Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

I'm quite perplexed by the high score and glowing reviews on the main page. Even at 50% off I was disappointed. I found ~most~ of the game's map/areas to be unimaginative (and some downright cheap like the "Den" in the endgame). The story is forgettable, while most of the monsters/enemies are sadly boring (both visually and attack-wise). The shard system is no gameplay revelation and can be quite grindy IF you want to upgrade. Same for shops. Character abilities are standard *vania. I was actually debating lowering my score to 2/5 due to voice audio issues (which I could not fix with any change of settings or forum/reddit suggestions), as well as other bugs (like clipping through the floor in twin towers boss) but since I still ended up playing it all the way through (the main story; I had no immediate desire to try the other mode after finishing), I kept it at a 3.

Bloodstained Ritual of the Night PC/GOG 4/5 It's a fun Metrovania game that can be finished in under 20 hours unless you get lost as I did and spend too many hours trying to figure out why you're stuck instead of looking for a Walkthrough guide. I suggest having a walkthrough guide handy. It crashed on me a few times but it might be my dying PC. I suggest using save rooms as often as possible... I thoroughly enjoyed the game and will probably try to get the true ending down the line. There's a lot more to the game that extends play if you want to do quests and get 100% achievements. You could always just get the 1st "bad" ending @ under 20 hours.... Your choice. I picked it up for around $16 and believe it was worth it. At the time of posting this review I have a bit over 30 hours with more game for me to play...

I bought Bloodstained on a sale. It is rare that I say that I wish I could have paid full price because the game deserved it but this is definitely one of those. Let's take things one by one: Gameplay: Bloodstained's strongest aspect. Fast paced with a large variety of enemies that require different strategies to defeat. The shard system takes the experience to a whole new level and allows for experimentation on your style (personally I decided early on to upgrade Riga Storaema and combine it with long range weapons. Every room ended up on fire and I avoided a lot of damage this way). The crafting system allows further experimentation and I ended up taking notes to remember where I could find each of the elements I needed. Art/Music: Even though I prefer purely 2D graphics I still found Bloodstained a marvel to look at and even better to listen to. Seriously, this soundtrack has earned a place among my favorites. Even with my potato PC and with the display settings set to low the game looked excellent. My only minor issue was that I couldn't use my controller through GOG and I was forced to combine GOG and Steam in order to play the way I wanted to, which resulted in some kind of a bug which distorted the characters' dialogue. I had to turn the latter off, which is a shame. A definite must have for Metroidvania fans, Bloodstained deserves your time and money now.

I never played Castlevania since I was a SEGA guy but I really liked this game! A few, even basic, things were confusing at time but I can forgive that, since the game is also about finding secret and hidden items and rooms. I think it's awesome that game got updated for a modern audience with the help of the kickstarter backers! If you like any games of this genre - jump 'n' run with a lot of weapons to choose from, then this game is for you! Oh, also there's some humor mixed with the challenge occasionally. That upset librarian always cracks me up. xD

This game is modern symphony of the night and I'm loving every second of it.