Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Is it possible to say I respect this game, but don't actually like playing it? From what I can tell, this game sired an entire genre. A good one, in fact. This seems to be one of the first games to combine the metroidvania style game with the gacha artwork and character design. The story here is pretty decent as well. My issue is that this game is really janky. The controls are very clunky, and this game often misses button presses for some reason. Especially jumping. You end up getting frustrated because the buttons just sometimes don't respond, and you end up falling down or doing something you didn't want. I know it's not my gamepad or a skill issue, I play too many of these games to fall for that... this game definitely has an issue with input registration. But it also just has a really janky dodge system. All you can do is backstep... and the combat is built around that. In an age where we are all used to dodge rolls and jumps... this game wants you to just backstep, and it doesn't feel very good or very modern. Besides all of that, controlling your character in the game just feels stiff and clunky. It's hard to describe. It's partly the quality of animation, partly the speed of movement, the recovery from attacks and hits... the whole things just doesn't feel very fluid to me. This is much, much worse than something like Afterimage, Awaken: Astral Blade, Frontier Hunter, or really almost any other game in the genre (admittedly, a genre this game basically created). It's not all bad, I mean lots of people loved this game. The variety of weapons is good, and all of the trinkets and such are worthwhile. There are plenty of upgrades and things going on. This is actually almost a JRPG style character menu and development on top of a side scrolling metroidvania... it was a very cool concept. But I really don't like playing this game, despite how much I respect it. There are too many newer games with the same inspirations, better control responsiveness, and overall better combat experience.

I feel stupid for not playing this game sooner, but I am glad that I did. It certainly feels like a worthy successor to the Castlevania franchise. The game certainly isn't afraid of making obvious callbacks to the games that inspired it (O.D. as a whole, the obligatory Valmanway/Crissaegrim weapon equivalent, etc.). The 2.5D presentation didn't initially hook me, but it did grew on me as I play the game. The backgrounds of the stages is the best aspect of the presentation for me, it's a level of detail you can't really achieve with sprite-based games, especially back then, the rest aren't bad per se, Miriam and co. certainly looks good but the way they animate isn't as snappy as the sprite-based protagonists from the Castlevania games post-Symphony. I've seen people make the comparison between this game and Symphony of the Night, and I can see it, seeing as Symphony kickstarted the entire Metroidvania craze, but honestly it reminds me a lot more of Aria of Sorrow. The shard system being an almost 1-to-1 copy of the souls in Aria with some aspects taken from the sequel game, Dawn of Sorrow, some weapons acting the way they did on Aria (the greatswords mainly), the progression towards the "Good" ending being almost the same as in Aria, locking you right at Gebel's doorstep unless you go out of your way and head towards seemingly random places just so you can get the thing to get access to the rest of the Hellhold (which is also inspired by Symphony and with its Holy Glasses shenanigans now that I think about it, but it definitely feels like a 1-to-1 copy of Aria locking you out of the rest of the castle until you defeat Graham with the right souls equipped), Zangetsu ripping off Julius' Omnia Vanitas, and Julius Mode as well, allowing you to fight bosses you shouldn't be allowed to because giving players the option to essentially maneuver vertically is a good idea, etc. etc. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night certainly scratched that Metroidvania itch I've had for the longest time, and it's an easy recommendation for me if you're curious about the whole Metroidvania genre, or if you just want more Castlevania games because god knows when Konami will make another one that isn't just a pachislot thing. It's got a lot of stuff for everyone, there's the base game for fans of the games post-Symphony, a classic mode for the diehard fans of the first Castlevania games (the NES games, Rondo of Blood, etc.), other playable characters for those that want an adventure similar to the Richter/Julius/whatever side character modes present, playable bosses (though I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would), and a bunch of extra modes that, depending on how you feel about them, ensures that you get the most bang for your buck with this one. [strike] Do not go into the pachinko machine business please I beg you [/strike]

