I still feel sorry for that naked girl who gets stabbed in the intro. I don't even know what made her agree to this deal in the first place. Lol.

I think this game is a technical marvel if nothing else. The voice work and FMV in it is top notch and the soundtrack is definitely up there. What makes this game for me is the unlockable character in Maria, which made the replay value in this game skyrocket where you could go through levels as 2 different characters. The alternate pathways you can take also make the non-linearity of future Castlevanias a staple, as it's a preview of what's to come. I did miss the eight-direction whip, but otherwise, it's an imported gem.

(Around 2h spent with the game – dropped it) The Dracula X Chronicles is a remake of the cult-classic Rondo of Blood, but instead of tweaking/reworking the, now downright archaic, gameplay, the dev essentially slapped a fresh coat of fairly uninteresting paint on the game, added some new (well hidden) content and called it a day. Only for the hardest of the hardcore retro gamers.
Pros: Diverging paths and many secrets, cool intro, solid music, unlockable character(s?) that offers a slightly different playstyle, includes a remaster of the beloved Symphony of the Night
Cons: The unlockable character (who is essentially a masked easy difficulty option) and SotN can EASILY be missed, rigid doesn’t even begin to describe the awful controls and animations, mostly boring visuals, demands that you play the game at a snail’s pace, extremely punishing, bosses can stunlock you from full to 0 HP with a single attack if you’re not careful enough, everything about the secondary weapon's system

Finally hundred percented this mofo. One of the best classicvanias I think, despite its difficulty not being quite fine-tuned and it having a more kooky than usual atmosphere overall.

This game combined the best of the old and the new Castlevania games. Although the controls are limited, the gothic graphics are a marvelous piece of art. The bosses are challenging but cryptically intricate. Even the voice samples are still revolutionary by today's standards.

One of the masterpieces of the Castlevania series that gained notoriety due to its reputation as the great game that never initially got a release outside japan. Rondo of Blood is a game that lives up to the hype, hitting a sweet spot between the linear design of traditional Castlevania titles with small portion of exploration in branching paths with secrets to uncover, which would later lead to the Metroidvania design of later releases. I like the traditional approach myself, and in my opinion, as good as games like Castlevania III and IV are, this is the peak of traditional Castlevania platforming.