Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

(fan commonly abbreviated SOTN/SotN, Konami abbreviated SoN), released in Japan as Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight, is an action platformer/role-playing video game, part of Konami's long running Castlevania series. It is a direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, which was originally released for the Nippon Electric Company PC Engine (TurboGrafx 16) in 1993, in Japan.
The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami for the Sony PlayStation in 1997. It was re-released the following year for the Sega Saturn with additional features exclusively in Japan. In 2007, it was re-released in America for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade. The original PlayStation release was released for download on the PlayStation 3, playable on both that system and the PlayStation Portable (PSP). A complete port was also included in The Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP, featuring updated dialogues and bug fixes. In 2018, it was included in the Castlevania Requiem collection exclusive for the PlayStation 4. It was released on March 4, 2020 for mobile phones (iOS, Android); unlike previous "metroidvania" Castlevania titles released on mobile platforms, which were simplified versions, this is a direct port of the console game.
Although not very successful during its release in North America and Europe (only 60 thousand copies sold in each continent), Symphony of the Night has become highly sought-after by video game players and is widely considered to be one of the best and a milestone of the series. Almost all of the game's successors have emulated its open-ended gameplay.
==Plot==
The game's story takes place during the year 1797, 5 years after the events of Rondo of Blood and begins with Richter Belmont's defeat of Count Dracula, mirroring the end of the former game. However, despite Dracula being defeated, Richter vanishes without a trace. Castlevania rises again five years later, and while there are no Belmonts to storm the castle, Alucard, the son of Dracula, awakens from his self-induced sleep, and decides to investigate what transpired during his slumber.
Meanwhile, Maria Renard, Richter's sister-in-law, enters Castlevania herself to search for the missing Richter. She assists Alucard multiple times throughout the game.
There are four separate endings to the story. If a certain sequence of events is followed, Richter is revealed to be under the influence of the dark priest Shaft. After the latter is defeated, an upside-down version of Castlevania, the Reverse Castle, appears from the heavens. This castle contains another entire series of adventures, crowned by the ultimate face-off between Alucard and his revived father, Dracula himself.
==Characters==
==Dialogue==
==Gameplay==
Symphony of the Night introduced a more fluid control scheme for its protagonist. Unlike his predecessors, Alucard can back-dash with a single button, and attack with a downward kick while jumping. Alucard can also use magic spells learned through incantation scrolls and activated with specific button combinations. Some spells damage enemies, such as Hellfire, while others heal Alucard, like Soul Steal and Dark Metamorphosis.
As in previous Castlevania titles, Alucard can use a variety of sub-weapons found in various places of the castle, such as the staple knives, axes, and holy water. Like earlier games, sub-weapons are powered by Hearts, which act as an ammunition count global to all sub-weapons, and only one sub-weapon can be equipped at a time.
Alucard will learn skills when he discovers certain relics, a feature reused in later titles. Using these relics, Alucard is able to increase the potency of his jumping skills, gain the ability to open magically-sealed doors, travel painlessly through water and even transform into different animals, as well as an ethereal Mist Form.
Symphony of the Night is the first Castlevania title since Simon's Quest to use RPG-like elements. Alucard can progress in levels, after gaining a specific amount of experience points. Every time Alucard "levels up", statistics such as attack power, defensive strength, and luck will increase. He can also find special items called "Life Vessels" to increase his maximum hit points and "Heart Vessels" to increase the number of Hearts he can carry. Alucard is able to restore his health or normal status using various potions and foodstuffs found in the castle, as well as special rooms that act as save points.
Another RPG element in the game is the option to equip armor, accessories, and weapons for Alucard. Some may merely increase his power, while others make him resistant to certain elemental attacks, or immune to specific status effects. Alucard also has a huge variety of one-time use items at his disposal. While some may do damage to one enemy or a small group, others can be used to attack all enemies covering the screen.
Alucard will be able to enlist the help of Familiars, which include the Faerie, Demon, Ghost, Bat, and Sword. All Familiars have the ability to level up as well, and become increasingly intelligent as their levels increase, making them attack or heal faster. Some may gain new abilities or even new appearances.
==Graphics==
The visuals of Symphony of the Night are a widely praised element of the game. The game's elegant and incredibly detailed look of the castle has been retained in other games developed under Igarashi: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.
===Environments===
Symphony of the Night draws heavily from the Gothic and Renaissance styles of architecture and sculptures. There is a large emphasis on unity with symmetry and elegant flourishes present in places like the Transition Rooms between areas, with the identical, angelic figures facing one another on either side of the top of the arch. The artists spared no expense in details. Slabs of stonework and pillars emulate the texture and intricacies of their ancient, real-life counterparts the design choices of shape, line, and color. Statues are varied in their poses and designs. Bits of bricks and stone can be seen that are chipped away, or incongruous with the general layout, and thus make for interesting contrasts that catch the eye.
