I watch the Netflix Castlevania cartoons periodically now; they have just the right mix of action, melodrama, bloody monster-slaying, silly humor, historical reference, and anti-religious commentary that I enjoy in anime like Berserk. After my last watch through all four original seasons and Nocturne (season 2 WHEN), I've been really enjoying playing through Symphony of the Night for real. I think I like it even more than Super Metroid now.
I just got to the upside-down castle and it's so simple yet bizarre to see. I was mostly unaware of a lot of the secret stuff in this game, like how weapons and items have special moves that the game just doesn't tell you about. The magic attacks also require pretty tight fighting game inputs beyond just quarter circles, which is a bold choice. Many of the item descriptions are super short and vague too so you have to experiment a lot to see what actually works, a lot like in Dark Souls. There are also many joke items and monsters, like a pair of "Secret Boots" that just make Alucard a few pixels taller or a possessed side table. It's a pretty easy game combat-wise after the first couple of hours, but the real challenge is traversing the space quickly and exploring as much as possible to find the next path forward, which is often well-hidden. I'm learning where more of the characters in the Netflix shows came from now too which is cool, like Olrox and Maria. I don't know how much Billy Basso was influenced by SotN when developing Animal Well, but it sure feels like they share a lot of ideas and values. Think I would definitely give Aria of Sorrow a real chance after I've 200%'d this game - I'm in a real metroidvania mood at the moment.
