Castlevania: Symphony of the Night/Royal Chapel

Area Briefing

 * Save Room: (0,23) and (27,8)
 * Warp Room: none
 * Exits: (2,23) to, (11,17) to  , (27,7) to , and (15,14) to
 * Powerups: Life Vial x1
 * Relics: none
 * Enemies: Bat, Black Crow, Blue Raven, Bone Halberd, Bone Pillar, Corner Guard, Hunting Girl, Skelerang, Spectral Sword, Spiked Ball, Winged Guard
 * Boss: Hippogryph (21,8)
 * Items: Ankh of Life, Aquamarine, Boomerang, Cutlass, Goggles, Grape Juice, Magic Missile, Morningstar, Mystic Pendant, Potion, Shuriken, Silver Plate, Silver Ring, Str. Potion, TNT, Zircon

First Visit

 * (1,23):The first thing is to go left and save. The next save room will be after boss fight, so keep an eye on your precious HP.
 * (1,22):Go left to find an Aquamarine from a pot first. Now you will climb a long stair, guarded by Corner Guards and double-stacked Bone Pillars.  The Corner Guards can slide down from afar, but they move slower when going up.  If you break the lower Bone Pillar, the upper one will start to roll down.  You may notice some pots on the left, but you cannot reach them.  At the upper half of stairs, there is a Bone Pillar holding a Spiked Ball.  You may release the ball and let it roll down, crushing anything below, or grind this extremely tough ball for EXP and maybe Axelord Armor.  Proceed to the right.  The next room has something too high and must be collected via detour.
 * (9,17):You see a long sword hanging in the air, but it is actually a Spectral Sword which spreads out his Puppet Swords when you are close. In this room, take the upper left exit to return to previous room and collect a pair of Goggles above.  The lower right exit leads to, but all you can do is to get a Knight Shield and return.  When it is done, take the upper right exit.  The next room is empty.
 * (12,16):To the right end is the confession room. You will need to move up while clearing Skelerangs on both sides.  Before climbing the towers, there is an exit on the right, but it is blocked from the other side.
 * (14,16):This is the confession room, with two chairs you can sit in.
 * If you sit in the left chair, a priest ghost will appear on the right. A priest in blue robe will sit down and start talking (voice is only available in Japanese version, where his speech comes from Simon's Quest), and when he disappears, there is a chance that he leaves some Grape Juice.  Beware of a priest in gray robe, because he will pull the curtain and stab you with weapons.
 * If you sit in the right chair, a lady ghost will appear on the left. A lady in red dress will sit down and start confessing while crying, and will only disappear when you stand up.  A lady in green dress will also pull the curtain and stab you.
 * (14,14):A tiny statue stucks the larger statue, blocking the path. You must come from  in order to remove the tiny statue and connect the areas.
 * (12,13):Continue up, but beware of Black Crows waiting above the racks. You will start climbing the left rack, then jump to the right one.  Winged Guards will spawn endlessly.  There is a platform above with a Hunting Girl, and the candle below the platform contains $250.  From the platform, there is an exit on the left, but you can only find a tunnel full of spikes.  You will need to jump over the large bells while dodging Blue Ravens.  Before taking the right exit, you can find a Life Vial, a Str. Potion and a Silver Plate at top of the tower.
 * (14,9):This tunnel is full of Bone Halberds and Bats.
 * (17,9):The second tower also has Black Crows and Winged Guards, but there is only a Zircon at top of tower.
 * (19,8):Like the previous tunnel, but shorter. At the other end is...

Boss: Hippogryph

 * Characteristics:Combined with horse and vulture, this beast has a few tricks: 1) He may inhale lightning and then breath fire, 2) He may swoop you at lower height, 3) He may lay eggs, which, if not disposed of quickly, will become little birds and fly away, damaging you on the way. Other times he will stay high in the air.
 * Strategy:He does not attack in the air, so jump and slash him. His fire breath can be dodged by crouching.  It will not take much time.
 * Afterwards:It seems that Maria is just late for the fight. While the "Belmont" she refers to means Richter, Alucard can only remember Trevor in the old days.

Afterwards

 * (23,8):More Bone Halberds and Bats. The good news is, you shall have just refilled HP after boss battle.
 * (25,8):Finally a save room on the right. At top of this tower you can find a Potion and a Cutlass.  The right exit leads to.

Collect-a-thon
You shall return here after getting Spike Breaker.
 * (2,21):From bottom to top, you can collect these goods: Mystic Pendant, Magic Missile, Shuriken, Ankh of Life, TNT, Boomerang, and Morningstar.
 * (11,10):Put on your Spike Breaker, go inside, move past a grate, go further through the door and proceed. Oddly, Maria is waiting for you inside.  She does not believe that Richter acts evil, and leaves in a hurry.  Pick up the Silver Ring behind and leave.  It is time to solve the mystery.