Mainstreamers don't realize Harmony of Despair is the ultimate Castlevania and deserves its own series, it has the perfect combination of classic, rondo and metroidvania gameplay design, plus with an all star cast of legendary playables, and 6 players co-op unlike anything else.
Even now years later it's still played online.
IGA should make more games like Harmony of Despair instead of SOTN.
Harmony of Despair is the essence of pure Castlevania gaming. stories just get in the way of the fun. While stories do flesh out characters more, they do limit the structure of the gameplay and replay value, so the more story driven videogames are, the more likely they'll be shelved indefinitely than continued to be played.