@@ibilesfighter3.16 Yeah I've done a fists only challenge before and I just assumed everyone else wasn't using subweapons either! I guess it's fair, the challenge is worded no equipment. I don't think it's even possible to have no subweapon. It's just that the subweapons are lowkey as strong as anything you can do.
The age of the game and the "quest items" I think fall into the category of "use only when needed" and your not breaking any rules. That is my opinion.
37:32 - The "Cave Trolls" don't actually attack with "lasers". They're actually extending their very sharp tongues. Their design is based on the "Chupacabra".
Also, to complete the Bestiary, you need to kill a Mudman during the Lesser Demon fight. It shows up nowhere else and the Lesser Demon enemies that show up later don't summon them. EDIT: I never count mandatory items or actions as run enders. Tutorials and quest items should never be counted, because the game forces them on you, with no way to opt out.
@@TimedRevolver The challenge is whether or not one can beat the game without equipping anything. Getting the bad ending is still beating the game, and the glasses are completely optional if the goal is to simply "beat the game".
14:50 Saturn port wasn’t actually made by Igarashi’s team and was actually made by Konami’s Nagoya studio, which was really unexperienced with Saturn’s hardware. That’s why Saturn version of Symphony looks worse than PS1 version. In fact, Igarashi didn’t even know about this port until it was released and disliked Saturn version so much that he asked Castlevania fans not to play it despite added new content
@@zachtwilightwindwaker596 It's a misconception that Saturn can't do transparencies; it's just that doing so is difficult (the Saturn itself is already difficult to code for). There is a hack that addresses all the issues with the Saturn version (including transparencies); though I don't know if it addresses every instance of it. Btw there are also hacks to fix CV 64
@@daviribeiro8997 I like it cuz of Maria, she kicks ass (generally I hate OP chars but she's quite fun to play as, and I love her moves and their SFX like her turtle healing spell, the way her hair "flies" upwards is so cool)
Watching this after "as devs intended speedrun" is actually making realise how hidden some exploits and AI manipulation on bosses are. Like, Medusa can be cheesed same way a Cerberus by driven into a wall, Legion bodies despawn by high jump and so on
To be fair the Legion can also push you past the exit door's hitbox, causing a softlock. I think that some aspects just got overlooked when they ran out of time and money and it's nicer to pretend everything was intentional.
@@greenhowie...What are you on? Exploits and AI manipulations aren't "overlooked aspects" those are obvious small gaps any code gonna have. Legion bodies obviously disappear from the high jump to avoid breaking the game. As, you know, there's a reason why that boss never fully shown on screen and room is seen pretty much 1/4 of it's actual size. Just because it's 2D on PS1, it doesn't mean screen can't get overcrowded to game breaking point. Don't know if anyone emulating it ever tried to actually back the camera enough to fit the whole room and see if bodies spawn outside of intended view. Which is most likely, again to avoid game eating fps. Interesting, how big of a crowd needed for that. And AI manipulation on Doppelganger, Medusa or even Death are just code imperfections. No game safe from this. Because it's a script written by people, which either can't predict every build and action player gonna throw on the boss or actually made to take specific actions in response to player to be as hard of a fight as devs want. BTW, no game is glitchless, and there's a ton in SotN that speedrunners abuse like nocliping through walls and rooms. But those aren't what I spoke of. What I speak about is used in official in game tips on how to beat bosses, so yea, no way they're "pretending it was intentional" more like self aware.
With glitches, you can get the good ending. Richter can be skipped with just Soul of Wolf. Second Castle movement relies on Soul of Bat that you can get without equipment. For Vlad Relics, you can skip them using a Heart Refresh that you can start with if you use up all your hearts as Richter in the prologue. Without glitches, you're right.
@@SyRose901 Yeah but... Heart Refresh is a usable item. If you go with the absolutely no equip rule, then it's still not enough. If, however, you say potions/usables are okay... then it'd be alright.
@@FlameSoulis Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I wonder if you can pull a version of the trick that involves a levelup animation... Hmm, probably not without equipment. So, just gather the Vlad relics, I guess. You can fly with Soul of Bat to reach bosses and then punch/cast spells on them to death. The reverse clock room doesn't have the same problem as the regular one; Vlad Relics are relics and not equipment.
I’m now glad that I’m not the only person around who got caught in the “Lesser Demon Infinity Funhouse”. Fun Fact! Once it hits around eight Lesser Demons, the frame rate starts to chug! Witnessed on the PS4 port.
Just a side note for anyone who still owns a psp or vita like myself, there actually is a port of symphony of the night included in the Rondo of Blood remake for psp, Dracula X chronicles, that is essentially the closest thing to a western saturn port. Maria is included as a boss and playable character, and there’s some changes/additions similar to that in the Saturn port. It’s more of an in between than anything else, but it’s still interesting to me that it acknowledges the extra content from the Saturn version all the way in 2007, and no other port of it since has.
