BLOODSTAINED - Koji Igarashi's Newest Project Unveiled

[Koh]

I prefer stiff controls though, but well, preference

For me, a new Castlevania could have slightly limited air movement (not fixed air movement) and being able to whip in front and 45º upwards only. No whipping everywhere. Up and down whipping made the game a little too easy as you could foresee the upper/lower areas and kill them even before you arrived there

Sub-weapon could be its own button instead of up+attack though. Controllers now have more than 2 buttons.

The reason I want a new Castlevania instead of a new Metroidvania is that Metroidvanias feel like a chore. Games like Aria of Sorrow and SoTN are great on its own, yes, but most of the times the enemies are a pushover (especially with the level up system that makes you even stronger). Combat in the older games were more challenging because the enemies were placed according to the level design and thus required some thought to advance. It's thrilling to win the level with 2 blocks of life remaining in your HP bar, and I wish I could relive that.

Egoraptor covered this in his Sequelitis on Castlevania 4.  Long story short, the control scheme is perfect, but they didn't design the game according to the control scheme, and designed based on the old control scheme.  They easily could've just designed the levels with the idea in mind that you could whip in all directions, and put some things out of reach if they really didn't intend for you to just whip it so easily.

Stiff controls should never be praised, as it's literally a form of fake difficulty.  I should note tight controls aren't the same as stiff controls.  Stiff controls make the game feel like it's denying you the most basic thing any person should be able to do by concept, like ducking, being able to defend yourself in mid air,  being able to defend yourself in any scenario with your basic attack (not to be read as kill any boss with your basic attack, just able to defend yourself), or just the ability to move freely because they locked you down on a grid (Zelda 1, Startropics 1, which makes the controls feel slippery and stiff because they always try to stay on their little sidewalk, and end up walking into things they normally shouldn't have).  Tight controls make the game feel extremely polished, and like you're in total CONTROL of what's going on.  If you end up dying, it's because you weren't skilled enough, not because you simply couldn't attack at an angle.  Kingdom Hearts II or even Secret of Mana would be some examples of games with tight controls.