Can You Beat Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Without Killing Enemies?

[@Nyarly]

Check out the awesome musical action of Everhood: Eternity Edition right now! www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/everhood-eternity-edition/9npncd6b83wp (XBOX)│store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10005887 (PS4/5)│blitworks.com/game/everhood-eternity-edition/ (Official game page)

[@MortarionLordOfDeath]

I got the “he is dead now” reference, don’t worry, Nyarly, you aren’t alone in liking that reference too

[@kwahn106]

Everhood is the game equivalent of a banger, and has many amazing tracks

[@zanezonair]

i was exited to find out everhood existed.... ...untill i realised that the attack you get a bit into the game has a sound effect so loud it makes the music impossible to hear. and before you say "just lower your sound effects" it doesnt just lower that sound. it lowers the text mumbles as well. i want to love everhood. but i just cant because i litterly cant enjoy the main thing i bought the game over due to a stupid sound effect.

[@dr4gonblitz]

fun fact you can actually beat the game with 0 kills and 0 experience if you use glitches. The speedrun for it is about 42 minutes

[@chickenstrips5138]

eyyyy dr4gonblitz, love your runs man

[@Pensive_Scarlet]

Dr. 4gon! ;0

[@xaneization]

Waited for this comment :b

[@Stratoschalo]

I wanted to mention your run for the speed run. Good to see you here

[@MrDark086]

I already knew the answer to this video after watchin your runs man lol

[@Pensive_Scarlet]

Back in the day there used to be a "one beat" challenge, because the JP version pause menu uses the word "BEAT" for the number of enemies defeated. It's always neat to see this sort of thing come back around.

[@CB-L]

Now that's almost nostalgic. I clearly remember being confused like why BEAT, not something like KILL? while reading discussions about such challenges.

[@Huzazaah]

“He’s dead now. But he was dead before.. Ah fuck you” 18:26 best zombies line ever

[@alessandromata190]

I don't know if you addressed it at some point, but the spell hellfire makes you invulnerable for like 2 seconds making it ideal for narrow passages in the early game.

[@Volenture]

Could end up killing an enemy so it’s great for like going around the stone flowers but going through the bloody zombies at the beginning could result in a restart to recent save state

[@Miraihi]

​@@VolentureYou can cancel the fireball attack if you hold down after the teleportation.

[@alessandromata190]

@@Miraihi yup, just forgot to mention that part.

[@Aigis31]

Fun fact! Dr4gonblitz recently did this exact challenge run with glitches and it was super interesting :)

[@Siinory]

Answer is yes and the world record for that speedrun was beaten not to long ago, I can only recommend but to check it and the deconstruction of it by the holder

[@TheJadeknight7]

Doppelganger doesn't count as a kill cause the one you fight in the inverted castle is actually considered as the same character by the game. It just has a higher level. In fact, this becomes relevant in the Reverse Boss Order speedrun, cause if you skip the first fight and you kill him in the second fight, then the first fight will count as cleared as well and you can't do it anymore, So yeah, you didn't kill him.

[@isenokami7810]

Given I’m at least willing to bet you can’t skip the first fight without glitches (I wouldn’t know), I’m amazed the devs thought of that.

[@Marqrk]

Me seeing the new voice acting: 🤢 Awesome video as always tho! It just doesn’t hit the same without the “DIE MONSTER! YOU DONT BELONG IN THIS WORLD”

[@isenokami7810]

Your Nocturne no buffs run was the trigger that got me to finally play Nocturne (thanks for the tip to go physical with Demi-Fiend btw), and now these challenges are making me want to give SotN another shot after being the one Metroidvania I’ve bounced off. Plus your Dawn of Sorrow challenge got me to look into no touch screen rom patches of the only Metroidvania in the series I didn’t own yet. Basically, your challenge videos do an amazing job of making me want to play or revisit these games normally. Great work, Nyarly, keep it up.

[@SinHurr]

I'm glad you're giving SotN another chance, but also absolutely gobsmacked that anyone who's a fan of metroidvanias could bounce off of it.

[@isenokami7810]

@@SinHurr Yeah, for some reason, I was never feeling it. I should mention that I have it as a PS1 classic on the Vita, something I didn’t think would matter until I started my revisit and encountered hitches immediately, including one that made Richter eat a fireball he really shouldn’t have. Yeah, no, I’m going Nyarly’s route with emulated Dracula X, then. That’s no doubt gonna be a pain to deal with in the long run,

[@TheRealTKTwilight]

God the DXC version runs so well I happened to give it a run through for the first time on my Vita last month and I'm very impressed on how it looked and ran

[@isenokami7810]

Funny you mention that version and the Vita. I’m giving that version a go now…emulated, because the legit copy I have on the Vita is the digital release of the PS1 version, and it turns out some part of that blend makes it hitch constantly. Not sure how I didn’t notice before trying it again, but the second it made me eat a hit I definitely should have dodged (didn’t even get to Alucard before that happened), I noped out of there.