The comprehension of the beauty and complexity of classic architecture is also apparent in places such as the Royal Chapel, with its cut-away views of protruding, shingled, outside structures.
Castlevania's areas also demonstrate impressive graphical techniques, such as copious multi-scrolling in areas like the Underground Caverns, with their natural pillars, stalactites, and waterfalls that can be viewed beyond the openings in the rocky walls, and scrolling objects, such as the clouds in the Castle Keep and Royal Chapel.
There also is the utilization of 3D techniques in the backgrounds that create the illusion of shifting perspectives. This is most evident in the famous room in the Royal Chapel with the stained glass windows and large cross in the far background. As the player walks or jumps, the windows, the beams of light coming through them, the walkway between them, and the arching ceiling will transform their shapes to match the player's location.
===Enemies===
A good amount of enemies were imported directly from Rondo of Blood. Bosses such as Granfaloon and Beelzebub are massive, sprawling creatures. Most distinctive are the new enemies, and the personality expressed in their animations. The enemy Hammer will slam his weapon down, and then slightly stagger back after withdrawing it. The Spectral Sword's weapon-minions will react to where Alucard is, giving qualities to objects we don't usually associate with personality.
Death animations are spectacular and unique; Guardians, the most powerful non-boss enemies in the game, will stagger to their knees when defeated and turn a bright gold, proceeding to be consumed by a small pillar of fire, and shrink into minor specks of light. The Fire Demon's body is consumed by darkness, and the player can view flames inside of its negative space as its form slowly fades into nothingness. The playable characters' death animations, as well as that of their respective boss encounters, also have special effects that are affected by the attack attributes of the killing blow; to name some examples, an Ice elemental attack results in the character being frozen solid before melting into nothingness, whereas if killed while petrified, the character's statue-esque form crumbles apart as it falls to the floor.
Most enemies are taken from folklore, mythology, and literature. For example, Cthulhu from H. P. Lovecraft's stories, also makes an appearance in the game, although his name has become Malachi. There are other references, such as Alastor.
===Alucard===
Most fans of Symphony of the Night consider Alucard's to be one of the most detailed sprites in 2D history.
The artist for his sprite was aware of how every facet of Alucard's design would react to certain movements.
Alucard also displays a surprisingly wide variety of animations (some of which may never even be seen by players, due to their specific nature, in some cases), and a trait that is wholly unique; an "after-image". When Alucard makes a quick, initial movement, a series of bluish illusions of his body will trail behind him. The after-image technique was later reused for main characters Juste in Harmony of Dissonance and Soma in Dawn of Sorrow. It was even copied in games by other companies, such as the Mega Man X games by Capcom.
===Weapon effects and spells===
Symphony of the Night offers a wide variety of effects for its weapons, such as the curved, multi-colored movement effects of the Masamune and trailing effect of the Heaven Sword, along with intricately detailing the shields with interesting shapes and motifs.
Alucard also has a large amount of spells at his disposal, some of them concerning usage of the shields and Shield Rod and the explosive items, and they're represented in a way that most fans have praised. The effects are stunningly colored and animated. Spiritual helpers are crisply detailed and sometimes downright weird, and animations such as fire and glowing qualities are convincing.
==Levels' layout==
Due to its revolutionary exploration aspect, Symphony of the Night opted for a more free and coherent layout; thus, objects such as moving platforms and pits –staples of the stage based games– were removed, and the castle's areas functioned more similarly to how a Metroid game would.
Symphony of the Night remains unique, though, even with its general core layout being duplicated in Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow, because it features the most interactive areas; bridges can collapse, gears can be hit to open doors, obstacles are destroyed in a wide variety of ways, and more.
Harmony of Dissonance is the most similar to Symphony of the Night's layout, in that it employs a lot of hallways with little platforming in them, along with rooms that have been colloquially described by players as "zig-zag rooms", which are vertical rooms that have the player alternately moving left and right, either up or down, along a series of structures to reach the next destination. Both games' castles overall layouts also function circularly.
However, classic elements, such as spikes, have been left in the game to add more challenge to its layouts, along with several traps, such as spikes strapped to motion-detecting, rolling contraptions, etc.
The game also houses several hidden rooms (which are usually accessed by attacking certain parts of a wall, floor, or ceiling) which usually contain rare items and even new areas to explore, along with some of the game's biggest secrets.
