Bloodstained RotN : Kouji IGA's new "Castlevania" game.

[BrianC]

edit= still, it kinda breaks my heart to see that we're getting a plain boring Getsu Fuuma swordsman instead of the awesome wallclimbing pirate DaNasty.

So far, the MC actually feels more like Grant than the Getsu Fuuma Den MC, though he's lacking the wall climbing. He has a straight short sword attack rather than a slash and has a lower jump height than Mariam.

[Weak Boson]

Been playing the game for a couple of hours and beat it on the non-casul setting.

General impressions:

Spoiler

The game is fun! Obviously not super challenging considering I beat it first try, but I think it's at a pretty reasonable level considering that there appear to be two higher difficulties (listed as ???? in the menu). I certainly died a fair bit, and some bosses took a few attempts, but at no point did it seem unlikely that I would make progress (except perhaps one particular boss but it turned out to not be so bad)

Of course having so many characters really reduces the difficulty. Not only do you have four health bars to soak up damage, but you also have access to so many different attacks that you never really have to "do things the old fashioned way". BUT it is fun to use all these abilities. Because you cannot stockpile many weapon points you are encouraged to use whatever means necessary, and there are often a few pleasingly effective options. To balance out having so many health bars, you are punished quite a bit for letting a character die as you may have to take a harder path or just not be able to deal with some enemies as easily. Playing without a full cast certainly adds a bit of extra tension, even if everything is still just as doable if you take some care.

So there is some sense to the design I think.

Some actual spoilers:

Spoiler

So the "nightmare" mode you unlock after beating the game seems like more than just a new difficulty setting, no? Getsu is out of action for story reasons but you immediately have Shanoa, grandpa Yoko and Alucard so it's a true Castlevania homage like Julius mode in Dawn of Sorrow. But what's really weird is that you can play this difficulty in both casual and veteran modes as well. I'm certainly curious to see how it plays out and to unlock the final mode.

Also the game broke in the following way:

Playing in full screen mode I left the game to check the manual. But when I returned the screen was completely black! The game was running but I couldn't see anything. Fortunately I was able to exit to the title screen so most of my progress was saved (not my score or extra lives) but if there is any reward for a "1CC" I didn't see it.

[JBC]

I've heard it's five stages long, so in such a compact size it's fair to say that they didn't tackle the Akumajo Densetsu challenge for real

According to the soundtrack uploaded on YouTube there's like 8 stages

I've heard the 5 stages thing to, but I'm on stage 7 right now. Maybe it stops casual mode at 5?

Edit - Finished! 8 stages. There's a canonical reason to loop the game ala Gn'G, so I'll def be doing that soon. I'm genuinely curious about the hidden & inaccessible paths I spotted along the way as well. I feel pretty good about it & would say it's def worth the $10.

[evil_ash_xero]

I've heard it's five stages long, so in such a compact size it's fair to say that they didn't tackle the Akumajo Densetsu challenge for real

According to the soundtrack uploaded on YouTube there's like 8 stages

I've heard the 5 stages thing to, but I'm on stage 7 right now. Maybe it stops casual mode at 5?

Edit - Finished! 8 stages. There's a canonical reason to loop the game ala Gn'G, so I'll def be doing that soon. I'm genuinely curious about the hidden & inaccessible paths I spotted along the way as well. I feel pretty good about it & would say it's def worth the $10.

Yes, it definitely worth the asking price.

[BrianC]

Mighty/Gal Gunvolt Burst also has a decent amount of content for the price. I also got Mighty No. 9 on PS Plus recently, because "it's better than nothing".

[Weak Boson]

Played some more...

Spoiler

I finished ``Nightmare" difficulty. It's actually not that much harder than the normal mode. A few bosses have an extra projectile in their attack or something but the most drastic change is just the fact that you have one less character to use.

That being said, there is one pretty huge difference: the new final stage and boss! Very nice touch.

I read about how to unlock the final mode and you have to do something that would never have occurred to me, which is kill, rather than recruit, the three allies. Apparently this gives Getsu new abilities but I don't know what yet. Playing with one character is probably how to get some real challenge out of the game so it will be interesting to see how it's balanced.

[ryu]

Just beat it, the game gets my thumbs up too. Now the main game better be just as good.

[Weak Boson]

Got up to level 5 with just Getsu-whatever and it shoots the difficulty waaay up. Feels like a real classicvania.

[Squire Grooktook]

Played through on normal.

It's pretty solid. The level design is definitely more involved than Gunvolt, which was my worst fear. Nice well balanced layouts with solid enemy variety and placement.

