The first Castlevania series definitely felt far more concerned with building a story that had the spirit of the games but completely could stand on its own merit. Nocturne seems more like it was written with the idea of crafting a story to simply serve the action sequences. As such I think the original had action that felt like more was at stake (a pun I know), whereas Nocturne felt like the action was more just to look really cool even when it had the heroes losing during fights.

I think focusing on the brutality of vampires and night creatures during the first season of the original show along with the depth of the characters really helped the fight sequences feel more dire. Here I felt like I was just watching really cool fight choreography without a lot of weight.

That said, I still enjoyed it. I may not have been clamoring to find out what happens next like I did binging through each season of the original. But, even watching Nocturne at a slower pace without a lot of interest to see the events unfold or the characters continue was still enjoyable. For me, the original stands as a really good show, whereas Nocturne is just fun entertainment. That said, I am definitely intrigued by the conscious night creatures turning against their intended purpose in Nocturne, am really liking Zahn McClarnon’s performance and character, and think that having a certain son of a certain vampire throughout season 2 might ramp things up a bit.