As mentioned, the castle's layout follows the traditional formula, set by the Metroid series, where the player must obtain new powers by exploring unknown regions in order to bypass certain obstacles. Alucard will utilize shapes such as the Form of Mist to travel through thin spaces, or the Form of Bat to gain access to higher areas.
==Castle areas==
The Castle		
Reverse Castle
*Entrance - A rather small area, mostly consisting of the trademark beginning hallways of the Castlevania series. In addition, the classic Merman area makes a return. Lightning occasionally flashes, and one of the more open rooms of this place displays several impaled corpses. This is also where you meet Death for the first time.		
*Reverse Entrance - Nothing much has changed in here, save for a slight shift in the color tone, making everything a little crimson. It is notable that the enemies in this castle are far more powerful and dangerous than their regular Castle counterparts.
*Alchemy Laboratory - Supposedly, this is where Dracula's servants conduct their unholy experiments, as evidenced by the side-rooms containing vials and arcane statues. Geometrically strange architecture hides itself behind the large pillars and dark walls. The first bosses, Slogra and Gaibon, reside here.		
*Necromancy Laboratory - Here, everything has taken a more ominous slate tone.
*Marble Gallery - Not so much a gallery, but a large, ornate transition area which connects to multiple areas. The Clock Room (a key area where Alucard first meets Maria) and hallways housing multitudes of grandfather clocks reside here. The longest corridor in the game also occurs here, where a large, floating eyeball that looks like a peeping eye can be seen through the far windows.		
*Black Marble Gallery - As the name implies, the colors here are of a darker orientation; dark greens prevail.
*Outer Wall - A large, vertical structure off to the far right side of Dracula's Castle. An elevator can be accessed here for faster transportation, as long as it is activated properly. At the very bottom, a room contains a telescope which Alucard can peer through to view the outside lake. The weather shifts here, too; sometimes it is foggy, sometimes it is raining, and sometimes it is a clear, moonlit sky.		
*Reverse Outer Wall - This houses the same color tones as the Reverse Entrance.
*Long Library - This place is where the Master Librarian resides, who will help Alucard..for a price. Enchanted spell books attack visitors, bookcases, packed with books, line the walls, and shady spots for reading to be done are off to the side.		
*Forbidden Library - A blue, dreamy flavor now cascades over every room, giving this area a melancholy appeal.
*Clock Tower - In actuality, the Clock Tower is the minor part of this area. That being said, the few rooms of the actual Clock Tower house gears, spikes, and switches which unlock a secret room. The initial room is a large, open space, with an eerie view of mountains and swaying clouds, and it progresses beyond the Clock Tower into a series of complicated ruins.		
*Reverse Clock Tower - Red tones are apparent in this reversed environment.
*Underground Caverns - A rather melancholic, subterranean environment. Icy walls and small rivers compose the majority of the caves, as well as a rather large waterfall. In the distance, stalactites and stalagmites glow a faint purple.		
*Reverse Caverns - Crimson and purple tones show up in the architecture and rocky surroundings. Its name is misspelled "Reverce Caverns" in game.
*Royal Chapel - The most serene (surprisingly) area of Dracula's castle. The backdrop begins as a great coniferous forest; as one progresses up the towers full of large bells, a sky full of speedy clouds is revealed. A confession room is located off the to the side of one of the towers, and a huge room housing pews and stained glass windows is near the middle of the Chapel.		
*Anti-Chapel - Same as the inverted Library, a comforting, blue aura has descended upon all.
*Castle Keep - A grim place, housing Dracula's abandoned throne room. A daunting crescent moon makes its presence well known in a dark purple sky full of blazing clouds. Shadowy rooms with animalistic statues are set off to the side. At the very top to the left is the transportation room for switching between Castles. The starting showdown at the beginning takes place here.		
*Reverse Keep - Nothing has changed in this place.
*Olrox's Quarters - A section of the Castle has been devoted to, apparently, one of Dracula's closest allies. Dark, elegant hallways give way to dungeon-like corridors on the top floor, as well as a rather large moonlit room housing what seems to be an abandoned village. Olrox, one of the main bosses, resides here. A fountain is found here and flows with blood when seen with the right headgear.		
*Death Wing's Lair - The changes here are the same as the reversed Entrance.
*Colosseum - This is where Dracula comes for his entertainment, it seems. In the center, a gladiator-esque ring is located, complete with the host of the event's seat in the middle, and a myriad of other seats for spectators. Other rooms contain storing shelves for weaponry and armor.		
*Reverse Colosseum - A chaotic, red glow pulses around the architecture this time.
*Abandoned Pit to the Catacomb - Most English versions call this area Abandoned Mine, even though there is very little evidence of this place being a mine and even less of it being abandoned. Rocky, mossy, darkened corridors make up the majority of this transition area.		
