The quality hasn't improved at all. After Aria, you had the 3D games which utterly failed in level design, and the DS games, which were sloppy all around. There was at least some effort in DXC, but then again, they just had to build off Rondo. The game was already made for them.
I won't be like most people and completely bash/hate IGA but I really have to agree with the above. (Blood, I'm not saying that you are, don't get me wrong!) I personally liked DXC. True, it was a remake and anything they tweaked/added/fixed was pretty much already there...but there were a *lot* of things that they did that I loved.
But I gotta agree that there needs to be some sort of positive move forward for the series. Keep a few things with the gameplay or not at all and make playing the game a brand new experience. Or if the gameplay is just that great, fine: if it isn't broken, don't fix it. But at the very least, add some sort of fresh element to it so that it won't be the same ole same ole.
I dunno...I just want something new. Maybe that's why I liked DXC so much too...not to much that the gameplay was new but it felt like a nice break between all the SOTN esque gameplay.
Personally, I wouldn't mind a good 3D Castlevania. ::hunches:: Sorry, I'm rambling and bored. XD