Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

 PlayStation
  • Publisher: Konami
  • Release Date: Oct 2, 1997
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 877 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 804 out of 877
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 877
  3. Negative: 46 out of 877
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  1. Cless
    Aug 2, 2020
    10
    One of the absolute greatest games ever made. I won't even go into it, really. It's fun and addictive and just really well made.
  2. hauwhian
    Jul 14, 2020
    10
    Very good game, but easier than Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night. Both IGAVANIA games are made by Koji Igarashi. Alucard vs Miriam: Alucard has stronger punch, and more durable body which can withstand all Bosses attack (Alucard is almost invincible!), and the best weapon : Crissaegrim is easier to obtain than any rare items in Bloodstained ROTN.

    Overall Castlevania SOTN is an    Very good game, but easier than Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night. Both IGAVANIA games are made by Koji Igarashi. Alucard vs Miriam: Alucard has stronger punch, and more durable body which can withstand all Bosses attack (Alucard is almost invincible!), and the best weapon : Crissaegrim is easier to obtain than any rare items in Bloodstained ROTN.

    Overall Castlevania SOTN is an easier game, but has more beautiful BGM MUSIC than Bloodstained ROTN. I recommend you to play Bloodstained Ritual Of The Night for better challenge and game experience but similar playstyle.    … Expand
  3. Rhythm_guy
    Jul 9, 2020
    10
    Must play the first metroidvenia
  4. Ya_boi_Andr
    Oct 18, 2020
    10
    One of the first games I've ever played. I gladly play it whenever I have the time and it still holds up pretty well.
  5. hector_bcn98
    Oct 31, 2022
    10
    La perfección del género, simplemente. El metroidvania perfecto para iniciarse.
  6. TOLD
    Jan 15, 2021
    10
    Легенда легенд, Castlevania symphony of the night одна из самых лучших игр за всю историю. Саундтрек этой игры заставляет держать свое пиво почти всем другим саундом из игр! митиру яманэ постаралась на славу. В игре очень много контента , врагов невероятно количество , оружия, предметов , секретов. Изучение локаций здесь НУ ОЧЕНЬ ИНТЕРЕСНОЕ! В совокупности всего этого мы получаем одну изЛегенда легенд, Castlevania symphony of the night одна из самых лучших игр за всю историю. Саундтрек этой игры заставляет держать свое пиво почти всем другим саундом из игр! митиру яманэ постаралась на славу. В игре очень много контента , врагов невероятно количество , оружия, предметов , секретов. Изучение локаций здесь НУ ОЧЕНЬ ИНТЕРЕСНОЕ! В совокупности всего этого мы получаем одну из лучших игр в истории человечества!… Expand
  7. Richard_dias
    Aug 15, 2023
    10
    As far as I'm concerned, that's the best metroidvania ever made. I just got to play it in the last 10 years and got impressed either way.
  8. Maruyama79
    Feb 27, 2021
    10
    My favourite game of all time. The music is absolutely incredible!. The best Metroidvania game ever made.
  9. VanCan72
    Apr 4, 2021
    10
    A masterpiece from start to finish.
    The soundtrack is still as good now as it was back then.
    The combat is still tight and responsive.
    Exploration of Dracula's castle is still wonderful.
    And that pixel art is still aces to this very day.
  10. ariangoodarzi
    May 5, 2021
    10
    one of the best games ever made. not even kidding. the only problem i have with the game is ritchers voice acting. other than that 10/10. the music in this game is godly. the map design and the actuall story are pretty good. the gameplay however is in another level. it has a lot of rpg elements as well which is really nice.
  11. danilogan7
    Jun 23, 2022
    10
    Provavelmente o melhor jogo já lançado no playstation 1.
    Trilha sonora absurdamente boa, traz algumas músicas de rock e outras com uma pegada clássica gótica.
    Representação muito bonita do castelo do Drácula, pra época, tanto seu level design que funciona muito bem no castelo normal e traz desafios no invertido. As mecânicas são bem simples, funcionam muito bem e a progressão das    Provavelmente o melhor jogo já lançado no playstation 1.
    Trilha sonora absurdamente boa, traz algumas músicas de rock e outras com uma pegada clássica gótica.
    Representação muito bonita do castelo do Drácula, pra época, tanto seu level design que funciona muito bem no castelo normal e traz desafios no invertido.
    As mecânicas são bem simples, funcionam muito bem e a progressão das habilidades é dada na medida certa. Apesar da maioria das armas serem espadas, havia algumas outras opções para variar a gameplay, além das magias que Alucard podia executar.
    Os diálogos originais são bem melhores em comparação ao refeitos, mas ainda sim não é o ponto forte do game.
    Outra questão é a narrativa que é bem simples e não saiu da zona de conforto em comparação aos jogos anteriores, porém a ramificação trazida pelos finais alternativos é bem legal.    … Expand
  12. Traumvita
    Sep 3, 2023
    10
    Nothing to say other than PEAK metroidvania. Best castlevania game and best metroidvania. Nice story great visuals top tier gameplay, map, and music.
  13. nightchild
    May 12, 2021
    10
    Not only does Symphony of the Night hold up by today's standards, but at the time it revolutionized gaming, creating a new genre named after itself and continues to be the gold standard of games that it inspired. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, but its just so damn fun to run around Dracula's castle as Alucard, and its a game that any video game fan should absolutely haveNot only does Symphony of the Night hold up by today's standards, but at the time it revolutionized gaming, creating a new genre named after itself and continues to be the gold standard of games that it inspired. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, but its just so damn fun to run around Dracula's castle as Alucard, and its a game that any video game fan should absolutely have played at least once. It combines a interesting story, RPG elements, various loot to pick up, plenty of secrets to uncover, a terrific soundtrack, and meticulously detailed world design. An absolute classic and an undoubtable masterpiece!… Expand