*Cave - A slight blue color has been added to everything in the Pit.
*Catacombs - The storing room for all sorts of victims who met their end years ago. A variety of skeletons can be seen packed into the walls of this place, as well as lined up against the wall. Eerily colored bricks comprise the structures of the catacombs, as well as several cavernous hallways containing rivers of lava. The spooky piano music here adds to the eeriness.		
*Floating Catacombs - This area has the most drastic changes given to it; lava now appears to be molten snow, snowflakes drift down in some places, rocks appear to have formed into crystals, and the once green bricks are now all a menacing red.
*Castle Center This is the very center, located in the middle of the Marble Gallery.		
*Reverse Castle Center A Darker locale than in the normal castle and where the final fight takes place.
==Trivia==
*Alucard's initial stats and items are determined by Richter Belmont's battle performance during the introductory stage (see Final Stage: Bloodlines#Alucard's stats for more detailed information).
**If the entirety of the prologue is finished in exactly 1 minute or less, Alucard earns +5 to all stats. It should be noted, however, that such a feat is legitimately impossible until the player beats the game and starts a new playthrough with a clear file on the memory card, as the "Die, monster" dialogue is unskippable otherwise.
**If the fight is finished within 1-2 minutes, Alucard earns +2 LCK.
**If the fight is finished within 2-3 minutes, Alucard earns +1 LCK.
**If the fight is finished in more than 10 minutes, Alucard earns +1 CON.
**If Richter manages to kill Dracula without taking any damage, Alucard earns +5 HP and +1 to STR, CON, INT, and LCK.
**If Richter finishes the prologue with half or more of his HP remaining, Alucard earns +1 STR. Otherwise, he earns +1 CON.
**If Richter loses all of his HP, Maria Renard will make him invincible for the rest of the battle. Alucard then starts with a Potion in his inventory. This condition overrides all other conditions, except for the Neutron Bomb (INT or STR point) condition and the time-based conditions: +5 to all stats (1 minute or less), LCK +2 (1-2 minutes), LCK +1 (2-3 minutes), and CON +1 (10 minutes).
**If Richter finishes the prologue with the Cross sub-weapon equipped and without Maria's help, Alucard earns +5 MP and +5 Max Hearts.
**If Richter finishes the prologue with the Holy Water sub-weapon equipped and with half or more of his HP remaining, Alucard earns +5 Max Hearts and +1 INT.
**If Richter defeats Dracula without having a sub-weapon equipped and without taking any damage, Alucard gains +5 to HP and LCK and +1 to STR, CON, and INT. (The Flame Whip can be used and won't affect these bonuses, but it's also useless in most versions of the game. This applies to all "no sub-weapon" conditions.)
**If Richter finishes the prologue without having a sub-weapon equipped and with half or more of his HP remaining, Alucard earns +5 HP and +1 STR.
**If Richter finishes the prologue without having a sub-weapon equipped and with less than half of his HP remaining, Alucard earns +1 STR.
**If Richter is carrying 41 or more Hearts when the dialogue with Dracula begins, Alucard starts the game with +1 INT and a Neutron Bomb in his inventory. Otherwise, he gains +1 STR.
**If Richter finishes the prologue with no Hearts and without Maria's help, Alucard starts the game with a Heart Refresh.
**If Luck Mode is enabled, all stat bonuses are lost, only item bonuses will be kept.
**In the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night, Alucard will always start the game with a Monster Vial 1 in his inventory.
***Combining the best of these bonuses (by finishing the prologue within exactly 1 minute or less and without taking damage), Alucard can start the game with 85 HP, 25 MP, 55 Max Hearts, 14 STR, 13 CON, 13 INT, and 17 LCK (if carrying no sub-weapon at the end of the battle); or 80 HP, 30 MP, 60 Max Hearts, 13 STR, 12 CON, 12 INT, and 12 LCK (if carrying the Cross); or 80 HP, 25 MP, 60 Max Hearts, 13 STR, 12 CON, 13 INT, and 12 LCK (if carrying the Holy Water). Note that if Richter had 41 or more Hearts when the dialogue with Dracula started, Alucard will have 1 more INT point and 1 less STR point. Alucard's default stats without the bonuses are 70 HP, 20 MP, 50 Max Hearts, 6 STR, 6 CON, 6 INT, and 6 LCK, but because an extra STR or INT point is always awarded, the default STR or INT is actually 7, depending on the amount of Hearts Richter was carrying when talking to Dracula.
*Placing the game CD in an audio player will reveal a hidden song on track 2, with Alucard first warning the listener not to play track 1 as it contains computer data and the bonus track playing afterward. The extra theme contains a remixed excerpt of "Dracula's Castle", Alucard's theme.
