Some impressions from one who 'beat' it:
'Well, this is it, guys; after 9 hours of gametime I have finished the game.
First off, the anticipated Julius mode:
Julius mode is unlocked after getting the "Bad Ending" where Soma reawakens as Dracula(I won't go into storyline details, more on that later), and Julius and the gang team up on a quest to confront Soma.
They DO level up(HP/MP increase) by killing enemies and bosses, but do NOT have an inventory of any kind; therefore, no armors, pendants, etc.
You start out with Julius alone, and will meet Yoko in her weapon synthesis room; I have yet to meet Alucard, but it is confirmed he will be in his SotN outfit(I read his profile after I unlocked Julius mode, and saw his SotN mugshot)
Julius is still the same old: he starts with his usual axe, holy water, cross, big cross subweapons, double jump, slide, and some sort of uppercut that elevates him a little bit when you press L(think of it as a third jump).
Yoko is quite fun to play with: she heals 2 HP for every physical hit she deals, be it slide, crouch kick, etc; she also has three elemental attacks (equivalent to Julius' subweapons) up her sleeve: fire(kinda like a shotgun blast, short range), ice(five icicles shoot out from her, just like the picture), and electricity(three electric balls home in on the enemy).
I'm assuming Alucard is the character we will use to get to high grounds, since none of the members so far are able to high-jump(Julius' "triple" jump only gets him so far :/).
Now that I've cleared all that up, I have to ask you guys something:
Do you REALLY want to know the three endings? Since that basically means telling the whole story, and the game isn't even out yet. O_O
I gotta go to sleep now(it's almost 5am here) so think about it and give me an answer, cuz I don't want to be blamed for spoiling the whole story when most of the people here didn't even play the game yet. :/
'
more:
As for souls, the most recent one I got is from Orlox, which allows access into mirrors; basically it's like Super Mario Bros. 2, where a potion door brings you to the alternate world, and you can find some goodies there.
(but then he says this after that post):
Oh my god guys, I think I just figured out how to get to the real storyline.
Remember how I said the last soul I got was Orlox's soul, where it allows access to "the other side of the mirror?"
It's last for a reason; Orlox's boss room is one of the two places that can only be accessed by the "Bat Company" soul(basically this game's Giant Bat soul), the second place being the boss area.
Well guess what the final boss room has conveniently right in the middle of the room?
you guessed it, a friggin mirror.
And when you're fighting Dario, the *flame* user, what do you see in the mirror's reflections as Dario is in front of the mirror?
A list of areas so far:
Village which disappeared from the Map
Demon Reception Hall
Magic Research Building
Flower Garden of Madness
Underground Hades
Cursed Clocktower
Ruin of Silence
Black Cathedral
Tower of the Sinned
Topmost floor of Castlevania(will probably become "Top Floor" in the US version)
.
