I resent people saying that it's "older Castlevania fans who loved the IGA games" vs the younger "LOS" fans. That assumption is wrong on so many levels.
1: I have been a huge Castlevania fan since the late 1980's. So guess what, the true "older" fans enjoyed the series for years before IGA ever stuck his nose in it.
I actually agree with everything Cox said. When SOTN came out, I loved it. But it did feel like a side story to me. Almost like a spin off of Castlevania.
Before that, Castlevania was focused on the Belmonts. The games were much more focused on action over exploration.
After SOTN, Castlevania turned into one thing for the next decade as IGA basically released the same game over and over again with different main character sprites (reusing most of the enemy sprites) many of which came from Rondo of Blood; a game he had no part in. And the series also got plastered with the anime art style which got old really fast.
I have to say that I think the best work IGA did was the first SOTN game, and then Lament of Innocence (which actually was a great game).
Anyways, my point is that these IGA exclusive fans seem to make some false claim on the Castlevania franchise and think they know what the game ought to be like. You all need to be reminded that Castlevania was around long before those games, and it really was a different beast. While I don't think Mercury Steam has pulled it off 100% perfectly, to me, their games are more true to the original great Castlevania titles such as Simons Quest, and Castlevania 4, than IGA's games ever were.
If I were a producer involved with the development of this game, IGA fans would be at the bottom of my "who to appease" list.
SOTN should be considered a spin-off, and certainly not a flag ship of the series.