Still don't like the Lords of Shadows games(or the Lords of Shit) games as I call them.
very mature
First of all Castlevania didn't need a reboot. There was still plenty of room to fit more games on the timeline plus the 1999 game.
Not nearly as much room as you would think.
Second the LOS games barely have any thing to do with Castlevania. The Castlevania references feel forced, and why is Satan the main bad guy in a Castlevania game?
Considering the series is based on Judeochristian mythology, it was only a matter of time, since older games referenced hell and heaven quite a bit. Remember Satan's ring? or Hell in Dawn of Sorrow? This isn't new. Demons have been part of castlevania for a long time, too. Also forced? that's entirely subjective. the 'what is a man" linedrop in LoS2 is forced for sure, but many other references felt fine to me, and in many cases, very subtle. some were pretty missable.
Third the character designs are not Castlevania.
neither are these.


And what exactly defines castlevania character design? because this

Was most certainly "not castlevania" when compared to classicvania character design.
And let's not go into Simon's Kojima design, with the pretty face and leather, and how people felt about that compared to barbarian Simon.
or perhaps Johnathan Morris ridiculously anime getup. Soma suffers from this a little too in Dawn of Sorrow, but can be excused because "lol future". And for 2025, his Aria outfit was surprisingly retro. And it fit a purpose too. To make him look regal.
Character designs are entirely subjective, and for all it's faults, at least the main character designs were pretty standard fare for Castlevania. Trevor and Simon and Gabriel stand out. Gabriel specifically, since he's basically identical to CV2 Simon sans hair color.
Castlevania games have a gothic atmosphere, but the LOS games have a genetic fantasy feel. It feels more like a rip-off of Lord of the Rings and Pan's Labyrinth.
have you even played MoF or LoS2? Lords 1 is more fantasy for a reason. It was a series origin story. They wanted to show a more fantasy world for the era before Dracula, so that once Dracula comes into the picture, everything gets much more gothic in atmosphere. MoF has a thick gothic atmosphere, as do the Castle segments in LoS2.

This does not belong in a Castlevania game.
Neither does this.

But no complains there?
Also, Pan is a mythological figure. I find it odd that you are not opposed to Medusa, Harpies, Valkyries, Golems, Demons, but Pan is somehow not allowed.