RPG Fanatic: Castlevania Symphony of the Night Video Game Review (PSP)

[MireaR23]

i thought castlevania 64 was awsome. great sound. emersive areas. but that being said it was very different then other castlevania games. i still play that game.

[274joe]

what circle of the moon bad?!?!?!?!!? that was my favorite other than sotn

[aragorn100000]

die monster you don't belong in this world

[gamershark]

@aragorn100000 What is a man? *Throws glass* A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk, have at you!!

[aragorn100000]

@gamershark how could it get any more epic?

[aragorn100000]

@aragorn100000 *listen to symphoy of the night OST'

It actually did!!

[Bweep09]

This is probably my favourite game of all time lol. And the hell with the shield thing, I just beef myself up and then equip the Crissagrim, nothing lasts for more than not even a second lol. But yeah, I never liked the magic spells. I mean this isn't Soul Calibur damnit. XD Cool history session about some parts of the series though. I love your videos because I always learn so much stuff about games I love, it's great.

[jfreedan]

@Bweep09 Glad you liked it! Hope you enjoy the next one, too!

[rockletsroll]

legend of mana ♥

[jfreedan]

@rockletsroll I reviewed it.

[agetro82]

The game was a lot easier than the games before it, you also have that Katana sword that kills everything super fast. I always avoided using items that gave you too much of an advantage and only used them after i beat the game. Same goes with the duplicator.

[alicefan65]

i agree game was way to easy.

[alicefan65]

castlevania is not really an rpg.

[holypie987]

@alicefan65 Is a sidescroller RPG Hybrid

[darris321]

woah woah woah

it doesn't say that dracula hates humans because they killed lisa. it just says her dying words were a wish for alucard not to hate humans.

i mean, he killed humans before that, didn't he?

I always thought he could live in relative peace with the humans until they killed lisa then he went apeshit and decided to wreak havoc on the human realm.

[darris321]

if you put in that code at the beginning you can keep all your stuff in the beginning, too- i don't think it was accidental because it works too perfectly.

[ty2358]

castlevania 64 is the bomb dig!!

[SuperRoGE14]

play lords of shadow if you havent

[jfreedan]

@SuperRoGE14 I have

[Yakkosprite]

So many comments about AVGN. I enjoy the AVGNs work, a lot, but it doesn't mean that other gamers can't make reviews on the same style (Except Irategame, he's a douche) I think this guy does a fair job, ultimately he's giving his opinion on the game and is a good introduction to some games if people are planning on buying them, and I actually like these videos. Keep it up

[Crust218]

Don't forget about the Tolkien references with items like the ring of Feanor, the fists of Tulkas, and the Crissaegrim.

As for the shield rod, I used to pair it with the medusa shield, leap into a boss, activate the shield rod, and immediately turn gaseous. By staying in the center of the screen, the medusa shield's eye beams criss-cross back and forth, doing terrible damage. It's especially enjoyable against Granfaloon.

[arealnowhereman64]

i tried using the shield rod and alucard shield together, but nothing happens. what am i doing wrong?

[jfreedan]

@arealnowhereman64 Are you sure it is the Alucard shield and not the Alucart shield? Do you have enough MP to cast the spell? You must also continue to hold the shield button down after the spell is initialized.

[ZaneIng]

since when is legacy of darkness a "shit bomb" *fail*

[TheGameAnyoneRPGer]

@ZaneIng Legacy of Darkness is a shit bomb because it's basically CastleVania 64.

[Tenken89]

Cool review i don't see how hes copying AVGN.

[jfreedan]

@Tenken89 Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[walmartian555]

i love how everyone tries to copy the angry videogame nerd with your little outfits and skits

[jfreedan]

@walmartian555 Although AVGN is an obvious source of inspiration, I'd like to think dressing up as a Belmont-ish vampire hunter is my own original idea.

[BenJKrauser]

@jfreedan lol I love the Soma Cruz Castlevania games! glad to see them getting some love in this review (even for a second) a lot of people I know hate them.

[Periwinkleton]

That intro made my ears jizz. Please change it.

[Twilleppac]

"Shit bomb"!? I love Circle of the Moon! >_>

[jfreedan]

@Twilleppac You like shit? :p Just kidding. It's okay if you liked Circle of the Moon, that's fine. I explain why I dislike it in the comments, but it basically boils down to how buggy the game is and that the storyline had issues, resulting in it eventually being tossed out of the official timeline so that the rest of the games in the series can make sense.

[supersmashbro596]

@jfreedan well it wasnt THAT bad in terms of control where the n64 games lacked thereof.

so even though its non-canon, its still an ok game if you look past story and bugs.