A must-play for Metroidvania fans. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a return to form by legend Koji Igarashi himself. As one of the fathers of the genre, there's truly no one else worth putting your faith in to make a good Metroidvania game. I've played it once on Switch, and while there is still some jank on PC, the game is pretty in its most complete and polished state. You should run into maybe one minor issue at minimum while playing. As a game, it takes inspiration from some of IGA's best previous works. Any fans of SoTN or AoS/DoS should easily find themselves at home. The shard system allows Miriam to use the powers of different demons, which both fun and cool, maybe even more so than in previous games. One of the best parts of the game is being given the freedom of building your character through the shard system, and there's tons of freedom to do so. The castle is vast and easy to get lost in, which is always a joy for those who enjoy the exploratory aspects of a Metroidvania, but it's not so confusing that you'll get lost for a long period of time. The game will drop hints on where you need to go next, but it's up to the player to figure out the puzzle of how to progress further into the story. If you're already familiar with the genre, then it shouldn't be so bad, but for newcomers, I would recommend taking the time to talk to characters in the game if you feel lost. Bloodstained is a bit more merciful in pointing out where to go compared to IGA's previous titles that way. For people who are already CV fans, Michiru Yamane makes a return in this game, and her music is as phenomenal as ever. A lot of times I find myself humming the various tracks from this game, and they're definitely something to look forward to whenever entering a new area in the game. Some highlights of the soundtrack would be Gears of Fortune and Silent Howling. The story is rather simple, but seeing as the main appeals of this game are the exploration and action, the story serves its purpose well enough. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys Metroidvania games, but especially those who are fans of RPGs as well. Or for people completely new to the genre, I would say it's a great starting point! The game is full of content including extra modes such as boss rush, randomizer, and even different playable characters to try out for a second playthrough. I'll definitely be giving this game a third run in the future. Can't wait for The Scarlet Engagement!

I think this game made me realise I like the Metroid aspects more than the castlevania aspects in the castlevania genre of games I think I like the exploration and combat but not the menu navigation the robust customising or rpg elements which is odd to say because I love playing rpgs and jrpgs but the way the game is designed I don't like grinding for resources and in some ways I just found the amount of abilities kinda overwelming. but as a overall experience It's a solid game I enjoyed my time with it maybe if I played Igarashis older games I might understand the design philosophy more. wasn't a fan of the side quest structure but it was servicable. music slapped for sure though I also played a bit of the other character modes and Zangetsu played well but there's no story and I was not expecting a child of light crossover, which was a suprise but it feels more like a mod put in the game than a naturally added character

Too much grind. Sometimes you forced to farm same room with same mob again and again to get crafting resource. Superboring. And after hours of grind you can steamroll any boss with almost infinite amount of healing items.

If you like Metroidvania games, and especially gothic style games, then this is a must play. Thank you so much IGA, Michiru Yamane, and all the others that helped make this game what it is. It's an amazing masterpiece and I absolutely adore it.

Scratching my grindy Metroidvania itch. Beautiful game, excited to see the sequel.

I recently replayed Castlevania SOTN for some nostalgia and immediately afterwards I decided to finally play this game that I have had in my library for some time. This is definitely a spiritual successor to Castlevania SOTN and further improves upon many of it's systems. The story line is easy to understand and the gameplay loop is engaging and fun. I am at the end of the main campaign and there is so much content packed into this game to enjoy.

Similar games like castlevania sotn,aos,dos...Love it!

It could be a better game but somehow there were terrible game designs. First of all, the MC comes with a slow attack animation and longer recovery frame, it could be improved gradually with skill upgrade but I think it shouldn't be there in the first place. Just compare the first part of any youtube video of this game, and compare with SotN. Alucard swing really fast and can deal with multiple enemies, but Miriam struggles. This leads to the second issue - the amount of contact damage in this game is crazy. The game is full of bats, toads, flying heads, spirits, flying swords which move in strange trajectory so unless you swing greatsword ( which is slowest weapon in the game ), you will have a hard time getting them. Groups of 3 bats in a row? Infinitely respawning flying head together with randomly moving flying sword enemy? Evil hairdresser run at you and immediately backstep when you try to swing at him? And he run forward again to make contact damage with you after you missed. Rolling Lion balls EVERYWHERE and it bounce around. It gets really bad with the vampire girl boss when she jump forward and backward all the time, each contact damage hurt you 60HP while you only have maybe 600HP. The game has no block defense mechanism so the most you can do is backstep and jump around. I appreciate the game has great graphics, most delicate in current MV games lineup. I also enjoy the RPG element where I upgrade my weapon by grinding materials, grinding meals to gain my stats and then I could two shots my enemies but it has nothing to do with the game. It's the same in every RPG game. Anyway, somehow there is a solution to the problem - We can also bring contact damage to enemies with a particular shard which we can get early on. With this shard you can easily deal with small enemies like bats and toads and flying heads. Now I just spam this shard wherever I go, I won't go anywhere without it.

