Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

"A masterpiece."

What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk, have at you!

And so starts the best single player experience Xbox Live Arcade has to offer. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is simply one of those games that make you think game developing is an art. From the welcoming Entrance to the creepy Underground Caverns, this is a jewel of gaming that should be saved for years.

The game starts with a "flashback" of Richter Belmont defeating Dracula, only to disappear days later. During the search for him, Castlevania, the evil castle of Dracula appeared out of the mist. At the same time, someone else seeks for something in the castle...
Symphony of the Night stars Alucard, the son of Dracula. Things are not going good between them though, as Alucard wants to destroy his father's evil reigns. Alucard enters the castle to destroy its magic and free the world from the bad things Dracula spread around. The game has a lot of surprises, like Maria, a mysterious girl who also wants to destroy the castle and find the lost Richter. The story is very well written, it explains everything and leaves you in mystery. There is no need for spoiling anything, except that is a story you will enjoy following.

If there is something Symphony of the Night must be remembered by, it's the game play. A huge change from older titles, it contains RPG elements like character equipment and experience levels. It returned attribute-based stats and item drops. Instead of just straight action, this game makes the gamer stop and think: Which weapon should I use? What shield should I equip? Abilities like fly kick and back slash make a return and appearance to make vampire slaying more enjoyable. Attacking is now more tactical, since you are going to have to back slash and move a lot more.

The game continues with the "Metroidvania" style of exploring. While going through the castle, you will encounter bosses like the deadly Succubus, or the Beelzebub. Many enemies return to the series, like the ghosts or axes, but some make new appearances. Fighting the enemies is not frustrating, you will have fun going back to find some item drops or going to the most dangerous places to level up.

The game is also long. After you finish the normal castle (which is going to take a while), you think you are done, but no! Now you have to do the same castle, but inverted! New enemies and items wait for you. After you finish the whole game, you can play the game again as Richter, which gives you about 4-5 hours extra.
Overall, the game play is a huge advantage over other games in the series and in the time. Simple, yet not plain, this game has a lot of replay ability.

My bones shiver a soon as I hear "Dance of Pales", while I get pumped up when I hear "Wood Carving Partita". Symphony of the Night has, without a doubt, the best soundtrack of all games ever released. It's simply amazing. You will hum the tones of the Marble Gallery, or get intimidated by the Underground Cavern's mysterious tunes. Every single song is great and not generic. Michiru Yamane really showed off with this game, as many orchestras around the world have attempted to mimic its beautiful sounds.

"Ah!" The sound effects of Symphony of the Night are well made. Everything sounds like it's supposed to. When you stab a skeleton, you will hear the bones shatter. When the enemies explode, you will hear the classic sounds going "pon, pon, pon" really fast. Though not as great as the music, the voice acting is funny. And I mean good funny. The intro, especially, has become a cult and can be recognized in almost every game forum. It's a little cheesy, but after a while, you are going to start talking like the characters. The game has great sound in general and good voice acting, if you like the cheesy kind.

Environments become alive with the great HD backgrounds. You will feel as if someone is watching you in the Peeping Eye hall, and you will get scared by the thunders in the outer places. The graphics are great for the game's time, and as an Arcade game. Combining 2D and 3D, the enemies of Symphony of the Night also come to live. The flying books look especially good with the 3D effect, but let's not forget all the great looking 2D sprites, like the skeletons, mermars, and many more. This is a great game to play for visuals. Everything is clear and easy to see. The Xbox 360 has made HD capabilities make this game even more beautiful.

All I got to say is, if you have 800 Microsoft Points, and are bored of generic games, buy this game now! Don't hesitate! You will have fun exploring and finding secrets, all while enjoying great music and visuals.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/08

Game Release: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (US, 03/21/07)