Rank the Castlevania games you have played.

I have the night off and I need something to do while I kill yesterday's wine bottle so I'm going deep. Will probably be a bit rambley. I'm limiting this to the games that will be comparable to Bloodstained. I'm leaving out Lecarde Chronicles II although I feel like I should have included it.

#1: Portrait of Ruin

A pretty outlandish and unheard of choice for best Castlevania, I know I know.

Last played: Two years ago. Knocked the entire DS trilogy out during my downtime on a "friend-cation" me and five of my pals managed to work out. (Hilariously it was three couples and we're all broken up now after five year relationships but that's beside the point!)

Good: First off I rank this game at top because it's the most fun to me. That's it. Anyways so the game is just massive, and has a borderline unnecessary amount of items in it. This is clearly a result of having two playable characters of opposite genders that need their own apparel, but nonetheless, I appreciate excess in my RPGs. The paintings were a really good touch that added some really decent variety in areas, plus I didn't even mind the reskin paintings. Again, this is the largest Castlevania game in basically every regard meaning it is the size standard I'll be comparing Bloodstained to considering it's explicit advertised to be Iga's largest game yet. Other positives: Good difficulty curve, the Nest of Evil was probably the best challenge area in the series, lots of good original tunes, (Invitation of a Crazed Moon really sets the game's tone), and the final boss fight is probably my favorite Dracula encounter in the series. The whole "two character" thing was pretty whatever to me, but I feel like it was explored fully with the boss fight with Death. A very enjoyable encounter. Finally the game had some pretty cutesy gimmick rooms. I like the room in one of the London-esque paintings where you had to break a lamp to drop a coin into a cash register to purchase one of the food items on display.

Bad: The art style is almost criminally inconstant. The environments are fine, but the enemies? ugh. You'll have decent attempts at looking gothic/realistic, such as with the boss Dagon, but in the exact same area, you'll have cartoony enemies with bold black outlines like the Killer Bee. It really is my biggest gripe with the game. Otherwise, the castle itself is pretty weak sauce. It never feels like a threatening place. It's mostly just a hub for paintings. I also didn't like it's impossible to get a satisfying ending without meeting arbitrary requirements, a trend followed in Order of Ecclesia. In fact the whole "not-so-secret-secret-endings" has been a growing issue with the series starting at Harmony of Dissonance, and I'll get further into detail with it later. Finally the bosses in the portraits of the latter half of the game, while obviously tributes to classic-vania bosses, were pretty lackluster.

What I'd like to see Bloodstained learn from this game: I'd like to see a large and challenging optional area on par with the Nest of Evil. I'd like to see an excess of items. I'd like to see a very large diversity in environments. I'd like to see a level cap of 255 or higher, especially considering all the different modes we have, along with a genuine NG+ experience.

#2: Order of Ecclesia

Last played: See above

Good: The difficulty was perfect. It's just hard enough to ensure that you never feel "safe," but not too hard that you hate the game. This is a level of difficulty that I want to see by default for Bloodstained. On that note, this was the only Castlevania game where I found myself caring if I was doing sharp or blunt damage because some enemies had some HEAVY resistance to one of them. I'm looking at you skeleton cavern. Next, the quest system introduced in Portrait of Ruin was refined to near perfection in this game. The quests made sense, and the whole rescuing villagers angle was a fantastic way of introducing them. A far superior approach compared to having an exposition dumping ghost do it. I find this game to be the only example of an iga-vania where the Dracula's castle feels like it lives up to it's namesake. Saving the castle itself for the last third of the game was a very good approach and, I stress, made the castle feel like a genuinely oppressive location. Additionally, I felt as if a lot of creativity went into the bosses for this game. Eligor is a fantastic example of how to keep boss fights fresh in a series with hundreds of them. Finally, I feel like OoE had the most consistent art style of the DS trilogy. Never was I taken aback by how an enemy clashed with the environment. They all felt natural.

