Rising seems to have gotten better.

I did not like the Lords of Shadow 2 trailer. First it was just a video, no gameplay at all, and since the first game does not fell like a Castlevania I am worried this will be more of the same.

The second one wont either. The first one was a beautyfull and fun game, with great gameplay and a fantastic story. At first it wasnt even planned to be Castlevania: Lords of Shadow only Lords of Shadow. It is not a rel Castlevania game, but I say fuck that it was awesome, almost as good as God of War.

MGS: Rising and Lords of Shadow, Konami you have potential for the next year.

The first was very good, and I really liked the vampire worlds, but a better name for the game would had been Van Hellsing: Lords of Shadow instead of Castlevania. I hope that since this one is a Castlevania game from the beggining it would capture better the essence of the frachise, including the exploration aspects and at least part of the music.

No exploration please. I am sick of this open world games. The only thing they should change are the camera angles. Anything else was perfect.

More exploration does not mean open worlds it means less linear progression. More exploration could mean that you can finish a level through 2-3 different paths, and depending on the route selected the next level changes, some path can be locked depending on some items/abilities. You know a little more Metroidvania, a little less God of War action game.

Aha that sounds pretty cool, but I don´t know any game with that features, except of MGS and Hitman maybe.