Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Is the $40 worth it?
It’s already quite cheap but I wonder how many hours of gameplay it could possibly be.

iga said the map is quite large, and so it may have plenty of content to enjoy. idk how many hours it would be, but it seems there may be lots to do

I’m going to be waiting a bit longer for the Switch version sadly, also hoping that it doesn’t run badly like the showcase demo reportedly did. The spin-off game they did was good, and I’m very relieved to hear it’s great so far.

Fun story, I actually did back this game but it was during the last 12 hours of the KS campaign. Next day I find out my card was declined and refunded for no reason. womp womp

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im playing it on my PC and havent had any issues. couple bugs here and there but nothing to stress over. im very pleased with iga and his team, they have made the delays worth it and given us a great game that is castlevania to its core just the name and characters are different. the controls are responsive, the combat is fun, and it looks great in person. it was really good they listened to feedback regarding the visuals, and fixed them up. most of all…im glad this didnt turn out mighty no. 9

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That’s good to hear. I totally loved the three DS Castlevania games and SOTN and there was a long period for Bloodstained when I was glad that KS payment didn’t work out because it was looking like another MN9 debacle in the making.

There were parts of the old graphics I liked more, particularly the more gothic palette and lighting, but regardless the game looks far better now overall. I guess if they were gonna go hard anime with the main character designs, they might as well go all the way with colors and effects.

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yeah not gonna lie, with all the delays that were coming, bringing on a publisher, it was starting to look pretty hairy. with the game’s release being pushed back each passing year, it gives the serious impression that the game’s development was troubled, and iirc it was. but thank god they pulled through, they promised a great game and so far from what i am seeing they have delivered. a friend of mine had played a demo a year ago at e3, or some major event, and he told me i had nothing to worry about, but i still had my doubts.

MN9 being a lousy game, and another huge kickstarter game, star citizen, that still hasnt come out despite it being funded back in 2012 (its since crowd funded along with investor money close to 300 million…), i was worried this game was going to be next in line for a disaster. isystem shock remake was another i had my eye on, and that one had collapsed with the team going on hiatus for a year. what the status is on that project i dont know, i havent kept up.

so, needless to stay im very happy my 60 bucks went to a successful project. iga promised us a castlevania spiritual successor, and he delivered. game’s got a killer soundtrack also btw, michiru yamane hasnt missed a beat since her last job with iga years ago. i hope konami is kicking themselves in the balls right now.

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I will get PC version too but a Switch version is appealing as well…

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i may consider that as well, my switch gets a ton of mileage. i am needing to replace the joycons pretty soon, theyre starting to act up. lol my ps4 has a layer of dust on it, may consider selling it but i keep it around for the blu ray player

Ritual of the Night arrived in the mail and was waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday. I must say, I haven’t had hours melt away so quickly while playing a game in a while. I’m absolutely loving it.

My only knocks on it are that Miriam looks a little too much like a cut-out pasted on to the background, if that makes any sense. I’d also say the game is slightly too bright, but honestly? It’s an Igavania game, but it’s not like they have to go full on, 100% SotN, and even that game was bright in places.

But yeah, those are the only negatives so far. I think the gameplay mechanics are wonderful, the way everything is doled out to you, from items and gear to new things your character can do… It all feels perfect. The graphics as well are extremely nice to behold. There are times where I just stop and look at the background; the detail, the gothic beauty, all that good stuff. It just makes me happy that I’m playing this game. I know that sounds like a really simple statement, but after waiting so long and finally putting in to my system, I can honestly say it’s everything I’d hoped for and more (so far, obviously lol).

Oh and I also agree with @R1stormrider on the music. It’s really well done!

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i was havin such a ball, i was noticing i was starving really bad, then kept pushin forward. then i saved and decided to get somethin to eat. i leave my room and the whole house is dark. it was after 9pm. i had been on it since 5pm. lol

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Yep! Same here. I was messing around with Shang Tsung for a while last night, coming up with some mediocre, scrubby ■■■ combos with him lol, then thought around 8pm “okay, I’ll switch over to Bloodstained.” By the time I looked away from the TV again, it was almost 1am and all I wanted to do was keep exploring lol. Had to tear myself away from it and now I’m paying for it this morning.

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I just plopped down my money on it…er, actually my son got it for me as a late Father’s day present present…but it’s the Switch version so I’ve still got about 5 days or so before I can play it.

Oh well…in the meantime the Castlevania collection just recently updated and added the Japanese versions of the games, so I’m going to be playing me some Akumajou Densetsu (Castlevania 3). :smiley:

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castlevania 3 is a soul crushing game. LOL

Very true, but the Japanese version is a bit easier. Grant in Akumajou actually throws unlimited knives as his primary attack instead of that weak little stab he does in the western version. That one little change makes a world of difference.
Though to be honest I play it more for the enhanced music than the gameplay changes.

Bought the PC version. Game is a delight.

Finally got around to beating Bloodstained. Good game and they pretty much nailed the gameplay aspects. The final stretches after triggering the good ending felt kinda lame and rushed though. I don’t think the setting and story are nearly as cool as Castlevania either, but other than those things it lives up to its inspiration.

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Yeah, I recently 100%-ed my first run on the game (all items, all shards maxed out as much as possible), and even though I know I was doing a ton of grinding, I hardly noticed it because you spend the entire time chasing smaller, easier goals. I remember grinding in SOTN was painfully slow because all your grinding was focused solely on your next level-up, but in Bloodstained, you have fetching items for crafting, fetching items to enhance shards, fetching shards themselves, making food to enhance your stats…I ended up hitting L99 without even once putting any attention towards how much XP until the next level.
So IMHO, kudos to them on giving you plenty of ways to keep the mind-numbing aspect of grinding to a minimum.

Oh, and one word of advice…the lady that wants you to make her food…I’d highly recommend seeing that fetch quest all the way through. The end prize is very much worth the trouble.