“Dawn of Sorrow” gets treated a little like a red-headed stepchild among Castlevania games, probably because a lot of fans weigh it against its direct predecessor “Aria of Sorrow” and find it lacking in comparison.
I’m weird: I found them about equal.
I’ll give the sequel points for being a prettier title (it better be, running on better hardware), but I also found the entire experience just more memorable in general. The map and story just grabbed me a little more.
I think the magic seal thing is pretty silly and needlessly complicates the game, but it’s not that big a deal ultimately. The other knocks are pretty similarly microbial.
If you come in expecting pretty typical “Metroidvania” action, you’ll probably walk away reasonably satisfied.