Why Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is amazing | Cannot be Tamed

It's been a long time coming, but I've finally played through Castlevania Symphony of the Night in its entirety. And it was great! Here's why.
#PlayStation #Castlevania #metroidvania
SotN was played from the original disc on a PS2 and recorded with an AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable 2 Plus. Music comes from the game soundtrack.
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Intro artwork, logo and banner by: @theMagdalenRose
"Cantina Blues" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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[@whogan84]

"What IS a *man*?! ...a miserable pile of secrets!" *Smash glass* "BUT ENOUGH TALK!! HAVE AT YOU!!!!"

[@bargaintuesday812]

Greatest game ever made by humans.

[@ivanmedina6071]

How do you know it was made by humans?

[@nipulkradmsinatagras8293]

Nope. It's made by bloodsuckers.

[@504Trey]

It's complete 🗑

[@Jew-Gi-Oh_419]

I disagree. Fallout New Vegas is the greatest game ever made

[@bargaintuesday812]

@@Jew-Gi-Oh_419 Nah. Not even the best Fallout.

[@donniesalami4921]

Goth Pam is an instant click. And SOTN is such a masterpiece that I have to watch.

[@martinaee]

That thumbnail tho…

[@krisfrederick5001]

I'm a little surprised you didn't begin with "I'm a simple man..."

[@DarDarBinks1986]

I love Pam's Goth drip.

[@besotoxicomusic]

Thirsty

[@Overton_Windows]

I won’t lie, you are pretty much correct.

[@GDPanda69]

Speaking about the soundtrack, there's a secret bonus track you can listen to if you put the game disk in a regular CD player.

[@romanfox3705]

"As you can see, this is a PlayStation black disc..." -Alucard: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5awaKOXf5Zqj68

[@xx7secondsxx]

The other tracks contain data so dont play them... but you probably wont listen to me anyway

[@roros2512]

will you?

[@marcuscolbert5996]

a lot of PS 1 games had hidden music tracks too.

[@khonsubast5056]

The first time I played this game was 15+ years after it came out and it was still one of the best games I had/have ever played.

[@nickwallette6201]

Got it when it came out in the green-spine Greatest Hits series for $20, loved it, and haven't stopped playing it since. Definitely a desert-island top-10 pick.

[@Tburt-mx5kg]

just bought it on ps5's spring sale for 3 dollars and i am finally accepting that i need sleep at 5 am with the castle inverted. i love it.

[@joesaiditstrue]

I'm 41, played a shitload of great games, from Wolf3D to Demon's Souls Remake, SOTN is in my top 5 games of all time

[@parvezkhan5849]

Am 40 now. i play this game back in 1998, i remember i complete the game about 50 times.....

[@yoda3089]

Nice :) good Taste! It's still One of the best rpg's ever made!

[@magician4444able]

I'm 40 also , and the SOTN, is one of my top 5, so many memories and good time. My #1 game is Bloodborne, Bloodborne is the game Miyazaki literally went inside my head and take everything I wanted as a game and created.

[@perihelion7445]

I'm almost 48 and never played any of them, probably won't have time to play them properly until I'm around 55. I've always known of them since the 80's but never got around to them because I used systems that they were never truly developed for.

[@jonathonpolk3592]

It's also in my top 5. But not #1 (that goes to Xenogears).

[@HarryToeface]

I absolutely love that outfit! This game is too effin awesome. The music, finding items, boss fights...the spells it just can't get much more perfect

[@Qbin07]

Little known thing about the Sword familiar, at a certain point leveling it up, it'll become an equipable item and it's quite strong. And it gets stronger leveling it to 99

[@Sentinel82]

Not to mention the super powerful Sword Brothers spell....

[@razorramon8326]

I believe the most powerful weapon is to equipping the Alucard shield, and shield rod. When done correctly, it will combine all the shields abilities all-in-one! U will be invincible, gain energy and more. Depending how much magic he had and your abilities. All in all the game was a masterpiece! And for those of you that had a surround sound system, thundering subwoofers, 5.1 surround, 6.1 surround, play 42 band equalizer where you can adjust the frequency response to hear the low end bas subsonic, pretty much Taylor the sound to your desire! Words can't describe how magnificent the three dimensional sounds... And this includes every single game console!

