re: Adventure Games

When I think of adventure games I think of Zork, King's Quest, and Shadowgate. Thus it bugs me when people call Zelda an "adventure game."

Whoever writes the adventure game article, please PLEASE do not fall into the common trap of creating hardware-based subgenres ("PC Adventures and Console Adventures.") Nothing is more irritating and pointless than such a useless division.

re: Why Castlevania isn't an RPG

Honestly I think the OP covered it well. CV: SOTN isn't an RPG because its something other than an RPG.

Okay thats subjective, but that's how I approach the issue. When I first played SOTN there was absolutely nothing that made me feel like it was an RPG. It looked like a platformer, it played like a platformer, its a platformer. A platformer with an equipment subscreen and level-ups, but a platformer nonetheless. In fact even now, the thought of calling it an RPG doesn't even come to mind unless I will it to.

As for the oft-mentioned case of CVII: Simon's Quest... IMO that isn't even worth mentioning, because the gameplay really is only cosmetically different from CVI.