Great sound and action make this a great game. Grinding your stats up at the end provides replay value. My fingers hurt!
In the beginning, the first thing you notice, after you notice that your character for this game is a girl, Shanoa, is the new attack system. Many of the Castlevania games have altered the system for attacking, and Castlevania OoE is no different. In this game ALL attacking and modifiers are used by way of a "Glyph." The Glyphs range from your swords and magic, to your familiars and enhancements. All Glyphs consume MP, but don't worry, there are plenty of ways to consume wisely.
The story is wonderful. Not to hard to follow and it fits the Castlevania mold, without being stale. There are a few new enemies, as well as the return of some of your favorites.
The mechanics work well in the game allowing you to try out various configurations, between Glyphs and armor and accessories. However, it is the sounds and music that really round out this game.
After beating the game on normal there is still grinding, if you wish, as well as Hard Mode and other game modes to try. If you really want to see how powerful you can get this is where the replay value comes in.
Enjoy!