@@gaminggoddess85Yeah, you are right, the Maria in PSP SotN is basically Rondo of Blood Maria but with a couple extra moves added for character parity with the other two. Compared to her Saturn version though, she's absolutely dreadful, although calling it a 'nerf' is not really the truth because, looks aside, they are two completely different characters.
This version of Death is very easy, but the easiest is absolutely the version from Castlevania 2. He respawns like a normal enemy and you can just run past him
A bit sad to see your transition to a Castlevania channel come to an end, but it was fun while it lasted. These challenge runs were just as fun as your SMT ones, which is a big compliment when your Nocturne No buffs run is what got me to play my copy of Nocturne finally.
It's fun that whoisthisgit has done this challenge several years ago? He also didn't use sub-weapons, and considered it to be more intentional difficulty. Your vid is still amazing, though, Nyarly. The amount of dedication is inspiring
there's one move with the bare fists I'm surprised you never noticed. If you're in the air and you hold diagonally down and press the attack button, Alucard does a disjointed kick at an angle that can make it easier to hit some enemies. It's very useful in hitting evasive foes and enemies outside normal fisting range.
Igarashi hates the Saturn version, so as you said the new areas are cool, he still had nothing to do with them. Still a bummer, as the cooler items like the Rainbow Mantle (randomly changes colors as you move!) really should be in every version.
Magic is so broken in SOTN, Hellfire with the meteors + stopwatch can pretty much carry the entire game. Glad to see this, haven't played the Saturn version and Nyarly gives good commentary. Still going to suggest a no kill run (apart from bosses) where you only use subweapons though. Mainly because it's fun working out which weapon is most efficient and you have to work out paths to the heart upgrades. Shockingly the answer to Slogra & Gaibon isn't the axe.
20:00 Soul Steal works wonders here. Yes, I get you don't use spells, but of all spells to use... that one in particular heals you and hurts ANY targetable entity... including each segment of Legion. Plus it makes the game lag. It's fun.
Not that its the most important thing in this run, but I actually believe the cave troll's attack is to fire their tongue out at the player and not shoot lasers.
honestly with any challenge run i think a "unless the game actually requires it" clause is just implied so if the game forces you to equip something to get through a place i dont think that goes against any run.
I think part of the reason for all the good Saturn games being Japan only releases was due to the inter-corporate rivalry going on at the time between Sega of Japan & Sega of America
glad you gave us one more video on castlevania before taking a break from it, I've really been enjoying these videos and even came back to your bloodstained video recently after finishing the game so i could watch it all without being spoiled :)
Man, SOTN literally belongs in a museum because it is still a masterpiece, well composed music, some of the most beautiful pixel art to grasp the PSONE/Saturn, and it still holds up today. Well done Nyarly, great challenge :D
Man, must have sucked at 10:24. Boss says to knock his son around a bit and suddenly the guy slams you into a wall and wails on you until there's nothing left. Also, I'd consider donning the spike-breaker armour JUST for as long as it takes to get through that area (No enemies) as a perfectly reasonable concession. Same for the rings, they're basically just progression checks. The glasses are kind of the same, if they don't give you any stat bonuses I'd throw them in too but you actually have to wear those fighting, so.
Same as a lot of the others, I think you can make exceptions. It's like saying that in P3 Thanatos is a cutscene so it's ok, but if in the first turn of the tutorial fight you started your animation with Orpheus and he morphed halfway and started attacking as Thanatos that that would be breaking the rules. The equipment is nothing more than a key, and if equipped and then removed immediately after use, it stays true to the spirit of the run by not using any equipment in a meaningful way.
It is possible to acquire silver ring with jewel and mist alone by abusing the s you get from the hellfire spell. You chain them together one after the other as you move forward and get past the spikes. No equipment!
I absolutely love how some of these fights look (especially Maria) with you tossing out spells and stuff! It’s very evocative of Alucard’s inheritance from Dracula, if that makes sense
using the spike breaker for that 1 hallway part or the rings for that 1 door doesn't fail the challenge becuase your aren't fighting enemies with them equipped and the game forces you to equip them to continue
36:10 There is an easy way to beat Beelzebub: just climb up the platforms until you're standing over him and toss axes down onto his head. The axes kill the flies at the same time so he can't do anything.
I clicked on this video thinking “oh yeah cool castlevania video” and then realizing throughout the video “oh yeah there’s like 3 separate times you need to equip stuff to move on” and I’ve replayed this game many times.
