Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

1987 · Action RPG · NES

Overview

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1987) turns Konami's series into an open-world action RPG: Simon gathers Dracula's remains to lift a curse.

Deep Dive

Cursed after defeating Dracula, Simon Belmont must find the Count's scattered body parts in five mansions and burn them in the ruins of the castle. Transylvania is open to explore, with towns where villagers sell items and offer clues, and a day–night cycle in which towns fill with monsters after dark. Experience and hearts level Simon up and buy better whips. Its cryptic, sometimes misleading hints — and puzzles solved by kneeling with the right item — are notorious, but its open structure foreshadowed later Castlevania games.

Developer Story

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest was designed by Hitoshi Akamatsu and Toshiyasu Yanagisawa at Konami in 1987. It transformed the linear castle format of the original into an open-world RPG — players explored multiple towns and regions, gathering clues from NPCs and assembling Dracula's body parts. The day-night cycle changed NPC behaviour and made certain enemies appear. The deliberately cryptic clues and obtuse puzzles frustrated many players.

Did You Know?

Simon's Quest introduced an open world to Castlevania — players explored freely rather than moving through predetermined levels.
The day-night cycle made certain NPCs disappear at night and caused stronger enemies to appear — one of the first dynamic time systems in a console RPG.
NPC hints were deliberately misleading or cryptic in the English translation — "What a horrible night to have a curse" became iconic for its unhelpfulness.
The game required players to kneel with a specific item in certain locations to progress — solutions that required either trial and error or outside guidance.