Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Xbox 360 Version FAQ and Achievement Guide V1.11 Written by Paul Acevedo Created on: 03/29/07 Updated on: 04/29/08 Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Version History 3. Symphony of the Night's History 4. Controls, Moves, and Spells 5. Saving 6. Opening Blue Doors 7. Achievements 8. 200.6% Tips 9. Endings 10. Codes 11. Special Thanks 12. Contact Information -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ and Achievement Guide covers Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for Xbox Live Arcade. The game is a 97-megabyte downloadable file that costs 800 MS Points, or $10 US dollars. People who want to learn more about the entire Castlevania series should visit the Castlevania Dungeon at http://castlevania.classicgaming.gamespy.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Version history -------------------------------------------------------------------- 03/29/07 Version 1.0 FAQ created. 04/01/07 Version 1.05 update. Corrected errors about using the Wolf Charge and Wing Smash spells. Added Skill of Wolf relic location to the Warlock Achievement subsection. 04/02/07 Version 1.06 update. Movelist updated. Soul steal tip added to 200.6% Tips section. 04/19/07 Version 1.10 update. Movelist updated. Belmont's Revenge walktrough updated. 04/29/08 Version 1.11 update. Fixed the Wing Smash spell error. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Symphony of the Night's History -------------------------------------------------------------------- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is the direct sequel to a Japanese PC Engine Super CD-ROM System game called Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. It was the first CD Castlevania game, with impressive non-FMV animated cinemas, a phenomenal soundtrack, many multiple pathways and secret areas, and two playable characters: Richter Belmont and Maria Renard. At the time, Maria was a child who fought with animal spirits, as you can witness in Symphony of the Night at the beginning of the game by allowing Richter to lose all his life at Dracula's second form. Rondo of Blood received terrific reviews, but the American version of the PCE SCD system, the Turbo Duo, was managed very poorly so Rondo never made it stateside. A downsized SNES game, Dracula XX, was released in America but it lacked much of what made the original Dracula X special, including the ability to play as Maria. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night continued the story of Rondo of Blood but changed the gameplay dramatically. Rather than being a pure action-platformer, the game took on non-linear action-RPG elements. It was a huge hit in Japan and America, prompting re-releases that also sold out. A unique Sega Saturn version appeared only in Japan, due to the same kind of ineptitude from Sega of America (and Konami) that TTI/NEC showed with Rondo of Blood. In the years after Symphony of the Night, Konami has released several sequels for the GameBoy Advance and Nintendo DS. They are very, very similar to Symphony of the Night, even reusing most of the enemy sprites. While the new games are still fun, by essentially releasing the same game over and over with minimal improvements, Konami has made all of them, even Symphony of the Night, seem less special. Hey, if Activision and EA can do it, why not Konami? Symhony of the Night version comparison: - The Playstation One game has the best transparency effects and sound of the bunch. This game is also available for purchase from the PSN Store and can be played on PS3 and PSP. -The Sega Saturn version adds Maria Renard as a playable character as well as 2 new areas that feature ho-hum remixes of classic Castlevania music. However, the load times are terrible and the game has some noticeable slowdown in many places. These problems aren't due to the Saturn hardware; it was a 2D powerhouse and the game could have run even better than the PSOne version. Blame a short development cycle and small budget, likely because no US release was planned. -The Xbox 360 game has optional enhanced graphics, which smooth the sprites, making them look much better on an HDTV. A widescreen border has been added and the game can be stretched to fill more of the screen. There are virtually no load times, which rocks! The 12 Achievements are fun to go after and allow your friends to see how much of a Symphony fan you really are. Unfortunately, the 360 version does sport a few minor problems. The 2 crappy FMV scenes from the other versions are gone, helping to keep the game's file size down. The sound is slightly downgraded for the same reason. There are also missing transparencies and a few instances of slowdown. With all that said, if you're a Castlevania fan with an HDTV, you definitely want the 360 game. It's never looked better and the Achievements warrant an extra playthrough. Just remember to go into the game's status menu by pressing select and