Fun fact about the inverted castle: All the mandatory bosses are ones you fight in the original castlevania on NES. The bat, the creature, the mummy, medusa, and death are all needed to fight dracula at the end, and the rewards are draculas body parts, like in castlevania 2.
My answer in my head to questions such as the one posed in the title of this video is, "Nope. I can't!" At least you make the answer (one way or another) considerably more entertaining :)
I remember getting to Dracula as a child and was so scared of his design that I spammed ALL the screen damage items I hoarded. Portrait of Dracula being the most ironic.
This was made so much harder by not using spells and transform mechanics. Tetraspirit and wing smash would have made some of the more challenging bosses quite easy.
Finally a game I know enough about to give relevant commentary on! The sword familiar is BROKEN if you level it up. I'm talking "one-shot Shaft at max level" broken. At level 50 it gains the ability to do a precise, high-damage stab instead of the spin attack, and it gets better at it the higher you go. All the familiars are strong at high levels, but the Sword in particular is insane.
There are a couple other ways to manipulate those invincibility eye frames too... If I recall correctly you can juggle transformations into it. You may also be able to cast spells like dark metamorphisis and get it too.
Great video! I no longer have the time or energy to pursue challenge runs, but if you hate being a sane person, do a pacifist + naked run where you can only attack bosses that are mandatory to progress. You'll find that your incredibly low stats mean that fights of attrition are rarely in your favour, and fights that would otherwise be easy (Death, Shaft and Dracula) turn into nightmares since you have so little MP. You'll also find that getting the Leap Stone in itself without killing Flea Riders to be a huge pain. I struggled a ton with this challenge and I was also playing on the PSP which seems to have even jankier directional input registration. I don't even remember if I managed to finish Drac... It's been over ten years. I also feel the urge to add that you can perform a kick (no, not a dive kick) with fists or any fist weapon by pressing down + left/right + attack in mid-air while falling or starting to fall. Kicks have greater range than your fists and are really helpful when a huge weakness in naked runs is your lack of attack range.
ironically the saturn version only has 2 new areas that don't really amount to much. One is just another way to another area that was already easy to get to and the other is in a place at the beginning that doesn't give anything specific besides some items. And one new relic you get is the boots of god speed. You also can continuously bat dash until you run of mp in the saturn version. And of course the maria fight is different than in the other versions of sotn by her using martial arts than summoning to fight alucard. But other than that, you can play the newest release and not miss too much besides what I mentioned already.
I love these challenge runs. Alucard's bare hand is a surprisingly viable weapon. You should totally do a naked, Red Rust run for maximum masochism someday 👀
@@gghostt4227 yes. Not only the attack animation is really slow and it has a random chance of straight up not working (as if Alucard can't unsheathe it, so to speak), but also subtracts your Attack stat by -2
Funnily enough in standard weapon tier lists made by speed runners fists are not that bad, in fact; their considered mid tier Red rust is... awful....as in, your punch does WAY more damage than swinging around that weapon
It's interesting that the Saturn version added the Godspeed Shoes, meaning that with the Gravity Boots in this version Alucard can somehow wear 3 different pairs of shoes at the same if you equip that shoe accessory that make him 1 pixel taller (I forgot what they're called)
The most incomprehensible thing for me is that on the PS1 version Maria just gives you the glasses (which is most adequate for me), on the Saturn version they made her as a boss + not the easiest one, on the PSP they added a battle, but she doesn’t do anything at all, on the PS4 they completely changed her skills to the ones you use, when you play for her
It's hilarious to me imagining Alucard getting his fancy gear taken away and immediately deciding to just beat the shit out of everything in the castle and burn away everything he can't punch with holy water
Man I actually did this challenge myself in the past with a restriction of no subweapons, spells, or familiars (allowed myself healing items though)and while Akmodan may be easy in this variation he is hell on earth if you actually have to go punch him. Pretty much have to stick to dive kicks and if you aren't at the very precise tip-top of his head you're getting smacked. Even with healing items it took so, so many attempts.
My own wall for "don't use anything other the progression critical stuff" was Olrox cause darn is he awkward to hit with just punches (green skeleton form of him that is), and as I did not even use healing items.. well even more of a pain.
Akmodan's actually really easy if you keep doing low jumps back and forth over his head; he gets stuck in a cycle of trying to grab you and you can get an easy couple of hits in as you're coming down each time. It's kinda interesting how different people have completely different experiences depending on which bosses they found a way to cheese and which they had to slog through normally. Beelzebub is awful though.
Well, you still beat the game without equipped items in combat so its a complete success. And man, can't wait to see Castlevania Nocturne, looks so good
Easier way to take down Bezelbub is to just go after his head at the start. Climb up the side, target his head, he'll never summon the swarms of flies that wreck you.