Bad: Some of the pre-castle areas were just too small. I'm fine with bite sized areas, but the forest and swamp were both literally just twenty square hallways. A waste of overworld space if you ask me. The glyph absorption mechanic was criminally underutilized. You can absorb spells casted from demons, the goat enemies, a necromancer, and two(??) bosses. That's it. Such a great idea that was borderline wasted to the point where it's just a slower soul absorption mechanic from the Sorrow duo. On that note I didn't really like the lack of weapons. Obviously glyphs replaced them, but glyphs are naturally a bit more uncommon. The point is that the game follows a very strict character progression path and you only get stronger when the developers let you have a new glyph. There's no farming for better items because there aren't any. It's a game that's very tightly controlled as far as difficulty is concerned, which ends up being a blessing and a curse. Finally, while I praised the fact that the castle is at the end of the game, having the game arbitrarily end beforehand if you don't have all the villagers is just dumb.

What I'd like to see Bloodstained learn form this game: I'd like the "normal" difficulty to still be heavily demanding on the player. I'd like to see choices in weapon damage type actually matter. I'd like the game to be oppressive. I'd like to see a creative spark in the bosses. (On that note, Bloodless from Bloosdatined looked quite similar to Rusalka mechanically. Still sorting out my opinion on that.)

#3: Curse of Darkness

Last played: Up until my original xbox died on me senior year of high school. 2010.

Good: The music. The music on display in CoD is the best that the series has to offer. You have catchy tunes, chill tunes, head-banging tunes, and unsettling tunes. Hearing the works of Michiru Yamane unrestricted by the limits of a handheld device was an absolute treat. Otherwise the familiar system in this game is a perfect evolution of the familiar system in SotN. The crafting system, while simplistic, was kind of a novelty considering the game came out before crafting was the latest trend in gaming. Speaking of novelty, the whole stealing/theft mechanic was really interesting. Frustrating at times? Sure, but it was a really well done aspect of the game regardless. I found the Towers of Eternity/Evermore to be an excellent optional challenge area. Not up to par with the Nest of Evil, but the concept of having to tackle 100 floors of nonstop combat really wowed me back when the game was brand new and I was a little guy. (Fun-fact, Curse of Darkness was my first M rated game.) I find the difficulty level known as "crazy mode" to be worthy of it's name. Two hit deaths ahoy. Stupidly hard and that's how it should be. Finally, the bosses were all just really well done. By far the best of the 3D iga-vanias

Bad: I'll just knock this out fast since this part seems to be generally agreed upon: World progression is boring, areas are pretty boring, combat isn't deep enough, character design was overly gothic and came off as silly half the time. nobody really like having to evolve familiars down specific paths to unlock optional areas, and the game is kind of easy until the difficulty curve heads straight into the stratosphere towards the end. Also Trevor should have actually died instead of being deus ex saved by Julia. Not that I particularly care about Castlevania plots because they're always threadbare on their own, but this was just stupid.

What I'd like to see Bloodstained learn from this game: I'd like to see the familiars in this game be able to dynamically evolve. I'd like the quality of the music to be up to par with this game. I'd like Bloodstain's "Nightmare mode" to be comparable to CoD's Crazy mode.

#4: Symphony of the Night

Last played: When I played this game last I recall my girlfriend at the time telling me "I love you" as she left in the a.m. Specifically I had just beaten the Hippogriff. My memory is weird. Anyways this places my last playthrough at early November of last year.

Good: Nobody shuts up about this game so I'm keeping it brief. Inverted castle is a cool bonus. Lots of usable items. The music is top notch. Reasonably non-linear. Castle progression is great. Lots of fun gimmicky rooms. Alucard has wonderful sprite movement.