change the sound from Mono to Stereo if you want things to sound right. Be on the lookout for the PSP game that contains both Symphony of the Night (with new voiceovers) and Dracula X: Rondo of Blood in its first American release! -------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Controls, Moves, and Spells -------------------------------------------------------------------- Alucard ------- Left hand (Attack/Shield/Use item): X Right hand (Attack/Shield/Use item): B Jump: A Special (dodge): Y Map: Left Trigger Mist form: Left Bumper (requires Soul of Mist) Wolf form: Right Trigger (requires Soul of Wolf) Bat form: Right Bumper (requires Soul of Bat) Status menu: Back button (Don't forget to set your sound to stereo here!) Special Weapon: Up + X or B Double Jump: A, then A again (requires Leap Stone) Super Jump: Down, then Up + A (requires Gravity Boots relic, can be done repeatedly) Spear Kick: A, then Down + A (while holding spear, of course) Spells ------ Spells and many special moves use Street Fighter-style rolling motions that can be difficult to do on a standard Xbox 360 control pad. If you have problems, look into ordering a Hori 360 controller. It has the best d-pad of any 360 controller at the moment. Dark Metamorphosis: B,UB,U,UF,F + X or B (spell purchased from Master Librarian) Hellfire: U,D,DF,F + X or B Summon Spirit: B,F,U,D + X or B (spell purchased from Master Librarian) Tetra Spirit: Up (charge for 2 seconds), UF,F,DF,D + X Soul Steal: B,F,DF,D,DB,B,F + X or B Wolf Charge: D,DF,F + X (in wolf form, requires Skill of Wolf item) Sword Brothers: D,DF,F,UF,U (charge for 2 seconds), D + X (Sword familiar must be on) Wing Smash: Hold A, then U,UB,B,DB,D,DF,F, release A (in bat form) Richter ------- Attack: X or B Jump: A Special Weapon: Up + X or B Item Crash: Y (special move that varies by Special Weapon) Super Jump: Down, then Up + X or B (Richter's primary way of getting to high places; can be done repeatedly) Back Flip: Double-tap A (much more useful in Rondo of Blood) Dash: Double-tap forward on the D-pad Slide: Down + A (press A again to do a jump kick; fast way to travel) Swing Whip: Hold X or B and press any direction on the D-pad Blade Dash: U,D,DF,F + X or B (useful to fit into tight places) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Saving -------------------------------------------------------------------- Many Symphony of the Night newbies have trouble figuring out how to save. Come on man, put your back into it! Aww, I'll tell you how to do it anyway. Saving is accomplished by entering special Save Rooms (one-square rooms with a floating polygonal orb inside) and pressing Up under the orb. Saving also refills your health, so you should save often. 1st Save Room: After defeating Dracula as Richter, walk forward through the Castle Entrance for 5 rooms, then go up and to the left into the Alchemy Laboratory. The first large room of the Alchemy Laboratory has a Warp Room through its lower-left door and a Save Room through the middle-left door. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Opening Blue Doors -------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's another question the young'uns always seem to have. Several sections of the castle are blocked by blue doors. You have to buy the Jewel of Open relic from the Master Librarian in the Long Library to get through those doors. You might as well buy the Castle Map and Magic Scroll 1 while you're there. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Achievements -------------------------------------------------------------------- These are listed in the order that you might possibly earn them. Some people are different, so they may go after them in a different order, dress in drag, etcetera. Who am I to judge? Rampage: 5 Points ------- This is the easiest achievement. Kill ten enemies without taking a hit. If you don't get it as soon as you start playing with Alucard, then you're just not trying. Weapon Master: 10 Points ------------- Weapon Master is also really easy. Pick up a special weapon - probably the dagger right at first, and kill ten zombies with it. They don't have to be zombies per se, but I just hate zombies! Don't they get on your nerves? Apprentice: 5 Points ---------- Easy ways to get spell kills: 1. Go to the first corridor in the Entrance with zombies and use Summon Spirit to kill those blasted zombies something fast! 2. Once you have the Form of Mist's Gas Cloud attack, just float through enemies to rack up magic kills. It's a little late in the game to go for the Achievement, but so darn convenient. Demon Slayer: 10 Points ------------ Man, those points just keep coming. Alucard's first boss battle is against Gaibon and Slogra. It's hard *not* to beat them. Changeling: 10 Points ---------- Where to find the transformation items: Soul of Wolf: Next to the top elevator gate along the Outer Wall. You have to hit a switch that is a little higher up in the area to unlock the elevator gate. The wolf's