If you're a hack and slash fan the platinum trophy or a crap ton of a achievement points are easily in your hands with this game. Thats a reason for replay value. The DLC is a whole other reason to hold onto this game for 2011 (or at least until the middle). It's not one DLC, but two that come at two early parts of 2011 and the first is in February. 

No wonder you don't think the game has replay value. You already used half of its replay value! It counts too! :)

I take it from your posts you all finished it a while back. i just finished it this afternoon, and i have to say i was so dissappointed with the last boss and the ending. without spoiling anything for anyone else, i just felt like the final boss shattered the illusion of the game i had been playing for the last 15-20 hours. the end wasnt bad, but that also broke the illusion of what i was playing. what were your thoughts?? oh and i think acheivements are good replay, and theres the DLC to look foward to next year.

It fit perfectly with the Christian tone and setting of the game.

Yeah possibiliy. what i'm saying is that throughout the game i felt i was playing a medieval fantasy game, a lot like say Lord of the Rings, or Underworld, things like that. which i agree had Christain based undertones. but when the last boss happened and the ending, i felt like that illusion was shattered. but maybe when i play through it again i will be able to accept it.

Edit: SPOILER, do not read if you havent finished.

the best way i can say it is that; i was invested in the mythology of the fantasy setting, when they used reality, it broke the illusion of the mythology, for me anyway.

I have a link in the OP that shows you how to mark spoilers.

This is actually par for the course for Castlevania.

Okay, cool. will use that in future. well its fair enough, at the end of the day its a game, i was so invested in the characters, the world and the story i forgot that somewhere along the way.

but this is the first one i've played so it a new thing to me. but maybe i'll warm to it on subsequent playthroughs!

I apologize if it seems like I'm harping on you about this, but this is for the benefits of everyone else, too. Here are some numbers on this point:

The first two hits in your combo do 25 and 35 damage, for a total of 60.

Subsequent hits do 40, 45, and then 60, bringing your total up to a respectable 205. You triple your damage with those few extra hits.

Your counter ability does 45, 60, 70, and 70. That's 255 damage just for countering, and the counter takes about as much time as the two-hit you've been doing the whole time.

This is just one example of how you can be a lot more efficient by figuring out how to lengthen your combos.

I loved the game very much, it just was a delight to play, the setting, the voice acting, the story, the graphics, gameplay, everything was top notch, and it did not so many games do , it made me feel something, and without spoiling anything, i thought the character was suffering, they tried to portray that....and i believed it, and the ending...well, i gotta tell it´s been a long time since i was truly sattisfied with the ending of a game.

I´m very excited for the dlc, it will only add to the magnificent experience i already had with the game. I bought the special edition and plan to keep it with me.

I read what some people said about how you can get through the game with the same combo...well, i guess you could...but the fun is in variety and i had no problem pulling long and flashy combos on enemies, even on bosses, the game gives you a big arsenal of moves and weapons to use, and i pretty much used each one of them, and it felt good.

On a final note...this is a series reboot, it felt like castlevania to me, and if the series keeps with this direction, on gameplay, story and characters, i´m all for it, good job mercury steam and konami.

Anyone in here tried doing any of the trials yet? I just beat the one in Chapter VII-2. That was hard until I remembered that countering with Light Magic turned on blinds the enemy, stunning them for a long time.