**This is similar to the warning track in Lunar, both testimonies of misuse prevention methods taken during early data disc based gaming.
*In the Japanese version, the Master Librarian's services includes an option to listen to humorous audio clips from the voice cast, replaced by a soundtrack in the US version. Some item locations are different from the US version as well.
*In the Japanese version and the PSP version (and later versions based on it), two more familiars are available as in-jokes, the Nose Demon and the Fairy, although they are the same as the standard Demon and Faerie (called a "Half-Faerie Familiar" in the Japanese version), only with small appearance differences.
**This Half-Faerie Familiar can sing a song. The Saturn version includes an exclusive item called the Song Lyrics Card which causes the Fairy familiar to sing more often.
*The sound in the Save Rooms is actually Alucard's heart beating. The sound is fainter or more apparent depending on how low on health he is.
*The Saturn version introduces two new sections, the Cursed Prison and Underground Garden, which have new background music themes, new enemies (such as Gargoyles and Spectres), a new boss called the Skeleton Leader, and new items (like the Alucard Spear).
*In the Sega Saturn version, the entrance music is different depending on the player character.
*In the Saturn version, Maria is playable, much different and more powerful than in The Dracula X Chronicles version.
*The Saturn version is notoriously prone to lag and slowdown in the presence of certain effects and objects: Akmodan II takes twice as long to die as in the PlayStation version, for example, and any 3D objects (such as the book enemies in the Long Library) will slow the game to a crawl because the Saturn is simply not designed for such effects. The game also features additional loading screens, and most effects involving transparency (such as the fog in Outer Wall) have been totally removed.
*The Saturn version spawns the player character inside the floor for one frame every time it loads a new room, before putting them where they are supposed to be. This can fail to occur, making it very easy to end up out of bounds in this version.
*The Xbox Live Arcade and PSP versions do not include the ending theme "I am the Wind". The XBLA version also features alterations to the hit-boxes of Rock Armors and Toads.
*The yellow Medusa Heads, Gorgons and Stone Roses will normally turn Alucard into a stone version of his body; furthermore, very rarely he'll be turned into a huge gargoyle statue. While he normally takes several times the normal amount of damage if hit by an enemy while petrified, he is invincible to enemy attacks in his stone gargoyle form.
*Alucard is able to visit a confessional in the Royal Chapel. If he sits on the left side, a ghostly priest will come out, and either laugh at him and stab him, or toss some Grape Juice. This is determined by the color of the priest's robes: pale green for stabbing and blue for helpful. If Alucard jumps over and sits on the other side, then a woman will come in. The woman in green will try to stab Alucard, while the one in red will confess her sins.
*If the player has the Rune Sword, a word will appear whenever the sword is thrown. That word is verboten, which means "forbidden" in German.
*On the bottom floor of the Colosseum, the carcass of the Behemoth that chased the player in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (and Dracula X) appears in the background.
*There is a hidden passage at the beginning of the castle. Presumably, this is an unfinished section that would have led to the Underground Gardens (apparent in the Saturn version). There's even a save point. The area can be accessed by starting a game as Richter, entering the castle, and quickly running back as the gate door closes.
*Both Alucard and Richter can quickly go behind the closing gate door when entering the castle. This allows for an exploration of the area Alucard runs through in the beginning, though should the player wish to go back inside the castle, they must reset the game, as the gate won't reopen, leaving Alucard/Richter trapped outside.
*A glitch allows Alucard to explore the roof of the castle and increase the map percentage above 200.6%. Alucard must have the Sword Familiar and use the Sword Brothers spell in the bottom-left corner of the first bell tower in the Royal Chapel. Walk to the bottom left exit and cast the Sword Brothers spell. While the spell is being cast, transform into a bat and charge to the left. If done correctly, you should exit outside of the castle. This can also be done in the Anti-Chapel. Using other methods, players can double their map percentage to 400.0% and higher. A lot of fans still use this glitch to look for undiscovered areas of the castle.
**This can also be done in other Castlevania games that use Symphony of the Night's map system, such as Aria of Sorrow.
*Players can skip the underground area of the game by flying as a bat through the hallway of spikes, turning to normal, and using a potion to become temporarily invulnerable. By walking through the door at the end of the hallway, the player has bypassed the need for spike armor. The underground area must still be completed to advance in the game. However, this may prevent the player from getting the Silver Ring which is necessary for the good ending.
*There's a one-time use item known as the Power of Sire. This is a magical spell that displays a portrait that damages all the enemies on the screen for a few times. The portrait is of Vlad Ţepeş, the real-life man who inspired the legend of Count Dracula.
