Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

I tried really hard to like this game. I'm a huge fan of metroidvania games and sidescrollers in general but sadly I couldn't bring myself to keep at it after about 10 hours. I love SOTN and games like it but the most important part in games like these comes down to how good the controls and the mechanics feel. For me none of it felt right, especially the controls. Every movement felt delayed and floaty compared to other sidescrollers.

there is definetly a good game hiding underneath it. I played the 8-bit game they released as a fundraiser goal and it is fantastic. If you are looking for a "retro-feeling" Castlevania game then get that!

Absolutely fantastic metroidvania. 10/10: It let me start the game with a GameSack power strip sword.

It's alright. I was one of the original backers. I backed the game before there was even any gameplay. I really wish they had gone with pixel art rather than the 2.5D look. Symphony Of The Night was one of the most beautiful games ever made, & I'm still hoping it will get a PC release one day.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, the unofficial Castlevania spin-off!
Everything in this game is a reference to our beloved vampire video game series: from the weapons, spells and creatures, to the over-the-top story, cliché characters and campy dialogues. Bloodstained pays homage to Castlevania, and it does it brilliantly. If you are a big fan of the original series, you will very much enjoy this game!

The first 60% of the game is amazing. Great level design, mostly clear direction, memorable abilities and bosses, etc. I think most of the weapons are fun, and the bosses are generally quite good. Unfortunately, that's the extent of my praise.

The game forces you to play in normal mode on your first play through, which sucks because the game is really easy. I reckon if you don't use the food buffs or upgrade the spells it could be better, but I ended up killing most bosses in like 15 to 20 seconds because some of the spells do absurd damage and I never ran out of mana. I don't mind unbalanced single player games most of the time, but when its trivially easy to find a build that allows me to ignore the boss attack patterns I'm effectively missing out on content at that point. I'm not sure if the harder difficulties actually require you to engage with the different damage types (I would've loved to find out), but it seemed a largely arbitrary system that only meant I did like 5% more damage to some enemies.

The last part of the game is an absolute mess. Multiple times I thought "this can't be what I'm supposed to be doing" and then, lo and behold, it was in fact what I was supposed to be doing. For instance, I received a random rare item drop that allowed me to skip through an entire area, but since that CLEARLY was not what I was supposed to be doing I backtracked and searched for at least 2 hours for the intended route. Turns out the RANDOM ITEM DROP WAS THE INTENDED ROUTE, at least according to the wiki and every guide I looked up. Another example would be that a section of the game requires you to equip a certain item to progress, but the only way you would know this is if you actively went out of your way to read the item descriptions, which aren't shown to you unless you menu for thirty seconds. Funnily enough, I found an actual way to cheese that section by just damage boosting, but in my stupidity I yet again backtracked and wasted at least 3 hours searching for an item that I already had. I'm not a fan of massive hand holding in games, but I think its not that hard to avoid hand holding without wasting hours of my time by being deliberately confusing.

There are also numerous little annoyances, like overall slow menuing, the limited number of already inconveniently placed fast travel points, the shops in the hub being annoyingly far apart, forced dialogue every time you open a shop (which sometimes randomly changes to important plot/instructional dialogue, which you will often accidentally skip since the game has actively conditioned you to skip it. If steam recording wasn't a thing I wouldn't have seen most of this dialogue). None of this bothered me while I was enjoying the actual game, but once I lost patience with the main game it started to become very noticeable. The most egregious thing imo is the walk speed. You never really get any way to significantly buff your speed unless you're willing to use obnoxious techniques like spamming the dive kick over and over. The levels are quite big and you're expected to do a lot of backtracking (even if you weren't the game design would inevitably result in you backtracking out of confusion anyway), especially if you want to 100%/all achievements the game.

None of this would really be that big of a deal for a 15 to 25 hour game (single playthrough), but it costs 70$ (Australian) full price, which is absolutely ridiculous. Hollow Knight, a very similar and arguably better game with unarguably more content (and free expansions), costs 22$ full price. I have no idea how 70$ is justifiable. Do not buy this game unless its on sale for at least 70% off.

Great game, definitely play if you like Castlevania games

Fantastic game! I have sunk 100+ hours into this game and can't get enough (I have gotten Bloodstained ROTN on consoles as well, THAT'S how much I love it). The dlc Classic Modes on the other hand... ugh, I won't get started or I won't stop. Bottom line GET THIS GAME ASAP!! Just stay away from the Classic modes unless you are specifically trying to get all the achievements or sadistic. I'll leave it to the imagination which reason it was I played them.

