I highly enjoyed it, while not as good as Symphony of the Night, it was still a fun game regardless. The classic going through X part of castle to get to Y part is still there and even though its in 3D you can still whip torches to get money/hearts. You use the money to buy different health potions and stuff. Some areas you'll be using your whip to get across obstacles so its not all just running and jumping. All the weapons are a variety of whip but you can get different spells to go along with the whip and the different spells react with each subweapon differently(lightning spell with axe is different from lightning spell with cross). The enviroments look good and the music is top notch and is definetely Castlevania music. Another little thing that made this one cool, is that its a prequel to all of the Castlevania games so you get to see the origins of the Belmont family and their crusade against Dracula. Like you said though, this game was kinda hit or miss with some people, either they really liked it or it was just an ok game. If you enjoyed the Castlevania games, you'll probably enjoy it if you aren't a 2D snob when it comes to 2D vs 3D gameplay. A good majority of the people I know that didn't like it because it wasn't a 2D Castlevania.