[MrNewVegas44]

@jfreedan thats the only game i want out of the timeline

[devicat]

ok i do agree the one's for 64 sucked very hard but i liked circle of the moon it was like symphony of the night in 16 bit plus there where 2 more on the game boy advance harmony of dissonance and aria of sorrow which where pretty good games

[1Synner]

I LOVE "Symphony of the Night", but there is one thing i have to say about it...

*ahem*... Fuck the Inverted Castle! That is all...

[chinguidinsky]

Lol shit man you know a lot about Castlevania, I'm not a fan but still, shit. Have you published any books? If so, what are they called? I'd like to check them out.

[foxhound900]

Also if Dracula being brought back in a 26 year distance is ridiculous then explain how Richter was able to bring him back only four years after he beet him.

[jfreedan]

@foxhound900 The Belmonts would still have vampire weaknesses. Also, if I remember correctly SOTN has Dracula reviving because Shaft sacrifices his ghostly existence to revive Dracula. At any result, Sonia has been thrown out of the timeline and I believe the storyline is the better for it.

[supersmashbro596]

@jfreedan still... itd be nice to have a girl belmont whose actually canon.

[foxhound900]

Actually sense Alucard is the son of a vampire and a human he is half vampire. So if Alucard is really Trevor's father. Trevor would only be a quarter vampire witch would explain his extreme power and the fact he can stand in the sunlight like alucard.

[samantha34ize]

i wish final fantasy 12 was like this action rpg

[LeoCastell4]

I always considered Symphony of The Night as an Action Platformer with RPG elements. Circle of The Moon was fantastic! One of the best Castlevania games ever! The story might be contradicting, but that doesn't stop the game from being downright fun. A lot of people look at the Castlevania games as one of those series where the story can kinda just be there and the fun gameplay is what you really want (like the Mario Platformers).

[halodystroyer44]

,,,,,,,,didn't know symphony of the night was an RPG 0.0

[jfreedan]

@halodystroyer44 Action RPG.

[Israfel85]

@jfreedan Why is it that just because a game has levels in it, it makes it an RPG?

[jfreedan]

@Israfel85 Good question. My video, "What is a computer RPG?" explains this in detail.

[pspgamer01]

hey is this the castlevania dracula x chronicles version????

[jfreedan]

@pspgamer01 Yes

[scottishboy1987]

Although the story, Gameplay and controls are superb in this game i think the music is the best thing about the game!

[dss103]

WHOA WHOA WHOA!!!! You completely lost credibility when you said Circle of The Moon sucked! Are you on crack! When that game came out on the GBA it was amazing! The only problem it had was the fact that it was too dark to see on a regular GBA. this was solved with the introduction of the GBA SP! How about playing the game or checking out the multiple awesome reviews that the game received. Shitfest...look in the mirror you prick lol

[jfreedan]

@dss103 MADDEN games get good reviews too even though they are basically the same game. Circle of the Moon is a buggy game. The storyline also contradicts the rest of the series which is why it had to be removed from the timeline. Most of the DS cards are worthless and the drop rate for the cards is terrible, making the game into a massive grindfest. No, it's not a good game compared to the others.

[dinggledoser]

@jfreedan Circle of the moon is not buggy, storylines don't matter and while grind is unusually high, CotM exceeds where the other GBA and DS Castlevanias fail, in its exploration and level design. The areas were large, menacing and didn’t rely on the copy-paste level design. Most the DS cards were worthless unless you knew how to use them and if you were any good at Castlevania you wouldn't need to grind much!

I also liked Legacy of Darkness but seriously... HOW DARE YOU BRING UP MADDEN!!!

[MsBigB777]

I LOVE playing SOTN in the PSP version. I just love the whole story and stuff this game has. Also I in love with Alucard. He is sooooooooooooooooo SEXY!

[jfreedan]

@thecrazyluckyboy I believe it is.

[dave1cha]

is it pronounced "home-ages" with a hard H? i always thought it was pronounced with a silent h.

[jbonkerz]

SotN was what got me interested in Castlevania games. As far as the 3D Castlevania games go, so far I really can't get in to any of them. The level design bothers me to the point where it feels to bland and I no longer wish to play the games.

[TheRigster1138]

The code you mentioned lowers Alucard's stats except for Luck, which it boosts. The idea was to make you weaker, but balance it by giving you better gear from enemies. In practice you still become overpowered from all the new weapons and accessories you get. I actually had an easier time with the Advanced Luck code than without it.

[Gray86Fox]

Why does it say "PSP" in the title of this video?