[@TheRealTKTwilight]

@@isenokami7810 If your Vita is modded I suggest downloading/installing Adrenaline (a PSP emulator) and running it through that It's how I play PSP games and PS1 eboots and I haven't experienced any problems that way

[@Exorsister]

I must admit that I don't care for SMT or even Persona, yet these Castlevania videos are nearly addicting. Belle, well done.

[@ZorotheGallade]

It will never not be jarring watching Richter and Dracula's dialogue in its new version instead of the original meme one.

[@raulhernandez1122]

Hey Nyarly, just out of curiosity, have you ever played any Mega Man game?

[@mikeysaurlol]

imagine doing this challenge in Aria of Sorrow or Bloodstained, goodluck getting enemy abilities lmao

[@TheAvram25]

Coincidentally, Everhood Eternity Edition console release and Castlevania Nocturne came out on the same day (September 28th).

[@michag798]

Please continue Castlevania, october and november are THE Castlevania climate months.

[@darkdemonwerewolf]

Dude no lie would actually like to see what Nyarly would do with an everhood run.

[@iAmStillNotCody]

Now that the Dominus Collection is out, do you have any plans to do challenge runs of any of those games? I would personally love to see anything Portrait of Ruin.

[@Flutterdark_]

if i had to guess at 7:50 the reason it works is because of how the hitbox is. Like you have shown if you get hit while on the right side of enemies you get pushed to the right. and thats probably the same with the fire. the hitbox appears but it appears all at once. and because you are on the right side it pushes you there.

[@RackJacked]

This is quite a nefarious idea for a Castlevania challenge but I suggest doing a Skeleton Form only run of Harmony of Despair. Immediately the first roadblock that would come to mind for me would be the chapter 2 boss. Perhaps you could find a friend to duo this challenge with to make it more approachable. I've been emulating it on RPSC3 and it works quite well. I think it would make for an immensely entertaining video.

[@notakirakarakaza2118]

"Hey there, I'd like a Jewelknuckle-sandwich combo menu with a small holy water and some french fries"

[@TheGachaGourmand]

Pro tip: press up + jump button while in Wolf form to make it jump higher. :3

[@marcosdheleno]

i will say i love symphony, but aria just brought so many QoL and fun grindy aspects to the franchise that it ended up as my favorite. i specially love the great swords, being a vertical weapon really makes it far more fun than he glorified stab like slashes in symphony. also, aria is better than dawn, not just because it has the excalibur, but because the final guard sword is the same size as the one the monster use. as opposed to the smaller toy it became in dawn...

[@SonnyFRST]

Nah, we all know the real baller game was Harmony of Despair (shame it was shut down and will likely never see the light of day ever again)

[@isenokami7810]

Oh yeah, the great sword is my weapon type of choice in any Metroidvania that has it, and that’s probably true for a lot of players. You can try and slow it down and give other types different strengths, but massive hitbox go brrr, especially with it being one of the only ones with verticality.

[@SonnyFRST]

@@isenokami7810 Overheads are fine depending on the jump/land canceling options.

[@darkapostate8358]

Fun watch, i just can't get behind the new text/dialogue.

[@dominiccardoza3977]

Amazing video nyarly please do more Castlevania videos i wouldn't be mad if you became a Castlevania KZbinr

[@Forever_Zero]

Can't tell if this was an easy challenge or you just made it look easy, but in any case G.G. well done

[@sirrando]

Great video! was a good watch, I love me some SOTN goodness

[@sunbroninja2868]

Holy hell, this is amazing! Well done

[@meinman7591]

honey, wake up! New Nyarly video! Let me take my schizophrenia medication. H-Honey where did you go? ... Oh thank god the Nyarly video is still here

[@Egalia_1]

These videos always make my day. I always love listening to them during homework and studying

[@hawkbirdtree3660]

Alucard is loved by the residents of Castlevania; assuming you're not a boss

[@aaaamine]

I finished Castlevania nocturne on Netflix and now this vidéo, man i love Castlevania

[@ocelotjackal5303]

18:25 to 18:30 call of duty zombie reference

[@nintenx1235]

I had no clue Dracula X Chronicles had SoTN I played the PSX version on my PSP. I still prefer the original post fight dialogue of Alucard telling his father what his mother said. That and Alucard's absurdly deep voice makes everyone else whose voiced him sound wrong to me.

