Like a fine wine, any sort of game can hold its age without ever feeling like it went past its date. Unless of course controls improved compared to modern reincarnations of said games. Where can I begin without going into full fanboy mode? Without making this into an autobiography about my love affair for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, I will keep it brief. Koji Igarashi's work with Castlevania: SOTN; was one of his first works with Konami. After playing Rondo of Blood while working with his wife, who worked at Konami before he got his feet in the door(the very cute story behind it). It was a blend of my captivated appreciation of the Metroid/Castlevania exploration styles in games where I found a genre I absolutely loved. So, when you notice a bad one, it's easy to spot. However, does Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night carries on the torch, or does it sunder out like a dim embowered piece of wood?
The story of the game is a nod to the back story of Dracula’s fabled interest of Alchemy from the series, hence a lot of SOTN's labs all over the place. You start off as Miriam, a young woman who’s infected with a stained-glass style curse in which infuses her cell structure with crystals, which have the ability to absorb demonkin. She sleeps for ten years until her body matures to the curse placed on her by her alchemist abductors. More so your task is to find and obtain Gebel, who is a childhood friend of Miriam. Which they vowed to one another if one or the other were to turn to darkness, the other would stop them. Which in this case Gebel went full evil on the surface of the game's introduction. Do not worry I will not be discussing too much about the story within this, giving you mostly my opinion of it and not going full blown in.
The game's story is a lot more refreshing from Koji's usual works, where it has a bit more context and damn good voice actors/actresses. The series at least with its action RPG style had ok to good stories, where you understand why each character was there, and what they were on a quest for. The usual pilot construction that makes a good tale. An entry, a clause, the journey, and the journey's end. For me, as I have personally seen the stories from all the games; I will state this as being a spiritual successor that does stand on its own but also feels like a brand-new CV game. My brain at first had to remind itself “Hey! This is not a Castlevania game. It’s a remaster of the genre definer.” So, my criticisms were left blank until I saw character development or some sort of story within the game. Which let me tell you there is a ton of Lore in the game. You find it all within short stories throughout the castle you uncover in the game and the vast landscape. Which tells a great depth of everything around you, and the occurrence of demons in the countryside of Arvantville. Each area has its sort of story or theme, which ties into the plot of the whole game, where all varieties of demons flooded out to the landscape to wreak terror on everyone.
You are given a large playground to roam around in, with a gazillion sorts of weapons to find, make or loot from enemies. Seemingly players or fans suggestions were placed into the game, like a waypoint stone, so if you're in danger or just want to get back to town to turn into a quest(yes, quests) you can do so quickly and effectively within cost to restock your gold. For me the joy of many of the Castlevania: RPGs were about the grind, farming enemies for certain items or souls (like in Aria of Sorrow and onward). All of this, which I am personally fond of has returned. Which honestly feels a lot fairer than it once was, of course, if you stack the correct stats for farming via Luck. I love to farm all the souls in the Castlevania games. I know many people who might be new to it would whine about instant gratification. Honestly, if the drop rate is fair then that is a part of the fun. This game feels like it's for the older fans purely, who loved the series from Rondo onward. New fans will find this one so stunning to look at. The soundtrack a throwback to the classic Sega Saturn/PlayStation 1 era, where it's modern, but has that classic vibe. The game took a full 19 hours with me grinding and farming for materials and food items. The soundtrack pumping as I ran through the game, with a smile on my face the whole time. The whole time I felt as if I was playing Symphony of the Night. What brings out this game a bit more is its depth of gameplay, focusing on several different ways to play for play styles. I ended up going with a huge AoE(Area of Effect) tank build where I just rushed into enemies smashing them down. I do not want to reveal what I used as I do not want any copycats, but if you can find and mix and match your own “OP” build go nuts. Trophy hunters can perhaps clear the game within a short window. Most drop rates are fair with a shorter window for good RNG(Luck) to occur.
The lasting appeal of the game is there really is not anything extra to the game at the moment beyond an NG+. Your only extras besides the soundtrack as your disposal are Boss Rush Speed Run mode, and that is roughly about it. There are codes being given out over time that grand perks on new games but honestly that is for more of the dedicated gamers who want to learn, and speed run the game, with some extra perks really. Over time they will be adding the thirteen DLC's to download for free! I managed to 100% the map and made sure to get the fill of my first playthrough overall. With myself going into the game and completing more of the trophies as an extra bit of content for myself to do. The lasting appeal will be in NG+s with your existing gear, subtracting the required items to get past certain things. I noticed they let me keep my speed shard(which made me happy ha-ha). So, with it all placed together it offers everything that felt the same with SOTN, but also did prove the point it aimed for, that people still want those sorts of games from let’s say, you know, a Castlevania game. Like the game’s exploration vibe, it has several areas that offer large chunks of themed locations, with some off variations for creatures and the lot. The spread of enemy types is fair, with some revisits of the same enemy here and there. Sometimes with a few extra tricks in their arsenal. I felt that a little more enemies’ selection was a little lacking. Where revisits of enemies could have introduced as another new creature or a revisit of a classic like a Cthulhu. You know something other than seeing three versions of a flying bull. The puzzles and death traps are wonderfully fair in this game, where you will play a game of pinball. Meaning if you time your jumps wrong; you will bounce around quite a bit. Which then stack in the occasional flying enemy or hopping enemy, it adds a nice depth of the challenge.
In Closing: Surely, we have been spoiled with the same of the Metroidvania scene for quite some time, but all not truly having that effect Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, along with the other GB/DS titles had on many new and older fans. Then indie companies sprouted out with their own thing, giving us killer games. However, there is an itch that the true series always gave you. Leaving my expectations from the series out of my mind at first. I wanted to come to this game pretending I was going to play Castlevania: SOTN for the first time as a youngster. The nice quality of life little touches, like on map marking, being able to have a mini map on the screen(resizable plus you can make it transparent to a point). Being able to craft weapons on weapons is such an awesome touch as well. I liked if you have a favorite style of weapon, you could upgrade it if possible and make it a beefier weapon or the long list of weapons to use. Offering up at least a few weapons people will really enjoy. With a kick-ass soundtrack, amazing visuals, aside from some performance issues, Bloodstained: Ritual of The Night does what it has to do. Giving fans of the long-running Castlevania RPG scene what they wanted.
------------------------------------------------------------ Highly Recommended -
Founder/ Worth Your Universe Creator/Presenter Dan is a Classic Gamer, as well as a Indie game lover. He plays mostly Retro/indie games on Twitch(DanVanDam). You can catch him daily there.