I'm sure every other review is going to say this is a great remake of a classic. It's true. It's fun, it brings forth a sense of nostalgia for those born in those times when Konami made a legendary game. It has great easter eggs for those who can recognize them. Brings me back to those days when games were fun simply because they were made well. It's particularly good looking for PC if you have the right hardware compared to the switch version or the stadia version.

It's a good game, but it has the trappings of old Metroidvanias, for better and worse.
Personally, I love being lost with 10 hp left knowing that the next hit will delete 30 minutes of progress, but you might not.

Not a huge Castlevania person. As in, it was a boat I missed so there's no nostalgia factor for me, just gameplay.
So, considering that, I still say I had fun. There you go, that's the review. Can't make a better point than that.

Also
YOOO DAVID HAYTER

You end up where you begin, the entropy was always within. You only needed to look therein.

Por fin un metroidvania normal que no intenta forzar elementos de Souls en su gameplay, super recomendado

Pros:
- Refined Castlevania Gameplay
- Equipment & Shard System
- Exploration
- Enemy Variety
- Bosses & General Difficulty

Mixed:
- Graphics
- Music
- Weapon Abilities (way to restrictive/hidden as I hardly ever used them)
- Crafting System
- Basic Quest System

Cons:
-Cutscenes (Very rough looking)
- Character Models (They just look bad besides Miriam)
- Guide is practically required to beat the game (although this is unfortunately a series staple)

Overall, with me not having played any of the DS Castlevania games yet but having played the rest, I was hoping for a bigger evolution from Aria of Sorrow to this since this is clearly trying to be like that style of Castlevania game that started with Symphony of the Night. Still, it does add a few things like familiars and directional magic which I really like. However, the graphics, cutscenes, and character models look very rough compared to the stellar 2D sprite work used in older style games. Frankly look better despite being 20 years older than this title due to the pixel art. Additionally, I do think this game could have benefited from a map marker like the Ori series on where to go next, particularly for finding the final section of the game. Had this game combined all of the best ideas, similar to what Aria of Sorrow did but modernized, I feel like it could have been the best one. Still, it's a great title and I gotta hand it to the devs on supporting the title for years. I also played the dlc and I was pleasantly surprised by that as it is literally Castlevania 2 but fixed and plays very well. I'm interested to see how the sequel goes as it could fix many of the criticisms I had with this. 8.0 with base game but 8.5/10 w Dominique dlc.

Good story, gorgeous art style, good gameplay (until i touch classic)

The game is what a new Symphony of the Night should be under K. Igarashi and the studio envisioned. Lots of the themes is a HUGE homage to the good old Konami game. The pacing is good, the exploration isn't tiring, farming gets easier once you get items that support you to collect more items. The game throw hints here and there on where to go, but not in a way that feel convoluted or diminishing to the player intelligence. My wish would be to inclue in a future relaase the armor sprite change, as you have with all other items and even cosmetic customization. thanks for the great work and looking forward to another chapter of this history to unfold.

Pretty much the best Metroidvania around. The developers have been tirelessly working on finishing their Kickstarter goals ever since the game released. The best gameplay with a lot of unique spells and items to pick up around one of the largest castles ever made in one of these games. The music is also great and never gets old or same-y.

The only bad thing I can say is its a shame getting all the achievements is now locked behind having the paid DLC. With all the free updates you can probably get anywhere from 50-80 hours of total playtime before even thinking of getting the DLCs, which is a good ratio for the playtime to game price. I'm pretty sure all crashes and major bugs have been long gone for a while now making the PC version the definitive one to play (has unofficial mod support too, which is always a plus).

Its the only game I have on Steam I'd seriously consider giving a 10/10.

Ritual of the Night is good Metroidvania game, blending classic gameplay with modern enhancements. The detailed environments, from gothic castles to eerie dungeons, are visually stunning. The combat the combat however feels a little stiff, having a vast array of weapons and magical shards that cater to diverse playstyles helps it a lot but by the end you will most likely find a wepon/spells that you prefer and never use any other.

Just like SotN, it's a beautiful and fun game with gorgeous scenery, interesting monster design, incredible music, etc.