I did this challenge myself except I didn't allow myself to use the Cube of Zoe or spells, so I basically went in with only my fists, the kick and the dive kick. No spells. There's an awkward angle that you can dive kick Maria in, it's not consistant but it's there. As for Galamoth, doing it without spells makes his fight so much more intense. I took hours dive kicking at his head to finally win.
You can go through the hall of spikes without any equip. Use the fairy familiar, and she will use the life apple when you're about to die. At that moment, you can open the door.
One fun trick for tall bosses is to dance on their heads with the dropkick. It makes no-familiar no-equipment no-magic no-subweapon runs way more feasible (though I played PS1 - that Maria phase 2 looks rough without soul steal or a long weapon). The dropkick also makes the clocktower much easier
You were so close to figuring out the best sub weapon for Doppelganger. The stopwatch stops him completely and then you can attack no problem
tbh with this challenge id only use stopwatch cause using sub weaposn seems like a cheat to me
@@ibilesfighter3.16isn't the stopwatch a subweapon tho?
@@EmilForsberg_GRYBOyes but it deals no damage so its fair game
@@ibilesfighter3.16 Yeah I've done a fists only challenge before and I just assumed everyone else wasn't using subweapons either! I guess it's fair, the challenge is worded no equipment. I don't think it's even possible to have no subweapon. It's just that the subweapons are lowkey as strong as anything you can do.
@@Spaced92 Yeah, I guess you could say sub-weapons are "items" but they seem like equipment to me.
Honestly i think you can make exceptions for like "quest items" Like the spike armor and the rings
And the glasses needed to the good ending
Yeah they're like honorary Relics.
With a little practice it’s not that bad to get through the spike room with bat
@@goodsprings5271 true but thst one part either needs potions or the armor so that would be needed
The age of the game and the "quest items" I think fall into the category of "use only when needed" and your not breaking any rules. That is my opinion.
I feel like making an exception for the potion to open the door and the rings to the clock room are more than reasonable.
I'd say so since those equipment pieces are glorified relics anyway
Yep spike breaker gives you defense but it's more a item to progress into getting the rings for the good ending/ inverted castle.
Does a Tokimeki Crisis FDL 3 count as equipment?
@@emperorkiva8063wth is that
Fancy seeing you here foam man!
So basically Alucard wants to start wrestling like Soma.
Like Father Like Son!
@@johnhager8967what?
@@guilhermegaspar752 spoilers, Don't worry about it
@@johnhager8967 if its for ária of sorrow i finish the game but i am confused as to when did soma became draculas son?
@@guilhermegaspar752 no I was implying Alucard wants to do it because soma did, soma being Alucards father
37:32 - The "Cave Trolls" don't actually attack with "lasers". They're actually extending their very sharp tongues. Their design is based on the "Chupacabra".
Yeah, I’m shocked he could not *see* that it is a tongue to extend outwards lmao
@@xXLunatikxXlul20+ years later still never noticed
Also, to complete the Bestiary, you need to kill a Mudman during the Lesser Demon fight. It shows up nowhere else and the Lesser Demon enemies that show up later don't summon them.
EDIT: I never count mandatory items or actions as run enders. Tutorials and quest items should never be counted, because the game forces them on you, with no way to opt out.
The spike hallway, sure. The glasses... should absolutely count, though, as they are still optional if all you want to do is just beat the game.
@@RippahRooJizah The glasses should have been a relic too, since not using them cuts you off from half the game.
@@TimedRevolver The challenge is whether or not one can beat the game without equipping anything. Getting the bad ending is still beating the game, and the glasses are completely optional if the goal is to simply "beat the game".
@@RippahRooJizah Way to repeat yourself without reading what I wrote.
Well done, your family must be proud.
Fable 1 with stick or spells only. You need to use non-stick weapons to progress through the tutorial.
14:50
Saturn port wasn’t actually made by Igarashi’s team and was actually made by Konami’s Nagoya studio, which was really unexperienced with Saturn’s hardware. That’s why Saturn version of Symphony looks worse than PS1 version.
In fact, Igarashi didn’t even know about this port until it was released and disliked Saturn version so much that he asked Castlevania fans not to play it despite added new content
There's also no invisibility cloak in this since the Saturn could not replicate it.
For some reason,I like the Saturn version more
Why not just add the new content in his image...
