Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Castlevania: SotN is an excellent game by my standards, it is one of the few games that has kept my attention through until the end, and then some. There are a ton of things to find, places to explore, secrets to uncover... its a treat throughout the entire thing. You can't go wrong!

The graphics are amazing. But guess what - its a Playstation One game! Yes you heard it right - PS1. It is 2d, but it is 2d in the top of its form - it can't be done much better. All the little nuances and details just make this game spectacular! The bosses are massive, the colors are stunning, the art is tantalizing... it is all impressive indeed, and you will be impressed.

The sound is great too - the soundtrack is the star here though. Absolutely stunning! The voice acting is merely ok, but since that is not the focal point of the game, its not a big deal. The weapons effects, fire effects, and every other little sound is another thing that makes the sound great, it really makes the actions on screen come alive. Oh, and did I mention the music is great?

The gameplay is as close to perfect as I've found in any game, ever. The controls are challenging, but when you get them down, they are very intuitive and fluid. Once you master the basic moves, its on to a whole set of magic moves that are performed by button combos reminiscent of the special attacks Street Fighter II. The length of the game is also perfect, it is impressively long, but keeps you interested enough to never feel like its too long. There are a ton of different enemies to fight, so every rooms seems different, and every boss fight is refreshing. There are a plethora of items to find, including a vast array of weaponry, armor, potions, raw food laying around that is obviously quite ok to eat, and valuable gems.

Probably the only complaint I had about the game was the difficulty near the end, because if you do like I did and get as much and explore as much as possible before you actually beat the game, the last parts of the game are rather easy. But, I can say, it is quite satisfying when you can whip the crap out of every enemy at the end because of all the hard work and time you put into the game. What fun!

Overall, I am extremely impressed by how awesome SotN is. I would heartily recommend it to anyone with a PS1 or PS2, if you can find it. You can get it for a lot less than any new game now-a-days, and it will be better than 95% of the new games you can buy. So do yourself a monumental favor, and go get it. You shall not be dissapointed!

Random link of the Post: SlashDot <--Lots o' cool news