two upgrades, Power of Wolf and Skill of Wolf, are located in the Entry Hall and Alchemy Labs. Form of Mist: In the room of the Colloseum that is directly to the right of the Minotaur boss battle. The Mist upgrades Power of Mist and Gas Cloud reside in the Castle Keep and Catacombs. Soul of Bat: From the largest room of the Long Library, take the middle-left door, which leads to a Save Room. This Save Room has two doors, so take the left one. Make your way down and to the left to find the Soul of Bat. The bat's two upgrades, Fire of Bat and Echo of Bat, are found in the Clock Tower and Olrox's Quarters. Familiar: 10 points -------- Once you obtain a familiar card, go to the Relics screen and turn it on to use it. You can only use one familiar at a time, but I'm sure you were already *familiar* with that. The familiar locations: Faerie Card: Take the top-left door in the largest room of the Long Library. Change into a bat to get up to it. The faerie points out certain breakable walls, so you might want to keep her equipped when going after the Seeker Achievement. Bat Card: Once you can fly or super jump, head to the large room in the Alchemy Laboratory where you fought Slogra and Gaibon. Gaibon hates to get second billing like that. He's such a prima donna! Anyway, the Bat card is in the small room at the top-right corner of the boss chamber. Demon Card: In the Abandoned Mine, you'll come across a switch in a wall that you can't hit. Alucard only hits monsters and women that talk back to him, not embedded switches. One room down and to the left, you'll get the Demon Card. Equip it and make him push that switch! Sword Card: In Olrox's quarters, take the lower-left door from the really big room with a fountain. The door leads to the hallway to the Royal Chapel. In this hallway, find the breakable ceiling and go on up. Ghost Card: Enter the top portion of the Castle Keep at the top of the game map - the large area with the broken staircase that lead to Dracula in the Bloodlines opening chapter. Use the super jump or bat transformation to reach the door in the top-right corner of the area, where you'll find several items as well as the handy Ghost card. Warlock: 15 Points ------- You can cast most of Alucard's spells as soon as you have 50 MP - they will appear in your inventory once you've cast them. -The Wolf Charge requires not only the wolf transformation but also the Skill of Wolf relic. You can find this relic by going to the large room in the Alchemy Lab that has only one exit to the left, which leads to the vertical hall with two breakable walls in it. Right next to that left exit in the large room is a hole in the ceiling. Use the bat or super jump to enter the hole. -The Wing Smash requires the bat transformation. Remember to hold JUMP during the Wing Smash, not Attack! -Finally, you need to activate the Sword familiar to cast Sword Brothers. The spell's motion is a total pain to do, but I believe in you! Dark Metamorphosis: B,UB,U,UF,F + X or B (spell purchased from Master Librarian) Hellfire: U,D,DF,F + X or B Summon Spirit: B,F,U,D + X or B (spell purchased from Master Librarian) Tetra Spirit: Up (charge for 2 seconds), UF,F,DF,D + X Soul Steal: B,F,DF,D,DB,B,F + X or B Wolf Charge: D,DF,F + X (in wolf form, requires Skill of Wolf relic) Sword Brothers: D,DF,F,UF,U (charge for 2 seconds), D + X (Sword familiar must be on) Wing Smash: Hold A, then U,UB,B,DB,D,DF,F, release A (in bat form) Topsy Turvy: 20 Points ----------- Defeat the green orb controlling Richter by wearing the Holy Glasses (which you got by wearing the Gold and Silver Rings in front of the giant clock in the Marble Gallery). Money Bags: 25 Points ---------- There are lots of ways to get a hundred grand. I like equipping the Jewel Sword and selling the gems the enemies drop to the Master Librarian. Other ways: 1. The first time you meet the Ferry Man in the Underground Caverns, there is a $2000 Money Bag right next to the ceiling, almost all the way to the left. Exit and come back for big money. 2. The Sword familiar/gem selling glitch: -Try to have only one of a single valuable gem in your possession and equip the Sword familiar. -Stand in front of the Master Librarian and use the Sword brothers spell. -Approach him to start selling items. -Go to the jewel selling menu and press the Back button. Equip the jewel you want to sell. -Press Back again to close the menu and sell the jewel, then exit the shop. You now have 255 of the game to sell! Seeker: 35 Points ------ I'm not providing a complete walkthrough for this, but I've listed many of the secret room locations in the 200.6% Tips section. Bloodlines: 10 Points ---------- This was actually one of the first Achievements I got, but it's a pain to try repeatedly because you have to sit through the conversation between Richter and Dracula. After you've beaten the game, their conversation can be skipped by pressing Back. The key to beating Dracula without taking damage is equipping the Holy Water