Bad: Call me a hipster but I'm going hard on this. First off the inverted castle is bad. What made the first castle so special is the array of abilities you gather to eventually find all of it's secrets and make your way to the second castle. The problem is that the game blew it's load (and gave you flying WAY too early imo) and leaves you with absolutely no more character progression once you step foot in the second castle. Find and kill six bosses. Boom, that's it. That's your second castle. It doesn't help that the music variety nosedives in the second castle as well. Secondly, with the exception of Galamoth, the game is just stupid easy. The only way for me to get some form of challenge out of it anymore is to do runs where I only equip the Alucart set. That's it. Thirdly, nobody likes diminishing experience returns. When a difficult enemy, or God forbid, boss gives you a single experience point for killing it, something is jacked up. Fourth, a lot of bosses feel like filler. Cerberus is a great example of this. Next, form of the wolf is pointless. It doesn't deserve it's dedicated button on the xbox 360 rerelease. Additionally, only being able to freely traverse between castles from one specific point is dumb. Finally, there was just too much overpowered shit in the game. Soul steal in itself is almost game-breaking, but the sheer amount of "I win" weapons in the game is unheard of. Granted there's only like three, but most games have zero. Few have one. SotN has three. (Sonic Blade, Valmanway, and Alucard Shield/Shield rod.) Also Poison mist.

What I'd like to see Bloodstained learn from this game: I'd like to see a second castle of some sort. If Iga really wants to shock us, give us a third castle. I'd like to see non-linear castle progress. I'd like to see lots of interesting gimmick rooms, like the ghost confession booth room, or the room where you ram your head up the librarian's butt. I'd like to see input command spells, like hellfire, soulsteal, or hecta-spirit.

#5: Circle of the moon

Aside: I'm aware that Iga had nothing to do with this.

Last played: Sometime after my last SotN run so vaguely between Novemter of last year and January of this year.

Good: CotM deserves praise for having the only practical castle in the series. No cutesy areas like "The room of Illusions" or "The Floating Gardens." Nah, here we get "Basement," "Audience Hall," "Castle Wall," and "Observatory." I like how some areas get stronger enemies after certain points in the game. The Zombie Dragons stand as a fine example of how bosses should be done in this series. I enjoy the challenge in this game, though it's largely due to the old school feel to it. Another thing that is important to note, the time of day outside stays consistent the whole game. Whenever you look out a window or head outside, the sky is always midnight blue. It's a welcome aspect of the game that I wish following games would have had as well. Also the DDS (DSS?) system is kind of cool but the fact that it relies on often rare drops kills it. Finally wall jumping is a cool ability.

Bad: It's hard for me to call something bad in this game because there's very little that stands out, good or bad. It's easy to tell that this isn't an Iga-lead game simply because it lacks imagination, although I did praise the practicality of the castle earlier. Some bosses are kind of boring, like the one in the clock tower. The amount of reskinned enemies is almost comical. The arena area is poorly balanced. The difficulty curve in that area make a ninety degree turn upwards. The Horse Demon (or Minotaur?) room in particular is just beyond belief unfair. It wouldn't be so bad if you were able to utilize magic in this area. Also the items in this game are pretty boring. They're all strictly stat boosting items. Not a single interesting piece of equipment to be found. Finally, although they tried to disguise it, the "diminishing experience" issue with SotN returns here. Instead of diminishing experience though, the experience required to level up was exponential while experience given by enemies progressed at an arithmetic rate.

What I'd like to see Bloodstained learn from this game: I'd like to see a consistent skybox. I'd like to see random powerful enemies show up in previously low level areas. I'd like to see wall jumping.

#6: Harmony of Dissonance

Last played: 14 hours ago at a local coffee bar. Started and finished over a course of far too many pretentious coffee based beverages. My girlfriend works there so the over-the-top employee discount works wonders.

