My favorite Castlevania, and one of the most important games in my life. Almost feels kind of silly trying to explain why it's so good when so many other already did it.
More important to me is the fact that this game represents a very strong connection to my brother, who sadly passed away during the pandemic. We would play it every year, competing to see who could get it done first.

Even with the somewhat underwhelming inverted castle, SotN is a thoroughly incredible experience from start to finish, and a perfect game to practice speedrunning imo.