  14. KhezuMaster
    Feb 12, 2022
    10
    A great game would highley reccomend anyone who has a good attention span will not wan to miss!
  15. MiojoCritico
    Jul 13, 2021
    10
    Simply epic. In my opinion the best PS1 game in history and one of the best ever.
  16. thebaaloff
    Jul 26, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My favorite game of all time. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is just a masterpiece. Wow.
    Alucard is such an awesome character, who starts of really powerful, and then Death takes away his weapons, and you have to upgrade yourself with level-ups and new items, and you use them with an RPG system where you have to learn how to balance out Attack and Defense. This game singlehandedly perfected the term "Metroidvania". It's crazy to see how many games were inspired by this masterpiece. Hollow Knight (2017), Dead Cells (2018), Ori and the Will of Wisps (2020) to name a few. The story is Richter after defeating Dracula in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993) he gets possessed by the dark priest Shaft and you need to turn him back to normal. If you manage to avoid the bad ending, where you kill Richter, and turn him back to normal, you will unlock the inverted castle, so pick up that controller you just threw to the ground, because you've got another 6 hours worth of gameplay ahead of you! So you get through the inverted castle and collect Dracula's body parts, like in Castlevania II: Simons Quest (1987) and defeat Shaft and then Dracula.
    Just play this game, it's video game perfection.    … Expand
  17. seiratan
    Aug 20, 2021
    10
    One of the greatest games of all time. If you havent played this, you shouldnt even talk about Metroidvanias.
  18. Darkspawn677
    Aug 8, 2022
    10
    Alucard and the tepes are like dante alucard hellsing bayonetta and dracula and trevor is like vergil Alexander Anderson jeanne and van helsing the tepes have vampiric powers and the belmont have beast blood maxime is somehow related to dracula soma is alucard son try to use the same characters more often maria renard is the equivalent of sonia belmont in that timeline
  19. fedec
    Jan 13, 2022
    10
    Un juegazo con todas las letras, llevó el diseño de mapas al estilo Metroid a otro nivel, añadiendo toques roleros y con progresión del personaje. Los controles son totalmente precisos y con buena respuesta. Es un juego de 1997, yo lo jugué por primera vez en 2021 y no le noté el paso del tiempo en nada.
    Un mapeado excelente, y un arte bellísimo, combinado con una banda sonora    Un juegazo con todas las letras, llevó el diseño de mapas al estilo Metroid a otro nivel, añadiendo toques roleros y con progresión del personaje. Los controles son totalmente precisos y con buena respuesta. Es un juego de 1997, yo lo jugué por primera vez en 2021 y no le noté el paso del tiempo en nada.
    Un mapeado excelente, y un arte bellísimo, combinado con una banda sonora espectacular. Recomendado al 100%    … Expand
  20. Twinsty
    Oct 3, 2021
    10
    A dificuldade pode ser extremamente elevada ou ridiculamente fácil sem contar os milhares de jeitos que se pode "apelar'' com o shield rod, crissaegrim, runesword e heaven sword então chegamos em um tópico meio a meio o castelo invertido por mais que ele tenha expandido o jogo de forma imensa e até bem divertido ele dificulta muito certos trabalhos de plataforma principalmente oA dificuldade pode ser extremamente elevada ou ridiculamente fácil sem contar os milhares de jeitos que se pode "apelar'' com o shield rod, crissaegrim, runesword e heaven sword então chegamos em um tópico meio a meio o castelo invertido por mais que ele tenha expandido o jogo de forma imensa e até bem divertido ele dificulta muito certos trabalhos de plataforma principalmente o subterrâneo eu acho que ele também confundi muito as áreas do mapa mas até para a dificuldade tem solução usando algumas armas você pode balancear o jogo e a música meu deus a música ela é perfeita, atmosférica, e épica só de ouvir já dá vontade de caçar um monstro dentro de casa mas e sem contar que quase todas as armas tem algum diferencial desde as maiores espadas de duas até as míseras soqueiras mas em contrapartida só acho meio zoado que os feitiços em grande maioria são escondidos mas fora isso 10/10 DO CARALHO.… Expand
  21. Minus_Infinity
    Mar 16, 2022
    10
    Best Castlevania game in my eyes, everything it top notch. The level design, the music, Alucard himself, it's all brilliant! I picked up this game in late August (on my birthday in fact) and have yet to put it down, as of now. The gameplay is extremely gripping, and makes me want to keep replaying it. I have also played the Sega Saturn version of the game, while it runs horribly (since IBest Castlevania game in my eyes, everything it top notch. The level design, the music, Alucard himself, it's all brilliant! I picked up this game in late August (on my birthday in fact) and have yet to put it down, as of now. The gameplay is extremely gripping, and makes me want to keep replaying it. I have also played the Sega Saturn version of the game, while it runs horribly (since I emulated it) I have yet to put that one down too! The game itself is magical, I'd give anything to experience this for the first time again. Overall, I think this game is absolutely fantastic, and definitely worth your time!