[@christlevania5933]

The greatest Castlevania ever. No matter what's going on in my life, I always find time to revisit this game. I even have it on both my phones.

[@ZamWeazle]

You need 2 phones? Lol 😆👍

[@ItzMeWill]

Yep, Castlevania is actually one of my favorite games of all time. It's at least in my top 5. I also bought it for my phone but man, the Touchscreen controller is so hard to use so I just gave up playing it on mobile

[@agreedboarart3188]

How is the mobile port? Are you able to use a controller with it?

[@ItzMeWill]

@@agreedboarart3188 if their is a way, I couldn't find how to use it..and the Touchscreen controls made the game unplayable for me

[@christlevania5933]

@@ZamWeazle yeah dude, battery life is a b****!

[@ccricers]

The first time I played this game was from Dracula X Chronicles on PSP. After I unlocked the game it was very hard to go back to Rondo of Blood, but I didn’t mind at all. My first Metroid-vania was Aria of Sorrow so it was nice to see how Castlevania started evolving from there.

[@Yourwaifuisntreal]

In the inverted castle, there's an enemy in the library called the "schmoo", keep killing one till it drops one of the best weapons in the game: the crisaggream.

[@kainemaxwell]

Yes!!

[@newwavejunkie1228]

It’s so damn satisfying to shred enemies with the Crissaegrim!

[@kainemaxwell]

@@newwavejunkie1228 especially when you get 2!

[@elleCX01]

Or... you can get the hobein dagger from the Lesser Demons instead for a budget crissaegrim

[@Yourwaifuisntreal]

@@elleCX01 - That one, too. Lesser demons spawn like crazy in the inverted alchemy rooms, so there's a higher chance of getting the holbein dagger from slaying all of them.

[@christopherroche9893]

Classic! My favorite thing about the castle is how it feels like a real place. Like, I can imagine each section as a real room in an ungodly big mansion. Not a lot of metroidvanias do that, instead often feeling like loosely connected biomes.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Yes! It’s more cohesive than other games like this for sure.

[@lh9591]

And in some cases, literal manufactured biomes, like in Metroid Fusion. Doesn’t have that fluid connectivity like Super Metroid.

[@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502]

​@@lh9591I mean, fusion was very intentionally designed to be linear and not have the same structure of previous games. The linearity works specifically for the atmosphere and narrative the game was going for. I get if you prefer other games in the series, I do too, but those things are important parts of how the game is designed, not mistakes, so fusion isn't a good game to demonstrate your point.

[@inceptional]

It's kinda amazing how good this pixel art still looks and animates today.

[@jamesk1868]

Yeah I played this for the first time I think it was 2013. Was very impressed with it! Also I had already played all the gba and ds castevanias. So this being the first one and so good, really wowed me

[@rensro2138]

I first got a PS1 with this game in 1998... the first game that made me see how good gaming could be(I had a SNES with simple games like mario and fighting games) ... I was a really small child at the time; still I beat it and discovered the inverted castle. When I told people at school they didn't believe me and the next day: they were all like: "thank you so much".

[@TheOtakuKat]

Pam is beautifully dressed and you know what that means.... VAMPIRES!

[@makaveli4205]

She can bite me anytime

[@TheOtakuKat]

Teal'c: "Indeed"

[@lesserspottedmugwump.363]

@@makaveli4205 What makes you think she hasn’t!!! All hail Count Von Pamula.

[@SilverDragn]

That light from the wine glass is hypnotizing.

[@JL-sn1wt]

Great rpg elements , great item system , and possibly the greatest soundtrack of all time

[@Haywood-Jablomie]

I prefer the GBA and DS games because most of them expanded and improved on this game. But SOTN is still super great

[@hepwo91222]

@@Haywood-Jablomie more like copied many of the ideas like a "true" ending unlocked only doing some cryptic things, unlocking secondary characters, even had many of the same weapons and inventory. I liked them all, but SotN was lightning in a bottle, never thought the GBA or DS games were ever quite as good as this game, but they were still pretty good.

