Didi Mau
07-03-2010, 12:16 PM
Hey guys, I thought I'd make a detailed Belmont run guide for the forum, seeing as what we're currently using is a GameFAQs speed-run guide that can be modified to make our achievement easier to unlock! Basically I'll be taking the speed-run's route but explaining how best to slowly make your way through the rooms to maximise your safety, rather than mastering precision jumps and special attacks to zoom over dangers.
So with that said, before I continue I'd like to give credit to WonderLlama of GameFAQs for the route that got me my achievement (found in his guide HERE (http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/937723-castlevania-symphony-of-the-night/faqs/8168)), and also to our own x360a member Noxic, for posting up some large photos of the maps which I have drawn over because I lack a decent camera :p
Here is the route this guide will be taking; open them up in a separate window or whatever and then just match the room numbers to the paragraphs below:
Normal Castle's route: link (http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z81/didi_mau/RichterNormalCastleRoute.jpg)
Inverted Castle's route: link (http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z81/didi_mau/RichterInvertedCastleRoute.jpg)
Saving as JPEGs have made the quality a bit hard to see, so sorry about that- the only thing that's really tricky is the Save Room green lines, though you should really know where they are by now if you're going for this achievement anyway.
Seeing as there are quite a lot of rooms to traverse, I'll only be making notes on the rooms that I feel require them. Let's begin!
Note that this may not be the best route through the game as far as safety is concerned- I wouldn't know personally as I've only played the game a couple months. I do know however, that this is still a very safe route, and if it's the speed-run's route of choice we may as well attempt to save ourselves some time haha.
1: Just thrown it in so you know where to start looking at the map, really.
2: It's better to get this in your head right from the start; be cautious! Don't rush through the rooms, even the zombies in this corridor will do big damage to Richter. Take your time, and make it a habit to pick up hearts from any candles you see.
3: As you super-jump up to this square of the map, there's a Heart upgrade in the room to your left- that's 30 hearts! This saves time hunting candles, so pick it up then continue along.
Save room #1- follow the green line to use the first save room if you want, then make your way back to the red (or purple, apparently...stupid JPEGs :p) line.
4: Similarly, as you super jump up to this square there is a Life upgrade in the room to your right- supposedly this does improve Richter's health, so let's pick it up and then continue super-jumping up.
5: This is where we get our holy water weapon, break the candle in this square and then hold onto it for the rest of the game! If you accidentally drop it and it vanishes before you can get it back, you may as well reload the save. The upcoming Ctulhu should fly away from you, if you repeatedly whip him in the air he'll be dead before he even turns around.
6: These annoying little ghosts are best simply avoided rather than attacking, run under and jump over them while progressing left. Alternatively, just item crash and run on through, seeing as there's an abundance of hearts.
7: Skelerangs are highly damaging, so hydro storm these guys- if you jump onto the first ledge before using the item crash, you can then jump again which will raise the crash's range and kill the very highest one.
8: Play it safe, hit the Plate Lord a couple times then run away and wait for him to attack before trying to finish him off. You'll be able to get most of your hearts back in this corridor as well.
Save room #2- follow the green line again, watch out for the Ouija Table that guards the room's entrance though.
9: Diplocephalis dies in two hits, so don't be worried about them- just walk up to them and take them out before they can attack. Stone Roses die in two hits too but be more careful around them and aim for the head- you can probably get away with using item crashes here if you want to (along with the unlisted rooms that lead up to this point), but I've been saving the hearts for the Inverted Castle so far.
10: Super-jump up into this square and the vase on the right has a Life upgrade. As you make your way up to the top of the outer wall, kill everything you want other than the Sword Lord who you can just avoid- everything dies in one hit except the Axe Knight which takes two, so it‘s better to just kill them rather than risk being hit.
Save Room #3- definitely save here, because this is the most annoying part of the Normal Castle.
11: Super-jump to the top of the screen, and then continue to do them mid-air to cross over to the top-left exit.
12: The candle in this room holds a knife, so either avoid hitting it entirely or hit it, and fend off the Medusa Heads while you wait for it to disappear.
13: Walk in, item crash, walk to the left to land on a small platform and left again to land on a revolving gear. Fall down to the right and this should kill every Harpy in the room, provided your hydro storm is still active. Now take your time leaving to avoid picking up the special weapon that is laying around (what is that thing supposed to be anyway, magic dust?)- go the left route across the gears rather than falling farther down to the right, as you may land on the spikes below.
14: If you continuously super-jump up and to the left, you should be able to leave this room without being hit by the Harpies- don't get caught under the exit's ledge, though! Alternatively, shoot off another item crash and then super-jump while it's active.
15: The Sword Lords in this room will turn into Vandal Swords when killed- defeat the Lords at max distance with the whip and then stand still mashing the whip button, it should kill the Vandal at this distance without putting yourself in danger. If you're low on hearts, the next exit takes you to a room with candles and no enemies- you will need an item crash for labelled room #16, so farm them if you have to by exiting the room (using the right exit!) and re-entering.