I've never had a metroidvania grab me this hard, the collectathon is real and I love it, if you love building up strength in games, crafting your gear, and even finding funny and silly Easter eggs we'll this one is great for you, it made doing 100% of the map worth it. Sure there is some back tracking like any game but you always get a lovely reward as well, making you wanna find everything you can, while some animations are a bit silly it doesn't take away from the fun you have going through this castle. Honestly suggest this for anyone who hasn't played a metroidvania~.

If you enjoyed Symphony of the Night then this one is for you. It's not without it's flaws, but still enjoy playing it.

This is quite simply Castlevania: Symphony of the Night with an abundance of quality of life improvements such as tons more weapons, spells and items, multiple playable characters, a crafting system, and most importantly the shard system (the ability to summon a demon's special ability after defeating it). There are countless different shards to obtain. The music is excellent, it's a pleasure to look at, and feels like a joy to play with it's fluid controls. The voice acting is even better than average, dare I say good, and there's rich enough story (storytelling is mainly done through interacting with NPC's) and lore here should you choose to delve in it. This is easily a 9 out of 10 game, packed with content, as the original release date has surpassed 6 years now. New modes include a classic mode that is a clear nod to the original 8-bit Castlevanias, whip, platforming, and knockback included. My only real gripe about Ritual of the Night is that I found there to be a couple times where the game was very obtuse in regards to where to go / what to do next, which caused me to backtrack endlessly and eventually use a guide, which I hate doing unless I absolutely must in order to progress. In a sea of Metroidvanias, this one definitely stands out with it's polish and depth. It's a clear tribute to the legendary game that inspired it while offering plenty more to do beneath the surface.

[h1]Crystallized[/h1] TL;DR: A search-action very much in the vein of the classic Symphony of the Night, for better and worse.[hr][/hr] Starting life as a Kickstarter project, [i]Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night[/i] was highly successful in both its campaign and its main promise: to provide a spiritual successor to Symphony of the Night, one of the games that set the blueprint for modern search-action titles (aka metroidvanias). Helmed by Koji Igarashi, director of some of the best Castlevania games, RotN hews very close to its inspirations. The story is fine; it’s not terribly memorable, but gets the job done. In a bid to bolster their waning influence in an increasingly mechanized world, a cadre of alchemists set about to summon demons that only they could possibly defeat, thus requiring the powers-that-be to beg them for salvation. The result was far more drastic than anticipated, and much of the world was wiped out by the demon onslaught. Now more than a decade later the world is sparsely populated, the alchemists have been all but destroyed, and despite his suffering, one of the alchemists’ few surviving human offerings appears to be poised to finish their ritual to summon the Demon King. You play as Miriam, the other sacrificial offering, as she tries to reason with and stop her former friend from dooming humanity. There are a few alternate endings, but there’s only one that feels like you’ve actually triumphed. If you’ve played Symphony of the Night or any of the Gameboy Advance / DS Castlevania offerings you’ll already be familiar with the broad outlines of how RotN plays. You explore a castle and its surrounding environs, battling a bestiary of both classic and original creatures in side-scrolling action, including grand-scale boss encounters. The grounds are full of barriers that you’ll eventually learn techniques to bypass as you progress the story, meaning there’s plenty of backtracking (which bothers some players and excites others) later in the game. There are light RPG elements, with stat-boosting gear and weapons ranging from daggers to pistols. The most interesting character customization comes in choosing and refining monster souls; almost every creature you encounter has a chance to drop a soul shard, which Miriam can equip into spell slots for unique and powerful combinations. While it’s a blast to have such freedom, there are a few abilities that feel almost game-breakingly powerful, and if you use them to their full potential the game goes from challenging trivially easy. An important factor that should be considered when evaluating this title is farming; if you’re a completionist or min-maxer this game is a total trap. As with many games, each critter has a table of items they can drop in addition to the shards mentioned above. The problem is that those shards become more powerful as you collect multiples of them, maxing out at nine copies. Additionally, you can add unique properties by refining them through crafting. This requires materials that drop from other creatures, and can be performed up to nine times as well, with increasing component quantities at each step. The result is a [b]lot[/b] of farming required if you want to max out your abilities. I’m typically not an obsessive completionist, but even I felt somewhat compelled to fully max out the stat-boosting and damage-reducing passive abilities, as once completed they will apply to your character even when not actively equipped. I find farming item drops in a game like this to be a somewhat relaxing brain-off activity, but if you hate it, and feel compelled to do everything possible in a game, you may well come to resent how intensely drop-oriented this title is. This game is easy to recommend for anyone who is already a genre fan. New players will most likely enjoy it too, but there are a couple of rough edges. By coincidence, the studio has announced a sequel since I finished this game, so if you do enjoy yourself, there’s more to look forward to. Bloodstained didn’t wow me, but it does scratch that Iga-vania itch and is impressive for a Kickstarted venture from a young studio.