[@thomasbeall9069]

Wouldn’t say improve. All following games focused on particular systems. SOTN did not do this. Familiars, spells, special attacks with certain items, Shield rob, way more secrets and Easter eggs than any handheld games. Many sprites were even ripped for this game. None had better graphics because they were scaled down handhelds.

[@hepwo91222]

@@thomasbeall9069 yeah, I don't think the portables ever came close to matching SotN. I did like the plot twist in Aria of Sorrow and how it took Castlevania in a new direction with a new main character Soma Cruz for a couple of games. But SotN is the standard for Castlevania games and still to this day has to be in any conversation of greatest Metroidvanias of all time.

[@JC-cb8oi]

Literally one of my absolute faves. I replay it annually and Michiru Yamane’s score is just *chef’s kiss* Thanks for giving the game some love.

[@skandashiva1805]

Great job on how you put the video together with the music. It’s been over two decades since I last played it. Thanks for bringing back many great memories from 1997…

[@DylanGodor]

FunFact: Richter is voiced by Chris Redfield's VA from RE1

[@razorramon8326]

I knew that voice sounded familiar.

[@nipulkradmsinatagras8293]

*"What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!"* But enough talk! Another great review here, Pam! *Played and finished this game in 100% completion back in the summer of '98.* Nothing but good memories. ❤

[@davezanko9051]

@Nat20 Damage 200.6%. That last secret room in the clock tower was so frustrating, yet so satisfying when I got it. I just wish I still had that save file somewhere.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@cesarvaldez112975]

@@Cannotbetamed1 I’ve had this downloaded on my ps4 for more then a year. Just hadn’t gotten around to playing it. Almost forgot I had it. Thanks for reminding me Pam. I’m gonna start playing it this weekend. Symphony of the Night awaits!

[@SeanJTharpe]

@@davezanko9051 I remember getting that final 0.1% needed for the 200.6% completion and it ended up being the tiniest corner in a room already fully explored! Still such a great game though!

[@godzillagorilla986]

Exactly

[@Arrowdodger]

I echo basically everything here. Wonderful game, and I am glad you went in on the appropriate look for the video. Very Halloween-season vampire.

[@dakkadakkajoe]

Oh hell yeah. Stumbled upon your channel and I'm always here for castlevania content

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Welcome!

[@duckhead014]

My fav thing about this video is that you came back to this game after all these years, having never really gotten into it during it's prime! Really shows how it held up over the years! Great video as always. This is easily in my top 10 favorite games!

[@richterbelmont2544]

One of the most revered games of all time and it brings me so much happiness to see that you enjoyed this game as so many others have. Love your approach to this review with your attire, darker makeup, and a glass of wine to match the gothic theme. Your appreciation and attention to detail in video games is always a breath of fresh air compared to other KZbinr reviews(lol I wrote this just before you mention it at 11:00). Thank you for gracing us with this great review during the month of October!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

So glad you enjoyed it

[@johnnyfive3129]

@@Cannotbetamed1 I was waiting for the line, "What is a man?" and you throwing your wine glass at 1:17. That would have been awesome, but a waste of good wine.

[@ZackKoutaRoxas]

OH SHIT IT'S MISTER BELMONT

[@lesserspottedmugwump.363]

@@Cannotbetamed1 I’m going to have to recommend it again, I will every year. The Historian, by Elisabeth Kostova. It is the law, the burning leaves smell and fog. Ooooooohh! Spooooky.

[@SilhSe]

Hey Rich, wheres the party ? 😄

[@mariahtasker]

Epic thumbnail! So badass. Never played SotN but it’s high on the list for sure.

[@Haywood-Jablomie]

Happy early birthday !!!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thank you! And yes, happy early birthday.

