Enemies Encountered: N/A (4)

Learn how to get the Holy Glasses in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, unlock a new path, and achieve the bad ending by defeating Richter.

Alright, so you've been collecting some key items, right? If you've managed to snag the Gold and Silver rings earlier in the game, you're in for a treat. Check their item descriptions – they'll hint at wearing them in the 'Clock Tower.' This points us to a specific room in the Marble Gallery, the same place where you first met Maria. That's our next destination, so make your way there from the Royal Chapel.

Once you arrive in the Clock Room, equip both the Gold and Silver rings. The room will totally react to you having them on! After equipping 13 rings in total (don't worry, you don't need to keep them all equipped at once, just have collected them), the floor at the bottom will open up, revealing a new path. Once that floor opens, you can unequip the Gold and Silver rings if you want.

After dropping down into the newly opened area, you'll find a save room to your left and a room to your right that contains Life and Heart Max Ups. Grab those goodies! Then, head to the elevator in the middle of the room and press down to activate it.

This next section of the castle presents a large square room with two paths. It doesn't really matter which path you take going down, just be sure to take the opposite one on your way back up. When you reach the bottom, you'll find another elevator. This one will take you to Maria, where you can chat and see if Alucard has any new intel on finding Richter. After your conversation, Maria will give you the Holy Glasses. These are crucial for progressing the story!

Now, as good gamers, we *could* equip these glasses and use them for the Richter fight to get the good ending. But hey, we're not going for that one right now! Our current objective is to save our progress in the Castle Keep's save room, then head back to face Richter again. This time, we're aiming for the worst ending. You'll notice the cutscene for this ending is different than the one you'd get if you skipped talking to Maria and getting the Holy Glasses.

So, head to the Castle Keep, find Richter, and beat him again. It should be a bit easier this time around since you're already familiar with his attack patterns. After this fight, you'll trigger a different ending than the one you'd get if you had spoken with Maria and obtained the Holy Glasses.