...I mean before the igavania split
@@zachtwilightwindwaker596 It's a misconception that Saturn can't do transparencies; it's just that doing so is difficult (the Saturn itself is already difficult to code for). There is a hack that addresses all the issues with the Saturn version (including transparencies); though I don't know if it addresses every instance of it. Btw there are also hacks to fix CV 64
@@daviribeiro8997 I like it cuz of Maria, she kicks ass (generally I hate OP chars but she's quite fun to play as, and I love her moves and their SFX like her turtle healing spell, the way her hair "flies" upwards is so cool)
Watching this after "as devs intended speedrun" is actually making realise how hidden some exploits and AI manipulation on bosses are. Like, Medusa can be cheesed same way a Cerberus by driven into a wall, Legion bodies despawn by high jump and so on
To be fair the Legion can also push you past the exit door's hitbox, causing a softlock. I think that some aspects just got overlooked when they ran out of time and money and it's nicer to pretend everything was intentional.
@@greenhowie...What are you on? Exploits and AI manipulations aren't "overlooked aspects" those are obvious small gaps any code gonna have.
Legion bodies obviously disappear from the high jump to avoid breaking the game. As, you know, there's a reason why that boss never fully shown on screen and room is seen pretty much 1/4 of it's actual size. Just because it's 2D on PS1, it doesn't mean screen can't get overcrowded to game breaking point. Don't know if anyone emulating it ever tried to actually back the camera enough to fit the whole room and see if bodies spawn outside of intended view. Which is most likely, again to avoid game eating fps. Interesting, how big of a crowd needed for that.
And AI manipulation on Doppelganger, Medusa or even Death are just code imperfections. No game safe from this. Because it's a script written by people, which either can't predict every build and action player gonna throw on the boss or actually made to take specific actions in response to player to be as hard of a fight as devs want.
BTW, no game is glitchless, and there's a ton in SotN that speedrunners abuse like nocliping through walls and rooms. But those aren't what I spoke of. What I speak about is used in official in game tips on how to beat bosses, so yea, no way they're "pretending it was intentional" more like self aware.
@@Louis_Cyphriel I apologise for upsetting you.
@@greenhowielol, you sure love jumping conclusions. Guess starting serious discussion now mean being upset. Internet never stop surprising me.
Ah you saw that one too?
Alucard running around castle showing his magnificent abs, this is completely in character for him lol
I like how Alucard has to teabag after each boss defeat
Hey, those cave trolls aren't shooting lasers at all! Those are their tongues!
He seems to have bad eyesight, because he also mistook Death's dual sickles for "claws"
Later games give them a super damaging electric attack, which sucks 😕
I'd say you can beat the game without equipment regardless. You'll just need to resign yourself to killing Richter and getting the bad ending
With glitches, you can get the good ending. Richter can be skipped with just Soul of Wolf. Second Castle movement relies on Soul of Bat that you can get without equipment. For Vlad Relics, you can skip them using a Heart Refresh that you can start with if you use up all your hearts as Richter in the prologue.
Without glitches, you're right.
the only legitimate way to do it.
@@SyRose901 Yeah but... Heart Refresh is a usable item. If you go with the absolutely no equip rule, then it's still not enough. If, however, you say potions/usables are okay... then it'd be alright.
@@FlameSoulis Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I wonder if you can pull a version of the trick that involves a levelup animation... Hmm, probably not without equipment.
So, just gather the Vlad relics, I guess. You can fly with Soul of Bat to reach bosses and then punch/cast spells on them to death. The reverse clock room doesn't have the same problem as the regular one; Vlad Relics are relics and not equipment.
The true ending :v
I’m now glad that I’m not the only person around who got caught in the “Lesser Demon Infinity Funhouse”.
Fun Fact! Once it hits around eight Lesser Demons, the frame rate starts to chug! Witnessed on the PS4 port.
Just a side note for anyone who still owns a psp or vita like myself, there actually is a port of symphony of the night included in the Rondo of Blood remake for psp, Dracula X chronicles, that is essentially the closest thing to a western saturn port. Maria is included as a boss and playable character, and there’s some changes/additions similar to that in the Saturn port. It’s more of an in between than anything else, but it’s still interesting to me that it acknowledges the extra content from the Saturn version all the way in 2007, and no other port of it since has.
pretty sure that unlockable port was the basis for the ps4 SotN
I thought DXC Maria was super nerfed compared to her Saturn version?
@@gaminggoddess85Yeah, you are right, the Maria in PSP SotN is basically Rondo of Blood Maria but with a couple extra moves added for character parity with the other two.
Compared to her Saturn version though, she's absolutely dreadful, although calling it a 'nerf' is not really the truth because, looks aside, they are two completely different characters.
they explicilty didn't base maria on saturn version for dxc. so dxc maria sucks
Same thing on mobile
The Soul Steal not working properly is the Godspeed boots' fault, as the input for the boots is the same as one of the inputs for Soul Steal, 66.
This version of Death is very easy, but the easiest is absolutely the version from Castlevania 2. He respawns like a normal enemy and you can just run past him
A bit sad to see your transition to a Castlevania channel come to an end, but it was fun while it lasted. These challenge runs were just as fun as your SMT ones, which is a big compliment when your Nocturne No buffs run is what got me to play my copy of Nocturne finally.
