Castlevania is a super pastiche of genres, not even Cv 1 and 2 are the same genre. Hell, not even the first 2 versions of CV1.
I am not speaking of genres. I guess it is hard to elaborate on concepts like a "soul" of a game, or the DNA that makes it, but I feel for most of the franchise, regardless of what it ended up being in terms of quality kept the root of what this series had. Even Simon's Quest with its nonlinear approach still had a feeling that it connected to the previous game outside of the franchise name and the storyline. Lords of Shadow is an outlier in this regard; if it were not for the name drops or even the brand name, I would be hard pressed to actually see it in relation to titles that came before it, and I don't mean that in the sense of canon. Take Bayonetta for example: it clearly has no connection to the world of Devil May Cry and is not even of the same franchise. But you can tell how it plays, what some of its root concepts are that make it clearly feel like it is distinctly related to Devil May Cry. You can tell it's from a similar foundation for the core of what it emphasizes is absolutely shared, that the same meat around the bones, while from different "beings" in terms of IP, is still of the same core materials. Perhaps an example of a disconnection would be better to explain what I mean, and there is no better one than Star Fox Adventures. This is a game with the Star Fox IP, and even features the characters from the franchise, and yet it very distinctly does not feel like it really is a Star Fox game, and this is not just because the game is on foot. It lacks a distinct "soul" that makes it feel like it is of the same family that the other titles in the series also have. I guess for me it is very easy to see that Lords of Shadow does not have this in relation to other games, even Judgment. That "soul", that DNA that makes a game 'belong' is something you can very easily see in a lot of Nintendo franchises despite the Star Fox example, and that is because the newer games do try to keep that core heritage in tact, and this is where the reboot failed. Lords of Shadow barely has that association with the previous games. If it were not for the IP name and the claims it was supposed to start off as a remake of Castlevania I and II, the games look like they can be a totally new IP altogether, and I find that telling. I am not saying that they're awful, or that they're bullshit vania games, but that they share the same name as the previous games but have an entirely different set of DNA inside that shares no relation to what came before it. It is not an evolution, which one can argue Igarashi attempted depending on the game, but something very loosely connected on a family tree of different species, that they are connected only by a loose string, that being the IP name. And this process happens all of the time, look at XCOM Declassified, the titles in the Far Cry franchise, or the new Legacy of Kain game. This is a habit of games, and I think it's a bad one. Lords of Shadow is that to Castlevania, similarly to what Far Cry: Blood Dragon is in relation to the first game. Very little of what their core is ends up honestly shared, but mainly the name. And right now, it looks like Igarashi may be ready and willing to create something of that spirit of the games that came before Lords of Shadow, that void many fans feel the series has now taken because of the body replacement. There is a very clear reason many people throw the "not a real Castlevania card" sort of shade, because the difference in how it feels is very apparent.
Irregardless of this, who is to say what will happen to the franchise now? We really have no idea what they will do next, or even IF they will continue the franchise. I just don't want this to become another Silent Hill, running on the legacy of what once was because what it is just doesn't hold a candle to the past, even without the nostalgia goggles. You can look at nearly every game after the third one as a separate franchise due to the stark difference, with the fourth game being arguable. You can tell the last two games have very little in common what that sort of thing, and again, I am not talking genres or how it plays, but there's something more deeper than that. Sorry if I am having a poor time elaborating this. I guess I am in a position to now just care for what's used on an IP but to wonder if X has a sincere relation to Y other than both having Z as their IP name. Ninja Gaiden Z is another, very shortly arriving example of this.