Topic: In your honest opinion...

[paletteswapmonster]

In Reply To #60

And how would you know that?

Symphony of the Night sucks.

It doesn't really suck, but it is no way as good as people say it is.

[Abnormal Freak]

I can't believe some of the distaste for SOTN, saying it either sucks or is overrated. :P The game is incredibly innovative, the graphics and music are top-notch, it's loads of fun, it's the only Metroidvania that has really well-done castle structuring, and so on. This baffles me just like all the comments about Citizen Kane being a crappy movie. I mean, seriously--WTF, people?

Only thing I'm not too particularly fond of is how incredibly easy the game is, but there are some challenges now and then.

[crisis]

In Reply To #61
Well, back in 1997 the standards for games was very different. When SotN was unleashed upon the world, it was a fresh take on the CV mythos; fans and non-fans of the series adored it, difficulty aside. So, the majority says SotN is phenomenal while the minority "just don't get it".

Also, from what I've seen anyway, most top 50 or top 100 greatest games of all time lists include SotN, and it's almost always in the top 20 or 10.

[Long John Silver]

In Reply To #60

And how would you know that?
It doesn't really suck, but it is no way as good as people say it is.

lol, it was just a troll.

[paletteswapmonster]

I can't believe some of the distaste for SOTN, saying it either sucks or is overrated. The game is incredibly innovative, the graphics and music are top-notch, it's loads of fun, it's the only Metroidvania that has really well-done castle structuring, and so on. This baffles me just like all the comments about Citizen Kane being a crappy movie. I mean, seriously--WTF, people?

The game has a lot of flaws. The Inverted Castle is crap(and that is a very bad thing considering it's the second half of the game), most of the weapons are useless, there are a lot of unnecessary things just thrown in for kicks, it has a lot of glitches, the game feels incomplete and probably is, and the game is mind bogglingly easy. If it ever gets remade(again, and when it's a good time for it), it should get fixed because it's in dire need of that in many ways. SotN definitely does not deserve its title as "best Castlevania game ever".

[Profbeanburrito]

In Reply To #65

I love SotN night I think it's a great game, but yeah, it does have its flaws. I totally agree the inverted castle is a waste. Anything important or cool you basically get in the regular castle. It baffles me when people bitch about the second portraits in PoR, but then seem to forget, or never mention the lack of detail and work put into the inverted castle.

Again, a great game, and my favorite Metroid-Vania style game (although that could be due to nestalgia)It is defiantly not the best game of the series. Personally, it's about 3rd or 4th on my list, hard to say sometimes

[paletteswapmonster]

It baffles me when people bitch about the second portraits in PoR, but then seem to forget, or never mention the lack of detail and work put into the inverted castle.

For starters, the seconds portraits in PoR are basically the same thing as the past portraits. You pretty much just do the same thing all over again. The Inverted Castle may suck, but at least it differed from the normal castle and the creators were actually able to make a castle that could work upside down.

[VampireHunterM]

Alot of people here seem like they didn't play SOTN when it was originally released. Keep in mind this title came out over 10 years ago, and re-invented the series. You must admit it was a big jump from Bloodlines at that time.

[VampireHunterM]

While on the subject of SOTN, being someone who studies the occult, has anyone else noticed the symbols on the walls in the room of the first boss fight? Very similiar to the symbols of the gate of the Necronomicon (or Yog-Sohoth). Then there's Cthulhu popping up in the series. Betcha Iga's a bigtime Lovecraft fan like myself.

[paletteswapmonster]

Very similiar to the symbols of the gate of the Necronomicon (or Yog-Sohoth).

They're pentagrams.

[erimocard]

So has anyone noticed that Malachi looks like Cthulhu, while Cthulhu looks like some random demon? I bet they just confuzzled the names.

[Abnormal Freak]

The game has a lot of flaws. The Inverted Castle is crap(and that is a very bad thing considering it's the second half of the game), most of the weapons are useless, there are a lot of unnecessary things just thrown in for kicks, it has a lot of glitches, the game feels incomplete and probably is, and the game is mind bogglingly easy. If it ever gets remade(again, and when it's a good time for it), it should get fixed because it's in dire need of that in many ways. SotN definitely does not deserve its title as "best Castlevania game ever".

I guess I can understand not liking the inverted castle, but I find it fun, the bosses are all completely new, and it's far less repetitive and stupid than AOS' "second castle," which as I recall is exactly the same thing. (That was AOS and not HOD, right? Maybe I'm confused.)

AOS, DOS, and POR have useless weapons also, but despite that the variety is fun regardless--or at least I find it fun in SOTN. The other games, not so much. SOTN has soooo many weapons and items that you really don't ever need to use, but it's fun at least once to go through them all and see the neat little things some of them do. Same with all the items--especially the ones that cause huge naked chicks to appear on the screen. Throwing peanuts in the air and trying to catch them in your mouth to regain just a few points of health? Come on! Little details like that are so much fun! The other games have very few such tiny, useless, albeit fun details.

What are these "unnecessary things" you speak of? 'Cos I love all the weird little details and things in the game. Makes it feel far more complete than the other games.

Glitches? Yeah, there are the well-known glitches, some of which cause the progress percentage of the game to go higher--so are they really glitches, or intentional? Either way, they're fun, and I've NEVER done anything in the game that has somehow screwed me over. Seriously, when has a glitch in SOTN ever ruined your play experience? None of it gets in the way. Besides that, some of the other games have glitches also. Being able to go outside of the castle in AOS (or was that DOS)? You're not just going to look over that, are you?

What makes SOTN feel incomplete? I hope you don't say "'cos it doesn't have the ability to play Maria and the new areas like in the Saturn version," because those were all added LATER and as far as I know were not intended to be put in the original game. I've never played the Saturn version, but I hear the new areas are poorly-designed, the new sprites suck ass, and there's nothing special about the new tunes either (which, if I'm not mistaken, weren't even written by Yamane).

Yeah, the game is easy, but aside from COTM, are any of the other Metroidvanias anything more than a cakewalk? Seriously. ALL of IGA's SOTN-style Castlevanias are a breeze. Except that none of those other games have the insane challenge of a boss like Galamoth. Sure, the boss is pretty easy to get through if you have the right equipment and/or the fairy familiar healing you constantly, but he's still a pretty darn tough cookie. COTM is the only Metroidvania that really poses a consistent challenge.

As for SOTN being considered the best Castlevania, yeah I agree it doesn't quite deserve that title, but it certainly is deserving of its high praise and being considered ONE of the best. And it's so good that I honestly don't mind if somebody DOES think it's THE best, because it really IS so good. And if nothing else, arguing that any of the other Metroidvanias are superior or come even close to its brilliance and replayability is just a dead argument from the start because it's simply not true. :)

[Kale]

In Reply To #72

AOS didn't really have a second castle, it was more like a mini corridor. I think HoD is the one you're thinking of.

[Abnormal Freak]

I haven't played either game since they came out, so yeah, I probably got confused. :o I've tried replaying the both of them several times but usually just get bored.

Though I did just order a Game Boy Player, ha, and intend to play through the games again.

[erimocard]

In my case it's just the other way round. While I have played through AoS hundrets of times, I played through SotN... 3 times? Maybe 4? For me CV1 and AoS have the best replay quality.