What is the best game that is like Castlevania: SOTN? I'm looking to buy one from GOG or Steam before summer sale ends. Un-Epic and La Mulana seems interesting. Are there any that are better? Which ones have a decent story?

Did you grab the Adventure Bundle yesterday? That included Valdis Story, Guacamelee, and Dust and Elysian Tale, those are probably the most popular ones on GOG.

I like La Mulana as you suggested, but the stiff controls kind of throw it off in my opinion.

Do you have a DS? Definitely play the Castlevania games on that if do.

Guacamelee and La Mulana are some of the best metroidvania games on GOG. Un-Epic is alright, but not as good as the previous mentioned titles.

Valdis Story is a decent metroidvania game, Blood of the Werewolf as well (although Blood of the Werewolf was only DRM-free in a recent Groupees bundle - the game is otherwise only available as a Steam key, which is a shame).

It's not Metroidvania, but it is essential to play if you enjoyed Sympony of the Night: Castlevania Rondo of Blood. That game has one of the few soundtracks better than SOTN's.

The Mega Man Zero, and ZX games also come to mind.

Well, I'm guessing you're looking for PC games, but I don't really know of any... However, if you have a DSi, you might look into "Soul of Darkness", if you haven't already played it.

http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/2010/07/soul_of_darkness_dsiware

Unepic has the RPG platformer style to it. But in my opinion, is nothing like SOTN. I liked it so much I find it hard to compare too much to it. If it has to be a PC game, you might try Rogue Legacy maybe? I bought it during the sale but I've not yet played it. I purchased it on the basis that it looked like the "metroidvania" type game. Though I'm not fond of the perma death feature, but I hear it works well into the game. I just prefer perma death being an option.

On another note.... Check out "Axiom Verge", not yet released, but looks interesting.

Note that you have to unlock them, though.

Valdis Story will kick you in the face and you will learn to love it (or combo like a boss).

SotN will always be one of my favourite games, I haven't really found anything that's quite as good.

Still, I can recommend La Mulana. It's probably the closest game for PC to capture the same feel and scope that SotN had, it's a huge game.

Dust was alright, it's sort of like a parody of Castlevania in general, so it's entertaining in that regard. It does have some great graphics and music with a decent story as well, although I(ironically) disliked the character designs.

Sorry, I meant Child Of Light.

La-Mulana is probably the best SOTN experience available on the PC. However, there are other games. I recommend Aquaria if you want an underwater-themed metroidvania, with a nice aesthetic. Relatively weak in gameplay, but you can really soak in the ambiance. Wish it was brought to GOG...

You might enjoy Bunny Must Die, provided you don't mind parody and anime aesthetic. The video below reviews and explains the game. Again, I hope for it to enter GOG's catalog.

Bunny Must Die: Chelsea and the Seven Devils

Try Bloodrayne Betrayal, it's a good Castlevania look alike, even the soundtrack is inspired by it !

http://store.steampowered.com/app/281220/