SotN - Beat the game.
Well, I stopped using the Shield Rod/Alucard Shield after about 15 minutes since it was too ridiculous. Unfortunately, for all the remaining fight the half a dozen or so bosses I had left put up, I might as well have just kept on using it. I'm not even sure precisely what was going on in the Dracula battle in terms of his bizarre hit boxes on his attacks, but I mashed square a bunch and he died. Got 189%; the remaining stuff is probably hidden away behind destroyable walls and under water, and I don't care to go hunting for such things, though.
Game loses a bit of steam in the reverse castle, I feel, you're just exploring something you have fundamentally explored before, going through the motions until the map is filled out and cutting down anything in your path. First castle is cooler, and had better music, too (though not as good as Dracula X). The game suffers from a few polish concerns - I already mentioned the clunky menu, but the map itself badly needed a zoom feature; I consulted a FAQ twice in clearing the game and both times the thing I was looking for had actually been on the map, just too small to easily see. My vision isn't bad, so there's really no excuse for this. PSP screen probably doesn't help since it's small, but it is crisp where TV images are not, and honestly I recall similar issues when playing the game on the Playstation, so eh.
Game is still decent, I do fundamentally enjoy a good Metroidvania or whatever you want to call them. The game was a huge step forward in its own way and I am pretty interested in playing some of the newer Castlevanias to see them polish up the whole exploration experience. Combat was forgettable in general, poor balance on enemies and I don't like the handling of Alucard whenever he gets hit (yeah, getting hit is supposed to suck, but it limits the flow of battles a bit?). Exp system was pretty cool actually, felt like I only ever levelled up from worthwhile enemies (relatively). Game actually seems well safeguarded against grinding accidentally when you get lost. Otherwise... some of Alucard's tricks are pretty fun to play with (yay Soul Steal), although poison mist approaches cheap, and I have no idea what they were thinking with Shield Rod/Alucard Shield since it's not especially hidden for something so broken. Game feels a bit too FAQ-bait generally (things like the special moves of weapons, is there any in-game documentation for those? I found a few by accident, but bleh) but that's a common complaint for me, not really holding it against the game.
6/10 or so, I have respect for it but I'm not exactly dying to play it again.