*With the Shield Rod in hand, press Back, Forward+Attack. Alucard will throw out a little, swirly ball. If you're an astute Konami fan, you'll notice that it's the same exact thing as the shield in the Gradius games. It can be used to block enemy projectiles. You can also press attack and block at the same time to see the power of the shields you have.
*The boss, Count Olrox, was known in the original Japanese as "Orurokku" (オルロック), i.e. Orlok, the vampire from the classic vampire film, Nosferatu.
*In the original Dracula X, Maria's animal helpers were based off the Chinese animal gods Suzaku (the phoenix), Genbu (the turtle), Byakko (the tiger) and Seiryuu (the dragon). They return in the Saturn version of SotN, though they are all grown up.
*Pay close attention to the number of times the clock chimes when you equip both rings in the Clock Room. It rings 13 times; traditionally, a grandfather clock striking thirteen times was said to warn of a death in one's family.
**In addition, both the Gold and Silver Rings may be a reference to the animated movie The Castle of Cagliostro. In the film, both rings allow to discover a hidden place on the clock tower, like their joint use at the same place in the game.
*In the Saturn version of SotN, Maria has a dragon spell. It's appearance and color is very similar to the blue dragon found in the third stage of the Konami game Life Force.
*If you have Alucard sit down in one of the random chairs in the castle, he'll drift off into sleep after a few minutes, displaying multiple "Z"'s above his head.
**In the Sega Saturn (with the Lyric Card equipped) and The Dracula X Chronicles versions, if Alucard sits in a chair long enough with the Fairy familiar active, she will eventually sing a lullaby. The Sega Saturn version, however, has been confirmed to require a level 12+ Fairy.
*Alucard's familiar, the Faerie, will rest upon his shoulder if he stands still for long enough. Moving again will cause her to fall off, and cry out in surprise.
*Transforming into the Form of the Bat when the bat familiar is around will produce little hearts above the bat's head, make him follow you around and use Fire of the Bat when you do. Once the bat familiar reaches high enough levels, more bats will join in and attack similarly when the above is done. Morphing back into Alucard will send the animal into a state of puzzlement, as indicated by a question-mark above its head, and causes any extra bats to leave. Alternatively, if the Form of Bat is used when the Ghost familiar is active, the familiar will leave in puzzlement instead of following Alucard around.
*Equipping the Secret Boots will actually increase the size of Alucard's sprite, just as the description of the item says.
*The Muramasa sword is actually able to be powered up to be the strongest sword in the game given enough time. Killing enemies who gush out blood in their deaths will increase the sword's statistical power, but it becomes increasingly harder to do so the higher the attack power becomes.
*If Alucard equips two Heaven Swords and presses both attack buttons, the swords will swoop around in back of him, duplicate, then shoot out horizontally, ending with a final slice in the middle.
*In the fight against the three fakes of the Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse cast, if Alucard kills Trevor before Sypha, she will resurrect him as a zombie, and continue to do so any time you kill it.
*During the prologue sequence with Richter, if the player attacks the lower part of the stonework at the entrance to the hallway before Dracula's throne, a passageway will open up, allowing Richter to quickly gain hearts, and also some weapons from the later part of the actual game (although they cannot be used as Richter).
*Killing the Owl Knight's owl before destroying the knight will cause the knight to cry out in distress, and dash to the wounded owl's side. Upon the owl burning up, the knight will turn around and continuously try to attack Alucard with his sword. Likewise, killing the Owl Knight before killing the owl will cause the owl to enter a rage, swooping at you continuously.
*In the Outer Wall, there is some outside wildlife to be seen. Traversing to the Telescope Room and waiting will cause a bird to fly by, and take refuge from the cold or rain in a small nest. If you keep re-entering the room and watching the birds, the mother bird will lay eggs, which will hatch, and the two young birds will grow up, eventually flying off and restarting the cycle. Additionally, if Alucard ventures upward, and proceeds to the far right, the player can view a mouse scuttling around in an outside structure jutting from the wall.
*Inside Olrox's Quarters, in the largest room with the buildings in the background, there is a huge fountain in the center on the ground. If the player waits around for a few moments, the water will turn to blood. This is likely a reference to the blood-stained Latona Fountain at Versailles Palace in Castlevania: Bloodlines.
*Nestling into a tight spot as an animal form, and turning back into normal, will cause Alucard to be stuck, though not permanently, and utter a cry of confusion.
*Having Alucard stand on an incline or right before a drop-off will have him shift his normal pose to a more rigid manner. Shortly after, he'll readjust his stance and draw his arms nearer.
*If Alucard waits around long enough for Ctulhu, the monster will rear back, and release a powerful, ice-based blast across the floor.
