" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @ryanwho:  LOL.  Yeah, because stealing Metroid/Zeliard RPG action mechanics really is inspired, right?  More like inspired by Metroid because they didn't have any fresh ideas for combat back then.  I loved SoTN for what it was but to say that it's the blueprint of Castlevania's succes is a joke.  It's a game which had many fans before it got CDROM content aware. "

Considering that SotN is the standard of Castlevania games... I can see why people would expect more games to play like that. "

What if what a game is is a game that's missing a lot of things? 
 
Bam. I just blew your logic wide open.

" What if what a game is is a game that's missing a lot of things?  Bam. I just blew your logic wide open. "

Game looks awesome to me and most of the reviews have been pretty good, even the ones who bitched that it isn't a 'castlevania' game.
Eh I'm downloading the demo as I type this, if I like it I'll be buying it next week when I go to get Enslaved too.

" @Sigwood said:

" I find it funny that the reviews are all like, hey, this isn't Castlevania, and yet the very first Castlevania was linear level by level and you didn't have XP or find new weapons (except sub-weapons) etc etc.  This Castlevania isn't like Symphony of the Night but it is more like old school Castlevania I think.  But that's just my opinion of course. "

What Castlevania started as isn't what it became known for. Most Castlevania games adhere to the SOTN structure because that's what made the IP popular. "

" The ten minute gameplay preview video gave me nasty flashbacks of Dante's Inferno extremely overdone promo stuff. I'll wait for DmC. "

"What Castlevania started as isn't what it became known for. Most Castlevania games adhere to the SOTN structure because that's what made the IP popular. "

" @ryanwho: Those types of Castlevania games hardly make up 70% of the total. There are 7 of them (SOTN, POR, DOS, AOS, COTM, HOD, OOE) out of 25. That's less than 30%. "

There are a lot of reviews that have the problem of reviewing a game for what it doesn't have (multiplayer, special modes, bonus content) than for what it does. It's the problem with expectations. It's how you tell the mediocre reviewers from the great ones. They don't let their own expectations of a game cloud their review.

It's a tough one but I don't know if it's fair to "have it both ways" either.
 
If they throw the names Castlevania and Kojima on a box to grab additional press, sales and heartstring-based review scores, I think it's only fair that they deal with critics stacking it up against other games in the franchise.

" As far as I'm concerned, it has a Belmont, it has a Whip, it has monsters, it has Items and that makes it a Castlevania game.  What annoys me more is people calling it a GoW clone, some people act like GoW owns the genre, aparently no one else can do melee combat with fixed camera angles anymore without some idiot spouting GOW CLONE. "

I don't understand why everyone says things like "God of War clone" as if God of War completely revolutionized the action genre.  That game itself was just another action game; it was a very well done game, but I don't think it innovated as much as everyone seems to claim.  

This series is way way to long in the tooth, and there are too many games with essentially the same story set in different time periods.  Besides Simon Belmont, Trevor, Belmont, Richter Belmont, Alucard, and Soma Cruz  who gives a shit about Castlevania continuitiy.  You can add Gamepro to the list of websites where they rail the game for not adding to the "venerable Castlevania series."   What a load of bullshit.
 
If I can't get a Castlevania set in 1999, where Julius Belmont kills Dracula for REAL, I'd much rather have a fresh start for the series.