castlevania was, and arguably still is, going thru an identity crisis. journey back to 2008, and the mystical countryside of Japan. boardheads & execs were scrambling with random ideas, which produced Ecclesia, Akumajo Dracula: The Arcade, Encore of the Night, Judgment, Pachislot, Lords of Shadow, among others. now what do these all have in common? theyre vastly different from one another. so what sparked this sudden change? we all know how influential Hideo Kojima is at Konami, maybe his meddling went a lil beyond LoS? perhaps he told the suits "you guys have a legendary ip, perhaps you should throw stuff at the wall & see what sticks" or something like that, they misinterpretted his words, etc. who knows
the fact of the matter is, if konami put as much effort into castlevania as much as t hey do Metal Gear back in like 2000, then the course of the series would be very different than it is today. weather it wouldve be good or bad is anyones guess