[@mariahtasker]

@@Cannotbetamed1 thanks Pam!

[@albertpink5848]

One of your best reviews yet Pam. Keep them coming; loved the format on this one. You can tell that you enjoyed making this video. Loved it!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thank you!

[@pault4711]

Great video. Thanks Pam. I really like the games scenes you present.

[@skijumpnose]

One of the best two dimensional non linear action adventure map based platform games there is! And the boss battles are really impressive in this one, I love the ball of bodies!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

The bosses are so good. I also love that big zombie guy hanging from the ceiling.

[@hepwo91222]

@@Cannotbetamed1 the one with those giant disgusting flies? That boss probably gave me the most trouble, until I grinded.

[@kendonl.taylor5111]

@@Cannotbetamed1 Beelzebub: Lord of the Flies.

[@fightaman7]

I only played this game for the first time about 3 years ago. And it was still one of the best games I've ever played.

[@23inflicted]

Pam you put in a ton of effort on these videos and it shows. Thanks!

[@winterburden]

This is so cool, thanks for reviewing this classic Pam! 🧛‍♀️

[@NekoDavid]

I remember getting this for my birthday the year it came out. I just moved and didn't have many friends, so Alucard and I spent a LOT of time together.

[@soulreaver1983]

☺👍

[@dcfromthev]

He's a great pal!

[@RudyGGs]

Pam's talking about the masterpiece that is SOTN? This is gonna be good!

[@ToyKeeper]

This game was the reason I bought a Playstation. It was October 24, 1997, a Friday, and my best friend walked home with me after school. It started snowing rather intensely, in what would turn out to be a historic blizzard. It was unsafe to drive, so they stayed the night and we watched movies. The next morning, we decided to go get a PSX and SotN... but first we had to dig out a path to the nearest driveable road. We shoveled nonstop for 5 hours, and then very, very carefully drove a perilous path to a nearby store which was, surprisingly, not closed. Then, prize in hand, we went back into the deep dark depths of the unfinished basement and played... passing the controller back and forth upon each death. We didn't see sunlight again until days later when the castle, and the snow, had been banished. ... and it still holds up surprisingly well today. Most other games of the time are pretty bad now, especially the early 3D titles, but SotN is kind of timeless.

[@jasonphilip1198]

I've wanted you to do a review of this for years, I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

[@BMR86]

this was my game all of 2020, first time play through, I kept coming back to it for an entire year, I want to play it again! lovely video Pam!

[@personavisceration371]

The inventory concern you brought up is partly solved in the Saturn version, you can equip single use items to the L Trigger. I wish they implemented this in the later versions with the couple of other Saturn additions. Alas, it was not to be so.

[@67fabs]

So you recommend the Saturn version over the PlayStation for new players ? :)

[@FGTRTD24]

While the game aged well overall, there’s quality of life improves that could be utilized. Hopefully the game gets a solid remaster at some point.

[@clessili]

But Saturn has a loading pause before and after opening the main menu, and the map can only be viewed from the main menu. So depending on how you set up your emulator, it can be even more of a chore.

[@personavisceration371]

@@67fabs No, more for experienced fans.

[@MeduzaTeam2009]

@@clessili This is no longer relevant. There are several patches that fix the problem with loading the pause menu and calling the map. For example, this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZe1dWp3m8iGfrc

[@RetroMoments]

I almost feel bad for not playing this yet. Gotta change that soon! Awesome review!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@LeeEverett1]

If you can, try to find an original version for it. Ever since they remade it for newer consoles they updated the voice dialouge which is inferior to the original voices IMO

[@RetroMoments]

@@LeeEverett1 Ah I see! I do have the original version on the PS1, hooked up with an RGB cable. Looks so good!

[@leoperez636]

One of my favorite games! Thank you pam!

[@NichePlays]

Awesome review as always! I had a blast playing through this game recently too and was really glad to see you were covering it on your channel too! It's kinda funny that you kept putting this game too over the years because that's the same relationship that I have with it too lol

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Lol, thanks!

