- Estimated achievement difficulty: 5/10
- Offline: 12 [200]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 200: 6-8 hours
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 2
- Number of missable achievements: None!
- Glitched achievements: None!
- Do cheat codes disable achievements: No cheats
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No Difficulty Selection
Introduction:
Welcome to PSX's legendary game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, hailed by many as the best Castlevania incarnation ever. In order to get 200 you will have to complete the game twice, once with Alucard, unlocking the Inverted Castle, using the goggles Maria gives you while battling Richter in Dracula's Room and attacking the orb flying above him and another with Richard himself.
Step 1: Playthrough #1 (Alucard):
The first achievement you get is with Richter in the initial sequence and it is easy. Grab any hearts you can before the big fight (go to the ceiling right after the red stairway using Richter's Super Jump (,+) and take the big heart.
As soon you get to Dracula and after the dialogue, grab all hearts from the chandeliers and the Holy Water. As soon as the white light signaling the appearance of Dracula starts, do an item crash using and hitting him in the head once or twice. This should be enough to beat the first form of Dracula. As soon the second form appears, repeat the item crash, using the invincibility you have thanks to the Hydro Storm to get a few hits with your whip. If all goes well, you will have your achievement.
After destroying Dracula with Richter, you take control of Alucard. This will give you another chance to unlock the "Apprentice", "Rampage" and "Weapon Master" achievements immediately. When zombies start to spawn from the ground, stand on a ladder before exiting or after entering an area, so they disappear without being able to touch you. Carefully position yourself and kill ten of them with your weapon.
Use the following commands to kill ten more enemies:
,,+,+ (Hellfire)
,,,+ (Summon Spirit)
You might need to wait until your magic energy replenishes before you kill all ten enemies. As soon as you pick up a sub weapon, use it to kill ten enemies in a row.
You can buy all spells from the master librarian or you can input them and they will still unlock. You will have to get Soul of Wolf, Sword Familiar and Bat Transformation to input them, but if you want to get the achievement fast, buy them and then reload your game to keep the money.
The money achievement can be attained legitimately (time consuming) or you can use the Sword Familiar glitch with the Master Librarian and a few valuable gems. You must have a bank of 100.000$ at one point. Money spent does not count towards the achievement.
After unlocking the Inverted Castle (equip the goggles Maria gives you and attack the orb, NOT Richter!), go for the "Seeker" achievement using this interactive map and finish the game with Alucard. (Excel or Open Office required for link)
Step 2: Playthrough #2
After ending the game with Alucard, start a new one using the name RICHTER (the game itself tells you this). With Richter, the game is much more straightforward, as you cannot level up or equip items. Your only goal is to find and kill Shaft in the last chamber you fought him with Alucard. Try not to waste time killing unnecessary bosses or exploring, as Richter is quite vulnerable to attack.
Use and abuse Hydro Storm (Holy Water item crash) as much as you can when in need and use any save points you find, as you will have your health restored. Use this technique against Shaft, as a couple of Hydro Storms will kill him. This is the most challenging achievement, as Richter can die with a couple of hits from standard enemies, especially in the inverted castle.
Conclusion:
Most of your time will be spent exploring and looking for the "200.6%" achievement. While in the inverted castle, use the Wolf Form to reach the highest parts in the water. The total number of rooms is 1890, including the final area. One often used technique is to enter this last room and using a Library Card to return to the Great Library and keep a tally of the rooms encountered.
[XBA would like to thank Mantra for this Roadmap]