[@Stv101streamer]

BABE WAKE UP NYARLY POSTED AGAIN LIFE IS WORTH LIVING AGAIN

[@josephmay852]

It's a reference to Nikolai in COD zombies right?

[@jonathynmurray4890]

Babe wake up Nyarly came out with another challenge run

[@Zeoinx69]

Man @Nyarly you could have made the early portion a lot easier provided you took advantage of Alucard's magical spells, especially the "Teleport 3 fireball spell" I did this as a joke when i was showing a buddy the game, and was like "oh yea, im so good, i dont even need to fight these guys' and started styling on them using the teleport move, just for laughs till the first boss.

[@EmilForsberg_GRYBO]

Taking a page out of pokemon, calling this a "minimum battles" run would be fitting i think

[@janetcupp467]

as someone who plays cod zombies i see this as an absolute win.

[@Chimeratech_O.D.]

I love this FN gun! Get it? Haha, like F-

[@DragoEpyon]

I did this a few years ago, only any challenge till you get the mist form then its clear sailing,

[@ilikestamps2978]

Might have been easier if you skipped death with luck mode. You would have bad stats, but killing Dracula in the prologue without getting hit boost your stats a little bit more. The equipment that Alucard starts with sucks in the reverse castle, but the shield rod is kind of busted anyways so that could have been an alternative.

[@megaguy-pp9kc]

Funnily enough, you wouldn’t even need luck mode to keep the starting equipment. This run was done on the PSP version, and on the PSP and PS4 versions, you can skip Death just by holding left during the screen transition before the cutscene.

[@ilikestamps2978]

@@megaguy-pp9kc oh yeah I forgot about that lol

[@AliveByMind]

Will you do more of these runs next month? Konami just released the DS collection for several platforms.

[@21leowheeler]

luck mode death skip would have probably helped that troubled early game.

[@gsuaveyt]

But can you beat symphony of the night with only the protagonist

[@ParrotMan01276]

It's still a crime that this game is not on Steam or GOG or both. Konami, seriously. You re-released Aria of Sorrow and the GBA games as well as Dracula X, the inferior port/version of the Turbo Graphix Rondo of Blood, but don't put out the Rondo/Symphony collection you put on PS4?

[@t-wrecksthenerdasaur7468]

Maria Takeba. Ha, I get it. Not Maria Kawakami? ;) So does that make the main character Alucard Arisato?

[@alexlee4154]

Say what you want about the original sotn dub but that post-dracula monologue is piss in the new one

[@SinHurr]

God, right? Dracula's pained "Farewell my son!" from the original voice over is perfect. As is every Alucard line. Basically the whole VO is phenomenal in the OG.

[@baifomet6425]

It's ironic how what usually are the easiests bosses are the most difficult in this type of run.

[@LordHonkInc]

Nyarly challenge run? Say no more

[@daltonbecker4494]

How about trying to beat the game as a wizard? You can only use spells to damage enemies. Easy on account of you have access to your full arsenal. Hard on account of you have to manually do each spell each time.

[@alexrichard2447]

Not saying it's not a gallant effort but pacifist is a category and yes it involves glitches but it actually has zero kills, as comfirmed by the kill counter. I believe DB has the record on that one too and would highly recommend checking it if you wanna see what a true pacifist run implies

[@leonardodelimaferreira8509]

Against the flea riders, couldn't you divekick on them to get some height and divekick diagonally to get some distance? It's not killing so it shouldn't be against the challenge

[@JoJoZiddy]

I'm loving these videos, but are we ever gonna see P2EP Starting Personas Only? You posted about it like a year ago and just silence since.

[@eldri7ch]

Technically the best version is the un-patched X-Box 360 version. All of the grace and movement of the PlayStation version but at the speeds of the Dracula X Chronicles. The PSP version is glitchy and broken, at best.

[@Kekoapono]

It's too bad you can't get the Crissaegrim before the Inverted Castle (at least that I know of). That reduces boss encounters to mere seconds. Then again, getting that weapon of course requires killing a lot of Schmoos...

[@Eishern]

What original version of SotN is this version based on? I only ever played the PS1 version and it seems to be vastly different.