[@Kyrrial]

13:23 Everyone always talks about "Bloody Tears" or "Vampire Killer", but "Wandering Ghost" is by far my favorite song from any of the Castlevania games. You're the first person I've ever heard actually reference it, and I love you for that haha. I used to listen to it on loop for ages back in the day. That said, the entire soundtrack is far and away one of the best.

[@rikustorm13]

Have you heard "Slash", and not Opus 13 that always gets labeled as Slash

[@aquamidideluxe5079]

What amazing timing, I just started replaying this game a couple days ago as part of my Castlevaniathon for October. I love this fucking game so much, it's easily one of my favorite ever.

[@edumagatsu]

Another great review, Pam! Its a great pleasure talking about this masterpiece, I imagine. Oh, love the thumbnail too!

[@AleksLazar]

I exactly love the attention to details you mention! Makes it a pleasure to replay, keeps the brain from getting bored. Probably a necessity for a game like this

[@Animosity00]

SoTN is the only non Mario or LoZ game that my wife ever beat 100%. She's still way better at it than me haha, it's definitely the best Castlevania in my opinion.

[@juancervantes]

But did she beat it at 200%?

[@SilhSe]

🤔 I Vonder Vhy ?

[@jmatki1217]

It was great and laid down the formula. I might argue that Dawn of Sorrow is better but SOTN is a landmark. The only Vania I would put over it is Super Vania IV

[@robmoye7373]

I remember buying this when it came out back in the day, was just an impulse buy, had no idea if it was good or not. I was hooked on it for hours, everything in the game just meshed so well. Bought the soundtrack years later.

[@jimmyclimer594]

I bought it for just being a castlevania game and it soon became my favorite.

[@DaddyGamerDiaries]

You had me at "that rolls right off the tongue" :) Happy Halloween!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Happy Halloween!

[@loco_Maverick]

Great video! You really captured the game really well and set the scene , killer necklace too!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@TheGebs24]

Now this is music to my ears as I’m in a Castlevania kick at the moment. SoTN is crazy expensive but it’s one of those titles I’ll be getting before the year is out.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I hope you have good luck finding a copy for a decent price!

[@hepwo91222]

Could get it cheap as a download on Xbox or PS4, I really wish the Castlevania Requiem on PS4 had a physical copy though as it has SotN and also has Dracula X Rondo of Blood PC Engine version, which never got a physical release in the US. Well unless you count the PSP remake which could unlock the original game. SotN is my fave exploration based Castlevania, Rondo of Blood is my favorite traditional action platformer Castlevania. Wish there was a physical copy of that two game collection.

[@TheGebs24]

@@hepwo91222 Yeah you’re right but I’m the kind of girl who is a collector is physical games. I know it’s weird right?! Lol

[@hepwo91222]

@@TheGebs24 yeah, I have a physical copy (which I am NEVER selling) and I have purchased it on Xbox and PS4 as downloads to get all acheivements and trophys, but never got the full complete map, there is a trick to do it, I never bothered with. Its just one of those games I will revisit forever.

[@dryzalizer]

Great review Pam! I hope sometimes soon you'll also review Rondo of Blood. It has amazing music and a bunch of secrets (alternate route, alternate character, secret super attack, save all maidens sidequests, pay arena to view boss strats, etc.) that make it really special. SotN you don't casually sit down and beat in a single sitting, but Rondo is really fun to do just that once you get used to it.

[@nazmie1179]

Awesome video. Also, the timing of your uploads (Sunday evenings for me at least) is great, especially when work is the next day. Thanks for sharing!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Glad you liked it

[@larrs8887]

Great review, glad to see that you finally got around to completing this awesome game. Sadly I missed it back in the day but got 202% complete on the XBL arcade version when it came out and later picked up the original PS1 release and fully completed it all over again on original hardware :)

[@OddballEddie]

Ohh this brings back memories. Friend of mine showed it to me on his PS1, I borrowed and played it to completion on an emulator. Way back in 2000. Later I bought it on the PSP with the Rondo of Blood remake. I must have played it from start to finish about 5 times.