and using its Item Crash (Y button). You'll want to get some hearts so you can do the move repeatedly. There's a hidden switch right after the staircase that opens up a heart-filled secret area in the ceiling. When fighting Dracula's first form, super jump or backflip to avoid his fireballs (assuming you don't Holy Water him to instant death). On the second form, make sure you whip Dracula while using the Item Crash to do more damage. He is no man. He is no man!!! Belmont's Revenge: 45 points ----------------- After beating the game as Alucard, start a new game with the name RICHTER. You'll know it worked because you skip the Dracula fight and start as Richter in the Entrance. You would think this would be a really tough Achievement, but thanks to modern technology, we know it is not. Once you get the Holy Water, never let go of it! Its Item Crash will make short work of all enemies and even the bosses. That might take some of the fun out of Richter's quest, but I never thought it was much fun to die in 2 hits, did you? Remember to get around everywhere using the Super Jump. If you have trouble reaching a particular platform, the Blade Dash might help. Using the following directions, you can beat Richter's quest in less than 30 minutes. 1. From the Entrance, head right to the room with the big rock in center where Alucard gets to the Jewel Sword. Super jump through the hole in the ceiling and get the Holy Water. Aah, refreshing! 2. Now make your way to the Alchemy Laboratory. Save!! 3. From the Alchemy Laboratory, go up and left to the Royal Chapel. Save again!!! 4. Head all the way right, killing the Hippogryph boss, until you reach the Castle Keep. Make your way up and left to the Inverted Castle portal. Teleport! 5. From the Reverse Castle Keep, save your game and head to the Reverse Royal Chapel. 6. Head right and fight Medusa. You should really beat her without the Holy Water; it's very easy. 7. Keep going right through the Reverse Castle Keep until you reach the chapel room with the flying sword enemy. Take the top-left exit to the Colloseum. 8. Go all the way left through the Colloseum. If you use either Save Room, be careful not to fall on enemies and die when exiting the room. 9. Once you reach Reverse Olrox's Quarters, head straight up into the Marble Gallery. 9. From the Marble Gallery, keep going up. Save before fighting Shaft and winning the game! Man, that was fast. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. 200.6% Tips -------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've covered every area of the map, your save file should be at 200.5% before fighting Shaft and Dracula. Approach them with 200.5% and the Achievement unlocks. Your save file will never read 200.6% unless you use a Library Card during the fight to warp out of the room and save somewhere. I won't be answering questions about filling in your map. You can find several good map images online. Having checked them, if you still need help, take a screen capture or photograph of your map. Someone at the GameFAQs.com or Achieve360Points.com XBLA Symphony of the Night forums will surely be able to find what you missed. Finding hidden areas: You should probably have the Faerie familiar equipped since she will point out several breakable areas. Even more effective is the Soul Steal spell. It will always destroy all hidden blocks on the screen. Hidden areas and the like: Alchemy Lab ----------- One of the long vertical rooms up and to the left of the save point has both a breakable wall and a breakable floor in its lower-left corner. The Faerie familiar will be kind enough to point these out for you if she is equipped. Bless her little heart! Catacombs --------- 1: Right at the beginning of the area there is a Save Room. It's one of the few that has two exits, so head left. Break the next left wall and get the Cat-Eye Circlet and Bloodstone. 2: This isn't a secret area, but if you're wondering how to get through the pitch black room filled with spikes, I've got you covered. Change into the Bat and use its radar ability to light the way. You'll receive the Spike Breaker armor at the end! Clock Tower ----------- 1: Scattered along the walls in 2 rooms of the Clock Tower are four gears. Hitting them the right number of times will open a gate in the lower-left corner of the second room. Each gear must be in the right position and hitting them too many times will mess up the position so be careful. When they make a clicking sound (instead of a clanking sound), that's the right position. Here are the number of times you need to hit each gear. Regular Castle: Second room (with gate): Left gear: 8; Right gear: 2 First room: Left gear: 14; Right gear: 3 Inverted Castle: Second room (with gate): Left gear: 2; Right gear: 8 First room: Left gear: 3; Right gear: 14 2: The room with the gear-opened gate also has a breakable wall in its top-right corner that leads to an attic area. Colloseum --------- This one's easy to miss. In the long horizontal