Good: The normal/spirit castles are a superior evolution to the normal/inverted castles of SotN. There are meaningful changes you can make in one castle that affect the other. Being able to hop between castles in multiple locations is a welcome addition. Design-wise this is probably the most adventurous castle in the series. While I appreciated the practicality of CotM's castle, I can also appreciate the outlandishness of HoD's castle. We have the "Wailing Way," a treasury with a crystal cavern in it, "Skeleton Cave," and "Sky Walkway." Very bold design choices. The magic book/subweapon system was a well done evolution of the DDS system in CotM. The "hidden" ending was actually hidden for once and was blatantly impossible to discover without actively looking for it. I also enjoyed how Talos returns as an actual fight late in the game after harassing you in the intro. Finally I appreciate the effort put in to make the game surreal and horrific. It's not exactly a scary game, but the effort is clearly there.

Bad: Bosses mostly sucked. The castle is small. The physics are wonky. There's a lot of overpowered spells. The music is pretty bad, though Juste's theme/castle entrance is catchy enough. Diminishing experience returns in full force, to the point where nothing gives more than one experience point after level 60-ish. I didn't like how some of the shops didn't show up at all unless you met certain requirements. Most were fine enough, like having an even or odd number of hearts, but some were just ridiculous. Specifically the one that only appears after level fifty, and the one that only appears after you get the noonstar card which is a rare drop from two different enemies. Also the generic "rescue the girl" motivation for Juste was bland bland bland.

What I'd like to see Bloodstained learn from this game: I'd like to see actions in one castle affect the other. (let's be real, we're getting a second castle in some way, shape, or form.) I'd like to see a castle with horror and surrealistic elements.

#7: Dawn of Sorrow

Aside: We're getting to the point where the games below have very little to them that they do better than the other games in the series.

Last played: See Portrait of Ruin

Good: The evolution of the souls system from Aria of Sorrow was needed and is done well. Actually fighting Flying Armor instead of randomly getting his soul out of the blue in the prior game was neat. Hammer is my favorite NPC in the series. Playing as Alucard in the second character mode was fun. Actually having to put in effort to find the three "cryptic" enemies was a good mechanic.

Bad: The story was forced. This is the first game in the series that has the "really obvious secret ending." The bosses were mostly hot trash until after the "final" boss. Having to grind for souls to get a better weapon is an insane mechanic and is probably the most unfun thing in the entire series to me. The castle and progression as a whole is pretty bland and "safe." It's very by the books. You don't get any interesting movement or abilities. It's your standard glide->double jump->water movement->flying that's prevalent in metroidvanias. Again, not that I care about the individual stories in this series, but it felt really forced in this one.

What I'd like to see Bloodstained learn from this game: I'd like to see the shards level up and get stronger if you collect more of the same one.

#8: Harmony of Despair

Last played: A few months ago

Good: Bosses were stupid hard. There's an insane amount of gear. I really like the randomized loot, a mechanic explored in OoE and perfected here. 10/10 fanservice. 9/10 music. I enjoyed that some bosses were able to harass you before you even made it to them. It's just Gergoth and Death that can do this, but it was still really interesting.

Bad: I mean, there's not much to say that isn't glaringly obvious. As far as things that everybody doesn't already agree upon, I'd say that ripping environments sprites from SotN looked bad aesthetically. I'd also say that the "new" voice actors were pretty bad. I guess a leveling system of some sort would have done the game decently as well. Having the DLC characters show up as "old armor" enemies to people without the DLC is ridiculous.

What I'd like to see Bloodstained learn from this game: Since we're getting a spiritual successor to this in Bloodstained's "online challenge" mode, I'd like to see the timer gone. Because with the timer, you have people making dumb mistakes to rush. Then they turn into skeletons. Then they're stupid and still try to fight things. Then they die because skeletons are fragile. Then you lose two minutes on the clock. Then because the person controlling the skeleton is actually an idiot they return to the fight immediately and then die again. Repeat until the time runs out. Do I sound salty about this? Because I am.

#9: Aria of Sorrow:

Last played: Two nights ago

Good: The Japanese voices are good. Hammer is the best NPC. Headhuntress is a standout boss. It introduces the soul system. Of all the games in the series, it had the best balance between the difficulty in finding the "true" ending, and the amount of content in the "true" ending. The walking on water ability is cool. "Forbidden Area" is reasonably difficult to get to.

