Karasuman.

A complete walkthrough for the Clock Tower area in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, detailing how to find relics, items, and defeat the boss Karasuman.

The Clock Tower is the final new area of the castle, offering a straightforward path with many secrets. It's inaccessible early on due to crumbling platforms, requiring the Bat relic and Gravity Boots for exploration.

The first room is large and open. The most important item here is the Fire of Bat relic, located in the top right. This relic allows the bat form to shoot fireballs by pressing the square button, though the attack is slow and not very powerful. The rest of the important items are found at the bottom of this room, including consumable items and equipment generally weaker than what you already possess. You should find the Magic Missile and Pentagram tucked away on platforms near pillars. The Bekatowa, Shaman Shield, and Ice Mail are located in the middle of the room, each on a platform above a flail guard. The Ice Mail is weaker than the Walk Armor, and the Bekatowa is weaker than the Ice Brand.

After exploring this room, proceed to the next room on the left, taking the bottom path.

The next room transitions from the exterior to the interior of a clock, featuring mechanical terrain and numerous gadgets. The Leap Stone relic is necessary to progress here, preventing early access. This first vertical room contains nothing of immediate interest; proceed to the room with the door on the top left.

In this room, you'll encounter large gears that can be ridden and a Harpy enemy, which is more annoying than difficult. You can hit the gears with your weapon to make them rotate. Hitting a gear enough times will cause it to 'click.' Once it clicks, stop hitting it and move to the next gear, located below and to the right of the first. If you hit a gear after it has clicked, you must start over. After hitting the two gears in this room until they click, move to the next room on the left and repeat the process with the two gears there. Once all four gears are in the correct position, a door beneath a pool of water will open, granting access to a secret room.

Inside the first secret room, you will find the Steel Helm, Gold Mail, and a Star Flail. The Steel Helm offers a +1 defense bonus, while the other two items are inferior equipment. To find another secret room, leave this area and return to the vertical room. The wall on the top right is breakable; activating the Faerie familiar will reveal its hidden nature. Break the wall to enter the second secret room.

The second secret room contains more Flea Men and a cloaked knight at the top, who is fairly easy to defeat. At the top of both sides of this room, you will find a Heart and a Life Max Up. After clearing this room, exit and proceed to the next room on the top left.

The scenery changes again to a more traditional castle environment with a large room filled with random stairs, creating a labyrinthine feel. Jumping over the first stair and proceeding forward, you will encounter Sword Lord enemies, which have both a knight and a ghost form. You will encounter four Sword Lords at the bottom of this room. Continuing left to the end of the room reveals a breakable wall leading to a third secret room where you can obtain the Healing Mail. This item slowly heals 1 HP after walking for a period, but it is not very practical. Return to the area with the Sword Lords. Above where the first two Sword Lords were, there is a section of platforms. The wall by the platform on the right is breakable and contains a Pot Roast. Exit this room and proceed to the next room on the top left, using two pendulums to reach the doorway.

This next room features numerous breakable walls. Moving forward, you'll find a two-sided hanging platform. The left platform's breakable wall contains TNT. Further down broken stairs, a wall within the stairs holds a Bwaka Knife. The last hanging platform on the left contains a Shuriken in its breakable wall.

The subsequent room contains the boss, Karasuman.

KARASUMAN

Karasuman is a surprisingly easy boss fight, largely due to the knockback effect common in older games. If hit, your character is knocked back, and a subsequent hit can lead to continuous knockback, making it difficult for the boss to attack effectively.