So I was tempted to watch that GT Castlevania retrospective for the 3D vania games video. And man, am the only one that thinks the PS2 game look much worse the N64 games? Is this crazy thinking?
And wow, in the PS2 game when you clear all the enemies is when the door open?! Wow, this game really is in pure beat 'em up territory. Sad, sad, sad.
Ahh, I didn't mean for you to watch those clips yet! Oh, well. Sorry for the spoilers... (But did you notice the N64 games went with Bloodlines' red crystals over hearts, which the Gametrailers narrator mistakenly thought was entirely new to the series?).
Anyway, I, of course, don't think you're crazy one bit. I won't say that the PS2 entries were total garbage, though, and Gametrailers did a good job of making those games look more varied in level design than they generally are. It reminds me more clearly why LoI was superior to CoD. (The first time I played LoI, I loved it; and I still admire aspects of it, though now find it pretty boring on the whole. On the other hand, CoD basically became a monotonous experience I had to force myself through). Really, it comes down to tastes, and you can like aspects of both teams' attempts.
Atmosphere: Lament of Innocence aims for the elegance of SotN, and Curse of Darkness is a muddier variation of that, while CV64 and Legacy of Darkness aim for the gritty Gothic horror feeling of Castlevania IV and Simon's Quest, IMO, with a touch of the "Industrial" feel found in some of Bloodlines.
Combat: LoI and CoD favor a frenetic combo/counter-based smack-down with lots of supplementary super powers. In nuances, LoI's combat has a smoother, more graceful flow, while CoD has a somewhat clunkier but more strategic combat system with its Pokemon-like helpers. The N64 games basically have a generic combat system (much like the series' roots) that relies completely on player interpretation. Any combos are derived from the player--such as, you can choose to slide into a skeleton, then as you're coming up, you hit him with your short sword secondary melee weapon, and finish him off with your main whip weapon. Or, mix in some sub-weapons or jumps. It's workman-like, weighed by physics more often than not.
Level Design: LoI has essentially miniature Castleroid levels linked by a central stage select hub. The levels have some occasional obstacles or minor platforming to add variety, but mostly involve trudging boxed area to boxed area, beating up foes and finding hidden power-ups. CoD truly is a boxy, super-repetitive Castleroid in 3D, but if you had it take place across the countryside, and if you stripped out 99% of any platforming. The N64 games are more like Mario 64: They're obstacle courses that feel more open. Some are based more around exploration and puzzles, others action-platforming. Variety and layering of level design is what sets the N64 games apart.
Music: Honestly, all four of these games have excellent music. The N64 games lean more toward "subtle" and "ambient," while the PS2 games are more in line with SotN.
Overall: I favor the N64 titles over the PS2 titles, as they seem like more complete "games," but would definitely rank the first PS2 game, LoI, higher than CoD, the second PS2 entry. Depending on perspective, there are only two things you might say CoD did better than LoI: 1.) It made all the areas interconnected exactly like a Castleroid for fans of that style. 2.) It had a full 3D camera. Outside of those things, while keeping solid bosses and such, it took all of the bad things from LoI's game design and exacerbated them.
Wow, you don´t seem to know anything about these kind of games. It is the custom ever since the first Devil May Cry. Otherwise you could just outrun every enemy.
This becomes a preference of 3D game design. This became a popular custom, but it doesn't mean it's right. There are ways to get around it and make things more interesting if the levels are designed more dynamically. Capcom's Maximo series proved this, and the N64 CV titles did beforehand, as well. At some point, particularly after the N64 era, it became more and more popular to design 3D games as a box that has carved corridors, rather than an open box with guiding obstacles and landmarks. The former feels like its more on rails and less organic to me.