While Castlevania IV leaned into the Hideyuki Kikuchi facet of the franchise, Rondo of Blood goes full PC-98 with kinda standard anime aesthetics. Despite that, the game pulls its style off because of the novel approach towards level selection. This must have felt kinda standard for the console, but for a Castlevania player like me it felt incredibly refreshing. Besides, the push towards a more narrative-based presentation feels like it's done in good fun.