[@Dustrauma]

The OG Metroidvania. I always get my Castlevania on in the month of October. Shoutout to Interview with a Vampire. I highly recommend Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen as well! Like an retro-vampire Zelda with great writing/voice-acting. 👍

[@hepwo91222]

OG is 1986 Metroid or 1988 Castlevania 2 Simon's Quest, but this game is up there with one of the most refined and inventive games in the genre, along with Super Metroid.

[@TheVoidofNothing11]

Love me some Blood Omen!

[@emilyayden]

Metroid is Metroidvania minus the “vania”, Simons Quest is Metroidvania minus the Metroid. SotN combined elements of both and is often considered the OG for that reason.

[@hepwo91222]

@Tom Ffrench Duck Tales was more like an action platformer. It requires you to nail jumps or instant death. Metroidvanias generally don't feature that as falling down a pit usually means a new area to explore.

[@SimplyPwnedGaming]

Love your passion and knowledge, thank you for such wonderful content!!!

[@awake1251]

I really like your channel’s energy and writing. The glass of wine was a perfect cherry on top.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thank you

[@rekkazan]

Love this game a lot, and I felt so happy playing Bloodstained since that game carries the same DNA with some interesting twists. Great job on the video! Hope you'll do Ecclessia someday.

[@cuylshepherdton7437]

The 8 bit bloodstained games are great. I couldn't even get into the 3d one enough to finish it more than one time and I didn't even finish everyrhing.

[@Summon256]

@@cuylshepherdton7437 Haha you suck! Ritual Of The Night is hundred times better than that Curse Of THe Moon bullshit!

[@d18p]

While all other 1997 games are ignored these days, this gem stood the test of time. It's like a fine wine.

[@gdc1989]

this and FFVII

[@thekradeht]

Thanks for all the great content!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

My pleasure!

[@TopTierGames]

Probably the best Sotn review i've seen, well done!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thank you!

[@robertlatham4541]

Brilliant video, put together with love and care and the game deserved a quality and honest review and you did it justice. Thank god you cannot be tamed.

[@aenorist2431]

Always love me some game-appropriate dressup, lipstick and all, very fitting. And to a great game to boot.

[@Haywood-Jablomie]

Check her Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines review. 😉

[@matthewsan78]

GOAT. And you’re pretty great yourself. Really enjoying your stuff lately.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@markaitkenguitar]

Such a masterpiece of a game, and such a great spotlight video, thank you. Also, you’re gorgeous! A very fitting look, wine and all. (I agree, way too much bat on inverted castle.)

[@kri249]

Oh Pam. You really hit the nostalgia nerve with this one. The latter years of highschool for me was playing this gem, among others on the PS. The art is just something to behold. It's such a shame that the trend at the time with that tech were 3D games. I seriously feel that 32 bit 2D games didn't get their moment. Oh well, after watching this video I feel like playing SOTN with a nice glass sangria now.

[@MaffeyZilog]

You do look like someone who plays with themselves, a lot.

[@kri249]

I guess you'd know.

[@andresfelipemendozavelez1493]

ahhh 22 years playing this game and I just dont get tired. Great review :)

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks

[@mattmyers9351]

Great video Pam!

[@FireBomberBassist]

I still go back to this every now and then.

[@davidtyler6708]

For what would be the first of many "Metroidvania" games, SOTN is a classic that holds up till this day. I've played many versions of the game, and I do enjoy them. I do wish IGA had recreated his own versions of the 2 new rooms, enemies and items for the PSP/PS4 that were released on the Saturn version. I could understand him not wanting to use those Saturn additions because they were design by a different team and he considers them inferior and not unifying with the rest of the game's aesthetics and looked out of place. But it would have made for the ultimate edition.

[@GameFreak4Ever]

The time, effort and energy that you put into each video us beyond me. Down to the smallest detail is great! This definitely one of my favorites to play.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks so much

[@fiatlux8828]

Looking good, Pam! 😍

[@ivanborges67]

I was just watching your metroidvania ranking and this video get posted, nice, one of my favorite games ever

[@YeOldEntertainment]

Yup. This is the quintessential Castlevania game. Definitely in my top 15 games from the 90's.