That being said, it's way too static. Not enough rng, and many of the bosses rely too much on memo gimmicks that are barely telegraphed. For that reason alone it comes nowhere near Bloodlines or Akumajo Dracula x68.

Still, it's solid. Not a bad addition to the Classicvania line up at all.

[Leandro]

I bought this game. Really great stuff, the soundtrack is lovely. I don't care about 8 bit graphics and raw pixels style, but whatever, I understand this is just a bonus from the upcoming game. Feels really good playing with the arcade stick, I just beat the first loop, got to the second level of Nightmare mode and had to make myself stop playing because it's so smooth.

I wonder what's Konami stance on this, lol.

[soprano1]

I wonder what's Konami stance on this, lol.

"Que se foda".

[BulletMagnet]

I wonder what's Konami stance on this, lol.

Boy, that would make a KILLER pachislot machine.

Gave this a "Normal" playthrough last night myself - I'm not as versed in (or, to be frank, as much a fan of) "classicvanias" as a lot of people here, so I don't have a lot of insight worth giving, but despite a sizable chunk of "old-school" frustrations the game is more than generous enough to give even someone like me a good shot at finishing at least the "basic" path. Not a heckuva lot else I can think to add aside from how frequently Not Alucard saved my bacon along the way.

[Drachenherz]

Just beat it, the game gets my thumbs up too. Now the main game better be just as good.

Hell yes, I hope so! The quality of this little gem is surprisingly high.

It really whets the appetite for RotN. (I love the similarity to SotN).

Any idea about a release date for Ritual?

[Weak Boson]

It really whets the appetite for RotN. (I love the similarity to SotN).

Any idea about a release date for Ritual?

I agree on both points (except I would say OoE rather than SotN). I had kind of forgotten Bloodstained existed before this and now I am so hyped!

Spoilers for unlocks:

Spoiler

I beat the game using only Zangetsu. This is actually a really fun way to play as it turns out. You are forced to take some harder routes and of course you lack all the extra abilities of the other characters, so you have to play a bit smarter like in the old games. The additional abilities you unlock (particularly the double jump and the improved aerial attack) are very useful, though. Your main weakness is that your sword has poor range. I had a fair few game overs before I made it to the end, plus some classic "pushed into an instadeath pit by a ghost" moments, gotta love it.

Anyway, this gave me "bad end" and unlocked "Ultimate mode" which seems to be the same as difficulty level as Nightmare but you can use Zangetsu and he has all his new abilities by default. I got as far as killing Shanoa but I didn't get a new ability so I think I'm gonna play through again with all the characters to see if the ending changes, and then again with just Zangy just to cover all bases.

There is also a boss rush mode which is a bit more interesting than I expected. You have all characters but you can only take each subweapon into battle once and you don't heal between fights. You choose what to take before each fight, and there are also two big hearts for healing, but these can only be applied to a single character. You get 30 weapon points for each fight and there is no score counter. So knowing which boss is up next is pretty helpful. I got as far as the stage 8 boss in my first go, but they were all at "normal" difficulty, so I wonder if this mode loops.

I didn't realize until now but I think I must have been on Castlevania withdrawal these past few years.

[Specineff]

I wonder what's Konami stance on this, lol.

"Que se foda".

I second that. If this is an indicator of things to come, bring on ROTN.

[Weak Boson]

So I think I've done the hardest ending

Spoiler

If instead of killing your allies you just walk past them, then you don't get any friends and you don't get any extra abilities. But you do get a special ending. I think playing Normal mode under these conditions is actually the hardest clear of the game.

You can also play Ultimate mode as Zangetsu only, but you start with the full arsenal of abilities so even though the game is in general harder, this is arguably still easier than the normal game under stricter conditions; being able to double jump lets you take a few shortcuts, pick up a few upgrades and attack certain enemies easier. The bosses are the one thing that is definitely more difficult in this mode, but once you learn them they're fine.

That being said I still haven't worked out the Stage 8 boss' first phase. I guess you just have to memorize the locust patterns, but I feel like you should be able to predict where to dodge based on its hand gestures. As it stands I just try to go for a high DPS and hope I get lucky and come through with enough health for the next phase.

Anyway, I've been having a blast with this game. I think I still need to clear it a couple more times to see all its secrets.

[Turrican]

Console codes have landed for the following platforms / regions:

• PS4 - Europe / Australia / PAL
• PS4 - Japan
• PS Vita - Europe / Australia / PAL
• PS Vita - Japan
• Nintendo 3DS - Japan
• Nintendo Switch - Japan

Had a spin on my PSTV, it's solid. I think they didn't adjust the resolution for the Vita though, so it's not aestethically pleasing as Shovel Knight. Still, went thorugh the first six bosses on veteran, and had a good time. Decided to stop to savor it a little more.

