In Reply To #23
Going for the Zelda approach would probably result in a more focused experience as far as battle mechanics and level design go. I think Obilvion is a bit too open ended (borderline sandbox) for a CV. Zelda is somewhat "open" too, but it has less distracting stuff in it, and you're always moving forward. A Zelda-like Castlevania should get rid of most of the minigames and fetch quests though and instead focus on a detailed and rich world of vampires and creepy locales, where you can tackle the different dungeons, mansion, graveyards and forests in any order. Or maybe not in ANY order, cause that's not what Zelda is about, but it should be reasonably open at some point in the game where you can make choices.
And yeah, I realize I'm describing Simon's Quest in 3D. Lol.
There could be a couple of towns and side quests and such, but I don't want the world to be sandboxey cause it's been done to death. Detailed and well-made action/adventure games like Zelda are kinda rare these days. A gothic and rather bloody Zeldaesque Castlevania would kick so much ass, if done right.