*The names of Ctulhu and Malachi appear to have been either mixed up during development or intentionally revered. Malachi appears much more similar to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu than Ctulhu does. However, as with Ctulhu's name being slightly altered, this is possibly to avoid legal trouble.
*The English version of SotN makes constant references to J.R.R. Tolkien's world in its items and equipment. Some make little to no sense within the context of the items' descriptions (such as the Ring of Varda containing a description which would more aptly fit the One Ring), while others perhaps are a more abstract reference to Tolkien's creations. Examples include the Crissaegrim sword, the Gurthang sword, the Mormegil sword, the Sword of Hador, the Fist of Tulkas, the Nauglamir necklace, and the Rings of Varda and Feanor. There are similar cases in the Suikoden series (such as the Sindarin).
*There is a secret elevator in a room in the Outer Wall. Break the wall to the left of this room and stand in the hole for a while, and the secret elevator will take you down to the room below which has a grill door and supposedly can only be entered later in the game when Alucard has the ability to turn into mist.
*In the English version, the prologue sequence is called "Bloodlines". However, Bloodlines is neither the name of the level nor the name of the game it came from. In the Japanese version this part is correctly called "Rondo of Blood" (although the level is called Bloodlines in the PSP remake of Rondo of Blood). Also, the background music of the fight with Dracula in Dracula X is the same one used in the Prologue of Symphony of the Night, only the arrangement is a bit different.
*In the very long hallway in the Marble Garden, you can see a giant Peeping Eye in the background floating around outside, looking through the window.
*In the Outer Wall, on the outside of the area there is a hanging corpse that seems that the person was hung there. It is really a spoof of Simon Belmont, hanging from a ledge.
*GamePro Magazine voted this game #10 on its "Greatest 15 Videogames of All Time" list, in issue #150 (between NHL Hockey '94 and Super Bomberman, incidentally)
*In the game Metal Gear Solid for the original PlayStation, during the confrontation before the fight with the psychic boss character Psycho Mantis, he will read the player's "mind" (in reality, the statistics of the player's game up to that point). If the memory card inserted into the PlayStation has a Symphony of the Night save file on it, Psycho Mantis will make a short comment about it, saying "You like Castlevania, don't you?".
*In the Library area of the Reverse Castle, we meet three interesting foes - the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin man. Their monster encyclopedia descriptions read "The cowardly lion", "Impaled man looking for brain" and "Heartless tin man" respectively. These are a reference to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and best known for its 1939 film adaptation.
*In the PlayStation version, an audio of a fifth ending has been found, apparently in which Maria saves Richter, but Shaft turns her into a demon right after.
*The famous Dracula's quote "What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets." is taken from the introduction to André Malraux's book Antimémoires, published in 1967.
**In addition, Alucard's quote "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." comes from the Irish philosopher Edmund Burke. Coincidentally, the latter died in 1797, the year in which the game takes place.
*It's in this game that the Stone Mask item debuts. This mask - and where it's found, the library - is a reference to Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. It's a particular Aztec stone mask that turns Dio Brando into a vampire in the first place, and he finds the mask in Mr. Joestar's library. The item is further described as being used in Aztec rituals in Portrait of Ruin, continuing the inside joke.
*The original English dub of the game is popular with fans due to the cheesy overacted nature, particularly the Richter and Dracula dialogue, which has been referenced in various places, stories and games.
*The map that is supposed to represent part of Transylvania in the opening cutscene is actually an inverted piece of the Map of Juan de la Cosa.
*Koji Igarashi once said during the interview in Castlevania Chronicles about SoN, he likes Dracula's Curse and Rondo of Blood, therefore he combined these two elements and bringing a new type of gameplay without one direction to explore, but can go everywhere with level gaining and weapons.
*In the Japanese version of Symphony of the Night, when Alucard encounters the Ferryman for the first time, the latter will say the same phrase he said to Simon Belmont, in Simon's Quest. Even though Simon's Quest is in Katakana and Symphony of the Night is in Hiragana, the phrase is the same, maintaining the same meaning and sonority ("Iitokoroni, tsureteitte ageyou", lit. I'll take you to a good place). This similarity is also evident in English version, although is not the same dialogue (this similarity only does not occur in DXC, because of changes in phrase).
**Dialogue in Simon's Quest:
***USA/EU: "Sure, I'll take you to a good place. Heh!! Heh!! Heh!!"
***JP: "イイトコロニ、ツレテイッテ　アゲヨウ、イッヒッヒ。" (イッヒッヒ = laugh).
**Dialogue in Symphony of the Night:
***USA/EU: "I'll take you to a place which might be interesting for you." (laugh).
***JP: "いい所に、連れて行ってあげよう。" (laugh).
*The bosses that allow Alucard access to the body parts of Dracula are likely a nod at the original Castlevania, as the bosses Simon Belmont fought in the first game are brought back with new abilities and traits to try and stop Alucard from foiling Shaft's plan.
