making note of the character sprites. The change to an anime design in Dawn of Sorrow was criticized. GameSpy deplored the "shallow, lifeless anime images" used for Soma's in-game representation, and Kojima's absence from the production. IGN claimed that the images were "down to the level of 'generic Saturday morning Anime' quality". Nevertheless, RPGFan felt that the story created around Soma was the best presented in the series since Symphony of the Night. One of the main developers from the Netflix Castlevania series, executive producer Adi Shankar, has expressed a desire in using Soma, considering him an underrated character. He further added "When you look at the story of Soma Cruz, and really what we’re doing here, the difference between the gaming universe and the Castlevania cinematic universe, we are adding emotional depth, and to extrapolate from Soma Cruz there's a lot to unpack there -- and I’m not spoiling it, I’m just saying I personally just really dig Soma Cruz." References Castlevania characters Dracula in written fiction Fictional Japanese people Fictional monster hunters Fictional swordfighters in video games Konami protagonists Male characters in video games Fiction about reincarnation Video game characters introduced in 2003