Castlevania : Symphony of the Night is considered by many the best PlayStation 1 title of all time. It didn't necessarily do anything original, it just did everything well. It's no wonder the game is so well received when every aspect of the game shines so brightly. I only recently played this game for the first time, and it is definitely in my Top 5 PSX titles ever. I literally cannot think of a single complaint to have about the game. What will this review be? "A miserable little pile of secrets."

Graphics - The graphics are by no means state of the art. They were still very good for the time in the PlayStation's life span it was released. That being said, everything is animated beautifully. Alucard simply moving creates a ripple effect where his form slowly fades away behind him in shades. Alucard himself is well designed, and each item used for gear has it's own sprite during game play. This includes armor, his cloak, and weapons. There are also expendable sub-weapons which each have their own attack animations and look great. All the enemies are animated just as well. From every thing's color schemes to each individual attacks animation, they all look beautiful. Even small details like individual weapon appearances are easily distinguishable. The familiars you find (little minions that help you fight) look just as detailed and as beautiful as Alucard. The environments are spectacularly rendered, and everything inside the giant castle looks phenomenal. Even a simple flask on a table is incredibly detailed. The Graphics get a 10 / 10.

Sound - The sound is as well done as the graphics. The sound effects are phenomenal, and everything that pertains to them is pitch perfect. All the enemies sound great, and the sound effects for them dying are good too. I really like Alucard's voice when attacking. The voices of the familiars was a nice touch. The menus and picking up different items all have a unique sound to exemplify what it is you're getting. The voice acting leaves a little to be desired. It seems as if they were simply reading from a script, with no visual context of what they were reading. At least the emotions associated with each scene are pretty spot on, even if the voice acting isn't perfect. The background music is phenomenal in this game. All the tracks help amplify the dark atmosphere and are composed well. I really love the boss themes more than anything though. It's quite apparent they were masterfully crafted. The Sound gets a 9 / 10.

Addictiveness - This is one of the most addicting games I've ever played. Not only is it a 2D action title, it also has a huge amount of RPG elements to it. There's also a lot of ways to customize how you go about fighting, allowing you to adapt your own style. If you like short swings with a high attack rate, you can use knuckles or daggers. Average range and attack rate, then go with the basic short sword. Want high damage but with a slower swing, then there's the 2 handed swords. Not only that, but there's a wide range of sub-weapons available for use as well, allowing further customization. You also level up based on EXP from killing enemies, which tie into your stats and max health, magic points, and "hearts" which are used as an item count for your sub-weapons. The combat is fun and fluid, and the bosses are the best part. They range in everything from size, attack list, movement and more. This applies to normal enemies as well, offering a wide array of foes. The biggest things that make it so addictive are the exploration and item collecting. Enemies randomly drop loot, which promotes the concept of "farming" to an extent, but not to the point it becomes the main focus of the game. The exploration pays off in a number of ways. First, finding certain items will allow you to explore required areas of the castle. Secondly, some of the best gear in the game is tucked away in back corners, forcing you to search for better gear instead of farming for it. Lastly, there is an alternate ending that can only be achieved only by exploring every nook and cranny the castle has to offer, but more on that later. For me, all these aspects are appealing. The Addictiveness gets a 10 / 10.

Story - The story of this game is fantastic. The slight drawback is it's only slightly presented through out the game, and a lot is given to you in the prologue. I love the fact the story picks up directly after the last title. Richter Belmont has slain Dracula. His castle should only appear once every century. Only a mere 4 or 5 years after Richter succeeded, he went missing, and the castle has re-appeared. These are the basics of how the story is set up. I don't want to give away any more than I need to though. It's an amazing story from start to finish, I just wish there was more presented midway than simple dialogue scenes. There are alternate endings though, so that's a big plus in my book.  haven't actually finished the game as of right now, but I know there's at least a "good" and "bad" ending, if not a third option as well. The Story gets a 9 / 10.

Depth - This game is pretty darn deep. The castle itself is huge, offering A LOT to explore. Not only that, but a lot of progression requires backtracking. This is made simpler by having warp-ways in certain areas of the castle, but they can still be a hassle to get to depending how far in the castle you've gone. Other than exploration, the game offers quite a bit of other things to collect. You can always go for a perfect item list which takes a lot of effort to get. There's also the goal of mapping the entire castle, since it shows what areas you have visited and which ones haven't. And among these goals, last is the complete bestiary. There's also quite a bit of replay value here. Not only are certain items and such only unlockable after a completed play through, but there are also multiple endings. The way its set up is the "bad" ending takes place at the half-way mark of the game, and you must accomplish a hidden task to unlock the second half for the "good" ending. This way you don't necessarily have to replay the entire game to see both, which is a welcome change in my opinion, since there's no alternate choices to effect the outcome. There's a massive amount of content packed into this game, which is why my rating is so high. The Depth gets a 10 / 10.

Difficulty - The game overall isn't too difficult. There will be areas you struggle in, and most boss fights are challenging (and some downright annoying). I can think of a particular blob of bodies that gave me a fair bit of trouble because of how I'd go about fighting it. Other than those exceptions, the general enemies of the game are pretty easy to mow down. My main bit of advice would be, be wary of things in armor, or things that make you think "What the heck is that thing?!?" when you see it. It's pretty obvious just seeing an enemy to know if it's a big threat or not. There are areas where flying enemies spawn in patterns, and approach from each side of the screen. These tend to show up when you must scale something, which make you not only watch your footing, but your surroundings as well. Being able to adapt different fighting styles depending on the enemy will make life much easier for you. Grinding some levels out early will also help for not only EXP, but money to use in the game's only store which is in a fixed location. The game could've been a little more balanced in the difficulty department, but it does a darn good job as is. The difficulty gets a 7 / 10.

This game is a Must-Play, regardless of your preferred genres or anything of the like.
I hope you enjoyed the review