I started SOTN over on Friday on an emulator. Well, I actually started it over several times due to emulator issues and wanting to beat the Drac without dying. I put a couple of hours into it and was having a grand time when the game crashed on me and forced me to restore my game. That soured the experience because I can't really enjoy a game knowing it can freeze up on me at any moment so now I'm debating starting over yet again on my PS3. Having said that, I played enough to remind myself of several things I love about this game (I took notes):
- The attention to detail is very impressive. There are tons of little things they could easily have gotten away with not doing. Dracula's life bar, for instance, is being clutched by a skeletal beast, adding some flair and atmosphere. Most of the following is just me fawning over details, by the way.
- Enemy death animations are great. When you beat Dracula at the beginning, the screen turns into a sepia-toned photograph which then burns up. But besides that, it seems like every enemy has its own specific death animation (or more), adding a ton of spectacle when they could have easily gotten away with generic explosions for every enemy.
- The color of your cape changes depending on which one you have equipped. I've always loved games where equipment changes reflect on your on-screen sprite. While I didn't make it far enough on Friday, you do eventually get a cape whose color you can customize (awesome), as well as a cape whose color changes and a cape that's essentially transparent. Also, the color of your cape ends up also being the color of your bat's wings when you get the bat transformation. I love all of that.
- While this technically just counts as competent game design, I like how the first enemy you encounter after Death steals your equipment drops a sword for you (short sword), and the next enemy drops a different sword (red rust). Right off the bat you learn that you will acquire a variety of weapons with different stats and advantages/disadvantages.
- The character portraits during dialogue scenes are gorgeous.
- There's a long corridor with pillars and windows in the background, and while you're advancing and defeating enemies you can see a giant floating eyeball looming outside the windows in the back, trying to peer inside. It's a detail that can fairly easily be missed altogether, but it does a great job of adding to the creepy atmosphere. (See image below.)
- In that same corridor, you encounter Diplocephalus, a large reptilian creature whose tail ends in the form of a maiden (who flashes her butt crack when defeated). The enemy designs in general are fantastic, and they didn't shy away from including a little fan service.
- If you explore, you will find a telescope you can look through, foreshadowing your meeting with the oarsman. As far as I know this changes nothing, but it's a nice detail. Heck, I'm even impressed with the behavior of the birds just under the floor in the same room.
- In the underground cave, there are pools of water covered in a thin layer of ice which crumbles away when you step on it. Yet another detail you wouldn't necessarily notice unless you were paying attention.
I guess I'm just doing a lot of fanboy gushing here, but there are few games that consistently impress me as much as Symphony of the Night does. Heck, I didn't even mention the outstanding soundtrack! In a way I almost regret starting to play it again, as it's giving me doubts that Bloodstained will be able to achieve the same level of attention to detail. Anyway, if I decide to start over yet again, expect another update full of more observations.