[@hepwo91222]

probably top 15 games of all time for me, maybe top 5 from the 90's along with Super Metroid, SF2, Zelda OOT, DKC2

[@hepwo91222]

@Tom Ffrench yeah, I just view it as two genres, the Metroidvania and the OG action platformer for Castlevania. Metroid has a similar issue in the Metroidvania is the OG games, but the FPS adventure games were the Prime series. Other M is sort of a 2.5 D mix of the two.

[@thanasysdim]

Oh my God this game!!! One of the 2 amazing games that created the term "metroidvania". I loved it. I have to note one thing here. Playing Dark Souls 1 and 3 recently, it kind of gave me the same sense Symphony of the Night did. Castlevania Symphony of the Night is surely one of the best games for the original PlayStation and one of the best games ever made. It has aged like fine wine over the years thanks to it's incredibly good pixel art, engaging gameplay, unbelievable soundtrack an innovative design for a Castlevania game. One of the best games ever. Thank you Pam for bringing it into attention for the newer players. Great review! (Trivia: Map exploration rating goes beyond 200%,.In the Saturn version you can also play as Maria Renard and Richter Belmont from the beginning of the game. Symphony of the Night is a direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (released in Japan) for the NEC - PC Engine CD, which is also a great game with great attention to detail and super impressive soundtrack, considered by many the best classic Castlevania game)

[@Helvetica_Scenario]

The Souls games along with Bloodborne are probably the closest we're going to get to a 3D Symphony of the Night. The exploration and atmosphere are definitely there.

[@jhh-jiynks6568]

I'm at a loss of words, you're elegant way of description and true nature are just super fun to click on your channel. Awesome review btw

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thank you so much

[@wilmah8565]

I've been playing this for the first time and it's been so good. Thank you!

[@Tyidol23]

Very nice review as always Pam! I love that outfit and your makeup you chose for this video, very beautiful and classy with the glass of wine as well. SotN is just a fantasic game that I did discover early on when my friend who recommended the game to me gave me a copy of the ps1 game for my birthday. I do enjoy the later ports (even though that changed the voice acting) and added Maria as a playable character as well. I too enjoyed exploring every inch of both castles and felt very satisfied when opting to take on the strongest (But optional) boss in the game: Galamoth and winning that tough battle. I hope after watching this video, more gamers do play this game and enjoy what it has to offer because it does have the best strong points in a video game, with some minor nitpicks but nothing that ruins the experience. Im glad you gave this one another go and fully enjoyed your time with it 🙂

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Galamoth was really tough. It took me a few tries to get that one:

[@Tyidol23]

Yeah, he can be a bit tricky, even at a high level. I dont remember what level i was back then but I do recall having the following handy for the battle: Resist thunder items, plenty of healing items, and the Crissagrim weapon

[@Davey_Cakes]

I love how this is basically a direct sequel to Rondo of Blood, even though the gameplay and structure were big changes for the series. It's a direct point of transition between Classicvania and Modernvania. You can explain Castlevania just by citing these two games.

[@reddogg3118]

I've been procrastinating playing this game for years. Thinking it would be too hard or confusing what to do. Was just going to stream a video of someone else playing it when I came across your channel/video. After watching I finally decided to play it last weekend. WOW. What a amazing game. Thanks for for making a great video. You got yourself a new subscriber.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Welcome to the channel! I'm so glad you enjoyed the game so much.

[@markaitkenguitar]

Such a masterpiece of a game, and such a great spotlight video, thank you. Also, you’re gorgeous! A very fitting look, wine and all.

[@brightglory5734]

Thank you ma'am. It may have been years in the making but we knew eventually you would review the greatest metroidvania ever made.