Bad: The most bland castle in the entire series. This is coupled with a very bland character movement progression system as discussed up in Dawn of Sorrow. The game is balanced poorly. Being able to get the best weapon in the game at about 2/3rds of the way in without any need for sequence breaking or insane movement tricks is silly. The music is mostly forgettable. The bosses in the first half of the game, up until Headhuntress are the least interesting in the series

What I'd like to see Bloodstained learn from this game: A decent amount of build up was present before you fight Legion so I'd like to see more bosses with a presence in the area they belong to. I'd like to see the true ending/second castle to be decently hidden, and unable to be discovered just by exploration.

Bonus: Things I universally dislike:

Hard modes with a level cap. That's it. I didn't really have a place to shoehorn this in so here ya go.

That's really hard for me to do, and i would probably change this rank everyday, but let's try:

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Great Tier:
1-Aria of Sorrow
Best magic system (Soul Dominance), Best and most diverse castle, Only Castlevania ever that had a plot twist that got me by the leg (I really didn't expect Soma to be Dracula).

2-Symphony of the Night
The revolutionary game that launched the only idol i ever had in my life (IGA) the definite Igavania game.

3-Order of Ecclesia
Unique Magic system (Glyph Art) Bitter, tragic heroine plot. Shanoa is sexy.

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Very Good Tier:
1-Portrait of Ruin
Absurdly fun game.

2-Lament of Innocence
Underrated gem among 3d Castlevanias. Has some flaws, but great graphics, exciting plot and fun gameplay.

3-Harmony of Dissonance
Another underrated game. Diverse castle layouts and a killer soundtrack, unfortunately butchered by a questionable sound quality.

4-Super Castlevania IV / Castlevania Chronicles
Castlevania IV was my first Castlevania ever. Remember it for nostalgic feelings. I also love it's ambiance and overall graphics that remembers me the old, good days of Dungeon Crawler Tabletop Roleplaying games for some reason. 
Castlevania Chronicles captures the same feelings i had with Castlevania IV with a more modern look.

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Good Tier:
1-Curse of Darkness
Best Familiar system of all time. Really fun to play to keep farming crystals to level up your I.Ds. Lackluster scenarios.

2-Dawn of Sorrow
Too many flaws (questionable artwork change, plain uninteresting castle) but still a good game.

3-Circle of the Moon
Absurdly cliche plot and the DSS system could be better. Still a fun game to play.

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Not Bad Tier:
1-Judgment
Could have been much better, but it is, without a doubt, a fun game to kill time. (Unintentional pun).

2-Castlevania / Vampire Killer
The ones that started it all in a way. Not bad, but it didn't aged well.

3-Rondo of Blood / Dracula X / Bloodlines / The Dracula X Chronicles
They aren't bad games, but they are the same old formula of the past that, for me, it didn't aged very well.

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Bad Tier:
1-Harmony of Despair
The idea of playing a Igavania game with friends online is not bad for a mini-game or a stance-based game. But it was done poorly.

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Very Bad Tier:
1-Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
A copy-paste of other games elements toned down. Marvelous graphics that wrap up a mediocre game.. Never had the desire to finish it due to how bat it is.

2-Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate
A way to capitalize on Igavania's formula with a bunch of wrong choices. Never had the desire to finish it due to how bat it is.

3-Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2*
(*): Never played. Decided it is very bad due to the Lords of Shadow Franchise itself.

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Barely played, can't judge due to that:
(Not Ranked): Haunted Castle, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Castlevania: The Adventure, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, Castlevania Legends.

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Never played, can't judge due to that:
(Not Ranked):Castlevania (64), Legacy of Darkness, Order of Shadows, The Adventure ReBirth

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i'm sorry, i didn't read everything everyone posted, too many texts, but i will maybe try later on.