Castlevania Retrospective Part 3: Symphony of the Night.

Up until the 16-bit era Castlevania had built its reputation as a strong series with a brilliant soundtrack and an intensive difficulty level however in the mid-90s the game scene saw a drastic change. Franchises often underwent the shift from 2d to 3d and difficulty levels were generally toned down to make the game's appeal more to a wider audience the Castlevania formula would also find itself tweaked accordingly the first in a new line of Castlevania games was Symphony of the Night for the PlayStation released in 1997.

The game holds on to traditional 2d gameplay unlike the other Castlevania project in development for the Nintendo 64 which konami had high hopes for. The origins of Symphony of the Night can be traced back to Sega's 32x but after the poor sales of the Mega Drive add-on the new Castlevania project was shifted over to the PlayStation.

Symphony of the night was actually the second chapter in the Dracula X sub series it was a bold move by Konami to make the game a sequel to Dracula X a game that was released 4 years prior on the PC-engine and never made it outside of Japan to compensate they added a prologue in which the player relives the battle between Richter Belmont and Dracula an even bigger gamble was to replace the whip-wielding Belmont with the relatively obscure character Alucard as the main protagonist who made his first appearance as a side character in Castlevania 3 for the NES fortunately the character's elegance and mystery was accepted by players and he quickly became a fan favorite.

The story starts when Alucard mysteriously wakes from what was to be his eternal slumber 4 years after the battle between Richter and Dracula new mysterious dark powers are at work in Castlevania as rumour has it that a Belmont is now the lord of the castle Alucard is determined to put an end to the evil at work even if it means killing his father Lord Dracula once more after a quick introduction the RPG elements of the game become evident the player must acquire stronger weapons and armor in order to defeat Dracula's minions.

To level up the character goods and potions may be purchased from an old librarian although most of the truly powerful items are hidden inside the castle or dropped by enemies Alucard is not bound to a whip and can wield countless weapons in addition to his own powers of darkness to transform into a bat wolf or a shroud of mist much like Dracula could in the original Bram Stoker novel.

Only a couple of areas are accessible from the start but by obtaining special power is called relics you gain access to other sections of the castle. All the levels are richly detailed and are filled with countless monsters from old favorites to completely new and bizarre creatures.

A lot of sprites from Dracula X were reused to bring the enemy count to over a hundred and the ferryman from Simon's quest makes his comeback as well. In an interview the series producer revealed that he wanted to steer the series in a new direction allowing players to get more enjoyment out of the game.

For example the level up element allowed players of all skill levels to complete the story but the countless secrets and multiple endings kept even skilled players occupied long after finishing the game all the new gameplay elements made Symphony easily the most extensive game in the series up until that point.

When the project was approaching its original deadline the design team asked for more time and funding which arguably resulted in the reversed Castle which doubled the length of the game the irony is that symphony was treated as a sort of side project and Konami wasn't even sure if they were going to release it outside Japan.

When the game took off in Japan however Konami rushed to get it translated resulting in the infamous dialogue "what is a man?" one can't talk about Symphony of the Night without mentioning the breathtaking soundtrack by Michiru Yamane who already showcased her talent on Castlevania for the Megadrive Symphony's score ranges from rock to sweeping orchestral music with slight hints to classic tunes.

Another member of the team who helped shape the series new vision was concept artist Ayami Kojima. her distinctive style resulted in a completely different portrayal of the series which previously possessed a more traditional Konan inspired boxart. Kojima's work was a mix of beauty and elegance with dark undertones Symphony of the night was the pinnacle of 2d platforming action and brought an extensiveness never seen before in a Castlevania game.

Alucard quickly managed to surpass Simon as most beloved Castlevania character. the game is still widely regarded as one of the finest in the series although it sadly marked the end of the well-known and beloved formula of the originals in the wake of symphony Konami released a third Castlevania game for the Game Boy subtitled Legends.