As long there are demons, you can count Nyarly in
Same here with regard to nocturne haha. Always a good time here.
Love and Peace folks.
Ok but the intro in japanese is soooo much better than the one in English, there's so much PASSION in richter
27:36 That T-bag on Maria was absolutely deserved, Nyarly.
The Doppelganger fight could be mitigated by a whole lot by using the Stop Watch. Doppelganger does not fight back let alone move. At all.
It's fun that whoisthisgit has done this challenge several years ago? He also didn't use sub-weapons, and considered it to be more intentional difficulty.
Your vid is still amazing, though, Nyarly. The amount of dedication is inspiring
For me the required stuff doesn't count towards the no equipment. You can't do anything about it after all
The obligatory tea-bagging after every boss kill is what makes it for me. Fun run to watch man
there's one move with the bare fists I'm surprised you never noticed. If you're in the air and you hold diagonally down and press the attack button, Alucard does a disjointed kick at an angle that can make it easier to hit some enemies. It's very useful in hitting evasive foes and enemies outside normal fisting range.
If you're required to use something ineligible for a run to progress, consider that an exeption to the rules
Igarashi hates the Saturn version, so as you said the new areas are cool, he still had nothing to do with them.
Still a bummer, as the cooler items like the Rainbow Mantle (randomly changes colors as you move!) really should be in every version.
Magic is so broken in SOTN, Hellfire with the meteors + stopwatch can pretty much carry the entire game.
Glad to see this, haven't played the Saturn version and Nyarly gives good commentary.
Still going to suggest a no kill run (apart from bosses) where you only use subweapons though. Mainly because it's fun working out which weapon is most efficient and you have to work out paths to the heart upgrades. Shockingly the answer to Slogra & Gaibon isn't the axe.
20:00 Soul Steal works wonders here. Yes, I get you don't use spells, but of all spells to use... that one in particular heals you and hurts ANY targetable entity... including each segment of Legion. Plus it makes the game lag. It's fun.
Rapid teabagging then a straight shot to the jaw is no way to treat a lady.
There’s an easy cheese strat for Beelzebub: spam wing smash.
Not that its the most important thing in this run, but I actually believe the cave troll's attack is to fire their tongue out at the player and not shoot lasers.
It is indeed a tongue whip that is suppose to mimic how a IRL chameleon shoots out their tongue.
honestly with any challenge run i think a "unless the game actually requires it" clause is just implied
so if the game forces you to equip something to get through a place i dont think that goes against any run.
I think part of the reason for all the good Saturn games being Japan only releases was due to the inter-corporate rivalry going on at the time between Sega of Japan & Sega of America
Seeing Alucard teabag was hilarious lol
glad you gave us one more video on castlevania before taking a break from it, I've really been enjoying these videos and even came back to your bloodstained video recently after finishing the game so i could watch it all without being spoiled :)
That familiar is putting in a lot of work
Man, SOTN literally belongs in a museum because it is still a masterpiece, well composed music, some of the most beautiful pixel art to grasp the PSONE/Saturn, and it still holds up today.
Well done Nyarly, great challenge :D
Too bad it's way too easy, which ruins the experience and makes replayability basically non-existent
Hard agree, one of the greats for sure, first time beating it already had me obsessed lmao.
Who's gonna tell him the Doppelganger isn't immune to the Stop Watch?
37:37 They actually use their tongues and that's why they retract after attack. In the japanese version they are called "Chupacabra".
5:14
The vicious T - bagging
I saw Alucard and the word 'naked' and got baited good job cheeky bro
Wake up babe, new Nyarly Castlevania challenge run dropped
Wide awake
Hee ho honey
As a teen with dog shit sleep schedule, i see this as a win
Man, must have sucked at 10:24. Boss says to knock his son around a bit and suddenly the guy slams you into a wall and wails on you until there's nothing left.
Also, I'd consider donning the spike-breaker armour JUST for as long as it takes to get through that area (No enemies) as a perfectly reasonable concession. Same for the rings, they're basically just progression checks. The glasses are kind of the same, if they don't give you any stat bonuses I'd throw them in too but you actually have to wear those fighting, so.
Same as a lot of the others, I think you can make exceptions. It's like saying that in P3 Thanatos is a cutscene so it's ok, but if in the first turn of the tutorial fight you started your animation with Orpheus and he morphed halfway and started attacking as Thanatos that that would be breaking the rules.
The equipment is nothing more than a key, and if equipped and then removed immediately after use, it stays true to the spirit of the run by not using any equipment in a meaningful way.
