A Quick Castlevania Question

Hey, quick question:

I'm really intrigued about the new Castlevania game thats coming out soon. For preparation, i thought this would be the perfect oppertunity for me to finally buy and play Symphony of the Night....i still can't believe i've never played it yet (i know, don't hurt me lol).

Anyways, my question is this: can i play SotN without playing any of the other Castlevania games (in terms of understanding the story and such)? Is the game "stand alone"?

Thanks!

Castlevania games don't really have a deep story. Even the ones that try to are pretty straightfoward. A warning though that SOTN is going to be very different from LOS. It's an action/rpg sidescroller with the exploration of a Metroid game. LOS is more in the style of the old vania's, just with GOW/DMCish combat and with a more complex story.