I am lazy and uninterested in making a detailed review like you're find on Shipwreck's postings or others... so this is the Lite version.

Format: Xbox 360 Arcade Release

The summer of arcade continues this week with the release of Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. I picked it up for various reasons:
1) I love the Castlevania series.
2) I love platform games.
3) I want my 1200 points back from buying all of the arcade releases.
4) 2nd only to Nazis, the living dead make great enemies.

Initially, I played the first chapter four times solo before trying to recruit my friend to help me. I am glad I did, because we were able to finish chapter 2. We gave up on chapter 3. I played online with others last night and finished 3, 4, and 5. Mixed emotions on this game after playing for a couple of hours...

LIKES:
-Graphics - never played the DS versions, but the people in my room last night were discussing the different games in the series. I likened this to SOTN, same graphics as far as I can tell.
-Map View - what first struck me as completely strange, I now like the fact that I can see the entire map if I want to. Zooming out allows me to make sure I'm going the right way in the castle as to not waste a good 5 minutes to discover I made a wrong turn back at the clocktower or something.
-Bosses - as always, the Castlevania bosses range from ridiculous to humanistic to gigantic. All are relatively easy once you understand their patterns.
-Game Length - so far, after a few hours of playing, I am almost done with the Normal setting. I plan to replay in Hard and try to bang out the achievements.
-Character Selection - 5 selectable players with their own weapon sets and powers. Still limited in function, but a lot of fun to have.
-Treasure Chests - I love getting items, but in multiplayer games, I HATE getting beat to them by greedy teammates who take everything. Except the blue chests (which give you Water of Life, which allows you to revive teammates), all other chests give each person an item. Now you can play as a team to get all of the chests.

DISLIKES:
-Difficulty - this game is designed to be played as a multiplayer game. I am sure it is possible to beat the game solo, but it's frustrating and time consuming on Normal for me. I'm NOT the best gamer out there, but I would not be able to finish this solo. Unfortunately, multiplayer games only work when people play online, so unless this game becomes super popular, look to have to set up play dates in the future.
-No Leveling Up - SOTN opened the door to leveling up. You have the ability to do basic upgrades to your character, but it's not the same as getting a character to level 50 or something. Once you get to places or beat levels, you unlock better equipment.
-Changing Items - a little picky, but one thing I loved about SOTN was customization. When you added this type of armor, you were this color, etc etc. It just added a little fun once you got maxed out. You do get to select your color when you change characters though.

Overall, I really like this game. I like multiplayer games anyway, but I do think this one has a fairly short shelf life as the game is not that difficult, and once you have the achievements, unless you're running special self-challenges, the replay isn't super high. I have heard discussions about future DLC, which will certainly be a great plus, BUT, as with most DLC, the question is whether it will be worth the extra points. I recommend buying this game if you like working as a team. If you want it for solo, I suggest skipping it. If you do multiplayer, you will need a mic so you can figure out who's doing what.