I would have loved a better score, really, but even when not average (like a 5.0 average) the game's not THAT fun.
Anyway, would I have missed something if I had not bought the game?... Well, let's find out. The game pits you as Leon Belmont, an honest knight in medieval times with the task to rescue his loved one from a menacing castle. Yours is the duty to explore every nook and cranny of the castle, fighting (or skipping) a lot of monsters on the way, solving some switch hunts and mild puzzles and eventually clearing each of the five sections of the game to access the sixth and last stage.
Though this sets the stage for a Castlevania game the game mechanics have been quite stripped off and changed from what I remember: you are free to wander inside the castle (and two screens of surroundings, containing an in-game shop) as much as you want, discovering room after room and finding the path leading to each of the section's bosses, which is basically your ultimate goal. Sounding good?. Well, not exactly... First off, at least as I understand it, exploration of the environment should be something exciting, something that would make you think about what new things you'll find behind each door... Unfortunately the game fails: though the castle areas are pretty large most of the rooms look practically the same with little variation in color, furniture placement (at best) and door positioning. Entering each new room and clearing it of enemies soon ceases to be exciting by itself and becomes a matter of uncovering more and more areas of the map in hopes that the story will move a bit further or you find one of the very rare unique rooms that offer something special. Around the third (out of barely nine) hour of playing the game itself becomes a bit boring, but, you know, for mapping freaks it never gets old to uncover more and more portions of the playfield.
So, what's in the middle of all the exploration and map uncovering?. A lot of (unnecessary) combat, a small array of secrets and rare puzzles. First the combat: most of it is unneccesary... Okay, once you get your main whip weapon you can take a lot of it at first and the combat system itself is fun (it never ceases to amuse to jump and through a whip combo to see the exactly same animation that you see when you whip on foot), a secondary weapon system based on previous iterations of the series is also fun at first and finally there's a Relic-based magic system that you can use to enhance some of your skills...
Combat itself is simple, with a strong and weak whip slashes that you can combine for combos. Different buttons allows you to defend (that if you do just on time will get you a plus of magic), jump, use special weapons and roll out of the way. A combination of buttons allows you to activate magic and well, there's little more to it. The camera is mostly fixed on your character, giving you a reasonable view of the playfield and the enemies (or bosses) you are pitted against. Said enemies are sometimes stupid (not as much as the ones in the next PS2 Castlevania game, anyway), sometimes menacing and never a real hassle (I think I died... Once. No, maybe twice during the game... And I am being serious here, the game was that easy). Bosses are interesting and fun to fight but, again, not exactly that challenging (except for the last one, which had me drinking all the healing potions I had collected through the game).
So, that seems wrong?. Well, mostly... Just add another bit: there's not really a motivation to fight at all since all the monsters will drop will be in-game money (not that necessary again, trips to the in-game shop are infrequent) or items I didn't really have an use for. There are no experience points, little chances to learn new movements (that you will) and well, generally no reason not to skip past most monsters (which is easy) unless you really enjoy the combat system or the game forces you to. Don't get me wrong on this, I liked the system and got some amusing items, but I don't think it was worth it (except for the extended play time it gave)... Chances are that you will run through the game without getting your hands on most of the optional magical relics or whips, mainly because you won't need them.
Then there's also puzzles... These are quite old, actually. Switch hunting was not interesting enough (specially when you come to a locked door and you have to backtrack a long, long, long way to find the proper switch... You know, Leon isn't exactly fast when running) and not enough hints were given (in game or in the map screen) to prevent long minutes of useless backtracking. Environmental puzzles weren't exciting (pull a couple of levers and you're done) but platforming sections seemed a lot funnier for me. Let's see, in rare occasions you'll actually need to jump your way out of a room strictly within a time limit or while dodging enemy attacks. Those sections were quite fresh to me when compared to the rest of the game and it was actually quite unfortunate that they only happened in some of the unique rooms in the game. When roaming the endless and virtually identical corridors in the game I couldn't stop thinking about how interesting (or at least refreshing) it would have been to have some pits to jump over, some obstacles to dodge and some real 3d platforming, just to break the pace a bit. I am most sure that I would have liked the game a lot better if there were.
And that's about combat and puzzling. What's left?. Secrets. And that's what actually saves the gameplay if you like to get the most of your games. As mentioned earlier, you can actually get through the game without finding any of the secrets but careful inspection of the levels (something actually quite complicated, since most rooms look the same) will reveal hidden doors that you can enter to find hidden items and parts of the castle. And now that was refreshing!. Some of the secrets are on plain view, some are hidden by the fixed camera system, some require of special items to be found and some others just need of a bit of thinking and careful navigation. I am not sure that I found everything the game had to offer on that respect (well, I think I had 100% on my savefile) but uncovering every secret is the most satisfying part of the game. Okay, surely it takes a lot (a lot, really) of backtracking (get a key here, go to other section of the castle, use it there, get another key in there and then go to that other place and...) but once you enter one of the hidden areas you get a feeling of accomplishment akin to that of previous Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Again, shame that most items to find in these hidden areas were quite useless (at least for me).
Game presentation starts off great: environments do not really look bad (for example, the shop you visit early on the game actually has a nice look to it), characters are a bit dated but with a nice fantasy design and animation is smooth. Dialogue is sometimes laughable but recorded with real professionals (you know what I mean, right?... May the video game god always protect you from playing the spanish dubbed version of BioShock!!!). Same may be said about sound effects and, of course, music. Music has always been a strong point in the Castlevania games and while this one doesn't par the previously mentioned Castlevania: Symphony of the Night's own, it is catchy, gothic, moving and, well, fun to play along with... The presentation is constantly good during the whole game but soon you'll notice how all rooms and corridors, though they look good, are actually the same. For example, the inner rooms of the "House of the Holy Remains" do actually look good, with this classy gothic-baroque look to it but after you have gone through three or four rooms you notice that all that changes is some tapestries and furniture placement. Actually dissappointing, really. Sometimes the game will throw you with some unique rooms (like the observatory room, with intense vertical platforming: lovely!) but these are to far and between to forget that, even if the game looks good, it features not enough variety on the long run.
That only leaves us with the story. I will give no spoilers, of course, but let me ask myself how does Leon arrives to the castle all by himself, in the middle of the deadly night of a damned forest and on foot (!!!), jogging (!!!) and how does he expect to win the battle like that... Apart from that, pretty much Castlevania cliché stuff here. There's this small cast of characters with strong motivations and then there's this other small cast of secondary characters that you don't actually get to know at all (it is surprising, specially at the case of one of the main characters in the game's history). Narrative unveils in cutscenes far and between as you beat some of the bosses and though a lot of it is completely forgettable, senseless (okay, not that much) or undetailed, you'll get from the start the feeling that Leon could actually be a likable character and you'll look forward for his next line in the play... Anyway, as much as I could like some of Leon's traits the story seemed quite undeveloped for me (even if the game's introduction seems to indicate otherwise).
And that's mostly all... Is it fun?. As fun as the novelty lasts and then as fun as you consider to crawl around the map to get that damned 100% before taking on the last boss. Is it recommendable?. As long as you're willing to enjoy it, yes, but a game should get you to like it without you actually having to make an effort. In that sense and as a long-time Castlevania veteran (you know, apart from the Super Mario Bros - Duck hunt that came with my NES this was my first NES game) the game was dissappointing (specially for its price tag in local stores)... If you actually want to try make sure you're willing to like what you'll play or you could end up bored.