FYI: I've gotten the Miriam full ending on 99% map completion, but have not played any of the game's other content. It's overall a great metroidvania, and an unique one when compared to modern metroids like Hollow Knight or Nine Sols. The upgrades for traversing the map are wonderfully strange and downright cool. Further, the game has a special sense of humor that's especially expressed with its fun enemy designs, and features elaborate and engaging RPG systems. I would definitely rate it a step below games like Hollow Knight or Nine Sols, though; some of the bossfights are narratively epic but mechanically very disappointing, and the game is overly obtuse in terms of progressing through the critical path or understanding some of its more niche systems. You should definitely play Bloodstained if you're into metroids, particularly if you like them to be more on the RPG side of things. Be ready to look for guides, however, and accept that break in immersion before you commit.

It's almost like Castlevania titles never stopped being made, which is about the highest praise I could give for this game. All of the free DLC modes were such neat additions.

Great iteration of the Castlevania formula in a sea of Metroid Metroidvanias. It really captures the feeling of Castlevania. Combat is fluid and fun, with lots of variety. Bosses are challenging but fair, enemy design is original, and the soundtrack is pretty good. The pacing is also really good. The only thing that could be improved is the art style, the main characters don’t blend well with the environment/enemies, and later parts of the game become somewhat bland in terms of environment design. But overall it’s a really good experience. Recommended.

So far I am loving it, even though I have only made it to the Castle entrance. Music is top notch and catchy. Controls are smooth but take time to get a feel for, which I like. Tons of abilities and weapons to play with. Straight forward leveling system, with a noticeable power growth. Old school Game Over system though. Have to get used to that again. No auto saving. No running back to your corpse. If you die, it reloads the last time you hard saved in a save room. Feels like mix of modern 3D gaming system, but in 2D.

I really loved this game. It is a spiritual successor to Symphony of the Night. It can be as hard or as easy as you'd like which really lets anyone enjoy it.

Can't say much because in all honesty, this is the first Metroidvania game that I have finished. All in all though, very solid and fun game. Definitely worth grabbing when it is on sale.

Should I mention I have this game on 3 platforms and have also purchased for 3 other friends?

If you're looking for a Castlevania game, you've found one. It's Castlevania, but with a 3D art style and crafting. While I don't dislike the game visually, I would have preferred if it still had a 2D art style. Other than that, I still love this game. I bought it on Xbox on release and bought it on Steam again recently.

It really gives me vibe of some PSP game I would play as a kid and wouldn't understood the language (Because I was a smelly little kid and english is not native to me) But I would still have fun killing monsters to the soundtrack

for those that love MetroidVanias this is a beautiful spiritual successor to Castlevania and has very satisfying gameplay and visuals

It's a good and fun metroidvania. However, certain upgrades are somewhat grindy, and certain shards are excessively powerful.

