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It is what it says it is, it's an accurate unembellished translation. More games need these and we're very lucky this team stepped up to do one for such a great game. To more success for this talented team in the future!

The readme isn't very helpful on what exact file you need to patch (it has to be compressed to correctly identify it, or so I read), so here are the hashes, it has to be track 1 (from my tests anyway):

crc32: D8114E7D

md5: 5021F600F109703170486DDA1F0F86C1

sha-1: 0D5E8AB839147526CE6EADC412661E2C5B63C7EE

You can easily use RDHN's online ROM Hasher (or similar) to identify it (but ignore the incorrect platform labeling, the hashes are what's important). Worked for me. https://www.romhacking.net/hash/ If you're wondering what revision disc you need to get in order to acquire the file you need, it's the "Playstation The Best" and "PSOne Books" editions you need to look for, at least according to redump. Those have the 1.2 version, which is what you need for this fan translation, despite the readme saying it being the "first print of the game" for some reason. I use RetroArch's disc dumper as a way to dump individual tracks from PS1 discs.

As for my review of this patch, it's a real delight to play (because I prefer original JP dub with proper/good EN translation). I really did like how the translated dialogue flowed nicely with the original JP dialogue and didn't feel like it was inaccurate at times, even with my very very limited knowledge of Japanese, and so it was delight to experience. However, some the translated weapons, armor, and item names can throw you off if you're looking up things in a walkthrough or wiki site due to some of them not lining up with the official names from both the modern and original English releases. An example of this is the Val Manwë in the fan translation, which is actually the Crissaegrim, or Schmoo being just "Q" in the fan translation. No, it's not that it's incorrect, it's just that searching up the names can net you no results because the name isn't on wiki sites and online guides, as I said. You're just gonna have to take some extra steps on searching what they are, so rely on the pictures and icons on what items are what. In addition, I really, REALLY don't like how there's no option to change the translated JP SOTN title screen into the NA SOTN title screen (the translated title screen was implemented, so why not have the option to put in the NA title screen for some people?). It's nice to have that translated too and even have a dedicated sprite work being put into it, but sometimes I would like to have the NA title screen just to make it appear like it's not fan-made from the surface. Same with the loading screen logo, too. Hopefully someone will take the time to make an addendum hack to make that happen as an option.

Overall, I recommend this for those who want to experience the original experience on the OG PlayStation 1. Heck, I played through it a 2nd time because it really was that fun to play and experience. I even feel like doing a 3rd playthrough...

Happy playing.

(This review is written in part by playing on original hardware.)

EDIT 2023/2/3: Played through the entire game, expanded the review and patching info.

The most important part of this translation is that it gives the items and weapons their proper names, instead of drawing them from a Tolkien book appendix like the official translations have done so far. The names are also consistent with the ones used by the Castlevania games that would come out after this, so SotN doesn't feel like the "odd one out".

It's probably not perfect but it's easily the best way to play SotN currently, especially if you are a fan of the metroidvanias/IGAvanias and expect some consistency between the games.

I've played it a few hours and can only recommend it. Though there is a single opinion I'd like to add: in the intro after Richter defeats Dracula, there is a line where Trevor Belmont is called Ralph C. Belmont (the japanese name of Trevor). I think this name could be left Trevor Belmont because it's for the English speaking audience who knows the name Trevor instead of Ralph C. Thanks alot for this superb translation!

While the (very old) readme claims you apply the patch to 'the first print of the game', redump for some reason puts in 'the first print' of this game with the version number 1.2 instead of the obvious 1.0.

Akumajou Dracula X - Gekka no Yasoukyoku (Japan) (v1.0)

Further, i think this is not usual at all. From my experience, later version numbers in redump means later releases or patches.

I only noticed this because the patch insisted in not working in mednafen. Checking it further, the crc32 of the game executable was:

crc32 slpm_860.23 db3490d6

quite different from what the readme says it should be "640E976A"

Sure enough, redump

Akumajou Dracula X - Gekka no Yasoukyoku (Japan) (v1.2)

has the right crc32

I know there's a lot of love out there for the corny dialogue of the original. I get it. The game-play in this is magnificent, and keeps you coming back for more even though the game is relatively short. So there's going to be plenty of nostalgia for the cheese ("What is a man?") because of the amazing player experience which followed afterwards. And for all of those who wish to quietly enjoy the original game, unaltered, it's always there.

I hadn't played the game until this year, and being pretty spoiled with English adaptations of contemporary 90's Japanese works (Neon Genesis Evangelion), I just couldn't get into the game after the opening scene. But upon finding this translation patch, I couldn't put the game down.

Like Super Metroid, this game tells most of it's story without words. The exploratory nature of the game give the environment and atmosphere more power in setting the emotional tone.

Symphony has excellent music, in CD quality, which perfectly matches the highly detailed, and intricately drawn levels. Definitely one of the most memorable soundtracks, and one of the best graphical games of the 2D era.

Why oh why would I want all this atmosphere punctured by poorly recorded, and poorly delivered lines, which add nothing at all to the experience.

After finishing this translation, I started playing the Hard Type hack to add some spice, and the dialogue is just too jarring. (I'll place a formal request for a merger of the two patches in the appropriate place.)

If you want the definitive experience, play this translation. Play it now! Alucard and Dracula have some pathos, Richter is not a Rambo extra, the librarian is a devious, sly old bastard, and the rest of the cast are believable.

Thank you to throughhim413 for the translation, and Gemini for the patch.

This is a most worthy adaptation for a classic game, deserving of praise for more than just it's looks, and Metroid-like experience.

The dialogue and voice acting on the PSP is better than the original and is a great Japanese translation. Great hack, otherwise!

This re-translation is a much needed refresher for Symphony of the Night. The original version had memorable lines, but this version fixes many ugly font issues in-game and in-menu.

The script feels much more official and the personalities of the characters remain with even a slight extra edge to them.

If you've wanted to replay this game with better dialogue then your best bet is definitely this version. A job very well done to the creators of this translation.

Okay, so the headline is misleading- I never had any problems with the official translation of SotN except for how goofy and weird it was.

This hack makes away with the weirdness of the official translation and makes something much more playable out of Gekka something something Akumajou Dracula X. Forgive me if I butchered that title.

Let me say that I have owned the official English release of this game for several years now. I played it all the way to the doppelganger (first castle) and stopped. Why? It just didn't feel worth playing. I tried playing that same version on my PSP once, and couldn't. I even tried the Dracula X Chronicles re-translation and couldn't. It took this translation to make the game finally enjoyable to me (or maybe I was going through Metroid withdrawal and needed a Metroid-esque). Therefore, you can expect the text in this version to run much, much smoother and read better than ever before and the Japanese voices sound cool to boot.

The game itself is fantastic (and what could make it more fantastic? If Alucard could have a buster on his right arm and could aim diagonally). Any fan of Metroid or of the Castlevanias starring Soma Cruz would be right at home with Symphony of the Night. Heck, action RPG and Zelda II fans might like this game too.

I probably wouldn't recommend it to fans of the old school Castlevanias, since this game is beyond being easier than its predecessors, but it's still a really good and challenging game specially since it's not out to kill you at every instance. That said, this game is not easy (but it isn't hard either) and you can lose if you don't know what you're doing. The game also turns the difficulty on its head once you get to the second castle, but I think that was meant to be that way.

My one beef with this game (and with some of the Metroid games) is that sometimes, it's not clear what you must do. I got up to... that one good guy who's not so good right now... and fought (and died) against him thinking "WTF, you're a good guy!!" If you go to Gamefaqs, turns out you needed two rings or something to find out what was wrong with him. Other than that, the game is perfect.