If you've been following our work for a while, you'll probably know that we're huge Castlevania fans.
Recently, for instance, Damien put together an article on why Super Castlevania IV is a still "a stone cold classic" all these years later for our newly launched Game Changer series, while in the past, I have previously spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time trying to track down more information about the series's elusive Japanese creator Hitoshi Akamatsu, with some admittedly rather limited success (a topic I'm hoping to revisit in the future).
In other words, it's safe to say we spend a lot of time thinking about Castlevania in our time, and are always on the lookout for good deals to introduce the series to more people. That's why when we saw Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood had recently been reduced from ($19.99/£15.99) to less than $5 ($4.99/£3.99) as part of the recent Autumn Sale on PS4/PS5 (as spotted elsewhere by PlayStationLifestyle), we couldn't help but pass the news along, in the hopes that it might lead a few more people to discovering two of the very best games in the series.
Released in 2018, Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood (as the name suggests) collects together the 1997 title Symphony of the Night and the Rondo of Blood, and the 1993 PC Engine Super CD-ROM² platformer Rondo of Blood — both of which have gone on to be considered among the finest games in the series.
In our fan ranked list, for instance, readers put the original Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the PS1 at number one, while Castlevania: Rondo of Blood was ranked at number 11, with the combined Castlevania Requiem Collection ultimately nabbing a top three position.
Here's what we had to say about it then:
"With two brilliant retro games in one bundle, the gameplay in Castlevania Requiem is excellent. As a starting point to the 1792 Dracula X story-line, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is a fantastic 1993 example of the traditional NES Castlevania's arcade, platforming template, which shouldn't be missed. However, Castlevania Requiem disappoints with a lack of extras like developer interviews, or an art museum.
It's contentious that Castlevania Requiem is based on the Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles' version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, because it alters the original PSone's voice acting and script, although pleasingly the PSP version enables you to unlock a playable version of Maria Renard. The PS4 Trophy list deserves special mention for giving extra incentive to explore both games more thoroughly. The simplest way to recommend Castlevania Requiem is by acknowledging that it includes one of PSone's best ever games, in 1997's frightfully superb Castlevania: Symphony of the Night."
According to the PlayStation store, the deal ends on September 24th, so you have five days to grab it before it ultimately returns to its original price.