16: Karasuman dies in one item crash- pick up your Life upgrade and exit left :p
Save room #4- the final save room in the Normal Castle.
So with that said, before I continue I'd like to give credit to WonderLlama of GameFAQs for the route that got me my achievement (found in his guide HERE (http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/937723-castlevania-symphony-of-the-night/faqs/8168)), and also to our own x360a member Noxic, for posting up some large photos of the maps which I have drawn over because I lack a decent camera :p
Here is the route this guide will be taking; open them up in a separate window or whatever and then just match the room numbers to the paragraphs below:
Normal Castle's route: link (http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z81/didi_mau/RichterNormalCastleRoute.jpg)
Inverted Castle's route: link (http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z81/didi_mau/RichterInvertedCastleRoute.jpg)
Saving as JPEGs have made the quality a bit hard to see, so sorry about that- the only thing that's really tricky is the Save Room green lines, though you should really know where they are by now if you're going for this achievement anyway.
Seeing as there are quite a lot of rooms to traverse, I'll only be making notes on the rooms that I feel require them. Let's begin!
Note that this may not be the best route through the game as far as safety is concerned- I wouldn't know personally as I've only played the game a couple months. I do know however, that this is still a very safe route, and if it's the speed-run's route of choice we may as well attempt to save ourselves some time haha.
1: Just thrown it in so you know where to start looking at the map, really.
2: It's better to get this in your head right from the start; be cautious! Don't rush through the rooms, even the zombies in this corridor will do big damage to Richter. Take your time, and make it a habit to pick up hearts from any candles you see.
3: As you super-jump up to this square of the map, there's a Heart upgrade in the room to your left- that's 30 hearts! This saves time hunting candles, so pick it up then continue along.
Save room #1- follow the green line to use the first save room if you want, then make your way back to the red (or purple, apparently...stupid JPEGs :p) line.
4: Similarly, as you super jump up to this square there is a Life upgrade in the room to your right- supposedly this does improve Richter's health, so let's pick it up and then continue super-jumping up.
5: This is where we get our holy water weapon, break the candle in this square and then hold onto it for the rest of the game! If you accidentally drop it and it vanishes before you can get it back, you may as well reload the save. The upcoming Ctulhu should fly away from you, if you repeatedly whip him in the air he'll be dead before he even turns around.
6: These annoying little ghosts are best simply avoided rather than attacking, run under and jump over them while progressing left. Alternatively, just item crash and run on through, seeing as there's an abundance of hearts.
7: Skelerangs are highly damaging, so hydro storm these guys- if you jump onto the first ledge before using the item crash, you can then jump again which will raise the crash's range and kill the very highest one.
8: Play it safe, hit the Plate Lord a couple times then run away and wait for him to attack before trying to finish him off. You'll be able to get most of your hearts back in this corridor as well.
Save room #2- follow the green line again, watch out for the Ouija Table that guards the room's entrance though.
9: Diplocephalis dies in two hits, so don't be worried about them- just walk up to them and take them out before they can attack. Stone Roses die in two hits too but be more careful around them and aim for the head- you can probably get away with using item crashes here if you want to (along with the unlisted rooms that lead up to this point), but I've been saving the hearts for the Inverted Castle so far.
10: Super-jump up into this square and the vase on the right has a Life upgrade. As you make your way up to the top of the outer wall, kill everything you want other than the Sword Lord who you can just avoid- everything dies in one hit except the Axe Knight which takes two, so it‘s better to just kill them rather than risk being hit.
Save Room #3- definitely save here, because this is the most annoying part of the Normal Castle.
11: Super-jump to the top of the screen, and then continue to do them mid-air to cross over to the top-left exit.
12: The candle in this room holds a knife, so either avoid hitting it entirely or hit it, and fend off the Medusa Heads while you wait for it to disappear.
13: Walk in, item crash, walk to the left to land on a small platform and left again to land on a revolving gear. Fall down to the right and this should kill every Harpy in the room, provided your hydro storm is still active. Now take your time leaving to avoid picking up the special weapon that is laying around (what is that thing supposed to be anyway, magic dust?)- go the left route across the gears rather than falling farther down to the right, as you may land on the spikes below.
14: If you continuously super-jump up and to the left, you should be able to leave this room without being hit by the Harpies- don't get caught under the exit's ledge, though! Alternatively, shoot off another item crash and then super-jump while it's active.
15: The Sword Lords in this room will turn into Vandal Swords when killed- defeat the Lords at max distance with the whip and then stand still mashing the whip button, it should kill the Vandal at this distance without putting yourself in danger. If you're low on hearts, the next exit takes you to a room with candles and no enemies- you will need an item crash for labelled room #16, so farm them if you have to by exiting the room (using the right exit!) and re-entering.
16: Karasuman dies in one item crash- pick up your Life upgrade and exit left :p
Save room #4- the final save room in the Normal Castle.