Meh. I've played all the handhelds, and only Order of Ecclesia I consider better than Symphony in some respects (gameplay - primarily challenge). Dawn of Sorrow was shitty. PoR was good but held back by some notable things. The GBA ones were a varied mix too.
All the handhelds have had dumbed down RPG systems, and a distinct lack of symphony's dark Gothic art style, treading into animu territory ever so slightly instead, but they are more detailed overall. Inferior soundtracks too. All in all they're all good on some level though of course, even Dawn of Sorrow.
Symphony is a great game but it had some flaws that were (gradually) removed from the later games. Namely
-plenty of corridors and rooms with same enemies copypasted over and over again
-awful balance and very easy difficulty level
-annoying inventory management since you couldn't sell items other than gems
-no real platforming
-way too much backtracking
Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin had an awful animu style but that was fixed for Order of Ecclesia which has the best artstyle in the series. I also prefer Ecclesia soundtrack over Symphony, aside from the actual sound quality, of course. Symphony has the best in-game graphics though.
What the hell i am reading...
I recently replayed all vania games including SoTN but not OoE (leaved for later) and:
-SoTN DOESN'T have copy pasted enemies everywhere. Hell SotN has literally places where you have like 1 unique monster that isn't used anywhere else that dies instantly. I think you are confusing it with later games.
-Backtracing is issue with later vania games after Down of Sorrow as you get shops and trading proper which were existing previously but they were worthless since you could easily find better gear. AND unlike those two games souls mechanics wasn't that much expanded so you didn't need to grind and do something with those souls thus you didn't need to backtrack.
-def level isn't high for any vania game after super4. Even SotN isn't that hard.
-platforming in castelvania ? wut. I mean sure it is 2D game with platforms but that doesn't mean they are platformers. In fact DS ones vania games with added gimmick platform based stylus were worse than just lack of platforming in SotN
SotN is special because it is the first of chain of new vania games and rightfully is named the best new vania game but Dawn of Sorrow isn't really that much behind. Soundtrack wise i'd say DoS and SotN are about equal as both have some amazing tracks. Later PoR drops quality a bit and introduces way more backtracking that rest of the games in series and since it is a sequel to DoS it isn't interesting plot wise.
Point is that all new vania games are about equal in quality despite what people claim. Sure you could argue that some are better than other but that difference isn't huge as it sounds and they all pretty much are fun games to play and enjoy.
As for ART i agree. There is noticeable downgrade in that aspect after SotN and i don't mean character portraits.
OK since it is vania thread i should point out that anyone who doesn't know about what is Vampire Hunter D Bloodust should watch it. Easily the best vania thing that is not game ever to grace anyone eyes:
