THEY PULL ME BACK IN!
So, funny story. I was listening to some old music from high school (graduated 10 years ago... where does that time go?!) and among the playlists on my crazy-old-but-somehow-still-functional iPod Classic was the Dracula New Classic arrangement album from back when Konami actually did stuff. It immediately got me all nostalgic-like, and so of course I popped in Curse of Darkness and the Castlevania Double Pack, otherwise known as the games that got me into this fandom in the first place, and I swear guys, it was like I never left. I've beaten these games god only knows how many times (though nowhere near as much as Symphony of the Night) and yet, it's like it was all new again for me. I felt like I was back in Junior High, finding the games for the first time on the recommendation of my girlfriend.
I'm hooked again guys.
Side note: I also played the Lords of Shadow Trilogy again, and... I don't respect it any MORE than I did a few years ago, but I guess I do hate it less, if that makes any sense at all. Mirror of Fate, in particular, has grown on me as a highly flawed game that is a masterpiece of blending two genres. That "stealth" minigame sprinkled throughout LOS2 remains 100% Triple-A-Grade Pure Colombian Uncut Bullshit though. And to think that without it, LOS2 might have been a much more enjoyable game...
Oh well.
We can't win them all, I guess.