Also just like SotN, most of the equipment and spells are useless and it's very easy to become OP early on

Absolute fucking banger of a game though

Bought this game when reviews were over 90%. This is not a bad game but by no means a masterpiece. Game experience will vary, for me it was not my cup of cape and became very frustrating quickly. Lack of proper block/parry was a dealbreaker along with constantly respawning enemies. I 100% get the nostalgia feel with the game being faithful to castlevania mechanics - if you are a souls/sekiro fan, keep away from this game, you will absolutely despise it.

I personally have tried getting into it several times and I just couldn't beat it, BUT tho my experience with it is negative, I can say that it is really good for being a Castlevania spiritual successor and an easy recommend to anyone who loves Metroidvania's, Castlevania, and/or someone to the genre!

I love this game. This straight up feels & plays like a modern day Castlevania game. Even though the game has a brilliant artstyle and music, there are some problems which need to be addressed that doesn't make the game pixel perfect.

- 1. The Bosses: You won't be having a fun & memorable time fighting these bosses as they suck @ss. The only engaging boss in the game is probably Zangetsu as he has some interesting and good movesets that you need to study, in order to defeat him. And for some reason, the big monsters are soo boring to fight as compared to human size bosses which is such a shame. Also, the BloodLess fight was the worst & unfair at times.

-2. The Dlc Costume Integration: I think the developers missed a huge oppurtunity here to make character skins and armour sets different entities as now, after owning the Succubus skin dlc I cannot equip her skin without changing my armour which is quite annoying.

-3. I wished there was a quick access item section in the game just like any Souls game which allowed me to use any item on the go. The repetitive nature of opening the inventory, search for the item, and use it gets quite exhausting when you're half through the game.

Other than that, it's quite a fun & engaging game with a ginormous map with unique locations that will take you hours to complete. Also, if you're not a big story driven game guy, you're in for a treat as the story is linear and doesn't diverge into several plotlines. Would recommend.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☑ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☑ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☑ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☑ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☑ 10

---{ Author }---
☑ https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template

As a Kickstarter project done with full support from the community, love, and passion - it is good. But as a game as a whole, it has a very poor graphic design reminiscent of Unity Metroidvania projects done by 1 person. The music is good but not great. The horrible grinding was normal when Symphony of the Night came out, but it was not good in 2019. Maybe I'm biased because nowadays there are so many Metroidvania games and a lot of them have much more distinctive visuals, audio, and gameplay elements, however in 2024 Bloodstained feels very bleak and unmemorable. Sadly, I will remember only the irritating grinding and boredom that I had during playing it.

This is one of the best game I ever played. Got me over through a tough time as well and now still remain of the go to game I play regularly on my PC. Love the mechanics of the game, characters, combats, wide range of items and skills.
Only thing is some of the extra modes doesn't have as much replay value. From all the extra modes, I love randomiser the most. I also do speedruns a lot and I use chaos mode for warm up before I play.

this is the gold standard for Igavania games, and IMO the gold standard for all metroidvania games

the combat is engaging, the movement system is smooth, the art style is spectacular, its got a game mode for basically every type of gamer, except maybe those who love farming and sim games

i HIGHLY recommend this game to everyone, and if i had the cash id probably be throwing the game at people left and right, but im broke AF

One of my fav games to play. Love the art! Wish Iga would make another Bloodstained game or do a remake for Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon with this art

This game is awesome. I wasn't expecting it to be so good, but after beating the final boss I came to understand how perfect everything was. The combat, soundtrack, art design, characters, gameplay, and the progression are flawless. This game is a true successor to SoTN.

8/10

I really gave it a shot because I love Metroidvanias. I played for 12 hours and unlocked 70% of the map before giving up. The combat is just so boring and repetitive. While there are many different weapons, they all share a single attack animation—no 2- or 3-hit combos, just the same move over and over. There’s no block or parry, and once you find a spell that works, like Teps Oceus, there’s no real incentive to switch—you just spam it.

Boss fights are very easy (except for the second boss) because they boil down to button mashing. Harder difficulties are locked until you finish the game once. There’s no dash, only a counterintuitive backstep. To heal, you have to pause and go into the inventory menu, and farming for healing items is tedious.

I understand it’s meant to be an homage to classic Castlevania games, but a modern game shouldn’t inherit the shortcomings of its inspirations, especially when those limitations were due to technological limitation of the time.