[Dochartaigh]

Console codes have landed for the following platforms / regions:

• PS4 - Europe / Australia / PAL
• PS4 - Japan
• PS Vita - Europe / Australia / PAL
• PS Vita - Japan
• Nintendo 3DS - Japan
• Nintendo Switch - Japan

Still no Xbox One!!!! My PS Vita is jailbroken or I would have downloaded on that (don't think I can access the PS store on an old firmware) but otherwise have XBOne and am (im)patiently waiting!

[BrianC]

Xbox One version was delayed to June 6th for all regions.

[Sumez]

Got a PS4 download code today it seems. And guess what, it's locked to the US region.

Why is every single Kickstarter campaign a farce like this?! It seems to be the rule more often than the exception that backers get the worst end of the deal. I can't wait to see what more is going to fuck up once the full game comes out.

[ryu]

just make a us account then *shrugs

You can use that to download the game and then play with your eu or whatever account


but yeah, it's a hassle

[Sumez]

Well, it turns out it doesn't work in US either. I think the error message about the region being wrong might just be another error. The game doesn't even seem to be available on PSN.

[Turrican]

Sumez: I inserted the code and in the first minutes I didn't get the game, I clicked on the download button but nothing happened, not even an error message, and no download did start.

However, I tried to log in on my PSN account via pc (well, mac) and there I was able to find the game that had been indeed added to my downloadable contents. I switched back to the PSTV (turned it off, turned it on again, logged again to the store, and I was able to download it.

Spoiler

This is an intelligent Akumajo clone. The eight stages size fits the game style, it draws from the -vania mythos cherry picking the ideas that struck the developers the most. As a result, you get to experience in 8bit style a lot of things that you never find in the original NES trilogy, but that you can recognize coming from Aria of Sorrow, Portrai of Ruin, SotN... The nightmare mode replay does add a much needed level of challenge, and it deals with the branching paths in an interesting way, so that when you enter a new path in the relatively tame first stage, you find it populated with stronger enemies, a classic trick straight from SotN. I was also impressed with the straight-into-action approach: they could've littered it with story scenes and dialogues (kinda like in the Maverick Hunter where every reploid feels the urge to talk to you), and instead they let the action speak for itself: there are demons, go and fight them! Well done, Inti.

All in all, I'm pretty sure everyone who in years has passed from Holy Diver to 8 Eye's (usually settling for Master of Darkness in the end) in the search of some Castlevania alternative, can safely put this one at the top spot. It wasn't something guaranteed in this day and age.

[Sumez]

Sumez: I inserted the code and in the first minutes I didn't get the game, I clicked on the download button but nothing happened, not even an error message, and no download did start.

It consistently gives and error message though

[Turrican]

Wait, you had selected the "PS4 Europe" in the survey, and now in your survey page you find a PS4 USA code?

That's mighty weird, especially since they announced that they had got Europe codes but not yet US codes...

[Sumez]

I was wrong in my assumption that it was a US code, that's just the error message it gave me. I think the problem here is that the game doesn't even show up in the PSN store.
If they'd just delayed the game until they had all these things sorted out, it would have been much simpler and easier to digest for people, but now this shit is going to haunt them forever. Not gonna trust Fangamer again.

[Turrican]

Do you login via the console or via a pc?

The game is present, in both versions (Ps4 & PsV) on the Italian store right now:

https://store.playstation.com/it-it/sea ... df81e159ef

I used to buy directly from consoles but I find the pc store from web browser is better mantained these days.

[Sumez]

Your link works in incognito mode, but when I'm logged in, it takes me to this:



Don't you just love modern video game platforms?

I guess I can make a fake Italian account and just download the game, but I kind of want to have everything on one account.

[Turrican]

Go figure! Ahahh no wonder Steam is conquering the world.

I'm genuinely puzzled. Maybe the game is out in some EU territories and not others. Maybe someone had to object to pixelated blood... More likely, it's just sony's incompetence.

Send an email to fangamer, that's my advice for the time being.

All of this is a hassle, but on the brighter side of things, the game is nice. Imagine the reverse, a perfectly distributed crap game

[Sumez]

Maybe someone had to object to pixelated blood... More likely, it's just sony's incompetence.

Definitely the latter. That said, Fangamer are essentially at fault for not making sure they had their shit sorted out before they declared the game to be released.

on the brighter side of things, the game is nice.

Well, how would I know >_>

Imagine the reverse, a perfectly distributed crap game

In the words of the infallible Keiji Inafune, that's still preferable to no game