[@locoyeji8266]

This looks like the dracula x chronicles port

[@Eishern]

@@locoyeji8266 Thanks for the reply! After your comment i did some research and holy heck, i didnt know there were so many different versions with nuanced differences.

[@LaManchaland]

can you make an interesting smt run next

[@YunaTuna01]

wake up honey, new nyraly upload just dropped

[@richardx1157]

@18:25 Nikolai Belinski reference?

[@davidgamboa1260]

EVERHOOD SPONSOR LETS GOOOOOOOOO

[@GrieverSSBU]

Are you using a speed up while in bat and mist or am I losing my mind?

[@nathanielgomez3984]

Pudo usar el hechizo de lanzar bolas de fuego para pasar sobre los enemigos

[@AstroTibs]

6:29 WHAT

[@kamijazz65]

This might be the wrong video to ask this, but are you planning on doing any challenge runs on smt4 apocalypse or smtv ? really would love seeing you play either of them

[@SnaccHBG]

Wait, there's a Maria boss fight?? o.0

[@luish8056]

18:19 What was he referencing when he said “he’s dead now, but he was dead before. Ah fuck him.” ??

[@richardx1157]

A quote from Nikolai in call of duty Zombies

[@Xenonuke]

SMT V challenge when?

[@daviddunbar2851]

What happens if maria saves you at the beginning?

[@velvetbutterfly]

You just have lower stats than normal and it's a bit of a mark of shame for some people

[@last1standing663]

Notification gang

[@funnyvalentine7607]

Undertale nyarly

[@emmastone7734]

Title: no killing So he can still bunny hop right and not kill them just use them? Nope

[@samus20018]

Holy crap I forgot the new Castlevania anime came out on the 28th. Been trying to catch up on digimon starting with Digimon Universe since i haven't watched it, adventure 2020, or ghost game.

[@bastiancortes667]

pog

[@Dg_Gaming_YT887]

I saw Nocturne and I'm going to say I enjoyed it but there was still very little things that I had issues with. But I still loved watching it. Plus you think you may do a Harmony of Dissonance challenge in the future? I'm asking because of "SOMEONE" who appears in Nocturne.

[@TheExFatal]

9:00 you could've made this section much easier for yourself if you just unequipped your weapon and hit them with a regular fist attack that does no damage but also knocks flea riders back

[@comicparadox7140]

Ok nickoli XD he was dead before

[@AurumMiddleton]

Can you beat Castlevania: SOTN with only an Shield?

[@ConFlow247]

Yes, and its very easy actually

[@stargazersdance]

Yeah. Especially when you get Alucard's Shield and the Shield Rod.

[@SinHurr]

@@stargazersdance Ah but the shield rod is not a shield! Still doable though :\

[@stargazersdance]

@@SinHurr You're right. I actually completely overlooked that.

[@grandcato3612]

I thought I was going to see a Pacific Rim Run of Castlevania but this is fine too

[@MrBroken030]

Pkease use the spells :D

[@rjproduction486]

What kind of version is this of Castlevania Symphony of the Night??? When I play it in the PS 1 I never fight maria, and some of the dialogue here is different.

[@AkkaOniVA]

It's the PSP version.

[@SinHurr]

He explains what version he's using in like the first 2 minutes.

[@rjproduction486]

@@SinHurrmy bad. I skipped the intro haha.

[@ethanknight1031]

Only real ones will get the black ops reference😂

[@delion4215]

18:29 I do 😀

[@Primal-Sin]

Early gang

[@SinHurr]

Didn't realize the voice work was different in the other versions, too. That's... unfortunate.

[@nekrovulpes]

Dialogue in this version is lame. Lame! Miserable pile of secrets for life.

[@zachtwilightwindwaker596]

Don't you have to kill bosses to make progress? 6:35 I didn't know you could do that. 14:15 Why are you using music from Circle of the Moon? 16:58 I should have done that while going through here >_

[@temnbl1]

Using savestates in a challenge run, kek

[@eW91dHViZSBpcyBjZW5zb3JzaGlw]

dont try to compare yaself to speedrunners nyarly most end up hating the pidgeon whole they put themselves into making the hobby their job and many end up cheating for recognition. karl jobst youtube channel is a primne example. speedrunning is a rabbit-hole. do what you enjoy!

[@dongodongo12]

You are better as a castlevania channel

[@LucaxCorp]

Wow, you could have just not made this video with how much of the game you skipped.

[@dongodongo12]

6:50 what kid texted while playing videogames back in the day? What are you? like 16

[@velvetbutterfly]

Some kids used MSN Messenger or AoL back in the 90s