Symphony of the Night replaced Castlevania's linear whip-and-platformer structure with a non-linear RPG built around exploration, stats, and a sprawling interconnected castle that doubled in size mid-game.
Follows: Super Castlevania IV
The term "Metroidvania" combines Symphony of the Night's series with Super Metroid to describe a genre defined by: an interconnected map, abilities that unlock previously inaccessible areas, and non-linear exploration within an open structure. Symphony is one of the two games the word names. Its castle is a single space rather than a series of stages — rooms connect to corridors that connect to other rooms, and progress comes from finding equipment or transformations that allow passage through previously blocked paths.
This structural approach had enormous influence. The genre it named became one of the dominant indie game categories of the 2010s, producing Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, Dead Cells, and hundreds of others. Every one of them owes a structural debt to Symphony's castle design.
Defeating Richter Belmont — the apparent final boss — ends the game with a bad ending if you trigger it directly. The true path involves acquiring Marias's glasses and using them at the moment of confrontation, revealing Shaft's control over Richter. This leads to a confrontation with Dracula and then — if the player has certain relics equipped — an unlocking of the inverted castle. Every room in the castle is reflected vertically, creating a new layout with new enemies, new areas, and four additional bosses.
The inverted castle was a revelation in 1997. It effectively doubled the game's scope at the moment when most games would have ended. Players who had spent 15 hours exploring found themselves with another 10 hours of content. The sheer audacity of the reveal — a complete second map — set a precedent for hidden content that developers are still working in reference to.