Putting the “vania” in metroidvania.
HQ
HQ
Released on the same day as the highly rated anime-style second series of Castlevania, Konami takes us on a trip down memory lane on our PS4 in the form of Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood. Fans of the long-running series have been dreaming for quite some time about a return to the series, although a lack of extras might mean that they are left slightly disappointed.
The TV series based on the Konami franchise, which can be found on Netflix, has been very well received. It seems only natural that they would also try to make the most of that surge of interest in the franchise, by bringing us both the game and the show right before Halloween. With that in mind, what we have here is a port of two fantastic games. Symphony of the Night was one of our favourite childhood memories, and Rondo of Blood, while not quite as epic, is still pretty awesome.
For those who missed Symphony the first time around, it was first released back in 1997 and was later resurrected in 2007. You follow Alucard, the son of Dracula, who battles his way through his father’s castle. You take on foul bosses and beasts while confronting other characters with the whole thing underpinned by some really well-written dialogue. The aim is to fight your way to the end and defeat a possessed Richter Belmont, who is actually the hero of Rondo of Blood. Rondo, on the other hand, follows vampire hunter Belmont, who is searching for the love of his life, all on the way to confronting Dracula. Even though Symphony was the sequel to Rondo, we recommend playing it first as it’s simply the better game, and for newcomers, it’s worth noting that it comes with an easier difficulty curve.
If you’re not in the loop, these are side-scrolling platformers where you can enjoy some free-roaming jaunts. You can wander around the castle re-visiting older sections to unlock new areas once you have the right armour or items. There’s even a way to invert the castle if you collect the right things and perform certain actions. You learn abilities that transform you into a variety of creatures (such as a bat), which aids you as your traverse the world around you. If you missed it before, what we can tell you is that there’s so much to see and do here – it will keep you engaged for many hours.
The action and gothic music, along with the slightly hammy voice acting all really holds up. It’s atmospheric and comes complete with spot-on controls. While Symphony didn’t look too bad, sadly, the graphics, especially in Rondo, even with a little brush-up, are starting to look a little dated. Don’t get us wrong, we still loved it. It offers a great retro experience and it did give us that nostalgic vibe, but the fact it was a straight port just left us feeling a little disappointed, most evident by the old aspect ratio that ensures a huge border around your playing screen. There is a full-screen mode, but even then, you have wallpaper down both sides.
Symphony is obviously the big hitter here, and if you didn’t play it the first time, we highly recommend getting it for just this, with level design that still outshines some modern titles. The other title on offer here is Rondo of Blood. This is a different experience to Symphony. The difficulty level is much harder for one thing, almost to the point of frustration, and it has more of a linear overall feel. Still, with Symphony often hogging the limelight, it’s nice for the lesser-spotted Rondo to get some love. It’s not so easy to fall for as its more famous predecessor, but once you get the hang of the tough jumps and combat, we think you’re going to love it. It’s quite short in comparison to the more story-driven Symphony, but this combination proves to work quite well.
So far, we’ve been pretty positive about Requiem. It’s true, you have two ports of classic games in one package. So what’s not to love? Well, it’s hard to get super enthusiastic because all there really is here is these two titles and nothing more. We felt like there was room for new features or some more nostalgia in the form of original artwork, but there was nothing to make this feel like a definitive edition. There were visual filters that gave you a couple of options, but the only useful ones seemed to be fullscreen and one that smoothed of graphics (presumably these weren’t automatic so purists could play the original as it was made). There were a couple of other options including one that seemed to make the screen flicker, which made us wonder why they bothered. We love this series, and these are two of the greatest titles from it, but it feels a little like Konami could have given us something more with this Requiem collection. That was combined with a confusing user interface, which made it needlessly fussy to start up a new game. Even the in-game item selection and character screens were fiddly to navigate in Symphony and haven’t really stood the test of time.
So, who should go out and buy this? Well, older fans of the series looking to reacquaint themselves with these two titles should definitely consider picking it up. Also, anyone who missed out the first time around should get it just for Symphony. It’s a budget title that feels like you’re getting Rondo for free (although, for some, it may well end up being the main event) and if you like retro gaming, you’re probably going to enjoy yourself. That said, fans, while satisfying their need for nostalgia, may feel a little cheated by the lack of extras. Finally, if you haven’t checked out the series on Netflix, we highly recommend it. Sadly, though, Requiem feels more like a tie-in to that rather than its own project.
Keyword: Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood