here's a post i made on another forum which itself is from another forum regarding this new castlevania of which part of it was from yet another forum. i'm on a lot of forums...
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Some brief details from Nintendo Power, more info can be gotten from the mag itself:
- deep combat mechanics
- involves Trevor Belmont
- Fight with Trevor's version of the Combat Cross
- strong attacks with X
- wider-reaching attacks with Y
- secondary weapons like the boomerang-like glaive and electric bomb
- use these with A
- grab enemies with R
- block and dodge with L
- involves light and shadow magic returns
- earn experience points to unlock new combos
- these include launching foes into the air, smashing enemies down to the ground and more
- includes skeletons, axe-wielding undead and more
All these complaints; personally I'm a little excited for it. The screenshots clearly indicate 2.5D.

Notice how he's on an XY plane, with the two skeletons perfectly aligned with his path. Note how he's obviously swinging to the left to that chandelier which is also conveniently right in his direct path. The camera may be tilted to the side a bit but it still looks 2.5D to me.
That said, this doesn't look too bad, and I'm sure that considering there IS experience there'll be some sort of exploration component involved as well. Let's not cry foul just yet; IGA may not be involved as far as we can tell, but that doesn't necessitate that this will be absolute garbage.
crossposting from another forum because it's relevant
EDIT: MOAR DETAILS
- direct sequel to Lords of Shadow
- gameplay is reminiscent of Dawn of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia
- polygon-based graphics
- primarily plays in 2D and 2.5D
- occasional shift into a fully 3D environment
- Mirror of Fate encourages nonlinear exploration and discovery
- developed by Mecurysteam
“We felt that traditionally Castlevania games had done well on handheld, and indeed found a home there to a certain extent. The whole team really felt we could do something special and memorable on the format that would immerse players totally. The N3DS has allowed us to create something totally unique and exclusive to the format that we think players are going to absolutely love.” - Dave Cox, producer
- picks up 25 years after the end of the events that played out in Lords of Shadow
- Trevor Belmont steps up to stop Dracula
- this is not the same Trevor we know
- gameplay stretches across time
- players will eventually be able to control Trevor’s descendent, Simon Belmont
- there are two other unnamed characters are in the game as well
- switch between the four characters at predetermined points
- work through Dracula’s castle during different time periods
- each warrior boasts different abilities
- explore the same castle with marked differences between each character
- some paths may be blocked off due to characters not sharing the same abilities (like double jumping)
- Simon wields the Vampire Killer whip
- Trevor utilizes the Combat Cross that made its debut in Lords of Shadow
- Simon can use throwing axes and burning oil
- Simon can also summon mystical guardians to fight for him or protect him
- use the touch screen to leave notes for yourself
- mark places that you might like to re-visit later
- SpotPass and StreetPass will come into play
Source