NINTENDO-64
10
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
One of the most perfect games ever made, Symphony of the Night merged action platforming with deep RPG mechanics and a sprawling inverted castle to create the Castlevania series' masterpiece. It gave its name to a subgenre and remains the defining standard of exploration-based action games.
💡 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night — Key Facts
- → Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami
- → Released in 1997 on PLAYSTATION
- → Genre: Metroidvania, Action, RPG
- → We rate it 9.9/10 — an absolute classic
- → Part of the castlevania franchise
- → One of the most perfect games ever made, Symphony of the Night merged action platforming with deep RPG mechanics and a sprawling inverted castle to create the Castlevania series' masterpiece. It gave its name to a subgenre and remains the defining standard of exploration-based action games.
Overview
In 1997, Konami released the game that would define not just the Castlevania series but an entire subgenre of game design. Directed by Koji Igarashi (who later became known simply as “IGA”), Symphony of the Night abandoned the series’ traditional stage-by-stage structure in favor of a seamlessly connected castle to explore at the player’s pace.
The decision was controversial internally — the traditional Castlevania formula was beloved by fans of the NES and Super NES entries. What emerged was something transcendent: a game that used RPG character progression, hundreds of collectible items, and a vast interconnected world to create an experience of pure discovery.
Gameplay
Players control Alucard, the dhampir son of Dracula, through the rooms of his father’s castle. The primary objectives involve exploring, defeating bosses to advance, and collecting relics (passive abilities) and equipment. Alucard levels up through combat, gains statistics in strength, constitution, intelligence, and luck, and can equip weapons in each hand alongside armor and accessories.
The game’s signature reveal comes approximately halfway through: what appears to be the game’s climax gives way to the astonishing discovery that the castle has been inverted, creating an entirely new map of equal size. This moment — accompanied by swelling music and an expanding map screen — is one of gaming’s great surprises.
Story
Five years after Richter Belmont defeated Dracula and disappeared, the castle reappears. Alucard awakens from his centuries-long sleep to investigate, and upon entering the castle, discovers that Richter — under the influence of a dark priest named Shaft — has taken command of Dracula’s fortress. Alucard must free Richter and, ultimately, confront the resurrected Dracula himself.
Why It’s a Classic
Symphony of the Night achieves perfection by making every system reinforce every other. The RPG progression makes exploration rewarding; the exploration reveals new areas that contain better equipment; the equipment enables access to new sections; and the discovery of relics opens traversal options that reshape how the whole map is navigated. The loop is seamless and endlessly satisfying.
Legacy
Symphony of the Night’s influence cannot be overstated. The term “Metroidvania” — coined to describe games combining Super Metroid’s non-linear exploration with this game’s RPG progression — became a major indie genre category. Hollow Knight, Blasphemous, Dead Cells, and hundreds of other games cite Symphony of the Night as their primary inspiration. The game was re-released on PlayStation 4/5 and Xbox as part of the Castlevania Requiem collection (2018).
Our Review
9.9
Masterpiece / 10
🎮
Gameplay
★★★★★
🎨
Graphics
★★★★★
🎵
Audio
★★★★★
🔄
Replay
★★★★★
Gameplay
The combination of RPG-style level grinding, equipment collection, and special ability unlocking with precise, elegant action platforming is flawlessly executed. Alucard's moveset — running, double-jumping, transforming into mist/bat/wolf — feels incredible, and discovering new abilities that open new areas creates constant forward momentum. The inverted castle reveal doubles the game's size mid-playthrough with stunning effect.
Graphics
Gorgeous hand-drawn 2D sprite art that remains beautiful decades later. Dracula's castle is rendered with extraordinary detail — the backgrounds shift between moonlit stone halls, flooded chambers, and infernal machinery. The enemy and boss sprite work is expressive and imaginative. The transition between the normal and inverted castles is a visual masterstroke.
