New Styles of Game Play for the 2D Castlevania

Within the past ten years, many recent Castlevania games have introduced new game play mechanics that have revolutionaized the series. Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow demonstrated the soul system. In both games, the player absorbs enemies' souls and uses their abilities for his own benefit. These souls could also be used to make new weapons and help the player progress through the castle.
 
In Portrait of Ruin, the partner mechanic was designed for the game. The player could control two characters at the same time. This new mechanic allowed for new ways to solve puzzles, switch between two characters, and unleash powerful combined attacks. Portrait of Ruin is only the game so far to use this mechanic in the series. It would be nice see another game use this system and take it to another level.

Order of Ecclesia's unique game play mechanic was the glyph system. In some aspect, similar to soul system but with some differences. Not every enemy the player would face dropped a glyph and glyphs were automatically absorbed. The player would have to hold up on the control pad until the glyph was absorbed. These glyphs also functioned as the player's weapons. MP was consumed everytime a glyph was used. Glyphs could also be combined create an ultimate attack. These mechanics gave the game a new level of difficulty to adjust to but still retained the Castlevania feel.