Prince god of the Castle (a few spoilers)
The story is great, but like many if not all the titles in the serie, you are thrown into action without much information about what's going on so you have to kick a lot of *** to get into it. The characters are quite interesting and you get to know them a bit even if they don't always make it to the end. The voice-acting is great and the way the story is told, like a tale in a book is quite interesting.
Visually the game is pretty amazing even if it might not be the high-end. You get to fight giant bosses in titanic arenas and you even venture in day-light luxurious forests, wich are rendered nicely but somehow break the feeling of playing a Castlevania game.
The gameplay might be the weakest part of this game:
First, the camera is a killer. Sometimes it is dynamic and sometimes it is fixed. When it is dynamic, you, way to often, lose sight of your opponent because it is aimed at you wich results in little surprises. The foe makes a move that get him out of your sight and you get beated. When it is fixed, it is often ok, but when the camera angle changes as you move further in the level, the controls don't always adjust to that change so you get a few seconds or a small zone in wich you have to compensate this. For example, you might see the hero running straight into a tunnel, you see his back, then at some point the camera changes and now you see his face, but you still have to push the joystick up to run forward, if you push it down you go back. It is quite frustrating when performing platform moves like the Prince of Persia or you get ambushed by a few monsters.
The fights, they are still about blocking and dodging a lot but now they are mixed with the God of War mechanic wich feels strange for long-time fans of the (Castlevania) serie. They are also more violent and bloody than usual. The problem is, during boss figths, as in GoW, you really have to smash really fast the buttons of the controller, not old-Mario-party-style but still, and you have to hold on to some for way too long (15-20 sec. rodeo for 1 sec. to hit) while waiting for an opening to deliver the finishing blow. It is quite different form the old formula and it really feels like a failed God of War wich is not good since it is in a Castlevania game.
Finally, sure the serie migth have needed a few twist or changes to keep it up to date with the new standards in gaming but in the end, it is more a half-success than anything else.