Castlevania SOTN is an ill-conceived fossil of mediocrity

[Weltall]

I like the soul capturing abilities for two reasons. One, it gives you a reason to try to find and defeat enemies, and two, it gives you a ton of freedom to play the game a bit differently, especially on NG+ when you start the game with most of the souls you collect. I love playing NG+ and using souls as exclusively as I can. Makes the early game a lot of fun!

I definitely recommend Dawn of Sorrow, as well. It's like 90% as good as Aria. Portrait of Ruin is maybe 65% as good, and it has some beautiful environmental art. The Victorian London level is just gorgeous to look at.