First play today and I played for 7 hours straight. Has a great vibe and the powers and weapons are fun to use. Looking forward to continuing this journey.

absolutely love this <3 gameplay is top-notch and controls are very smooth both kb + mouse and controller. loving the story so far and i love the characters EHE IGA YOU GENIUS

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night feels like a heartfelt throwback to the golden days of Castlevania-style games while keeping things fresh enough for modern players. Led by Koji Igarashi, the creative force behind Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, it nails what fans loved about the old-school Metroidvania formula: exploration, progression, and satisfying gameplay. But what really stands out is how the developers kept improving the game after launch, showing real dedication to making it the best it could be.

Why It Feels Old-School (In a Good Way)
At its core, Bloodstained sticks to the classic Metroidvania playbook. You explore a massive, interconnected castle, gradually unlocking new areas by gaining abilities. It’s the kind of design that trusts you to figure things out for yourself, rewarding curiosity with hidden secrets and clever shortcuts.

1. Gameplay That Hits the Sweet Spot:
- The combat is straightforward but fun, and there’s plenty of depth if you want it. The **Shard System**, which lets you collect and customize powers from enemies, adds tons of variety to how you can play.
- The mix of weapons, spells, and abilities lets you experiment, bringing a sense of freedom that feels just right.

2. Nostalgic Look and Sound:
- The game’s 2.5D visuals may not have wowed everyone at first, but they do a great job capturing the Castlevania vibe while modernizing it. The gothic environments and quirky enemy designs fit perfectly.
- And the music? Composed by Michiru Yamane (the legend behind Symphony of the Night), it’s dramatic and moody, exactly what you’d want for this kind of game.

3. Challenge That’s Fair, Not Frustrating:
- The bosses are tough but manageable, and you always feel like you’re learning something with each attempt. It’s challenging enough to keep you on your toes without making you rage-quit.

---

The Developers Didn't Stop There
One of the coolest things about Bloodstained is how much the developers have done to improve it since it came out. The launch wasn’t perfect—especially on the Nintendo Switch, which had performance issues—but the team at ArtPlay listened to feedback and made real changes.

1. Fixing the Rough Edges:
- They released patches to fix bugs, improve performance (especially for Switch players), and polish the visuals, so the game runs and looks much better now.

2. Adding New Stuff:
- Over time, they’ve added new playable characters like Zangetsu, which bring fresh gameplay styles to the mix.
- Modes like Boss Rush, Speedrun, and Randomizer were added for free, giving players plenty of reasons to jump back in and experiment.

3. Fun Crossovers:
- The game even teamed up with other indie titles, like Blasphemous and Child of Light, to bring new areas and content. It’s a fun way to keep the experience fresh while celebrating other great games.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a perfect example of how old-school design can still shine today. It’s challenging, rewarding, and packed with secrets, all without overwhelming you with modern-day handholding. And the best part is that the developers didn’t just stop at launch—they’ve kept adding to the game, making it better with each update.

If you’re into Metroidvania games or just miss the charm of classics like Castlevania, this game is absolutely worth your time. It’s proof that even old-school ideas can stay relevant with the right care and attention.

This was a fun game to play. Hits that metroidvania itch.

However when starting a game you can pick between the main Char Miriam, Zangetsu, or Aurora.

Playing Miriam is great as the game was made for her.

However Play as Zangetsu or Aurora felt lazy and not much fun. I dont know anything about Aurora but just her in the game felt off and out of place and just didnt feel great.

Zangetsu was defiantly way more fun but extremely lazy and actually made me quit the game.

Zangetsu doesnt get any cut scenes, doesnt seem to really get any power ups or anything. Has most of his kit right out of the gate and what i was hoping for was playing the story through his eyes instead of Miriam. I get to the first main road block and for Miriam it fighting Zangetsu and as Zangetsu you would expect to fight Miriam as she catches up to him but no you just have another Zangetsu charge at you and you fight yourself. . . .

It was a total let down at that point and i just turned it off.

Playing as Miriam the game shines great. But the others should just never have had time wasted on putting them in if you cant at least flesh out a story and path for them to follow. I can make an exception for that Aurora char as she isnt even in the game but Zangetsu not having his own bit of story that could give us a different perspective from his side was just lazy.