Audio
Michiru Yamane's soundtrack is one of the greatest in gaming history. 'Dracula's Castle,' 'Wood Carving Partita,' 'Lost Painting,' and 'Dance of Illusions' are sublime compositions that elevate every room of the castle. The orchestral ambition of the score matched the game's RPG pretensions perfectly.
Replayability
Extraordinary. The base game's map is enormous, with hundreds of rooms containing hidden items, rare enemies, and secret passages. Multiple endings, the challenge of achieving maximal percentage completion, and the fun of exploring different equipment builds sustain dozens of hours. The inverted castle alone is a second complete game's worth of content.
Historical Significance
Symphony of the Night is one of the two games that define the 'Metroidvania' subgenre (the other being Super Metroid). It is regularly listed among the greatest games of all time by virtually every major publication. Its influence on 2D action game design is immeasurable — the 2010s indie game renaissance of titles like Hollow Knight and Ori owe direct debts to this game.
✅ Pros
- + Inverted castle reveal is one of gaming's greatest moments
- + Michiru Yamane's soundtrack is an all-time masterpiece
- + Deep RPG progression system rewards exploration and experimentation
- + Hundreds of weapons, armor pieces, and accessories to discover
- + Alucard's movement feels superb — fluid, fast, and precise
- + Multiple familiars (bat, fairy, demon, sword) add customization depth
- + Rich lore and atmospheric world-building throughout
❌ Cons
- - English localization in the original release has awkward dialogue ('What is a man?')
- - Some RPG stat mechanics are opaque without external reference
- - Luck-based rare item drops can require excessive grinding
- - The game is dramatically easier than previous Castlevania entries, which some fans consider a flaw
- - Richter mode is unlocked but relatively shallow compared to the Alucard campaign
Also Known As
Akumajo Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku悪魔城ドラキュラX 月下の夜想曲SOTN
In the Series
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night FAQ
What is the inverted castle and how do you unlock it?
At the game's apparent conclusion, after defeating Richter Belmont, Alucard is taunted by Death and Dracula about having only completed half the castle. The entire map then becomes inverted — flipped upside down — revealing a mirror-image second castle with new rooms, new enemies, and harder versions of existing bosses. To unlock this, players must find the Silver Ring and Gold Ring, equip them together in the room with the clock, and defeat Shaft. The inverted castle contains roughly the same number of rooms as the normal castle, doubling the game's content.
What are the best weapons in Symphony of the Night?
Several weapons are considered exceptional: the Crissaegrim (a rare rapier that can be swung extremely rapidly and dropped by Schmoos in the inverted castle), the Sword of Dawn (summons an army of soldiers), and the Alucard Sword (a powerful standard weapon). The Duplicator relic allows unlimited use of sub-weapons, making the Crissaegrim + Holy Water combination particularly powerful.
Who is Alucard?
Alucard (Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes) is the half-vampire son of Dracula who fights against his father's evil. He first appeared in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1989) as a playable character. In Symphony of the Night, he awakens from a self-imposed sleep to investigate Castlevania's reappearance, discovering that Richter Belmont — the Dracula-slaying hero of Rondo of Blood — has inexplicably become the castle's master.
What does the famous 'What is a man?' quote come from?
The opening cutscene features Dracula delivering the infamous line: 'What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk — have at you!' This was a loose localization of the original Japanese dialogue and became one of gaming's most beloved memes. The quote is attributed to the localization team working quickly under time pressure, and its theatrical absurdity has been embraced as part of the game's charm.
Is there a way to play as characters other than Alucard?
Yes — Richter Belmont becomes playable after defeating Dracula with Alucard's true ending. Richter uses the classic Castlevania sub-weapon system and has a more limited moveset than Alucard. Maria Renard is also playable in the Saturn version of the game (not available in the original PlayStation release), with a unique moveset using animal guardian spirits.
What percentage completion is possible in Symphony of the Night?
The maximum displayed completion is 200.6% — 100.6% for the normal castle and 100% for the inverted castle. Achieving this requires finding every room, including hidden areas and a tiny room that adds the extra 0.6%. The exact percentage is sometimes counted differently in different versions of the game.