I love these Castlevania challenge run videos. Great work!
The Cave Trolls are actually called the "Chupacabra".
And they're not shooting lasers. They lash their super long and sharp tongue to suck blood.
That run was super clean. Awesome job!
Damn. Alucard got hands.
It is possible to acquire silver ring with jewel and mist alone by abusing the s you get from the hellfire spell. You chain them together one after the other as you move forward and get past the spikes. No equipment!
I absolutely love how some of these fights look (especially Maria) with you tossing out spells and stuff! It’s very evocative of Alucard’s inheritance from Dracula, if that makes sense
This video reminds me of the no equipment runs me and my friend used to do back in high school. Great video!
using the spike breaker for that 1 hallway part or the rings for that 1 door doesn't fail the challenge becuase your aren't fighting enemies with them equipped and the game forces you to equip them to continue
I love these Castlevania challenge vids of yours! Please keep making more! :D
36:10 There is an easy way to beat Beelzebub: just climb up the platforms until you're standing over him and toss axes down onto his head. The axes kill the flies at the same time so he can't do anything.
I clicked on this video thinking “oh yeah cool castlevania video” and then realizing throughout the video “oh yeah there’s like 3 separate times you need to equip stuff to move on” and I’ve replayed this game many times.
Fun fact about the inverted castle: All the mandatory bosses are ones you fight in the original castlevania on NES. The bat, the creature, the mummy, medusa, and death are all needed to fight dracula at the end, and the rewards are draculas body parts, like in castlevania 2.
Before the Silver Ring I wonder if you could get the Faerie summon to use a potion for you to avoid having to equip the potion yourself?
Faerie/Half-Faerie (Fairy in English) only uses healing items if your health is
27:40
.......did you just teabag Maria 😂
My answer in my head to questions such as the one posed in the title of this video is, "Nope. I can't!" At least you make the answer (one way or another) considerably more entertaining :)
I remember getting to Dracula as a child and was so scared of his design that I spammed ALL the screen damage items I hoarded. Portrait of Dracula being the most ironic.
This was made so much harder by not using spells and transform mechanics. Tetraspirit and wing smash would have made some of the more challenging bosses quite easy.
Finally a game I know enough about to give relevant commentary on! The sword familiar is BROKEN if you level it up. I'm talking "one-shot Shaft at max level" broken. At level 50 it gains the ability to do a precise, high-damage stab instead of the spin attack, and it gets better at it the higher you go. All the familiars are strong at high levels, but the Sword in particular is insane.
There are a couple other ways to manipulate those invincibility eye frames too... If I recall correctly you can juggle transformations into it. You may also be able to cast spells like dark metamorphisis and get it too.
Great video! I no longer have the time or energy to pursue challenge runs, but if you hate being a sane person, do a pacifist + naked run where you can only attack bosses that are mandatory to progress. You'll find that your incredibly low stats mean that fights of attrition are rarely in your favour, and fights that would otherwise be easy (Death, Shaft and Dracula) turn into nightmares since you have so little MP. You'll also find that getting the Leap Stone in itself without killing Flea Riders to be a huge pain. I struggled a ton with this challenge and I was also playing on the PSP which seems to have even jankier directional input registration. I don't even remember if I managed to finish Drac... It's been over ten years.
I also feel the urge to add that you can perform a kick (no, not a dive kick) with fists or any fist weapon by pressing down + left/right + attack in mid-air while falling or starting to fall. Kicks have greater range than your fists and are really helpful when a huge weakness in naked runs is your lack of attack range.
34:34 Not a criticism or a correction, but I have never heard Necromancy pronounced that way before. I just thought it was interesting.
see the title and be like " you probably can, is not gonna be an enjoyable experince tho"
Was expecting a SOTN video, wanted magic only, but no equipment also very challenging
ironically the saturn version only has 2 new areas that don't really amount to much. One is just another way to another area that was already easy to get to and the other is in a place at the beginning that doesn't give anything specific besides some items. And one new relic you get is the boots of god speed. You also can continuously bat dash until you run of mp in the saturn version. And of course the maria fight is different than in the other versions of sotn by her using martial arts than summoning to fight alucard. But other than that, you can play the newest release and not miss too much besides what I mentioned already.
Awesome! Welcome Nyarly!
I love these challenge runs. Alucard's bare hand is a surprisingly viable weapon. You should totally do a naked, Red Rust run for maximum masochism someday 👀
is red rust worse than fists I’m new to symphony
@@gghostt4227 yes. Not only the attack animation is really slow and it has a random chance of straight up not working (as if Alucard can't unsheathe it, so to speak), but also subtracts your Attack stat by -2
Funnily enough in standard weapon tier lists made by speed runners fists are not that bad, in fact; their considered mid tier
Red rust is... awful....as in, your punch does WAY more damage than swinging around that weapon
No equipment SOTN makes you a glass cannon but it's doable with patience. Red Rust runs are just unfun.
