Bloodstained Ritual of the Night is a beautiful and well designed Metroidvania title. The movement, combat, and music are all extremely polished, and the game feels fresh with each new area. The developers for this title have got it done just right on the length of the game, and it really shows. The pacing with this title is fantastic, and I never felt like I was repeating the same stuff over and over. Plus, the customization for Miriam is great and definitely shows an improvement over previous Castlevania games like Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow. I would say that the gameplay is on par with Symphony of the Night, however the updated graphics and wide selection of varied music bring this to just a step above. Out of 10, i would give this a title a 9.5. Incredible work!
This version of Blood is a wonderful port to someone who hasn't played prior versions of the game. The mouse movement feels great once you either unlock the frame rate(which may cause stuttering on some systems) or lock it to 240 fps(which is what I did). The combat is satisfying, though it is extremely gory. I know, who would have thought a game titled "Blood" would have blood in it, but it's a little over the top at some points. The total amount of gameplay offered is perfect, not allowing the game to outlive its stay. Yes, the game does show its age, as all games of this era do. From a gameplay standpoint alone, I would give this an 8/10, but with how good this port is at making the title feel so much more modern and enjoyable than the original, this easily gets a 9/10.
Ion Fury Voidpoint is an incredible entry to the BUILD engine library. The graphics are faithful for the era the game is mimicking, while expanding in key areas. The lighting is beautiful, the weapons are satisfying, and the pacing is perfect. The music is kept fresh with every level and each song has a charm, except for this one annoying song I had to listen to for too long in zone 6 because I got stuck looking for the next area - which is my one critique: This is probably just me being dumb, but I got lost in some areas because I couldn't find out where to go next. However, most of the areas flow extremely smoothly and don't have this problem, so it's a minor complaint. Overall, if the scoring system was out of 10, I would give this game a solid 9.
