Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia -- Initial Impression.

What a horrible night to have a curse. But what a great night to start a new Castlevania game. What could be better night than Halloween? Next up for me is Castlevania: Order of the Ecclesia for the Nintendo DS. This game is yet another entry in the twenty-one year old series and yet another entry in the Metroidvania style which goes back seven games to Symphony of the Night. I began this entry with a quote from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, the game where the action RPG elements first appeared. I also used the quote because Order of Ecclesia is supposedly the closest thing we'll be getting towards a remake of Castlevania II. There is a great divide between Castlevania fans. On one side you have those who prefer the pure action of the original Castlevania represented by Castlevania, Castlevania III, Super Castlevania IV, Bloodlines, and Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. And on the other side you have those who prefer the action RPG titles represented by Simon's Quest, Symphony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, and now Order of Ecclesia. There is technically a third group. Those that prefer the 3D Castlevanias. But they're very weird and they smell and we don't tend to discuss those people. I tend to belong to the action RPG group. I like the Metroidvania style more than the pure action style. So what am I expecting from Order of the Ecclesia? More of the same actually. The exact same even. Although the initial reaction by the Internet to this one seems to hint that there may be some surprises in store. And more than a few have complained about the difficulty in the game's boss battles. We'll see what all the fuss is about...