10 Video Games You Only Like Because Everyone Else Does

4. Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night

Castlevania Symphony Of The Night
Konami

Like Shenmue III, when Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (the spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) was successfully Kickstarted everyone lost their minds. Euphoria swept the forums because finally, after all this time (and conveniently forgetting all of those other great Castlevania sequels) there'd finally be a faithful follow up to Capcom's under-appreciated series.

A genre-defining release, Symphony of the Night is revered today for partly pioneering the "Metroidvania" type of gameplay - a retro style of game design that's become legendary in recent years.

But while this revered entry in the franchise is a pretty tight experience in its own right, the game is remembered fondly today more for what it stood for than the reality of its quality.

It's only talked about so much because "Metroidvania" gameplay is considered to be some kind of holy grail lost art form in the industry today, and Symphony of the Night just so happened to be the grandaddy of this particularly popular buzzword.

In this post: 
Half Life 2
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked full time as a content producer at WhatCulture for nine years. In that time he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple channels, specialising in subjects such as gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 most listened to gaming podcast in the UK that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, covered breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.