A love letter to Castlevania fans! Made by Koji Igarashi (the man who did Symphony of the Night) himself, this game plays very much like a Castlevania: Symphony of the Night game, except this has original characters and a new (albeit similar) castle setting. The characters are engaging and easy to get attached to. The lore is deeply thought out and very provocative. After beating the game you have the option to restart while keeping all your non game essential items for a second playthrough, which gives the game immense replay value! If you enjoy "Metroidvania" games, Bloodstained will suck you in!

Very awesome game! If you played the GBA action-rpg iterations of Castlevania on PSX/GBA/DS this is the Demon version of Castelvania and its wonderful what types of features where added to this game. Like 10 or something game modes, I have 102 hours on my first play through and playing through the other modes now and its alot ALOT ALOT of fun!

[h1] IGA and His Team Have Delivered One of the Greatest Metroidvania/Castlevania Games Ever Made [/h1] I finished this game on Console way back when it first came out. I have constantly came back to it to either play the additional content that kept getting added or just to simply go on another play through and discover secrets I may have missed, etc. I also got it again for many different platforms (Switch, PS4, PC). The PC version is by far the best version, allowing you to have full 4K, higher graphics settings, super high frame rates, etc. RotN has gone down as one of my favourite Games of all-time. It is literally the spiritual successor to CV: Symphony of the Night, aka the best CV game. Very difficult to live up to AND follow, but they did it...and in some ways surpassed it. This is a perfectly made Metroidvania, put simply. It could have easily have gone wrong. I mean, let's face it, how many big Kickstarter Projects have released and lived up to the expectations? It's not that often unfortunately. But SotN did just that and it only got better and better as time went on with all the updates, etc. The follow up has finally been announced!!! And it is now one of my most anticipated games ever. I cannot wait for it. But the announcement inspired me to play through RotN yet again (and in turn, post a review). I'm sure those who wanted to play the game or had any interest in it over these last 8 years since it's release have already tried/bought it, but nonetheless, if you are still somehow on the fence or just hearing about this game recently and happen to read this...BUY IT. This is CV/Metroidvania perfected. And whilst you're at it, play the accompanying games Curse of the Moon 1&2. Two "spin off games" that play like Classic-Vania!

I am a really old school gamer and i do not normally leave game reviews and that is not cool because game like this needs to be acknowledged by old G's. I stumbled upon this game around it's release 2019 and given the fact that it was a game developed by the genius mind of the man Koji Igarashi, no way my brain would pass on giving it a shot, and as expected even it took a bit to digest the 2.5D approach and getting use to the characters. the art, the vision of the project all fell right were my subconscious was expecting to fall to. as usual from a game programmer , Writer, Producer, Director of games from my childhood of early Konami gems like Gradius II, Many Castlevania classics with the honorable Symphony of the night - Dracula X Chronicles this game is always on the ready to fire it up almost anytime to replay especially with all the extras added through out the years.

My favorite Metroidvania. Has a great variety of weapons and magic that all feel good to play around with so you can do playthroughs with a wide variety. The castle layout is good, the platforming isn't anything special but traversal becomes quick and easy when you'd expect it so backtracking is never a pain. Game is well supported now and has a variety of modes for replayability.

I have played this game on multiple platforms and got every single achievement. It's a pity that these platforms don't share progress across each other.

After 11 hours I reached a "fake ending" and decided that it was enough for me. The level design was good, but the game overall is not good enough for me to recommend to someone

Great start to a game, first few hours are enjoyable. Huge variety of moves, both spells and weapons and a great system for leveling them all up. After that the game becomes insanely easy, even when playing the game on hard difficulty for the first time, I would beat every boss (besides the first one) on the first time. With all the moves available, it is possible to tank through every boss losing less than half HP by mashing the attack button.

The second half being very much a boring grog and palette swap of the first half of the game. The presentation of this game is what keeps a below average game from being at the very least mediocre. Animation looks eh, the model don't blend with the backgrounds, foregrounds and or anything in the enviroment really, the combat feels Circle of The Moon stiff but I still finished Circle of The Moon. The music is there. It's a game that you can purchase and play. It exist I guess. Almost all Castlevania is on PC now through Steam or other methods like PSXC2. There are Metroidvanias being everyday than Children being born. Buy the other game you might be considering brother.

