RETRO REWIND: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 

I have no evidence to back this up, but I would assume around this time putting story into the manuals of the game was seen as redundant, since you would be getting all of the story from the game itself. Its kinda wacky thinking about how transitional of a time the PS1, N64, and Saturn were for the gaming industry as a whole

While it's not a retro game, Iga did make a spiritual successor Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. If you like Symphony, you might really love Bloodstained.