I mean,I know that it is playable on the Psp....but still

[jfreedan]

@Gray86Fox I think you answered your own question :p Footage is of the PSP version of SOTN, thus why PSP is in the title.

[dave1cha]

@Gray86Fox why do you think dummy? Think hard....

[Gray86Fox]

@dave1cha

*Thinking Hard* He got it off the PSN

Why the name-calling?

[jfreedan]

@Gray86Fox I did not get it off the PSN. This is the version of the game that comes with the Dracula X Chronicles, which is a PSP game. It is not the same version being sold on the PSN. The PSP version has slight differences, such as the ability to play as Maria, a new translation and the background image of Dracula you see in every shot.

[jfreedan]

@NinjaGamer64 Of course. I play games in many genres.

[sonic16913]

I have that Zelda shirt that you wore in the opening! =D

[Fand421]

One of the best games ever made.

[Kytseo]

Did you ever review Castlevania: Lament of Innocence?

[jfreedan]

@Kytseo No. It's not a computer RPG. I've only been reviewing computer RPGs. I may in the future cover games that impacted the computer RPG genre, like The Legend of Zelda, but the focus is on computer RPGs.

[Kytseo]

I heard you mentioning nintendo hard, you go to tvtropes?

[MegaShadowrunner]

For the next Halloween episode, you should review Shadow Hearts. :D

[devonlovespie]

I used to play this as a little kid. I think it was the first video game I've ever played. It brings back a lot of memories. haha (:

[cyberhoodlum]

So, you apparently hate Circle of the Moon and love Aria of Sorrow. THANK YOU! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks Circle of the Moon is a terrible game. And Aria of Sorrow is almost as good as SoTN, but the only problem is that the game is too short, especially in comparison to SoTN.

[DanceofGold]

I agree that SotN is unforgettable because of the amazing visuals and music. The dialogue was cheesy but it was kinda touching at the end, when Alucard talked to his father after defeating him.

[fr0sth4x0r]

i remember the first time i beat this at 212% :)

[mutilation66six]

looks like a looser shack!! haha

[RonCrafton1989]

The N64 castlevania games I hear while not the best in the series is severely underrated. Watch KWING's review videos of them they are pretty cool

[jfreedan]

@RonCrafton1989 KWING is wrong. I played them when they actually came out. They were garbage then and they are still garbage now.

[RonCrafton1989]

@jfreedan Well everyone has their own opinion so if you don't like them thats fine though I have to ask what made you dislike them so much? Was it the controls or the camera, maybe the story? Well all in all no one can like everything.

[jfreedan]

@RonCrafton1989 Bad camera, bad controls, bad models, horrible plot, and terrible music (often non-existent at times). It's also pretty boring. Really, after SOTN there was no excuse for such nonsense to happen in the franchise.

[RonCrafton1989]

@jfreedan Alright thanks

[Maiku09]

@RonCrafton1989 if people like AVGN and hell even GameTrailers and IGN know that Castlevania 64 is crap, then its crap. i remember renting it back when i got my N64 as a kid. i was stuck with that game for 3days. luckily i had mario kart 64 and diddy kong to play. its not really an opinion, its fact that the N64 castlevania sucked hard

[EdwardElric555]

What's wrong with Circle of the Moon?

[jfreedan]

@EdwardElric555 Crappy music, crappy graphics, tries to copy SOTN but ends up with such terrible level design you can basically skip large parts of the game, no full heal after killing a boss, majority of cards are worthless + with few exceptions items only drop from enemies forcing you to grind even for mediocre gear. Lastly it's yet another game with a non-Belmont using the vampire killer whip which caused more continuity problems the series didn't need more of. It feels very rushed to me.

[EdwardElric555]

@jfreedan Thank you very much for the long explanation. Wierd becuase it got high reviews from site like Gamespot, so I playeed it on a emulator beucase I'm poor :( anyway I enjoyed but I was 14 or 15 I can't remember could be younger and I was having fun until I got stuck and couldn't figure out what to do next and the characters never told you anything or advanced the story other then other father is not here plz try another castle. Also is grind in any form a good idea even if it's varied?

[jfreedan]

@EdwardElric555 Grind can be good. What people don't like is when its boring. I intend to make a video on the subject to illustrate my points, but in short, a game like, say, Unlosing Ranger is almost entirely grind but it's highly enjoyable because of the way it is handled.

