Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

 PC
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 379 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 298 out of 379
  2. Mixed: 46 out of 379
  3. Negative: 35 out of 379

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  1. BrutalPlayer
    Jun 4, 2023
    10
    Game is great. It has everything for everyone. Challengers and Casuals alike.
  2. Not_too
    Apr 12, 2023
    9
    One of the best in the genre from an absolute legend of the genre. One of the few metroidvanias I could not put down until I had gotten and done everything
  3. Neko2
    Mar 31, 2023
    10
    o jogo é extremamente bom, eu ja joguei varios metroidvanias mas esse une tudo que ah de bom em todos os outros e faz melhoreias. vc nunca se sente intediado e sempre é apresentado a coisas novas. o mapa é extremamente grande. (joguei mais de 16hs no momento e explorei apenas 30% dele e eu jogo bem em.)
  4. blimpsgo180
    Mar 27, 2023
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let me say clearly, this is a good game, but it loses a lot of points for lack of originality. In some ways , little has changed since Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (though it is an inferior title), which was released by Konami in 2001, and that game was just imitating the first ever “Igavania,” which is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. This is an “Igavania” in the sense that Koji Igarashi was at the helm of development efforts, but scratch the “vania,” because this game doesn’t bear the Castlevania name or license. Igarashi formed a new team and crowdfunded this one on Kickstarter. It is just so similar to the last six games in the Castlevania series, those on Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, that this is just more of the same. If this is your first Igarashi game, maybe it’s great, but I would love to see some changes to the formula.

    If you’ve never played an Igavania, let me spell it out. You traverse a massive map on a 2D plain, fighting monsters and bosses. Some regions are blocked off, accessible only after acquiring a key item or ability, such as a double-jump. You level up and slowly become more powerful, similar to an RPG. It is very similar to the Metroid series, with more of an emphasis on combat. The combat is highly refined, requiring good timing and strategy for each unique monster. That about sums it up. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow had an excellent “Souls” system, where you collect enemy souls, and can summon the power of that enemy at any point after that. The souls drop at random, with higher likelihood of collecting one as your in-game “Luck” levels up.

    This system makes a return, but you now collect “Shards.” It’s a new name, but the same concept, with one exception: the shards are highly categorized. Some enemy shards enable that enemy to assist you on-screen at all times–so-called “Familiar Shards”–and occasionally will damage other enemies or increase HP/MP periodically. Then there are “Directional Shards,” which generally let you attack in any direction, typically with a bit of range. There are a number of categories, and one shard from each category can be equipped. This is all handled in menus, and it’s worth pointing out here that the menus are really well done. I never felt overwhelmed or confused.

    The graphics are not the best. The characters, and enemies are mostly cel-shaded, but the backgrounds are not. I heard rumblings (source, Digital Foundry) that the reason this is typically done is it’s more cost-effective than cel-shading the entire game, but it makes things look inconsistent. Look at Jet Set Radio, a game running on much older hardware at half the frame rate. It’s pure eye candy, because they cel-shaded everything. On the topic of framerate, the game targets 60 frames-per-second, but there are dips below. The problem isn’t my hardware, but the game may have some slight shader compilation stutter. It’s an advanced topic, and I don’t fully understand it to be honest, but it will make your frame rate dip below the target. I suspect it is shader compilation stutter, because the engine this game was built on, Unreal Engine 4, is notorious for this problem. It would have been nice to play at unlocked frame rates.

    The combat is the real highlight, but with so many shards and shard combinations, I was able to break the game early on. [spoiler] The “Heretical Grinder” shard is a long sword that can point in any direction, and does a slight amount of damage, rapidly, which means that the little bit of damage it does starts to stack. The sword is so long that you can stay a healthy distance away from your enemies and not get hurt. This shard enabled me to defeat almost every boss with minimal effort. It broke the game. The supposed hardest enemies in the game could be defeated by pointing my sword and holding the R2 trigger for long enough. [/spoiler] It’s a bit like when a game gives you difficulty options (this one does) and you pick the absolute easiest, only to realize it’s now a cakewalk.

    The game ended rather abruptly. [spoiler] I opened a boss door not thinking much of it, and it was Gebel, the main villain of Bloodstained and final boss. I defeated him on the first try. That isn’t a flex, it’s just easy. The GBA and DS Castlevania titles have notoriously difficult final bosses, and I haven’t finished some of the games because of the final boss. [/spoiler] There is a “good” ending and a bad one, and I got the bad one. Oh well. I understand the real treasure of the Bloodstained Kickstarter is we got two Curse of the Moon games with retro NES style graphics that are a throwback to classic Castlevania. This is a good game. I mean it. But the formula isn’t new. There’s a sequel in the works, and that’s great, but let’s try something different in it, shall we?    … Expand
  5. alza2
    Mar 12, 2023
    9
    I haven't been hooked to a game for a long time. I stated Bloodstained on the Switch as a successor to Sotn and I was so disappointed by the lag and the blurry graphics. The lag was supposed to be fixed but it was still tangible and ruined the experience.

    I gave it another try on PC and the problem was not the game at all. It was 100% because of the Switch port. The PC version is    I haven't been hooked to a game for a long time. I stated Bloodstained on the Switch as a successor to Sotn and I was so disappointed by the lag and the blurry graphics. The lag was supposed to be fixed but it was still tangible and ruined the experience.

    I gave it another try on PC and the problem was not the game at all. It was 100% because of the Switch port. The PC version is incomparably better than the switch one.

