As a self proclaimed Metroidvania fan, it should be a cardinal sin to call myself that without having played Symphony of the Night, or any of the GBA/NDS Castlevania games for that matter. Being the type of gamer I am though, I've never just wanted to jump into SotN without having played the series leading up to this game. Having beaten all the Classicvania's during the course of the last few weeks, it's finally time to play the game I was anticipating all this time.

What can I say? I did not expect anything less than a 10/10, and a 10/10 video game is what I got. Yes, Super Metroid would be the game to put Metroidvanias on the map, but SotN definitely solidified it as a genre by showing you that you can add even more depth to the search action platforming genre Metroid created, which we now abbreviate as Metroidvanias.

First of all, I am so glad I did play all the prior games leading up to SotN. There are so many callbacks, references, enemies, bosses that were all in previous games given new beautiful PS1 pixel art graphics, and some of the returning characters such Death even give additional context to the Castlevania lore and how they fit in the world next to Dracula.
Of course, playing the game as Alucard gave me a nice happy feeling, as he was my favorite character to play in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curese. This game is also a direct sequel to Rondo of Blood so I was so hyped when the prologue of the game is the ending to Rondo. Running into Rondo characters such as Maria had me whistling, pointing to the screen like Leonardo Decaprio from Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. So if you ever do plan to play SotN, do yourself a favor and play the previous games in the series first, or at the very least play Rondo of Blood before jumping in to SotN.

From the get go when you first start as Alucard, you instantly notice that the iconic whip you've been using as you main weapon in every single Castlevania game up until this one is gone. It makes sense, you are not a Belmont after all. This change of main weapon signifies that this is not your typical Castlevania that you've known and loved, this is going to be something else.

SoTN takes that search action gameplay that Metroid is famous for and dials it to 11. Everything you know about Metroidvanias is here. You get a giant map with a lot of block off paths that you can come back to once you find the ability to get you passed the blocked off point. Some of the blocked off points are locked story progression, while others are optional areas where you can find upgrades, items and even more abilities to help make your character more powerful. This constant loop of going back to previous areas to find new things is like cocaine to me. It's probably my favorite type of gameplay loop in video games, other than Monster Hunter.

What makes SoTN so good compared to the typical Metroidvania is the way that it's structed. The game is kind of split into 2 halves. The first half of the game being the familiar Metroidvania type of game that we all know, as in it's all about exploration and finding new abilities to unlock previously locked paths. Basically what Super Metroid mastered at the time.

The 2nd half of the game being unique to SotN changes things up, causing the entire map you will know and memorize by this to point to flip on it's head. Although this time the game is not about exploring to find ways to open paths, but it becomes a straight up action game, kind of like the Classicvanias. You aren't really exploring the castle anymore, but rather you are revisiting every room in it's upside-down form to find new optional bosses to kill, in order to power up Alucard to prepare yourself for the final boss. You have the choice to go straight to the final boss from this point, you or can explore the upside-down version of the castle to the fullest to find the best weapons, items and upgrades by killing some of the now challenging bosses. If you do choose to explore the castle's 2nd form in it's entirety, you will be an unstoppable behemoth that is capable of taking anything down in a blink. And that's what makes SotN so rewarding, and one of the best gameplay loops of all time.

To put it in a broader scope, the first half of the game to help bring you back on your feet, while the second half of the game is to flex all the new powers you have and bring yourself back to the powerhouse that Alucard always was.

On top of the excellent gameplay, the music is fantastic as is the usual with Castelvania. The graphics are some of the best pixel art in the franchise, and it melds the 2D art with some 3D low poly models for some enemies and objects which is the GOAT type of art direction that you will see in other PS1 games such as Tomba of Klonoa. The designs of the characters and enemies are my so so good. And the story is the best so far for Castlevania, giving refined arcs for Alucard as well as Richter and Maria.

I am so happy that I have this bucket list game finally checked off, and it was everything I anticipated. Now I can officially consider myself a Castlevania fan, and of course a Metroidvania fan who HAS played SotN. And it just makes me look even more forward to the SIX metroidvania sequels on the GBA and NDS.