The Makaimura series is probably best known for being extremely difficult, and while I wouldn't say that Ghouls 'n Ghosts isn't a difficult game, it remains an extremely approachable and fun one. You'll die a lot, but the tightness and simplicity of the controls typically let you see what you could have done better, and the infinite continues and fair checkpointing make it less of a slog than many action platformers of this era without resorting to save states.
You can easily get some enjoyment out of this game just doing a quick playthrough (it only takes a couple of hours even at a slower pace), appreciate the art and fantastic soundtrack, and see what the game has to offer. That's exactly what I did when I originally played the game a couple years back. Recently, however, I got a song from the game stuck in my head out of nowhere and had the urge to play it again. So I went back, got the true ending this time in its NG+ equivalent, and have beaten it several more times since. This is the first game of this type that I've really wanted to get good at and attempt to 1CC, and in that process I've seen a lot more of what makes this game great.
I praised the controls a bit above, but they really are a huge part of what makes the game fun. In your first minutes playing it, especially if you're coming from a background of mostly playing newer games, things like the slow walk speed and your jump being high commitment might feel dated or clunky, but the combat of Ghouls is all about careful positioning and reading the scenario you're in. The options available to you are simple enough that it's easy to keep in mind at any time, but the combat always feels dynamic and interesting, and the responsiveness of your moveset allows you to manage the chaos the enemies create through thoughtful play. A mix of fixed and random enemy spawns makes the levels feel a bit different to play through each time, and many of the enemies are faster than you or have attacks that will punish careless movement or overextending your position. Learning all of their patterns and how to play against them is very fun, and as you learn you'll see how Arthur's moveset is designed to complement that style of play.
My main complaint about the game is definitely with the weapon balancing. Weapon spawns are mostly random, you can learn when they'll spawn after some time with the game, but even that will seem random to inexperienced players and you never have control over what you'll get. This wouldn't be a big problem if all of the weapons felt viable, but there are some real stinkers. The sword is at least interesting, though it struggles a lot more in some levels than the good weapons. The axe and holy water are next to useless, while the starting weapon of the lance as well as the discus are serviceable, and the dagger outclasses everything with the only exception being the special NG+ weapon in certain situations. What makes this lack of balance worse is that you can get stuck with weapons very easily. Weapon pickups never despawn, so avoiding picking up an unwanted one can be challenging or even impossible without taking an intentional death. Your weapon also persists through deaths and continues, so failing to avoid a weapon or having one spawn on top of you unexpectedly can put you in a bad situation and make the game much more difficult until you manage to get back to a better one. I don't think this is a fatal flaw, but it seems like such an easy and obvious thing to improve, which makes it confusing from what I've heard that none of the future titles in the series managed to do that. Strange.
I'm not sure how many people are in the same boat as me with enjoying action platformers but being turned off by a lot of the classics for one reason or another, but if that describes you, or if you've just ever been curious about this game or series, this is an excellent game to try. I've been having a blast with it, and it's become an easy game to just pick up and play for a few minutes when I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if I'll stick with it to the point of 1CCing it, but I'm working towards that, enjoying the process of improving, and loving the game.
You can easily get some enjoyment out of this game just doing a quick playthrough (it only takes a couple of hours even at a slower pace), appreciate the art and fantastic soundtrack, and see what the game has to offer. That's exactly what I did when I originally played the game a couple years back. Recently, however, I got a song from the game stuck in my head out of nowhere and had the urge to play it again. So I went back, got the true ending this time in its NG+ equivalent, and have beaten it several more times since. This is the first game of this type that I've really wanted to get good at and attempt to 1CC, and in that process I've seen a lot more of what makes this game great.
I praised the controls a bit above, but they really are a huge part of what makes the game fun. In your first minutes playing it, especially if you're coming from a background of mostly playing newer games, things like the slow walk speed and your jump being high commitment might feel dated or clunky, but the combat of Ghouls is all about careful positioning and reading the scenario you're in. The options available to you are simple enough that it's easy to keep in mind at any time, but the combat always feels dynamic and interesting, and the responsiveness of your moveset allows you to manage the chaos the enemies create through thoughtful play. A mix of fixed and random enemy spawns makes the levels feel a bit different to play through each time, and many of the enemies are faster than you or have attacks that will punish careless movement or overextending your position. Learning all of their patterns and how to play against them is very fun, and as you learn you'll see how Arthur's moveset is designed to complement that style of play.
My main complaint about the game is definitely with the weapon balancing. Weapon spawns are mostly random, you can learn when they'll spawn after some time with the game, but even that will seem random to inexperienced players and you never have control over what you'll get. This wouldn't be a big problem if all of the weapons felt viable, but there are some real stinkers. The sword is at least interesting, though it struggles a lot more in some levels than the good weapons. The axe and holy water are next to useless, while the starting weapon of the lance as well as the discus are serviceable, and the dagger outclasses everything with the only exception being the special NG+ weapon in certain situations. What makes this lack of balance worse is that you can get stuck with weapons very easily. Weapon pickups never despawn, so avoiding picking up an unwanted one can be challenging or even impossible without taking an intentional death. Your weapon also persists through deaths and continues, so failing to avoid a weapon or having one spawn on top of you unexpectedly can put you in a bad situation and make the game much more difficult until you manage to get back to a better one. I don't think this is a fatal flaw, but it seems like such an easy and obvious thing to improve, which makes it confusing from what I've heard that none of the future titles in the series managed to do that. Strange.
I'm not sure how many people are in the same boat as me with enjoying action platformers but being turned off by a lot of the classics for one reason or another, but if that describes you, or if you've just ever been curious about this game or series, this is an excellent game to try. I've been having a blast with it, and it's become an easy game to just pick up and play for a few minutes when I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if I'll stick with it to the point of 1CCing it, but I'm working towards that, enjoying the process of improving, and loving the game.