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| Worth the wait. |
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night made big news back in 2015 when it became one of the biggest crowdfunding success stories, generating over $5.5 million in backings. Conceived by long-time Castlevania producer, Koji Igarashi, who felt compelled to make a classic Castlevania game after Konami's constant refusal to make one. The result is Bloodstained, a new game that pays homage to the Castlevania games such as the legendary Symphony of the Night while having an identity of its own. I've been excited about the game ever since its announcement and now that it's finally here, it's time to check out whats in store in this Gothic adventure.
Taking place in 19th century England, we follow Miriam, a young "Shardbinder" who possesses special powers such as absorbing the abilities of demons in the form of shards. Upon waking up from a 10 year-long slumber, she finds that the world has been invaded by demons and that a recently emerged castle, summoned by Miriam's friend, the sorcerer Gebel is the source. The plot is as straightforward as they come, Miriam must crash the castle and slay the demons in her way till she reaches Gebel. Still, that won't be an easy feat since she'll need all the help she can get.
Thankfully she meets the likes of caring alchemist, Johannes; the friendly vendor Dominique, and the mysterious samurai, Zangetsu, who all are interesting characters who lend a hand along the way. I personally enjoyed the story, as it kept me glued in with some surprise plot-twists to keep things fresh. However, it ultimately takes a backseat to the star of the game, the gameplay itself.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a carbon-copy of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night-- if you couldn't already tell from the name-- but that's not a bad thing. It's a 2D action-platformer with "Metroidvania" elements. Basically you go about the game slaying demons while collecting the power-ups and items they drop, allowing you to access new areas that were once blocked. The whole castle is presented in a maze-like fashion, meaning that certain places are interconnected while others take you to a whole new part of the castle.
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| There's also multiple endings, depending on how you approach the "final" boss. |
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a carbon-copy of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night-- if you couldn't already tell from the name-- but that's not a bad thing. It's a 2D action-platformer with "Metroidvania" elements. Basically you go about the game slaying demons while collecting the power-ups and items they drop, allowing you to access new areas that were once blocked. The whole castle is presented in a maze-like fashion, meaning that certain places are interconnected while others take you to a whole new part of the castle.
Miriam starts out bare-bones in terms of equipment but as you start to slowly explore the castle, you'll find a slew of treasure chest and secret breakable walls that will net you some special gear to use. You also level up as you continue to defeat enemies, increasing Miriam's health and magic points along the way.
Thanks to Miriam's powers, she can absorb skills from fallen enemies in the form of shards. Each shard carries its own unique ability such as battle-oriented ones like shooting an array of spears and firing a flamethrower to environmental ones such as double-jumping and walking underwater to more passive ones such as shards that summon familiars to give you a boost in battle. I found the shard mechanic to be a lot of fun since there are dozens of them to collect and it offers a huge room for experimentation to see which ones match your preferred play-style.
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| The gameplay is rock-solid and addictive. |
Thanks to Miriam's powers, she can absorb skills from fallen enemies in the form of shards. Each shard carries its own unique ability such as battle-oriented ones like shooting an array of spears and firing a flamethrower to environmental ones such as double-jumping and walking underwater to more passive ones such as shards that summon familiars to give you a boost in battle. I found the shard mechanic to be a lot of fun since there are dozens of them to collect and it offers a huge room for experimentation to see which ones match your preferred play-style.
One aspect that I also liked was the constant enemy variety as you move from one area of the castle to another. You have your standard demon corpses and bats to more unusual ones such as ninjas and a demonic puppy head. It encourages you to further explore the castle in hopes of finding out weird monstrosities are in store. Worth mentioning also are the challenging bosses. Some of the highlights for me were the gigantic twin dragons boss, the faced-paced Zangetsu fights, and the boss against an actual slot machine. Bloodstained is definitely not short on some interesting boss fights.
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| Whip it good. |
The game's hub world takes the form of a run-down village. Here, you can accept side quests from survivors that have you hunting down demons in exchange for rare items and weapons. While mainly fetch quests, they're perfect for when you want to take a break from the main story and instead, focus on exploring some of the castle. There's a store where you can buy consumables like health potions and various foods, as well as weapons and armor. The village also packs a crafting station where Johannes can help you craft new items or make new one entirely.
The crafting system is robust, giving you many options to choose from. You can even upgrade the potency of your shards, given that you have the necessary parts. I've easily sunk a lot of time picking and choosing my gear here. Bloodstained features lots of hidden secrets and Easter eggs scattered throughout the castle. Among them is a secret 8-bit room that looks awfully similar to the SNES Castlevania games. There's also a few optional bosses that pack a punch as well as a map to 100% complete. The game isn't awfully long to beat but with the amount of extras and side-activities to do I'd say Bloodstained is a 20 hour adventure.
Bloodstained has come a long way after its debut trailer as the devs have listened to fan complaints and gave the game an added layer of polish. The backgrounds and character models look fantastic and fit the Gothic premise of the game. The animations are eye-catching and run smoothly at higher frame-rates. Sadly, the version that I played was the Nintendo Switch version, which comes compromised. Unlike the PS4's 60 FPS 1080p resolution, the Switch takes a dip to 30 FPS 720p both docked and undocked. I've experienced some stutters and a few instances of crashes, so it's not the version you'd want if visuals and overall stability are what you care about. A shame really since the game is a perfect fit on the go.
Bloodstained has come a long way after its debut trailer as the devs have listened to fan complaints and gave the game an added layer of polish. The backgrounds and character models look fantastic and fit the Gothic premise of the game. The animations are eye-catching and run smoothly at higher frame-rates. Sadly, the version that I played was the Nintendo Switch version, which comes compromised. Unlike the PS4's 60 FPS 1080p resolution, the Switch takes a dip to 30 FPS 720p both docked and undocked. I've experienced some stutters and a few instances of crashes, so it's not the version you'd want if visuals and overall stability are what you care about. A shame really since the game is a perfect fit on the go.
The game features voiced cut-scenes and the voice-work is great with all-around neat performances. A standout was David Hayter (of Metal Gear Solid fame) as the cool, carnage-seeking samurai, Zangetsu. The soundtrack is good, though not one that stuck with me. Composed by Michiru Yamane (who composed the Symphony of the Night soundtrack) it features some sweet tracks inspired by the aforementioned series. Some of my favorites are "Luxurious Overture", "Voyage of Promise", "Lost Garden", and "Forgotten Jade".
I'm glad to say that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a smashing success. It delivers on the Castlevania experience it promises while also forging an identity of its own. The story was engaging and I especially like the characters, the gameplay is obviously fun, and the presentation is top-notch for a crowdfunded project. That being said, the game has a myriad of technical issues holding it back, with the Switch version needing a massive update. I still enjoyed my time with the game amidst its issues and it's easily one of my favorite games of the year so far. Fans of both the Castlevania series and Metroidvania genre shouldn't miss out on Bloodstained.
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| Bloodstained has benefited from the extra months of polish. |
I'm glad to say that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a smashing success. It delivers on the Castlevania experience it promises while also forging an identity of its own. The story was engaging and I especially like the characters, the gameplay is obviously fun, and the presentation is top-notch for a crowdfunded project. That being said, the game has a myriad of technical issues holding it back, with the Switch version needing a massive update. I still enjoyed my time with the game amidst its issues and it's easily one of my favorite games of the year so far. Fans of both the Castlevania series and Metroidvania genre shouldn't miss out on Bloodstained.
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