I was really in the mood for something really "retro", "video game-y", and nostalgic. Out of a whim I started playing Aria of Sorrow (it just kinda called out to me) and man was I surprised at how good this game was. I hadn't really gotten into the more "open" Castlevania games because they seemed really overwhelming to me despite me really wanting to get into them. Before playing this I had only played classic Castlevania like the ones on NES, SNES, etc... I was getting really tired of playing 3D, third person games, stuff that was more "modern" and really just wanted a break.
The enemies, the RPG elements, the bosses.. everything about this game is so good. The music was really good and also had some callbacks to older Castlevania games which I liked. And the characters were likeable enough to invest me in the story. This game does get really tough but it's manageable, it can be pretty hectic and unfair at times though. The leveling system was very satisfying and collecting souls of enemies was honestly really fun. I ended up getting the "normal" ending which I don't mind and I don't really intend on getting the "true" ending.
All in all I'm pretty satisfied with my experience with this game. I really wanted to play an "older", pixel-y game and this delivered. It took me roughly 5 and a half to 6 hours to beat this game which is awesome. I just played it in my free time for however long during that session. It wasn't too long and it didn't overstay it's welcome either. I'd recommend this game to any Castlevania lover such as myself and even newcomers who have yet to delve into the series. There hasn't been too many games recently that have truly made me happy, excited, hyped and all of the above compared to with this game. It seriously got me out of a gaming slump that I had and I'm very glad to have finally played this game after wanting to for the longest time.