[@hepwo91222]

I usually playthrough this game once every year or so, its simply up there as the best of the best in its genre along with Super Metroid. Recent years Hollow Knight, Ori 2, and the recent Metroid Dread have challenged those classics.

[@aegisreflector1239]

What about blasphemous?

[@hepwo91222]

@@aegisreflector1239 never made it through the entire game. Luv the pixel art, but I think it tried too hard to be like a 2D Dark Souls but it never really hooked me. Maybe I need to try it again?

[@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898]

I think Hollow Knight and Blasphemous greatly surpassed both Super Metroid and SotN. That doesn't make the older games worse, they are still great, but these two are beyond everything.

[@hepwo91222]

@@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898 those games are more challenging, I didn't get too far into Blasphemous to really critique it other than it didn't hold my interest. HK is fantastic, but is kind of slower paced in its exploration than many other Metroidvanias. Overall though, Super Metroid is a shorter game, but wonderfully paced. It has moves/abilities that you learn as you go that require practice to master, example, wall jump was intentionally made difficult to do, so many gamers won't even know you can do it right away, where it works almost like a controller motion move during a timed jump. Also it essentially created the genre and still holds up. SotN really was inventive in creating multiple endings, unlocking extra gamplay/second map, had fantastic music. Everyone is entitled to their opinion what game sthey enjoy more, but independent of one's taste in games, Super Metroid and SotN are the queen and king of the genre in inventing much of how we play those type of games today.

[@friendshipsnakes6356]

Oh man, the commentary on the wolf form. I cannot. I LOL'd so hard. As always, excellent video!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@kwato3981]

Nice vid and nice dress again. Thanx Pam.

[@CallOfEuropeanSpirit]

A true masterpiece. Really cool to play Rondo of Blood first and follow through with this one, which is a direct sequel.

[@Ddarke11]

You so need a "what we play in the shadows" series where you play through all...ok, some, of the Castlevanias.

[@HtaedDoolb]

I loved this video, thank you !

[@s.d.8016]

As a child, i always wanted to play this game. I got the chance many years later and i never imagined i would be completing it 200.6% multiple times. Never getting tired of it.

[@XboxNightmare_NM]

I actually just completed all of the achievements on my Series X about a month ago (despite owning the original on PS1). Wishing I could continue playing this game, I went and purchased Bloodstained Ritual of the Night and have no regrets

[@OrdoNekro]

SOtN was one of those "Threshold moments" in gaming for me. The music, the atmosphere, the gameplay all felt so epic in scale compared to the older 8bit games I knew. Alucard was such goals for me in high school, lol. I remember reading in a game magazine about Maria being playable in the Japanese version and was always mad about missing out on that!

[@drake128]

I sat and watched my mate play this , each night he’d pop round and progress. I recall thinking we were nearing the end and he found some glasses and accessed the upside down castle

[@mysega]

Thanks for another great video and happy Halloween👻🎃

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Same to you!

[@davidwatkins6307]

This game, and super Metroid at the time they came out,way ahead of their time, plus alot of bad stuff in my life when playing these games, along with other games, just to name a couple, resident evil and the Japan sotn for Sega Saturn, love them so much, and I did finish Metroid dread, it would be great if u review that game, ty .

[@ericnorway77]

The soundtrack is amazing! 🎶♥️

[@NitrosS]

Discovering your channel right now... Very good video

[@Akumadoken]

This video is very reminiscence of the Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines video. And I love it! Keep up the good work Pam, can't wait to see more!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@ryogo666]

I still remember that day when I rented the game thinking it was a classic linear Castlevania and being completely blown away! I had just made the switch from the terrible N64, and this game along with Mega Man X4, Alundra, Breath of Fire III and so many others proved to me that the PlayStation was the true followup to the SNES.

[@cuylshepherdton7437]

This game isn't just a Metroidvania. This is the game that spawned the term Metroidvania.

[@CyberComGaming]

Great video Pam - SOTN is one of the greatest games I've ever played! John

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@SebbyZero]

Oh nice, SOTN one of my all time faves ! extra points for vamp pam , that make up is fireee

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thank you!