Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a 1997 action role-playing game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It is a direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, set four years after its events. It was directed and produced by Toru Hagihara, with Koji Igarashi acting as assistant director.

It features Dracula's dhampir son Alucard (returning from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse) as the protagonist, as he explores Dracula's castle (which reemerges following the disappearance of Richter Belmont) and fights to prevent his father from fully regaining his lost power. Its design marks a break from previous entries in the series, re-introducing the exploration, nonlinear level design, and role-playing elements first experimented with in Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.

Symphony of the Night initially sold poorly. However, it gradually gained sales through word-of-mouth and became a sleeper hit, developing a cult following and selling over 700,000 units in the United States and Japan. The game garnered acclaim, often cited by critics as one of the best video games of all time, praising its gameplay innovations, atmosphere, visuals and soundtrack with criticism directed towards the voice acting. It is also considered a pioneer of the Metroidvania genre, inspiring numerous exploration-based action-adventure games. Symphony of the Night would have a lasting impact on the Castlevania series, with numerous subsequent mainline entries adopting its gameplay model.