Epic. An under appreciated Masterpiece. That gets Almost everything right for a 3D Castlevania. A Future Classic.
Voice Acting-
The voice acting is superb. You can tell right from the start of the game they used nothing but top notch voice actors to create this game and they really bring the adventure to life. I use the word Adventure on purpose but more on that later.
Graphics-
The graphics are gorgeous in this game and goes perfectly with the atmosphere of world they created for this Castlevania. The colors are vivid where they need to be and dark where they need to be and they shading is done in a way that the game always feels slightly dark no matter where you are. All in all the graphics are done very well here couldn't ask for better.
Story- The game has a good storyline which is told very well through voice acting, scrolls, animations, artwork, and bestiary. The game doesn't just follow the you must kill Dracula formula which is great in this case for setting up a huge Adventure where come across many Landscapes, unexpected Allies, and Villians. The main character Gabriel Belmont is very likable right from the start and you will feel like a beast playing with him.
Gameplay- The gameplay is just awesome. The cross chain is very fun to use through the entire game and the fighting animations are superb. Also the gameplay continue to get deeper and deeper as the game goes on. You will be collecting experience points from enemies and trials you complete which unlock can tons and tons of new combos and skills for Gabriel. You won't believe want believe how many skills and combos you will be able to do over 50 atleast more than any action game I can think of. Also, I call this an adventure because this game is long as heck. This is not you typical action game where you clock 5 to 10 hours in and call it a day. This is an adventure with a story, action, a little love,darkness, and everything in between which will take a tleast 25-40 hours on your first play through depending on your skill level and if you trying to collect everything and complete every trial. The game is done in chapters, 12 in all I believe, but each chapter has anywhere from 5 to 10 stages in each one plus you always get a trial quest for that stage after you complete a stage once. The game also has replay value with new difficulty levels to play etc. The game is 2 Disks on 360 what action game you know uses two discs.
If you're into action games/roleplaying games I highly recommend this game. The game has a great story, top notch production values, breathe taking gameplay and boss fights, 25-40 hour long adventure on first play through, and its still a Castlevania game although a slightly new take on it. Konami, Mercury Steam, and Kojima (the guys who made Metal Gear Solid) really did a great job on this game and I look forward to seeing what they do next rather its 3d, 2d, Dracula, or no Dracula, a Belmont, Cross Chains, Dark Enemies to Destroy, Swords to use, or Castle to conquer I will be there to play it.
Bottomline: This game is worth it rather you spend $60 dollars or less. I have no doubt this will end up a classic to many Castlevania fans. If you can pick up the Limited Edition version the case is gorgeous and comes with a lot of extras may go for quite high on Ebay on day, but I of course will be keeping mine. Also at the time of my writing this 5/12/11 its actually on sale for $40 while the regular edition is $50 guess they are trying to get rid of the last ones ended up getting the last one at my Gamestop. Anyway enjoy this future classic.