Topic: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, for the first time

I picked this up last weekend on Xbox Live Arcade. I missed out on it for so long because 1) I've never owned a Playstation console of any kind and 2) I wasn't the biggest Castlevania fan as a kid.

But man, was I missing out. It's almost nothing like the original Castlevanias, as I'm sure you all well know, and I was really missing out on a gem. I'm enjoying it hugely. Much more so than I enjoyed Super Metroid, with which I've always seen it compared. There's really no stronger idea of where to go here than there was in Super Metroid, but for some reason I don't get lost nearly as much, and usually when I am lost, I'm far from frustrated, and using my new abilities to find things I couldn't access before.

I'm sure most of you out there have played this thing to death already, but anyone wanting to pipe up about their appreciation (or lack thereof...I promise I won't let anyone beat you up...), I'd be interested to hear about your experiences.

I'm probably not all that far along, mainly because each time I encounter a boss, the game's difficulty climbs sharply. I'm awful at these bosses...it just took me four or five times to beat that Werewolf / Minotaur duo in the Colosseum, which is as far as I've made it.

I guess my only complaint would be the difficulty spike with the bosses. But even that's clearly down to my own crappiness. It doesn't feel nice when I lose to them, but it also doesn't seem unfair, and that's a pretty uncommon balance.

I want it on the EU PSN so bad but no sign of it appearing at all.
Shame shame.

Always touching to hear people's first time experience with such a great classic game. Glad you're lovin' it so far, Brutus, and I hope you continue to love it until the end.

Alright, so I've got the Mist Form (or whatever) and right next to it was a gate that says "Mist Can Pass," or something to that effect. When I press the left bumper on the Xbox controller, Alucard seems to turn into mist, but only for a second, and I can't move him when he is mist. How the heck do I control him?

Also, I found the Wolf Form some time ago, and by pressing the right trigger I can indeed turn into a wolf...but all I can do then is walk slowly and bark. Do I need to find some item or something before I can do anything as a wolf?

Oh, and I have the double jump. Do I get a triple jump later, because there still seems to be many things I can't access.

Very much enjoying the exploration...I just want to make sure I'm using the abilities that I have correctly.

I really should play this more, still only beaten the first boss...

Glad to see you're enjoying the game, Brutus. The soundtrack is absolutely magnificent!

In fact, Im going to play it right now, let you know how it goes.

@Chicken Brutus: It's been a long time since I played Symphony of the Night, but I'm pretty sure transforming into mist uses up MP, so either you may not have enough MP or maybe you're not holding the button down?

[smashes head into wall repeatedly]

Thank you.

If you like SotN, you should play Aria of Sorrow.
Seriously, incredible game, and better than Symphony of the Night in my opinion.

Don't worry, I made that mistake too. For a long time actually.

I liked SOtN but I never understood why people think it so much better then other metroidvanias.

Anyway the wolf can dash and do a long jump.

This is the only Metroid-style Castlevania I've played, but I'd certainly be willing to try others when I finish this.

Nevermind my question about the triple jump. I just got the bat form. I now have approximately ten hundzrez bilzloune million more places I can explore now. We kickin butt.

Glad to see you're enjoying it. Probably my favorite PS1 game ever!

Also, I agree with Starboy. The soundtrack really is excellent.

This is deffinatly one of the best PS one games around. IMO it beats the pants off of FF7. I still have my PS copy and play it every now and again on the PS2. There is alot to explore in that game and alot of different ways you can go in that game. Its not like other Castlevanias where you go level by level so what order you take on a boss might be different when I take them on.

As far as forms go I hardly use the wolf form IMO its a real let down but the bat and mist from do come in handy in alot of areas. Also bosses can be easier and harder depending what weapons and armor you have equiped kinda like a RPG. If you are having trouble at a particular boss maybe check your map and see what other areas you can go to you might find a weapon or some armor that will make that difficult boss a little bit easier.

I have not played it in years. It was good when I played it, but I dont recall much. That was the one with Alucard as the "hero"?

When I first got my PS3, I considered downlaoding this game. But then I found it in a used game store for a damn good price (under $30), so I decided to buy it there instead. And I'm glad I did because this game is just too good to not own an actual copy of.

edit: And I totally agree with Tasuki, this game is sooo much better than FF7.

This is the one where you play Alucard, so far it is pretty good, especially for taking a break; just play until you die lol
On a side note, I encountered a boss at the very beginning of the game (I went back), although, it might not have been a boss. It was some knight with a bird that he sends to attack you. The bird died easily, but my sword wasnt doing much damage to him and he just blocked me in (he actually pushed me back a screen and I just decided screw it). Something to go back to later. Also encountered a new skeleton enemy that I am not sure how to kill without getting hit. And cursed skulls...
Also, giant eyeball looking at you through windows in the background is creepy pasta.

He's not technically a boss, but before you've leveled up enough, he might as well be! Don't worry about killing him until you have an item that will allow you to explore the whole room. (And I mean the whole room...not just ground level )

Which one are you having trouble with?

I didn't even notice this! Where is it? I'll have to be on the lookout.

I had a moment of genuine scare in the Confession Room. This game does atmosphere very well, but I definitely didn't expect such a "Boo!" moment. Nor did I expect it'd make me jump the way it did.

And the soundtrack just keeps getting better the further you get. And the bosses are easier now that I'm not playing like an imbecile! What an awesome game.

No triple jump but once you get the bat form, you can return to the middle of that long hallway (the one with the giant clock in it with clocks lining the entire hallway) that leads out to the Outer Wall. Then you can fly up through the middle of that room and get the super jump relic. Press down, then up, then jump quickly to shoot up like a rocket. It uses magic but it comes in handy often. You can also repeatedly do the move until your magic runs out to get higher and higher. And you can use jump diagonally using it as well.