It is still a really fun game, but has gone downhill a lot since Dawn of Sorrow.
Dracula's castle is back! Surprised yet? Yeah, you, a whip using young lad must go through it, but find out that some crazy artist controls the castle and not Dracula. You also get a partner this time who actually does something! Something I complained about in dawn of sorrow! However, for every step forward, this game takes 2 steps back. The anime is more apparent in this game than it was last, both in art and in the script. You get generic "friendship will prevail" junk to sit through and more cliche characters and plot twist. Really not a lot to talk about, people are just less interesting now. On the plus side, the 2 reoccurring baddies in this game, Loretta and Stella are a challenge and more fun to fight than Dario and Dmitrii last game.
Graphics:
Technically, they have more going on than in the last game, but I don't like it at much. There were occasionally those silly enemies that were fun to see last game, but now half of the monsters, if not more, are silly. The drawing has really lost it's style to this new artist. Overall though, a good 2d style, just not good for castlevania.
Gameplay:
Once again, for every step forward, 2 steps back. They did something nice by letting you leave the castle into these paintings around the castle. This adds veriety to what otherwise is a castle crawler, but with this addition, everything feels so linear. You don't get to split off paths as much as last game, and when you enter a painting, it is a strait line from where you start to where the boss is.
They invented a second character for some strategy and verity, but really she is fairly useless. Your strength in most situations is just handled by Jonathan, where Charlotte just seems to be there to help with abilities and kill special kinds of enemies. The key they're trying to give us is teamwork, but teamwork doesn't work with an AI controlled partner. Having her out while you're out will just mean she'll take damage, harming you in the end. Which brings me to my biggest gripe with this game...
What were they thinking? They stress coop but can't give it to us? They they advertise coop on the back of the box, but that's just boss rush mode. You can't go through the actual game with a partner. I don't care what lag I would have gotten, this would have fixed so much that's wrong with the gameplay! My dreams and love of this game were shattered with that discovery.
Overall, same deal, lots to do, souls replaced with spells, ect. Still a fun game but it doesn't feel as tight at all. At least boss fights are as good as ever.
Sound:
This is one area I like. The music doesn't feel quite right in some places, but the monsters have been given a lot more sounds. From varied metal clings to spell sounds to voices for a lot of the human-er monsters. They put more detail into an already detailed game here. Overall not a lot to say though. Remixes here and there but original stuff mostly.
Who wants this game?
Big fans of the last game looking for more action. If you hadn't played the last game, it's better, get that one first, THEN consider this game.
Extra note:
That online tag? Yeah, it's for trading items. I find that feature useless though.