Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

at January 17, 2022

 

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (悪魔城ドラキュラＸ月下の夜想曲 Akumajō Dracula X: Gekka no Yasōkyoku?, lit. "Demon Castle Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight") (fan commonly abbreviated SOTN/SotN, Konami abbreviated SoN[1]), released in Japan as Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight, is an action platformer/role-playing video game, part of Konami's long running Castlevania series. It is a direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, which was originally released for the Nippon Electric Company PC Engine (TurboGrafx 16) in 1993, in Japan.
The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami for the Sony PlayStation in 1997. It was re-released the following year for the Sega Saturn with additional features exclusively in Japan. In 2007, it was re-released in America for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade. The original PlayStation release was released for download on the PlayStation 3, playable on both that system and the PlayStation Portable (PSP). A complete port was also included in The Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP, featuring updated dialogues and bug fixes. In 2018, it was included in the Castlevania Requiem collection exclusive for the PlayStation 4. It was released on March 4, 2020 for mobile phones (iOS, Android); unlike previous "metroidvania" Castlevania titles released on mobile platforms, which were simplified versions, this is a direct port of the console game.
Although not very successful during its release in North America and Europe (only 60 thousand copies sold in each continent), Symphony of the Night has become highly sought-after by video game players and is widely considered to be one of the best and a milestone of the series. Almost all of the game's successors have emulated its open-ended gameplay.