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I just started playing this a couple days ago and am right around 500% completion right now. I'm really not liking it all that much.
On one hand, I appreciate that they're trying to freshen the series up a little. The variety of new environments go a long way towards helping that and not shoving more of the typical entrance/chapel/clocktower retread down your throat again.
However, some of these areas just fall flat and totally kill the Castlevania vibe. The Egypt section in particular really felt out of place and I don't remember ever fighting any mummies since Castlevania 4. Like I said, I'm only about half way through the entire game so I'll reserve judgment until I see all the areas, but that is my impression of the first half of the game.
I love that they brought back a lot of enemies that haven't been seen in many games. I've run into at least a few I remembered from SOTN but haven't seen (or don't remember) being in any of the handheld ones. Again, it helps to refresh the series a little bit.
On the contrary to that though, I despise the redesigned enemies. The 3D peeping eye looks like something from a ps1 game and I loathe the new look for the axe armor enemies. Not just the way they look, but the way they move feels wrong. In those cases I wish they just stuck with the same damn sprites they've been using since Dracula X on the Duo.
Speaking of poor animation, I absolutely hate the running animation for the main character. I've been pissed with it for at least the last 3 games but I can't quite put my finger on what is wrong with it. Maybe its the way he tucks his arms in and circles them around like he's imitating a train or just the way he seems to glide over the ground. Whatever it is I HATE it and they haven't managed to get it right for years.
The gimmick of fighting with a cpu controlled partner is ok, but the AI is moderately dumb. They're smart enough to stand there and attack, but thats about it. They don't duck or jump on their own and often end up getting left behind or stuck somewhere above/below you. Thankfully the game seems to handle teleporting them back to you pretty well. But I just can't get over how DUMB they are. I've watched my partner kill a red skeleton then just stand next to its pile of bones, attacking non-stop, waiting for it to reanimate and die again. So far the extra character seems good only for getting a couple extra hits in and solving a couple puzzles or bosses where they switch immunity between physical attacks and magic. I've played 99% of the game as the male character.
Overall, the game just feels lacking. Like I said, it tries to refresh the series somewhat, but in the end I feel that just hurts the game when comparing it to the other recent ones. Konami is in a weird situation where people have played through now 5 handheld Castlevanias in the last 5 years and could use something different. When they get something that tries to be different, it gets blasted for not being like the old games. Although I've at the very least liked each of the handheld CVs, I think the series really needs to slow down and stop releasing a new game every year.
Right now, I'd rank the games in this order, from best to worst:
Dawn of Sorrow
Circle of the Moon
Aria of Sorrow
Portrait of Ruin
Harmony of Dissodence
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