[EdwardElric555]

@jfreedan Do you feel that grind has become a bad word in the industry to describle bad game design. Also do you have anything to say about Final Fantasy XIII or XIV because they have become quite contraversial on the quality of those games. However I've be playing both (BTW Chinese ver. of Final Fantasy XIII has Japanese voice acting and English Subs I have it.) and to XIII is good but could have been amazing if Square had put in more resources and XIV is ingenious in solving problems for MMOs.

[jfreedan]

@EdwardElric555 I think the word has lost the original meaning, yes. It's become more negative than it should be, mostly because it's done wrong more often than it is done right. As for the online FF games I have not played them but I know a'bit about them, which is why I don't play them. I don't think Square is transitioning well to the different design philosophy of online games versus single player ones. Something that isn't a problem in a 1 player game is a huge deal in a MMORPG

[jfreedan]

@EdwardElric555 Take, for example, economies. It's not a problem in FF7 for a player to reach the gil cap in a few hours of grinding. It is in FFXIV because inflation causes money to become worthless for purchasing items, because everyone has money and the economies become barter-centric.

[EdwardElric555]

@jfreedan I said that FFXIV had some ingenoius ideas like putting limits on level grinding to prevent hardcore players leveling faster then much less serious ones. And the economy in XIV kind of works if you are willing to figure how it is suppost to work, becuase you can't rely on an auction house to determine how much some items are worth becuase it takes too much time so what I and a lot of people do is using the venders as a good estimate and then understanding how much rare it is.

[jfreedan]

@EdwardElric555 I don't entirely agree but whenever I get around to reviewing those games I'll elaborate on the reasons why.

[EdwardElric555]

@jfreedan What do you think of Dawn of Sorrow because I didn't like it beause it felt way too short?

[jfreedan]

@EdwardElric555 I do not own a DS so I have not played it

[EdwardElric555]

@jfreedan Do you think that a video game should be fun. Because I've seen other developers talk about no no they should be engaging and I sit back think "dude your in the wrong industry". Also do think FPS like Half-Life, Bioshock & Call of Duty 4 are really full of bullshit with there approach to storytelling because to me just seeing everything from the characters point of doesn't make scene any more compelling that's why they don't do it in movies at the least the really good ones.

[jfreedan]

@EdwardElric555 Games must be fun. I don't know wth "engaging" is supposed to mean. Engaging simply means something is appealing. Well, duh, games should appeal to a target audience but that is impossible if the game isn't fun. I'm not a fan of FPS games and while good stories surely help, most people don't play them for the story and everyone knows that.

[EdwardElric555]

@jfreedan I just got another question. What's wrong with random battle in the overworld. Because its a stable of all RPGs I think. But tons of people contantly complain about them. But I reckon it's the old Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy style ones where the enemies aren't on the over world but at random your in a battle hindering your progress, I never find this a problem because there are ways to avoid it. But What's your take on Random Battle and what's the right way and the wrong way?

[jfreedan]

@EdwardElric555 The wrong way would be when you enter a random battle every couple steps. Some of the Breath of Fire games are like that and it used to greatly annoy me. I supposed I prefer the "see the enemy onscreen" method but random battles do have the advantage of making it easier to power level.

[EdwardElric555]

@jfreedan Do you watch Extra Credits on Escapist?

[jfreedan]

@EdwardElric555 Nope.

[EdwardElric555]

@jfreedan Why not, what's your opinon on it?

[Shintai123]

Great review! I loved Symphony of the Night back in the day, I beat the game like, 4-5 times.

However, I was kinda miffed you considered Circle of the Moon a shit bomb. I thought it was one of the better games in the series with a lot of variety in the combat. Still, I am looking forward to the Curse of Darkness review. I think the series has done pretty shitty overall in 3d.

[hostelowner]

wow why curse of darkness

that game was a curse of darkness upon the ps2 and the xbox

it shouldnt have been made.

the best 3d one at the time was lament of innocence and i supposed now its the new one although i havent played it and i heard the story is shit.

[shockerdrone911]

Great review man. Even I have to say, Symphony of the Night is the best game that has been put out, but I also enjoy the Castlevania 64 games even with some of the problems.

[matman125]

I checked out the site you mentioned and it's pretty cool! Well organized, which is useful for someone like who is just getting into the franchise.

Funny, I'm currently playing SotN for Halloween! Great game, and and I plan to check out some of the games released after that on the GBA.

Have you played the latest Castlevania game for the 360 and PS3?

[jfreedan]

@matman125 have not played the "reboot". And based on the plot, I'm not all that excited for it. It looks stupid as hell. I won't spoil it, but I don't like the direction it is going.

[uglypinkmoose]

awesome review!

[lcook3]

3rd view, first comment. Sweet.