The fact that this game's reputation is so bad is very surprising to me, don't get me wrong, this game is bullshit, and there's things to criticize here but what surprises me is how all of those criticisms tend to apply to critically acclaimed games of the same era. I can't sit here and pretend like games such as The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man or Metroid aren't equally as cryptic and mean with their design as this game, practically requiring a guide to not completely lose your sanity, so why this game gets so much shit for the same issues is beyond me, I'd assume it's due to nostalgia but I have none for any of these games, to me this is all new and as a newcomer this game is just as good if not better then the games previously mentioned.

Castlevania II is an extremely ambitious game for it's time, sometimes that works in it's favor, sometimes it works against it, having a day and night cycle, an open world with multiple cities and dungeons to explore, multiple items to buy and discover, secrets to uncover, if these all sound like features even modern games are obsessed with having that's because they are, and this game did all of that in 1987, did it do it perfectly? Of course not, but can you blame it? I won't, I see the developers vision here and that's worth something, and it's why I recommend at least giving it a chance, preferably using a guide, I think you'll find a lot to like and appreciate about Simon's Quest, I know I did.