Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is an action role-playing game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation. It was directed and produced by Toru Hagihara, with Koji Igarashi acting as assistant director. It is a direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, taking place four years later. It features Dracula's dhampir son Alucard as the protagonist, rising from his slumber to explore Dracula's castle which has re-appeared after Richter Belmont vanished. It marks a clean break from previous games in the series, re-introducing the exploration, nonlinear level design, and role-playing elements first experimented with in the second installment, Simon's Quest.