It says naked run, but he could just have used spells
Ngl I'm disappointed Alucard isn't literally naked in this challenge run xD
It's interesting that the Saturn version added the Godspeed Shoes, meaning that with the Gravity Boots in this version Alucard can somehow wear 3 different pairs of shoes at the same if you equip that shoe accessory that make him 1 pixel taller (I forgot what they're called)
Cave Trolls don't shoot lasers. That's their tongue.
I swear to Christ, those things do some of the highest damage in any game they're in.
Source is the monster information in Portrait Of Ruin, I'm pretty sure.
Also unless I am misremembering doesn't it's soul in Dawn of Sorrow mention it is a tongue as well?
@@chaossnowkitsune6377 Probably
It's because it's actually supposed to be the Chupacabra, but "Cave Troll" was a weird nonsense localization that stuck around for later games.
The most incomprehensible thing for me is that on the PS1 version Maria just gives you the glasses (which is most adequate for me), on the Saturn version they made her as a boss + not the easiest one, on the PSP they added a battle, but she doesn’t do anything at all, on the PS4 they completely changed her skills to the ones you use, when you play for her
It's hilarious to me imagining Alucard getting his fancy gear taken away and immediately deciding to just beat the shit out of everything in the castle and burn away everything he can't punch with holy water
Fun fact, the doppelganger boss is one of the only bosses that can be stopped with the stop watch.
Man I'm still so sad we never EVER got the updated Richter sprites aside from Saturn. How hard is it to update that shit to other consoles??
no wonder the santa water is op in vampire survivors
Big brain solution to making it possible is just playing as the other characters.
They technically never have equipment.
when you jump forward doppleganger jumps fowards too, you can exploit this until he dies.
7:41 you sleeping on the clock sub weapon lol 😂
When I read, without equipment, I thought this was going to be a fists only, like one that Whoisthisgit did some time ago. Boy was I wrong. Good run
Man I actually did this challenge myself in the past with a restriction of no subweapons, spells, or familiars (allowed myself healing items though)and while Akmodan may be easy in this variation he is hell on earth if you actually have to go punch him. Pretty much have to stick to dive kicks and if you aren't at the very precise tip-top of his head you're getting smacked. Even with healing items it took so, so many attempts.
My own wall for "don't use anything other the progression critical stuff" was Olrox cause darn is he awkward to hit with just punches (green skeleton form of him that is), and as I did not even use healing items.. well even more of a pain.
Akmodan's actually really easy if you keep doing low jumps back and forth over his head; he gets stuck in a cycle of trying to grab you and you can get an easy couple of hits in as you're coming down each time.
It's kinda interesting how different people have completely different experiences depending on which bosses they found a way to cheese and which they had to slog through normally. Beelzebub is awful though.
with doppelganger, the clock is the best subweapon. he's affected by it
Tea Bagging every boss, has me cracking up
Well, you still beat the game without equipped items in combat so its a complete success. And man, can't wait to see Castlevania Nocturne, looks so good
Seems like the classic Naked Alucard challenge but youre allowed relics and sub weapons
Easier way to take down Bezelbub is to just go after his head at the start. Climb up the side, target his head, he'll never summon the swarms of flies that wreck you.
I love how Alucard working that jab
-We got a new announcement for NOCTURNE...
My ears reacted like dogs to a bell ring.
😅
Medusa has such a nice cake.
Got the popcorn ready, shout out to Knight0fDragon though, legend!
I did this challenge myself except I didn't allow myself to use the Cube of Zoe or spells, so I basically went in with only my fists, the kick and the dive kick. No spells.
There's an awkward angle that you can dive kick Maria in, it's not consistant but it's there. As for Galamoth, doing it without spells makes his fight so much more intense. I took hours dive kicking at his head to finally win.
I love these challenge runs its so entertaining to watch i hope there a run for the first persona game some time in the future
For people who will attempt this, i strongly recommend learn how to do the soul steal and tetra spirit spells. These will make the run a lot easier
The cave troll 'lazers' are tongues
You can go through the hall of spikes without any equip. Use the fairy familiar, and she will use the life apple when you're about to die. At that moment, you can open the door.
One fun trick for tall bosses is to dance on their heads with the dropkick. It makes no-familiar no-equipment no-magic no-subweapon runs way more feasible (though I played PS1 - that Maria phase 2 looks rough without soul steal or a long weapon).
The dropkick also makes the clocktower much easier
Title misleading. Now I gotta put the lotion back.
This game is a legend.
PS: 41:31 cute souls steal.