To preface: This game was the Trope Codifier for the "Metroidvania" genre. Metroidvanias are a type of action-adventure based off of the style of Metroid and some Castlevania games, especially this one. Metroidvanias are characterized by guided non-linear gameplay that involves a lot of backtracking and exploring secret areas to get better equipment and progress. Symphony is the go-to example for this type of game. Some of the things I loved about my favorite game, Undertale, include non-linear gameplay, random secrets that you have to go out of your way to find, a hidden second half that you accomplish certain tasks to unlock, memorable soundtrack that uses leitmotif, and multiple endings, all of which were made popular by this game.
Unlike Undertale, this game has a relatively simple story that only surfaces occasionally. The basic story is this: Richter Belmont (from Rondo of Blood) defeats Dracula at the start of the game, but then goes missing. A girl called Maria Renard goes into Dracula's castle to look for him, followed by Dracula's half-vampire son, Alucard. Alucard tried to shut himself away in a coffin for permanent hibernation, but woke up to try to destroy his father. I am so glad I watched the TV show before playing this game, because that meant I was familiar with the whole backstory about Lisa's death. It made some scenes (especially the battle with the succubus and the final battle with Dracula) much more emotionally impactful than the would have been. Instead of feeling like I was missing something, I felt appropriately like my heart was getting ripped out. So, I highly recommend you watch the show before playing this! The voice acting in this game is well-known to be terribly cheesy. The voice-acting for this version comes from the 2007 PSP version and is therefore slightly less terrible than the original, though that means it unfortunately does not include the infamous line, "What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!" This was the first game in the Castlevania series that does not star a Belmont as its protagonist, but I think playing as a (half-)vampire is SUPER cool! Alucard has all these awesome spells (that are super difficult to use, but it's so satisfying whenever I'm successful and I hear "SOUL STEAL!"), and he can TURN INTO A BAT! And if you have the bat familiar equipped, you get a trail of little bats following you around and it's so CUTE! Alucard is awesome. ♥
This game was designed to be kinder to new players, so I'm glad I played this before Rondo of Blood (even though Rondo of Blood comes first chronologically). Some old hands at Castlevania say that it's too easy. Thank god. I still found it very difficult at times, because I had to get used to the controls (and there was no tutorial, at all) and at some points in the game, mostly the beginnings of the first and second half, I found myself unable to go a few feet without dying and felt like I was just trying to last between save points. Overall, I was very well matched to the difficulty of this game. It was challenging, but only a few times did it become so grueling it stopped being fun. Once I got the controls down, it was very exciting to explore the castle and find more secrets! Enemies also got easier and easier to kill, so there was a definite sense of getting stronger overtime. Despite being 20 years old, the game does not feel too dated. I mean, it feels a little dated, but not so much so that it distracts from the gameplay. The sprite art and animation holds up really well and still looks beautiful. (Not so much the early PS 3D for the castle interludes.) Much of this game (and the whole Metroidvania genre) is about discovery: finding your way through a mysterious and dangerous world to collect stuff, gain powerups, and fight through to the golden ending. I can see why this game was so popular and so lauded!
I only have a few critiques: This was the first game in the series to introduce RPG elements, and among those elements were armor, weapons, and potions that could counter specific kinds of enemy attacks (fire, ice, lightning, dark, holy, etc). These were mostly useless. Drinking the potions and equipping the armor did not make a significant enough difference in battles, making them feel pointless. For example, drinking the "resist stone" potion should make it easier to shake free at least, if not resist petrification entirely. It doesn't. There's no noticeable difference. Maybe part of this is the limitations of coding at the time, but overall I wished they were more useful. Related to that, as fun as it was to go through the castle finding secret areas, a lot of the weapons and armor you find isn't useful because they're a downgrade from the weapons you already have, or otherwise not useful. You start getting an abundance of weapons and healing items rather late in the game, right when you don't need them. What's the point of equipping that kind-of-cool sword if I've already got the Alucard sword? Those are minor complaints, though!
So why is this in with all the Goth Stuff? ...Just look at that ARTWORK! Candles, castles, bats, a big moon, and a brooding half-vampire bishonen staring intently with a sword. But aside from that, this game does have an overall gothy feel to it, just by it's nature. You're a vampire prince traveling through a spooky castle filled with skeletons, demons, monsters, and other spooky creatures. The atmosphere and design of this game are what made it for me, and part of the reason I wanted to play it in the first place. The backgrounds are gorgeous-- the dark-toned statues of angels and demons in the Marble Gallery, the stained-glass windows in the Royal Chapel, the dark elegance of Olrox' Quarters... Don't be so focused on killing monsters that you forget to take in the beauty of the backgrounds. Also, shoutout to the music! The longer I played, the more I loved the soundtrack. (My favorite tracks are "Moonlight Nocturne," "Dance of Pales," and "The Tragic Prince.") The soundtrack definitely helps enhance the atmosphere. Spooky imagery is everywhere, so if you're a Goth who likes video games and you have a PS4, this is a classic that's more than worth it. As a Gen Z'er with no nostalgic appeal playing a 20-year-old game and thoroughly enjoying it, I can safely say that it stands the test of time!
Next on my list of PS4 games to play (apart from Rondo of Blood, of course) is Hollow Knight, another, much more modern Metroidvania that looks equally spooky!
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