Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

A game by Koji Igarashi

NA release: 18th June 2019
EU release: 18th June 2019
JP release: 18th June 2019
Developer: ArtPlay
Publisher: 505 Games
Xbox Tavern Review: 9/10
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Mobile
Version Played: PC

In May 2015,Koji Igarashi launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring Castlevania back in a new capacity. Without the license, it would tell a similar story about a magical castle appearing, with the hero, Miriam, facing off against a new evil and his supernatural army of not quite Castlevania enemies. The promise is to be a true successor to Symphony of the Night, while also using elements from other Castlevania games, such as Aria of Sorrow.

I’ve played a fair few games that got funded via Kickstarter, but I’ve never quite experienced a game that feels like a Kickstarter game like this does. While Kickstarter is often used so the creative work behind the game has the freedom to pursue their art, this feels more like it was designed by the backers. You have the inventory system of Symphony of the Night, the souls mechanic of Aria of Sorrow, all combined with crafting and cooking. There’s just so many items and shards (the souls of this game) that everything just gets buried and managing your inventory seems to take more time than playing the game.

The presentation is a bit of a mess. The 3D style just looks a bit uninspired, it’s not colourful and it’s not interesting, there’s no use of lighting or dark, the visuals just exist. But then the enemies are mainly Castlevania enemies that look off. There’s also a portrait enemy that is clearly Kickstarter backers (there’s also a ridiculous amount of “Kill X Enemies” quest clearly added to show backer names). The movement feels very similar to the handheld Castlevania games, with Miriam being very slow (there are a few speed items I managed to miss in all the jumble of items) . The slowness worked fine on a small, portable screen with pixel art, but is just agonising here. The voice acting is mostly good, but they asked David Hater to do his Solid Snake voice for fanservice, which does not suit the samurai he plays.

In terms of the map, it’s definitely Symphony of the Night inspired, but it seems that Iga has forgotten what made exploring that map so good is that progressing is gated by abilities, while this feels more like you’re being told you are now allowed in the next area. There are some abilities that do lead to progression, but they’re barely used elsewhere that they feel more like glorified keys, not helped by how they get buried amongst all your different attacks. The most ridiculous one is how the key item for getting past the “false final boss” trope is just handed to you by a character you’d bumped into multiple times before. It makes all the exploration to get to that room feel pointless as it could have happened anywhere. I just didn’t think the map was enjoyable or rewarding to navigate.

There is one really nice ability (a great take on the inverted castle concept of Symphony of the Night), but that also fully neutralises the platforming in the game as well, and navigating the rest of the game just feels trivial. This could have been great if the map was designed around it more, but it just isn’t. It’s a shame as there is lots of great feeling stuff about Bloodstained, it’s just buried behind a ton of stuff.

There are a ton of extra modes. You can play as the samurai Zangetsu, or as Aurora from Child of Light, which feels very random (she can go alongside the Shovel Knight enemy). There’s also a randomiser and a “Classic Mode” – which uses the graphics of Bloodstained to recreate the original Castlevania. The graphics combined with the original Castlevania movement really don’t work, and you’ll just have a better experience playing the original game. There’s also a DLC classic mode which I’ll cover on its own.

All in all, there is clearly a lot of promise in Bloodstained that I’m very much looking forward to the sequel in the hopes that it evolves instead of just mimics, but this one just feel like it’s too desperate to fulfil a fan checklist than it is at being its own game.

Fine

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is one of the best metroidvania games of the gen, sitting in a league shared only by an elite few. Everything from its deep story and its diverse combat systems, right through to its remarkable gameplay variation and mechanical depth, is quite simply outstanding. Despite the occasional bug, this is as close to perfect as a game of this type can get, and one that’s certainly been worth the lengthy wait; this, is a must have.
Mark Sherwood, Xbox Tavern

Remake or remaster?

Hopefully the sequel is an improbement.

Official Ways to get the game

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is available on all major platforms.