I loved the original for doing something different but still staying within what felt to me like traditional Castlevania lore. It was a new spin on things, and the twist ending was very well done. It's not my favorite game in the series or anything, but it's my favorite 3D game in the series (and I'm a big fan of both of the PS2 games, especially Curse of Darkness).
See to me, Lords of Shadow didn't feel like a Castlevania game to me at all. Plus all the QTEs put me off, especially the Crow Witch. It wasn't until you got to Bernard Castle and the vampire section, the music box and the clock tower of the game, that I felt like I was playing a Castlevania game. But then you get put into the Necromancer's territory and it was a bland, spare desert wasteland. Lords of Shadow felt like Gabe could have been any generic hero going after any generic villain and without the Castlevania title on it the only comparison would be that he had a whip for a weapon. At least in the DLC you got to go back to the vampire castle and see more of it.
