So true. While I'm admittedly a LoS fanboy, I've loved most Cv's over the years, and Iga, for all his mistakes, did very well by the series. I just felt that the series desperately needed a fresh coat of paint after all these years under one mans control.
Agreed. I just don't know why it's so hard for people to see the series so comprehensively. Maybe a lack of perspective?
I mean, I love LoS. I think it's a great, fresh new way forward for a series that saw a fair bit of stagnation in the last few years. Does that mean I think it's perfect? Not in the least. The platforming was slow and clunky, and the level design could have been far improved. There were also some enemy battles that just dragged on and on and on. As for the art-style, I loved it, but there were also times when I longed for something a bit more romanesque and a bit more stylized. Did I like the music? Yes, but it while it did have its references, it was missing the melody of music from older titles.
I think people are too stuck on the idea of "perfect" and I think a lot of fans are missing perspective. I know I've talked to plenty of Castlevania fans who think SotN is the pinnacle of Castlevania design and that if anything deviates too far from that, it stops being good. Is SotN an excellent game? Of course it is. I love. I own three different versions of it. Was it perfect? No. I have my gripes. Do I want to play SotN-style Metroidvanias for the rest of my Castlevania career. Not really. I started with CVIII, and I've seen the changes the series has undergone, some of them good, and some of them bad, but nothing is ever bad enough for me to scream "That's not Castlevania!"
For example I hate Soma's character concept. Hate it. The concept of the dark lord Dracula being reincarnated into an effeminate Japanese school boy wearing a white pimp coat bothers me.
But I loved Aria of Sorrow. I even liked Dawn of Sorrow. The tactical soul system was an excellent addition to the series, and IGA should be lauded for coming up for it.
Sorry, a bit of a rant, but I've grown oh so tired of all of the "That's not real Castlevania!/The fans demand respect!" garbage that keeps getting thrown around.