It's intriguing and it's art style is mad flavorful but the combat isn't tuned enough for what it demands of the player. Straight up, it's just not. Button presses are often unresponsive in the worst goddamn times (they seem to work just fine and are crisp AF doing low level enemy encounters but f*cking become retarded and hit-and-miss doing boss encounters), and it drives you crazy. Not in a Dark Souls, "gut gud" kind of way (trust me, I know a lot about those gems, check my library and hours put into Souls-esque games), it's just dumb and frustrating after a while. This s*it doesn't work in a rigid, 2-D, side-scrolling platformer, the devolpers failed completely to implement a balanced combat system, though the choice and customization you have is impressive and multifaceted, I'll definitely give it that. Props where it is due, the art-style is effin gorgeous; stunning at times. Music (soundtrack and SFX) is top-notch) and if your a masochist (but, like I said, not in Dark Souls kind of way, this game can only look up at the stomach of those masterpieces) this should be right up your alley. I also really enjoyed the VA's, particularly the Female protagonist, but, to me, it's not fun or fufilling to play after a certain point. Should you buy it? Do I regret my purchase? Honestly, the answer to the second one is 'No', and the first is....IDK? Maybe? I like to support very creative, visually pleasing, and outside of the box and mainstream titles like this; even if the gameplay falls below average. I may try other titles from this dev, and if the moves are crisper and crunchier, and the gameplay is more fluid than this, that could be the start of a beautiful relationship. I like having BloodStained: Ritual of the Night in my library, I honestly do, but I cannot in good conscience recommend it if you're after an solid gameplay experience.

if you haven't played this yet do yourself a favor, play it. its made Koji Igarashi who made Castlevania SOTN/ It is one of the best metroidvania

If you love old school Castlevania the Bloodstained is a must. This goes for all the bloodstained games.

This game is super fun! Exploring the castle grounds was super rewarding. The level design was filled just enough to be exciting to return to and find new things while also not being overstimulating. The progression was very good and made me really feel like my exploration and ingenuity were helping me find what I needed. The story and characters feel very good too, as they all fit the vibe and tell the story without feeling like caricatures. In terms of problems I had, there weren't too many. I had a few crashes in the first area, but after fully uninstalling and reinstalling I never had them again. Also, I kind of wish it had a more Hollow Knight style death mechanic rather than loading the last save, as I lost a ton of progress a few times due to dying while lost in a new area. Being able to keep enemy items and such on death would have been helpful, although I suppose that would mean losing healing items used as well, so I'm not entirely certain. Overall, it was an excellent game. Reminded me of Metroid Dread in it's amazing world and execution and I'll probably jump back in and play more for quite a while.

Good old perfect Castlev...Bloodstainia! Discount buy is highly recommened for everyone!

Spiritual sequel to Castlevania made by Koji Igarashi. Instant Classic!!

Amazing. Please dont make pachinko machines i beg of you (also this scratched my itch for games like sorrow and SotN.)

As normal player who really loves Platformer games. Avoid this unbalance nightmare of a gameplay experience. But if you're a hardcore gamer—good luck!. 💖 How unbalanced? - Clunky player mobility. - Unfair end-game boss fight, Too much combo that demand perfect dodging. so easy back to last save in 10 seconds. To be fair, this game is good but it's for hardcore player. And it doesn't even come close to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. (if you expect)

So 'Castlevania' that i'm not sure how they get away with it. Never finished this though, i got to a certain point where it wasn't clear where i was supposed go next and i got bored of wandering around aimlessly but i was enjoying it up to then so a half recommendation really.

SotN fans: don't let the style deter you from giving this a try. So far it's been wonderful.

tem muie gostosa, tem vampiro, tem zumbi, é um aria of sorrow com sotn

It's sotn 2 <3 Music and visuals beyond this world.

Play Bloodstained on any other platform than Switch and Steam. This game is amazing but certain platforms are better for uninterrupted gaming sessions. The settings on PC are picky on what will end up crashing your game or even certain boss fights becoming unbeatable from the same Unreal Engine fatal error crash. I would recommend Xbox or Playstation.

A true spiritual followup to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

CV: SOTN spiritual successor, thanks IGA

Classic castlevania returns