Topic: The first sign rises with the full moon.

[Foffy]

Man if Konami wasn't so damned stupid they'd release a game like this one and save the series.

Bloodstained is good enough, but it's not Castlevania sadly. Something did get lost in translation. And that's a shame

What do you feel is missing? I don't want to get big on spoiler stuff, but there are HUGE callbacks to previous Castlevania games with bosses and such. I think everything people were expecting, assuming, and hoping would happen with characters and the like did in fact happen.

I've looked at the game as if it was what IGA was trying to do by rebranding the series as "Castlevania" in Japan, where it focused on demons and such and had very little to do with Dracula in the direct narrative.

[AlexCalvo]

What do you feel is missing? I don't want to get big on spoiler stuff, but there are HUGE callbacks to previous Castlevania games with bosses and such. I think everything people were expecting, assuming, and hoping would happen with characters and the like did in fact happen.

I've looked at the game as if it was what IGA was trying to do by rebranding the series as "Castlevania" in Japan, where it focused on demons and such and had very little to do with Dracula in the direct narrative.

I don't think your view on Iga's work in the games and timeline is entirely objective.  Many if not most here would disagree with it.

[Foffy]

I don't think your view on Iga's work in the games and timeline is entirely objective.  Many if not most here would disagree with it.

Just copying verbatim from the 'vania wiki...

"Starting with the release of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance for the Game Boy Advance, the Japanese games adopted the "Castlevania" name for a brief period. According to series producer Koji Igarashi (or IGA, as he is commonly known), the developers chose to adopt the Castlevania moniker as a way to involve scenarios that do not solely revolve around Dracula himself. Later bowing to overwhelming fan demand, Konami returned to the "Demon Castle Dracula" branding for the Japanese release of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (悪魔城ドラキュラ 蒼月の十字架 Akumajō Dorakyura Sōgetsu no Jūjika?), lit. Demon Castle Dracula: Latin Cross of the Blue Moon)."

That's what I was referring to when Bloodstained feels a bit like what he was envisioning of a non-Dracula focused game. IGA, for a brief period, entertained the idea of making a dark fantasy game that didn't need to have Dracula in it, but be set in the same world. Bloodstained, largely because it's a spiritual successor to the whole series in question, feels like one possible take he would have done if he really went with it. He considered this a "dream game" in earlier pushes for a reason. That's what I was trying to convey. I'm not saying that my views on Dracula and the timeline are "objective", but more what I see in the spirit of Bloodstained, as that's all I was trying to emphasize.

Apologies if it seemed like I was trying to suggest some secret law or objective state on anything. Not my intention.

[RichterB]

Just copying verbatim from the 'vania wiki...

"Starting with the release of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance for the Game Boy Advance, the Japanese games adopted the "Castlevania" name for a brief period. According to series producer Koji Igarashi (or IGA, as he is commonly known), the developers chose to adopt the Castlevania moniker as a way to involve scenarios that do not solely revolve around Dracula himself. Later bowing to overwhelming fan demand, Konami returned to the "Demon Castle Dracula" branding for the Japanese release of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (悪魔城ドラキュラ 蒼月の十字架 Akumajō Dorakyura Sōgetsu no Jūjika?), lit. Demon Castle Dracula: Latin Cross of the Blue Moon)."

That's what I was referring to when Bloodstained feels a bit like what he was envisioning of a non-Dracula focused game. IGA, for a brief period, entertained the idea of making a dark fantasy game that didn't need to have Dracula in it, but be set in the same world. Bloodstained, largely because it's a spiritual successor to the whole series in question, feels like one possible take he would have done if he really went with it. He considered this a "dream game" in earlier pushes for a reason. That's what I was trying to convey. I'm not saying that my views on Dracula and the timeline are "objective", but more what I see in the spirit of Bloodstained, as that's all I was trying to emphasize.

Apologies if it seemed like I was trying to suggest some secret law or objective state on anything. Not my intention.

