Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Ambivalence and Recursion in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Paul Martin's 2011 essay in Eludamos argues that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997) uses recursion, both in its gameplay and its structure, to dramatize the ambivalence of its protagonist Alucard.

• Paul Martin's 2011 Eludamos essay argues that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997) uses recursion in both gameplay and structure to dramatize the ambivalence of its protagonist Alucard, using the Minoan labyrinth as an analogy.
• The essay claims ordinary mechanics such as backtracking, save-and-reload after death, and repeated relic collection take on expressive meaning tied to Alucard's divided heritage as the son of a human mother and vampiric father.
• Martin reads Alucard's conflict through Freudian psychology as an unresolved oedipal struggle between Lisa, whose forgiveness he must uphold, and Dracula.