Feels like a Mixture of SOTN, Aria and Order Of Ecclessia

This Flamboyant and Resplendent Game earned 10/10 ,In the mere first hour.The game delivered a fabulous experience.A round of applause to the creators; they stupendously concocted the tenebrous

I thought this game would be right up my alley, because I love 2D Metroidvanias AND I really loved SOTN back in The Day. But this game felt clunky and slow and managing things was ponderous. If you like this style of game, I think you'll have a better experience playing HOLLOW KNIGHT or GUACAMELEE! or ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST. If you don't mind procedurally-generated levels, add DEAD CELLS to that list. All 4 of these games are wonderfully fun to bounce around in within a relatively short time (I mean, you gotta get a couple upgrades, duh.). This one looks like it should move like a dancer but it feels like a lumbering tank.

There is an impractical amount of weapons, shards, and other inventory items - as in, there is an inconvenient amount to experiment with that don't even have that different of fighting style or stats. I was irritated at having to entering a room 50 times to get random items that I couldn't buy at the store (like apples). Mechanics like that are tedious, not engaging. And the boss fights felt long and slow, not exciting and engaging. It just wasn't fun to play.

Game is fun, the controls are good and precise, the weapons are fun and most are useful, all the spell equippables are fun to use, and most of the bosses are fine. Late game has a sponginess problem with the bosses and some enemies (including bosses) seem extremely keen on abusing their high damage contact hitboxes, but apart from that its great.

It's a fun and fast-paced metroidvania. So far it's pretty enjoyable.

A decent metroidvania that suffers from a lot of blandness in the level design. While story beats are serviceable and game play is well executed the game feels a little bit incomplete especially compared to previous castlevania series created by the same dude. I do recommend you play this game on the hard mode for an actual challenge as the normal game mode can be easily stream rolled. Over all it's a solid 8/10 experience and has received great support throughout the years with additional game modes and characters.

All the things you love about Igavanias condensed into one quality package. Lacks some polish here and there but the game exudes charm. Visuals are mostly good. Some textures are a bit clumsy but the lighting more than makes up for it.

SOTN is good. This isn't. I hope you like needing a random drop from some random enemy in order to progress.

Like a mixture of Aria / Dawn of Sorrow Soul System with Symphony of the Night.
Has a quest system that reminds me of Order of Ecclesia too.

Way improved compared to the last 2D Castlevanias released,

Visually gorgeous. It takes the best parts of Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow and melds them together. If you're a fan of igavanias you'll love it.

In 36 hours i did everything in a normal playthrough. All in all i had fun, but it lacks the "4th chapter" where all the real fun happens, you just get through the main story, then there's two more areas and that's it. I got done grinding out the materials for shards/food and was like "there's gotta be something more", but alas there was not. So, big high, lots of fun, but i realized the game wasn't nearly as big as SOTNs about 2/3 the way through and tried doing all the extra stuff i could.

So it's worth a playthrough, but i dropped it right after, no extra modes for me,

It's a good iga-vania despite some jank and odd looking npc models. Gameplay is solid and highly enjoyable. Music is also pretty good. Not quite to the level ofsome the best iga castlevanias but still, great all around.

my only complaint is that the walking speed is pretty slow. love the ability to get skills from every monsters. a hassle to get the best ending tho.

The backgrounds make it very difficult to determine which parts are background and which are platforms. The controls are also very sluggish. I was looking for quick platformer action but the character moves like a slug.

I loved the aesthetic though

Doesn't get much better from the man himself. 9.5/10. Absolutely a blast. Top not MV. And dat' ass, doh, got a man sweatin'. >_<

One of the most aggravating starts to any game that I have ever played... but once you get a feel for it, it really starts to shine! Hard to put down after that.

>> Good Stuff <<
- Great world to explore and you are well rewarded for doing so.
- Tons of combat variety and builds to chose from.
- 2.5D environment mostly works really well, and they do some extra cool things with it in a few spots.
- Mostly good writing for the story and characters.

>> Bad Stuff <<
- VERY old-school game design in almost every way.
- The delay in your movement and attack input takes a while to get used to, and even far into the game, it can still be annoying.
- Some character models seemed a lot lower quality then others, and most of their poses during conversations were really cheesy or awkward.
- The quest givers that just repeat the exact same thing for every quest gets old quick and feels really lazy.

"Vania" platform true to form. Some classic elements like pesky bats and completely new ones that pack a punch. This past five hours went by fast. I'm glad that you can speed up the dialogue, but the story is interesting too. The character skills are different than what I was expecting in a good way for customization of techniques with different weapons. I will play this through to completion.