**The same reference is given during Shaft's fight in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, to which Symphony of the Night is a direct sequel. In that game, the same five monsters are summoned by Shaft before the player fights him.
*The body parts themselves are a reference to Simon's Quest. Simon is required to collect the same body parts to resurrect and subsequently defeat Dracula and break the curse.
==Music==
Symphony of the Night was scored by Michiru Yamane, composer of Castlevania: Bloodlines. To most, the game remains in the very top tier in where the series' music is concerned. Despite the overwhelming admiration for the soundtrack of Symphony of the Night, there have been some players that have criticized the game for taking on too much of an orchestral tone, and others have claimed it to be unattractively bombastic.
In addition, the game disc itself contains a single track which is introduced by the English voice actor of Alucard, Robert Belgrade.
==See also==
*Symphony of the Night Bestiary
*Symphony of the Night Inventory
*
*Symphony of the Night Walkthrough
*Dracula's Castle Interactive Map SON
==Related products==
*Castlevania: Nocturne of Recollection - A Japanese audio drama sequel to this game.
*Konami Collection Card Akumajō Dracula X - Konami official trading cards.
*NECA Castlevania Action Figures - Contains three models of SotN characters (Alucard, Dracula and Succubus).
*Akumajō Dracula: Prize Collection - Volume 2 contains two SotN models that can be won from an arcade (Alucard and Maria).
===Alternate editions===
*Sega Saturn version - An augmented version of Symphony of the Night made for the Sega Saturn.
*Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (handheld) - A simplified version of this game in LCD handheld format by Tiger Electronics.
*Game.com Tiger Handheld Edition - A canceled version of Symphony of the Night for the Game.com.
*Xbox Live Arcade version - A version available on Xbox Live Arcade.
*The Dracula X Chronicles - A version of Symphony of the Night included in Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. Contains a new localization of this game with added features.
*Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night/Rondo of Blood - Collection containing a port of the version used in The Dracula X Chronicles.
===Related guides===
*BradyGames Symphony of the Night Official Strategy Guide - The official English strategy guide.
*Prima's Unauthorized Symphony of the Night Strategy Guide - An unauthorized strategy guide .
*NTT Pub Gekka no Yasōkyoku Official Guide - A Japanese guide.
*Futabasha Gekka no Yasōkyoku Official Guide - Another Japanese guide.
*Shinkigensha Gekka no Yasōkyoku Official Guide - Another Japanese guide.
===Related games===
*Castlevania: Rondo of Blood - Symphony of the Night is officially a sequel to this game.
*Castlevania: Dracula X - To non-Japanese audiences unfamiliar with Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night was considered a sequel to this game.
*Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse - Symphony of the Night is a sequel to this game from Alucard's point of view.
*Kid Dracula (GB) - Possibly the previous game to star Alucard. Symphony of the Night contains more serious versions of several elements found in this game.
*Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night - A puzzle follow-up to this game.
*Castlevania (PS3/Xbox 360) - A canceled game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 featuring Alucard, which may have been intended to be a sequel to Symphony of the Night.
===Related fiction===
*Konami Magazine - Nocturne in the Moonlight (manga) - Manga associated with the game dealing with the aftermath of Lisa's death.
*Dracula X ~Nocturne in the Moonlight~ Art Works - Comic in an artbook that came with the game in Japan when it first came out.
*Castlevania - Animated series on Netflix depicting some events from this game.
===Related music albums===
*Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Original Soundtrack - The original soundtrack for this game.
*Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles Original Soundtrack - Contains two songs new to the Dracula X Chronicles version of this game
*Akumajō Dracula Best Music Collections BOX - Disk 6 contains an expanded soundtrack for this game, including some Saturn exclusive tracks
*Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Original Video Game Soundtrack 2XLP - Vinyl soundtrack for this game also including more Saturn exclusive tracks
*Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night/Rondo of Blood Soundtrack Selection - Contains a selection of songs from Symphony of the Night
*Music from Akumajo Dracula Aka - Disk 1 and 2 contains the most complete soundtrack for this game, including more Saturn exclusive tracks and some Dracula X Chronicles exclusive tracks
==References==
==External links==
*Castlevania Realm
*
*GameFAQs
*GOD - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
*Konami XBLA Product Page (Japanese)
*MobyGames
*NitM Fan Site (Japanese) Google Translate
*Product page for mobile platforms at Konami.com
*The Castlevania Dungeon's SotN section
*VGCritics Review
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