    TL;DR The game is good, go play it once you have a chance    … Expand
  22. Gearbram
    Nov 24, 2021
    10
    One of my favorite games!
    - Amazing soundtrack
    - Great artstyle
    - Fantastic atmosphere
  23. B00tador
    Dec 6, 2021
    10
    Played this for the first time in 2021. No nostalgia or rose-tinted glasses, this is one of the best games you can play today. Fantastic map, great RPG lite elements, great boss and enemy variety. It's as good as everyone has always told you it is, and it's still that good today. Play it.
  24. AndreyCosta
    Dec 12, 2021
    10
  25. nelvin
    Nov 19, 2022
    10
    This game truly started metroidvanias and is one of the most influential games in history
  26. sawjones
    Dec 23, 2021
    10
    One of my favorite games of all the time. Recommended if you want to have a feeling about how real games were done before.
  27. kurt_xt
    Jan 6, 2022
    10
    if I'm still alive, it's because of the good feeling this game gives me. In the midst of so many bad things happening, sometimes remembering the songs in the game helps you to move forward.
  28. Culex
    Apr 14, 2022
    10
    Masterpiece. The music, the art, the atmosphere of that castle, the bosses, the secret...

    I'd only like that the new versions had smooth graphics. How's it possible that emulators get better graphics since more than a decade but not the official new releases? Beats me.
  29. Jackie_Jackson
    May 25, 2022
    10
    Эта Каслвания просто лучшая Каслвания просто берёшь просто включаешь и просто отвал жопы всё больше ничего от этой жизни не нужно
  30. Tomplexthis
    Jul 7, 2022
    10
    One of the best games ever made.
    They tried to "repeat" its glory with Bloodstained, but it just isn't the same.
    there are alot of flaws sprinkled in, but whatever, the only good version of this game is the original, with its Original dialogue, the requiem abomination is disgusting, in trying to ruin its heritage. the sour bits of every cake, are what bring out a better taste.
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PS1 Game of 1997
2
#2 Most Discussed PS1 Game of 1997
1
#1 Most Shared PS1 Game of 1997

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
93

Universal acclaim - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. GMR Magazine
    90
    A certifiable classic. [Feb 2003, p.97]
  2. PSX Nation
    96
    Not to be missed.
    Read full review
  3. netjak
    95
    With at least four known endings, Symphony's already astounding replay value is entirely phenomenal.
See all critic reviews »