This game feels like an attempt at modernizing the Castlevania formula. You can now whip in 8 directions as well as change your trajectory in midair. Partially as a result of these changes, the overall difficulty of the game is quite a bit lower than the older titles. The difficulty does pick up a bit in the last few levels, but only because of the introduction of many, many different instant death traps and janky platforming segments.
Feeling less restrictive may sound like a good thing at first, but I actually feel like being restrictive was an important part of the identity of the older games. Because of how limited your options were, you had to approach each situation meticulously in order to succeed. Learning to work around those restrictions and avoid taking damage felt extremely rewarding, but that feeling doesn't quite carry over into this game. Despite this, I still had a decent time with it (at least until the last few levels).
Due to being much more forgiving, this game might appeal to a wider audience than the NES Castlevanias. Personally I don't feel like there's much to it, though. Even the soundtrack is kind of mid by Castlevania standards. It's an alright game, but nothing special.
Feeling less restrictive may sound like a good thing at first, but I actually feel like being restrictive was an important part of the identity of the older games. Because of how limited your options were, you had to approach each situation meticulously in order to succeed. Learning to work around those restrictions and avoid taking damage felt extremely rewarding, but that feeling doesn't quite carry over into this game. Despite this, I still had a decent time with it (at least until the last few levels).
Due to being much more forgiving, this game might appeal to a wider audience than the NES Castlevanias. Personally I don't feel like there's much to it, though. Even the soundtrack is kind of mid by Castlevania standards. It's an alright game, but nothing special.