Everything I thought I wanted from a metroidvania, with a TON of insane ideas thrown in as well.
Symphony of the Night feels like a game that has no intention of taking a break, throwing something new at you all the way to the end, starting with the very incipit that has you impersonating a vampire defending humanity from the dark forces of Dracula: from here it's a perpetual stream of reversals, of mechanics and objects that relentlessly disrupt your approach to the game, of roles that switch due to obscure deceptions, artfully elevating the excitement of exploration and challenge, until literally turning the game world upside down.
It's a game that is meant to be discovered, full of secrets and hidden gimmicks, that is not afraid to cross the boundaries between genres, stealing all the way from role-playing games to fighting games to delve into an all-around epic experience.
But then the visual realization of the castle and enemies, the SOUNDTRACK, the artworks of Ayami Kojima defining the aesthetic identity of the characters and the game world, the thousands of ways to break the game and destroy everything without difficulty, the totally flawless design of the game map and integration between areas... it's all AMAZING, I am SPEECHLESS