If there's one thing I don't like about SotN, it's that it completely changed the direction of Castlevania and turned it into a non-linear RPG-lite experience.
As a one of a kind game, I think it's excellent. I personally consider it the best game in the entire series to that point from a mechanical standpoint, player engagement and addiction. It also has the best aesthetics of the entire series to that point, from level design to character art to music.
However.
After this game, this is what Castlevania became and I'm not so certain that it was good for the series in the long run. After that, the series became more grindy, more about lootquesting and stuffquesting, minmaxing, collecting items and mechanical advancement.
It stopped being about vampire hunting and vampire killing. it stopped being about a warrior limited by his weapon options and given limited mechanics to reflect his humanity. It's one of the things I love about Berserk-its statement on the philosophical, fundamental nature of what it means to be human. There is something about those older games and their challenge that effectively gamifies the idea of just how hard it must be for a Belmont to do these things, even as skilled as they are.
Richter had unmatched power for a Belmont but he couldn't double jump, fly, change shape, equip cards, summon tiny devils, equip different weapons and whatnot. The game limited you and made up for it with carefully constructed monster speed, movement, placement and health. And these things couldn't be made impotent simply by grinding enough to scrub your way through.
Do I think the DS and 3DS games are good? Yes, I do. Great, even. But with so many ways to break the game, it was less about meticulous game design and more about appealing to RPG mentality.
I'll always play 'metroidvania' games, and I'll always enjoy them. But that's probably the reason I love Dracula X Chronicles so much-it wasn't so much a 'new' game but it was an old game, with largely the old mechanics, with some new exploration options to improve replayability. I hadn't played a Castlevania game like that in a long time. It was refreshing to revisit it with a new look and new OST.
Just one man's .02.