A bit of a backstory…
As a gamer, when Koji Igarashi left Konami, I really thought it will be the end of a great sub genre. If you don’t know who Koji Igarashi is, he is Castlevania’s series producer. The timeline was defined and established by Iga, short for Igarashi, during his game development of the series up until he left Konami. He also worked Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as a programmer, writer, and assistant director.
Symphony of the Night is one of the games released more than two decades ago that has become a cult classic and considered one of the best video games of all time. Symphony of the Night uses a 2D-style side-scrolling gameplay that is later became a sub genre and called Metroidvania. The term is a portmanteau of the game series Metroid and Castlevania. Initially though, the commercial performance of the game is mediocre at best, it is by word-of-mouth that made it a hit.
Metroidvania games are generally a large non-linear world map the player can explore. Access to parts of the world is often limited by doors, breakable walls, or other obstacles that can only be passed through once the player has acquired special items, tools, weapons, or abilities within the game.
Come 2014…
Sad news for the sub genre’s fans came in 2014 when Iga left Konami. This, however, brought something good to the gaming industry when he co-founded ArtPlay, where he is working on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, a spiritual successor to Symphony of the Night.
Announced back in 2015, a new Metroidvania game dubbed as the successor of the most loved Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and his first project after leaving Konami, the game Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was born. A Kickstarter project was launched in May 12, 2015 where the first stretch goal has been achieved in just one day — thanks to all the fans that supported the project.
With the success of its announcement, everything hits a rough patch of some sort. The first one was when it was announced to be released a year later than it’s original target of 2017, and another year after that.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a genre throwback and it achieved the goal of recreating the epicness of the classic Metroidvania game, more specifically, of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Ritual of the Night play style is not far from Symphony of the Night, in fact, they have a very similar atmosphere that it becomes really nostalgic. Not to mention the beautiful soundtrack of the game that is produced by Michiro Yamane, the same person that produced the sountrack of Symphony of the Night.
Plot summary…
Bloodstained is set in the early 19th century and follows Miriam, an orphan subjected to experiments with crystals called Shards by the Alchemist’s Guild, granting her incredible power as a Shardbinder but causing her body to crystallise over time.
Prior to the beginning of the game, the Alchemists’ Guild feared they are losing the hearts of the people and turning to material things as the industrial revolution kicks in. They concocted a plan to use the Shardbinders as a catalyst to summon the forces of Hell in what was supposed to be a scare tactic. As a result, a massive influx of demons began to pour into the world. As years passed, a massive castle appeared at the ritual site.
Conclusion
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time playing the Normal difficulty of the game and will definitely do more runs doing other difficulty and modes (if there will be any). If there’s anything I would be disappointed about this game, is that I did not back it up on Kickstarter when it was announced. Watch the first ten minutes of gameplay here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/447088917.
You can watch my playthrough here: YouTube Playlist
