Game 5 of 2026 is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Game 5 of 2026 is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Uhhh. It’s okay, I guess?

Playstation version, emulated via RetroArch.

I never had a PS1, and I’ve never played SotN before. Apparently it’s a classic. I can kind of see why it’s so beloved, but I didn’t love it.

There were very few times where I felt like it was a slog, which is a plus. Most of the time it was enjoyable. Room design is okay. Map design is pretty good overall, although I might’ve liked a few more fast travel points. The big switchup at the end is clever, although navigating most of it at slow speed due to having to fly was a little tedious.

In fact, movement speed in general was too slow. Alucard feels like he’s running through molasses most of the time. He’s responsive, and combat feels pretty good, but his run speed is just so slow. Especially with some of the longer horizontal corridors.

There is a lot of stuff in this game. Spells, weapons, familiars. Not much of it is explained in game and I don’t have the manual, but that’s kind of how games of that era are I guess. There are lots of items, many without a reason to use them, and some vague descriptions on effects. A few weapons will carry you through the entire game, and I only found myself switching out accessories a handful of times for special effects. Most of the time I was underwhelmed instead of excited to pick up new gear, since it was mostly inferior to what I already had.

My biggest annoyance with the game is the knockback. Enemy knockback and stun is way too harsh. There were several rooms that were just annoying to traverse because the enemies close to the door would just knock you back through it, meaning you have to re-enter the room and respawn all the enemies. You can use mist, but you shouldn’t have to. It’s just real rough and sometimes felt unfair.

The map is pretty generous, although having to rub up against ceilings in some rooms to get a particular square to fill was annoying. Having each map region coloured or labeled would’ve helped. I didn’t notice a way to identify breakable walls or floors either, which is a bit of a bummer. And no way to set map markers, although that wasn’t particularly needed so much since the map generally shows if you’ve missed a square.

I like how it didn’t rely too heavily on getting new abilities to unlock new areas. There are a handful of unlock abilities, and they’re all necessary, and they’re not marked, but there weren’t many times where I was confused about whether I needed an ability to progress or if I could already do it.

It is also interesting how new abilities are just dropped around the world and not unlocked via boss battles. Sure, you have to progress through boss rooms to get new items, but they’re not “kill X boss, get Y ability” — you generally have to go through more of the map to find the new item or skill. Working out how to use that item or skill is a bit tricky without a manual, though.

I also liked the convenience abilities tied to certain item affixes, like the spike mail. They’re not inherent abilities, and they don’t feel gamey in a “you got a new ability!” way. It feels kind of more organic.

The writing is camp high Gothic, and it’s very cheesy. The voice acting matches, too. It’s just a silly little game story that is enough to pull you through. The music is pretty great though, even though a proper orchestral score would’ve been nicer than the slightly synth-y midi tunes, although I suspect that wasn’t technologically feasable.

Symphony of the Night is a classic; well designed and executed. And I can see that. I liked it enough to not feel frustrated at it, and enjoyed it enough all the way through. I guess I just didn’t fall in love with it.