I knew exactly what you were referring to. I've enjoyed reading your largely, if not completely, spoiler-free thoughts. I'm a backer that played and contributed a lot of feedback with the demos, but due to various circumstances, it will be a long time before I get to play the final game. From what I've seen/played in the past, I do feel like this is where IGA was taking Castlevania. To be honest, for better or worse, he was gradually turning Castlevania into a new franchise, gameplay and world-wise. So, Bloodstained is sort of fitting. It's just a shame that it came at the consequence of the Castlevania IP being left as a husk for the time being. Because gameplay and IP-wise, I think there are still likely things that "Castlevania" could do that Bloodstained won't. But I could be mistaken.

[Foffy]

I knew exactly what you were referring to. I've enjoyed reading your largely, if not completely, spoiler-free thoughts. I'm a backer that played and contributed a lot of feedback with the demos, but due to various circumstances, it will be a long time before I get to play the final game. From what I've seen/played in the past, I do feel like this is where IGA was taking Castlevania. To be honest, for better or worse, he was gradually turning Castlevania into a new franchise, gameplay and world-wise. So, Bloodstained is sort of fitting. It's just a shame that it came at the consequence of the Castlevania IP being left as a husk for the time being. Because gameplay and IP-wise, I think there are still likely things that "Castlevania" could do that Bloodstained won't. But I could be mistaken.

I think the things a new Castlevania can do that Bloodstained never will are catered to nostalgia (I mean this in a good way) and being fans of Castlevania. For example, bosses in Castlevania tend to be special because many of them are callbacks and frequently recurring enemies. Bosses shared between Curse of the Moon and Ritual of the Night lack the nostalgia pulling power as much as seeing Carmilla as a boss, or Medusa, or wondering how they depict Death. From that perspective, we're more invested in bosses, perhaps uniquely so for such a long running franchise, because there's so many that frequently reappear. In fact, the best bosses in Ritual of the Night are the ones that you could, or even should, expect from a proper Castlevania game. Then there's the music and the deep, rich history Castlevania has. Everybody expects Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears, or some amazing song to be remixed or even part of an all-new composition, and Bloodstained also lacks the history of game-defining songs, seeing as it's such a new series of games. Finally and important to people like us speaking on a forum devoted to Castlevania, there's the story of the Belmonts and Dracula, and as fans invested in the series, there's a connection between the heroes and the central villain, and knowing there's an arc, an endgame, and a finale to that story that obviously will never be replicated in Bloodstained, as IGA's own personal regrets was sharing a timeline at all, which locked him into the 1999 event with very little windows to expand upon, unless they were all post-Dracula events. If there's one thing he's already not trying to be defined by, it's a set timeline, seeing as he already retconned Curse of the Moon being a prequel to Ritual of the Night, though one of the endings could flow into the game if they chose to create a connection.

Do hope you play it soon, by the way. I really enjoyed it.

[Kingshango]

I will say this though, there's some technical hiccups here and there like sudden pauses after you defeat an enemy, framerate not exactly doing alright (playing on base PS4) and worst of all random crashes, which is some thing you don't want to happen in a game with no auto checkpoints. Hopefully these issues get addressed in a patch very soon because aside from that im really enjoying this game.

[Aceearly1993]

Backed the Bloodstained project for a PC - Steam version a while ago (I was meant to play it on PS Vita but they announced PS Vita version being canceled, which is sad)

Though I must admit there're some technical flaws - weird & outdated texture for some spike traps, backdash + duck cancel being less responsive than Portrait of Ruin & Order of Ecclessia, subpar English voice acting (I'm so glad Robert Belgrade plays a role here, though), there're way too much contents mimicing Dawn of Sorrow's overall concept... I still enjoyed the decent part of the game and I hope one day Zangetsu get equipped as the playable character...


Oh, and the map is huuuuuugggeeee
 I feel pain in the butt, there's no hope to 100% the game achievements in less than a month...

