Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a 1997 action-adventure developed by Konami for the PlayStation, a genre-defining entry that transformed the long-running series from linear stages into a single sprawling, interconnected castle to explore at the player's own pace.

Playing as the dhampir Alucard, son of Dracula, players gain new abilities, spells, and equipment, including transformations into a bat, wolf, and mist, that unlock previously unreachable areas, encouraging backtracking, discovery, and RPG-style character growth with experience levels, stats, and abundant loot. A famous late-game surprise reveals an entire inverted version of the castle, roughly doubling the map and total playtime.

Together with a contemporary Metroid entry, it helped codify the exploration-platformer style now widely called Metroidvania, with its distinctive combination of nonlinear maps and character progression. Long celebrated as one of the greatest games ever made and prized by collectors, it has been re-released on many modern platforms, keeping it readily accessible today.