time you get to them you can just slash away with minimal strategy.
The combat just isn't fun in-and-of itself, simple as that.
Now when it comes to all the collectable items, it adds content but also adds pointlessness. There are some nice 'toys' (eg shields and shield rod, swords with special moves) but in terms of the actual game, at any point you really just want the best armour and weapon. This beautiful game and you spend a chunk of it in an ugly windows 3.1 menu screen checking which numbers are higher.
'Event items' like the two rings, and spike armour are the closest thing this system has to integration with the actual main game design, and that's clunky as hell - add an item in an ugly menu to act as the key? Most abilities are also transparently just keys as well, none have much in the way of combat use. There are only a couple of times where you completely open up areas now you have a new ability (flying is really the only one). By comparison, Metroid games constantly tease you with inaccessible parts of areas, completely changing your perspective on the same areas later in the game when you return with more equipment.
The Inverted Castle.
The inverted castle is garbage. At first it seems like 'oh my god the game is twice the length' but it's really just the last quarter. It's clearly a sloppy last minute addition because they had some extra enemies/bosses left, as the layouts have not been designed to navigate well when upside down - you often jump up into a room only to hit a block and fall back down, and hence stuff like the clunky additional platforms in save rooms. And you already have all your navigation abilities (flying etc) so there are no extra 'doors' that need new 'keys'.
But the level design, from a gameplay (not graphical) perspective is also pretty bad in the regular castle. Well, extremely bland at least. Corridors and stairs actually feel like a chore to navigate, since all they have become are passages to new places with some enemies strewn throughout, not traps/challenges like in good action games (i.e. most classic Castlevanias). You move quite slowly, much more slowly than in say Super Metroid (wolf running isn't integrated to work in the environments anywhere near as well as speed boots, and involves a state change animation so mostly isn't worth it.). The items that act as keys are in most cases just keys - mist has basically no use outside of getting past a grate, might as well be a 'red key' or whatever, and there's actually an item called 'jewel of open' for gods sake.
Just like combat, moving around just isn't fun.
There's lots of other stupid stuff too. Why the hell is Dracula old instead of young, in an otherwise slavish recreation of the final battle on Rondo? Why the change of art style from that game, anime to sort of classical (the same poor decision made in reverse in Dawn of Sorrow)? Why the pointless (and hideous) CGI FMV intro and interludes, clearly tacked on at the last minute. And why the Kenny G sax solo 80s turd of an ending song, completely mismatched to the rest of the game and soundtrack?
What's good?
The graphics, apart from the poorly palette swapped inverted caste, are some of the best sprite work of this type ever, great animation, lots of nice effects. The music, apart from repeating themes in the inverted castle, is great. It's pleasant enough to slash your way through an army of enemies, even though you're overpowered constantly. It's borderline like a Dynasty Warriors thing.
It's a good overall experience. It was and still is great to see so many classic CV enemies again (eg Slorga), it's a borderline Castlevania encyclopaedia in some ways.
It has the graphics, it has the music, it has the content, it just has no compelling game design.
This is a game you play to see and hear all the stuff, not to appreciate satisfying combat or platforming, or clever level design, because there is very little of those. Compared with the perfect integration of all parts of the game it aped, Super Metroid, it falls way short.
It's still a good experience, just not great game.
I haven't commented on all the other Metroidvanias, but they have similar issues of level design and RPG elements breaking the Metroid structure. I'd revisit them, but I never even finished POR and haven't played OOE because I was bored of mindless corridor 'exploring' just to see nice sprite graphics.
TL;DR: Symphony of the Night is an amazing looking and sounding wrapper over a weak Super Metroid clone core.
_/¯