P.S.: I feel sad for the produce team of Touhou Luna Nights as its final update clashes on Bloodstained's release date by just two or three days...

[aensland]

I feel pain in the butt, there's no hope to 100% the game achievements in less than a month...

I'm 36 of 45 in two days and a half of play, like any Igarashi game farming is really easy and this time stats are busted, so I'd say you can.

I feel sad for the produce team of Touhou Luna Nights as its final update clashes on Bloodstained's release date by just two or three days...

I'd play Bloodstained when I want to have fun and Luna Nights when I want a real challenge, but yeah, bad timing from them

[Foffy]

Backed the Bloodstained project for a PC - Steam version a while ago (I was meant to play it on PS Vita but they announced PS Vita version being canceled, which is sad)

Though I must admit there're some technical flaws - weird & outdated texture for some spike traps, backdash + duck cancel being less responsive than Portrait of Ruin & Order of Ecclessia, subpar English voice acting (I'm so glad Robert Belgrade plays a role here, though), there're way too much contents mimicing Dawn of Sorrow's overall concept... I still enjoyed the decent part of the game and I hope one day Zangetsu get equipped as the playable character...


Oh, and the map is huuuuuugggeeee
 I feel pain in the butt, there's no hope to 100% the game achievements in less than a month...

P.S.: I feel sad for the produce team of Touhou Luna Nights as its final update clashes on Bloodstained's release date by just two or three days...

I promise you it's not that hard. In about 25 hours or so, and that includes just having the game open, I have every achievement except all items and the platinum one from doing every achievement. The game can be busted open pretty hard without much effort, so the obstacle is knowing what you're missing and the general area to find it in.

[Gaawa-chan]

Someone posted the credits on Youtube, here's the Dungeon Clan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dO81nztUz8&t=782s
Right column 13 minutes in for me, woo. Just 100%ed Bloodstained this morning. It was such a pleasure to back this project, and to tie my backing to the Dungeon Clan in honor of my love for the Castlevania series.

[eryson]

But out of the detailed critics, I'm very curious to know the opinions of you guys...
Is this game what you guys wanted for?
it's living your expectations for a true CV game, even not having the name in the title??
i've not backed this game, but enjoyed the Curse of the Moon at most, and I'm sure that I'll buy this game after later updates :3

[Zuljaras]

But out of the detailed critics, I'm very curious to know the opinions of you guys...
Is this game what you guys wanted for?
it's living your expectations for a true CV game, even not having the name in the title??
i've not backed this game, but enjoyed the Curse of the Moon at most, and I'm sure that I'll buy this game after later updates :3

I am at 75% of the game. And I have both very good and very bad experiences.

For one most bullet shards are almoat the same. There is no imagination used when they were making them. Also the qorst area in the game is The Secret Oriental Lab. Just low quality textures and very ugly.

Sone places look ao empty that I want to cry!

I love that the game is long. Some bosses are very nice. Most enemies are just same model with some color change. That is lazy considering how much money they got from the kickstarter.

So I think that the reviews are fine. 7 or 8 out of 10 is prettt accurate.

[TatteredSeraph]

I’m really enjoying things so far.  I’ve found a few bugs and glitches.  Trying to access a journal entry caused the game to crash on me and have to restart from the last save.  It’s feeling like a Castlevania under a different skin so far.  I’m loving some of the environments.  Some of the enemies are rather amusing - the floating demons that swell up and explode in the garden area.  Some are annoying.  I’m unsure about the models on some of the main characters like Dominique and Johannes.  Also while the voice acting isn’t awful per se, those accents I am not impressed with!  They’re kind of cringeworthy.

I found myself in the credits.  Left hand column at around 12:20 in the credits.  Woohoo!

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Lololol apparently I'm in the credits... TWICE!! XD

[aensland]

Looks like we're getting the whole Castlevania experience

(click to show/hide)

Shame it doesn't gives extra %