Bloodstained is a non-vampire related story but filled with demons and alchemists. It plays a lot like the modern Castlevania games and looks stunning on PC. I've been really wowed by the art, level design, characters, and story. Normally I don't buy games at full price... ever. But this game is definitely worth it. I think the shards for power ups is a good idea but I haven't gotten everything figured out yet. Fun game, lots of different kinds of weapons, and nice exploration.
The art direction and voice acting were great. The story was pretty lacking and transparent (to me at least.) Initially I had problems starting the game. Then after a restarting the game again I couldn't turn... Then the game crashed and I couldn't continue my game. After a third restart of the game it worked fine. Another problem is the text on all the letters and stuff you're supposed to read are tiny. I hope you have good eye sight. I got this for $5 on sale. Was it worth it, maybe. I wouldn't waste my time on it and just move on. The game takes about 2 hours to get to the end. There's no puzzle solving, no gameplay elements. Just walking and clicking on stuff to go through the story with narration.
You need Galaxy to play and even local multiplayer the game wants to connect to the internet phone home. With that out of the way, the game itself is really fun. If you played other Gauntlet games then you know what you're getting into. It was easy for me to link up with my friend online to play and I also played locally (same screen, one computer) with me using my keyboard and my girlfriend using a controller. The player models are a bit lacking and the abilities could use more explanation as for what they do (damage etc.) All the character customization should be free instead of a la carte with in-game gold so you can make your character unique and to your liking. Further character customization would be nice so you can make yourself a fire or ice mage for example at the start. The music is fantastic as well. Love the classic Gauntlet tune. I'd recommend it even with the problem mentioned earlier, especially for the sale price.
I played it a little when it first came out at a lan party, now I can play it through solo. Will I like it more than BG? Let's see... so far so good. With newer systems the font size will give you a migraine, even with the "high resolution" text option on in-game. Try out this mod: nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=nwn2ui.Detail&id=65 Good luck!
