Just finished my binge of it. And it is a solid foundation. Trevor vs Richter you got two different protaginists. Trevor needed to redeem himself meanwhile Richter you can obviously tell its a journey of growth. Needing for him to get past the horror of his mother dying right in front of him. (Partially his fault but he was a stupid kid it is what it is).
The main group fit pretty well. Trevor and Sypha interactions and banter for fukking amazing in the first series. Here we got Richter having a more familia relationship with Maria and Tera. Tho Richter now losing two mother figures in his life really has to string, but this is def one that would push him forward. Maria was alright. I did think the subplot of finding out who her father was predictable, but it made sense. She wanted to give him a chance for him to prove that she could depend on him as a father and he failed that. Annette was a nice mix to add to the 3 of them.Gave them a sense of urgency they needed even when she knew it wasn't time to press forward.
I am surprised that Abbot is still alive at the end. Guess things could change when S2 starts but I am not sure whats the point of him going forward. A self sacrifice redemption arc? Thats the best I can think of. Orlox is the one villain going forward that is easily the best of the bunch. Obviously he will be the final boss for Richter, but serves as someone that will examine the situation and from his view make the right decision. He knows that Erzsebet is an evil abomination and even he aint strong enough to beat her alone.
Regarding the ending I give them props going through with a sacrifice. But Tera showed what it meant to protect your child as a parent which is where Abbot failed. Also Allucard at the end was hype af
. His entrance dialogue could been more clever but beyond great execution at this moment to end S1.
I felt the use of Richter's grandfather was underwhelming. The point from that was to compare his failure to Richter and motivate him to protect Maria and the others. I get why, but felt the direction in this part of S1 was by far the weakest imo. It could have been executed much better.
Production was very good. Tho I did feel the first Castelvania series had slightly better production, but that is nitpicking. Very excited for S2.