room at the top of the area, there is a breakable ceiling. The faerie can point it out, or the Soul Steal spell will work. The ceiling hole leads to the Holy Sword. Entrance -------- From the beginning of the game, the third room has a large rock in the center and Merman-filled water below that. Return here with the Bat and Wolf transformations. Break the 2 sides of the rock, then pass through the entire rock as the wolf, turn around and go through it the other way as the bat. This will open the gate to the Jewel Sword in the lower-left corner of the room. Olrox's Quarters ---------------- 1: Just after reaching this area from the Marble Gallery's clock room, there is a large room with a floating sword enemy. Break the wall in its lower-right corner, if you dare. 2: Head to the large room with a fountain (you'll need the Super Jump or bat transformation to get there). Along the right wall of the fountain room is a breakable wall containing Cheese, Onyx, and a broadsword. 3: You did get the Sword Familiar, didn't you? See the Familiar Achievement section for details. Underground Caverns ------------------- 1: After you've fallen down the long shaft (insert lewd joke here), go left one room, then immediately up the other very long room. At the top, 2 rooms to the left you'll find a Heart Max Up. The Faerie will notice the left wall is breakable, leading to a small room containing the Bandanna. No one looks good in a bandanna. 2: First go get the Merman Statue, which summons the ferryman. Return to the waterfall room, located just below the 1st long shaft. At the bottom is a white patch of ice. Hit it to reveal a large secret area. At the end you will find the important Holy Symbol item which cures Alucard's tragic water allergy! 3: Two rooms to the left of the ice patch I just mentioned there is a wooden bridge over a couple of juicy items. To gain access to those items (as well as the Abandoned Mine and Catacombs), walk left a little and find an ape skeleton. Lure him over to the bridge and get him to Donkey Kong his barrel at it. You're in! Inverted Castle --------------- Remember that all the hidden areas from the regular castle are also found in the Inverted Castle, including the one that held the Jewel Sword at the Entrance. To fill in the very top of the map in the water sections, you must become the wolf and swim against the ceiling by pressing Y repeatedly. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Endings -------------------------------------------------------------------- You can't skip the ending credits, don't you hate that? Ending 1: With Alucard in the regular castle, kill Richter without wearing the Holy Glasses. Some FMV on other versions. Ending 2: With Alucard in the regular castle, kill Richter while wearing the Holy Glasses. Some FMV on other versions. Ending 3: Using Alucard, defeat Dracula in the Inverted Castle with less than 196% completion. Ending 4: Using Alucard, smash Dracula in the Inverted Castle with a manly completion of over 196%. Ending 5: Beat the game as Richter for a short ending. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Codes -------------------------------------------------------------------- After beating the game, start a new game and enter these names for some unique treats: RICHTER - Play as Richter Belmont. You were expecting Simon? AXEARMOR - Play as Alucard with Axe Lord armor. X-X!V"Q - Play as Alucard with lower stats but max Luck. How else are you going to get those annoyingly rare items? -------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Special Thanks -------------------------------------------------------------------- I'd like to say that many hot women helped in making this guide, but that/s not the case. Instead, several Achieve360points forum members, particularly Masterwerk and Chosen as well as my GameFAQs/XBL friend Vrolokus helped the most. The original Playstation version FAQ authors and mapmakers were also great sources of information. The Official Strategy Guide for the Playstation game from Brady Games was almost no help at all. Thanks for nothing, Brady Games! Finally, thanks to Van Redd, Pi, Super Eggroll, Nuematsu8, and anyone else who emailed with suggestions. Keep on vampire killing! -------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Contact Information -------------------------------------------------------------------- I am not going to answer questions about what areas on the map you are missing, but any other questions or suggestions are welcome. Keep in mind the following email address is used only for my FAQs and therefore I may not check it regularly. Email: eastfaqs at gmail dot com Xbox Live Gamertag: EastX Sega Saturn Net Link Handle: Eastman Castlevania: Symphony of the Night copyright 1997, 2007 Konami This document is copyright 2008 by Paul Acevedo. It may not be posted anywhere but gamefaqs.com, ign.com, 1up.com, achieve360points.com, and the Castlevania Dungeon without permission. Whip it. Whip it good!