The gameplay in Symphony of the Night adheres to the standard precepts of 2D platform games. The protagonist of the game is the Vampire Alucard, whose basic movements are attacking with multiple weapons and jumping. When you explore the castle and gain experience you learn new skills. The exploration of the castle, the place where the game takes place, is an open-closed process, since it does not follow the classic stages or worlds of the now-disappeared side-scroll system, where the journey on a stage was irreversible. The player is free to explore adjacent areas of the castle (areas that do not directly guide the final boss or at the end of the game) and sometimes have to go through areas already visited after acquiring new skills. RPG elements promote exploration since Alucard can increase its attributes. For example, certain weapons and special items are found in areas that are made accessible with the use of some special ability (for example double jump). When starting the game for the first time, these areas are impossible to reach once found. The non-linearity of this game managed to be one of its most acclaimed aspects. The videogame press often compares the game design of Symphony of the Night with the already well-known Metro-id, which led to the invention of the term Metroidvania.