    I played it "portably" on my Steam Deck. The switch is still great device for Nintendo exclusives...    … Expand
  6. apeot2002
    Jan 24, 2023
    9
    I wasn’t impressed when I started up the game more than two years after it came out. I was mildly entertained when the game spewed forth its premise: My protagonist, Miriam, is a special girl who is really good at fighting demons because she is able to crystalize and absorb the souls of demons she slays and thus gain power or something, and thus she is tasked to clear out the current demonI wasn’t impressed when I started up the game more than two years after it came out. I was mildly entertained when the game spewed forth its premise: My protagonist, Miriam, is a special girl who is really good at fighting demons because she is able to crystalize and absorb the souls of demons she slays and thus gain power or something, and thus she is tasked to clear out the current demon invasion that the only other person with the same ability as her has arranged for reasons of his own. Miriam can jump, run and attack people, and with those abilities, she gets let loose on the 2D castle the demons come from.

    You can probably tell the story felt somewhat cookie-cutter to me. So do the environments: A few rooms are very beautiful, a few levels play clever tricks on the perceived two-dimensionality of the camera perspective, but most feel more like an arrangement of platforms and monsters than an actual place. The monster designs are inventive and plentiful, but not overwhelming. The characters feel flat, both in script and presentation. It’s a decent effort in all regards, nothing really stands out, but nothing fails to hold up its end either.

    It’s all here to serve king Gameplay. Long may he reign.

    At first I wasn’t impressed with it, either: Miriam can jump, attack with her current weapon, trigger three different magic spells, slide, jump back and that’s it. At first, the control scheme felt a bit sticky, but I got used to it, and the platforming demanded of Miriam is never so exacting that this became an issue. With these simple ingredients, Bloodstained crafts a satisfying, ever evolving primary gameplay loop. I mapped four distinct phases out for myself.

    At the beginning you get used to everything and the game takes it easy on you. Enemies die quick and barely scratch your life bar. Life's a breeze, jumping and striking become ingrained into the muscle memory, magic is rarely a factor, because your mana pool is very limited and you don’t have a lot of spells yet. It’s fun, but nothing special.

    The second phase starts when you hit the first difficulty spike, which was the second boss for me. Suddenly it’s no longer enough to spam attack and try the occasional dodge. So I butted my head against this boss until I improved my gameplay enough to get past him. I even used a few magic spells to beat him and thus finally engaged with the fourth button. Afterwards, the game tightened the screws quite a bit: Healing is limited and even common monsters suddenly hit like trucks. This phase lasts pretty much two thirds of the game, and it kept hitting me with difficulty spikes that forced me to engage with even more of its subsystems, like the crafting system and the permanent buffs you get from cooking dishes out of the strange stuff the monsters drop on occasion. Not all of these stopgaps are bosses either: Sometimes the challenge is getting from one save and respawn point to the next.

    The third phase I call the revenge phase: One has quite a bit of work ahead to enter it: At one point the cumulative stat boosts and upgraded equipment finally break the difficulty curve: Enemies die in one hit and can no longer keep up with your healing spells. At this point you also have all the traversal powers unlocked, and your travels through the castle transform from a harrowing crusade to a mop up operation. The challenge now is finding all the little nooks and crannies the game had kept hidden from you before you wrap up the gameplay. That is usually the end for games like this. But Bloodstained has a little surprise left for the dedicated gamer.

    There are two items only available in the endgame that dramatically increase Miriam’s movement speed and jump range and no joke transformed the entire primary gameplay loop for me, from a Jump and Slash kind of game to a form of parkour simulation: I glide and float through the rooms at amazing speed and hammer out the rhythm the room imposes on me to keep moving: run, slash, run jump slash jump jump slash dive run. It is hypnotic and fantastically flow-inducing. I had not been expecting it.

    All four phases, with the exception of the early part of phase one, were great fun to play through. The craftsmanship that went into optimising everything to support gameplay is astounding, too. The vast amount of weapons and equipment you can find or craft, and the dozens of magic spells you can get from the monsters make sure boredom will never be a problem. The layout of the map is excellent, too. Just one example: Every boss has a respawn point that is at most two rooms away. Everything bends over backwards to challenge and swaddle the player in sweet sweet endorphins at the same time.

    So that’s Bloodstained: Not the greatest looker, not an engrossing storyteller, but if you give it a chance, it’ll take you on a wonderful ride.    … Expand
  7. 3a21
    Aug 28, 2022
    8
    There 're many things to do
    Exploring the castle with many hidden room, grinding to get all item, techniques, monsters, shards, customize appearance and still can play endgame for collect achievement and item things.
    Controlling still problem about jumping and directions, It's more accuracy when use arrow button but when you use L stick it's would be hard for attack direction and use    There 're many things to do
    Exploring the castle with many hidden room, grinding to get all item, techniques, monsters, shards, customize appearance and still can play endgame for collect achievement and item things.
    Controlling still problem about jumping and directions, It's more accuracy when use arrow button but when you use L stick it's would be hard for attack direction and use some skills.    … Expand
  8. Leontorres7
    Mar 8, 2022
    9
    Amazing game! For me it felt like playing Symphony of the Night 2, while the story is not as good and the characters are not near as cool as SotN, the game stands as an incredible Castlevania game and all the exploration and combat elements are there, so much to discover and enjoy, this game is a success while the story is not the best it is ok and the gameplay more than makes up for it.
  9. CzarSquid
    Feb 27, 2022
    0
    Capturing that lighting in the bottle really only happens once. Leans too hard into copying Symphony of the Night
  10. Volphied
    Jan 31, 2022
    9
    Este juego ha sido el título que he querido que Konami lanzara durante muchos años (y no han hecho). Se nota que los creativos de los Castlevania: Symphony of the Night han hecho este juego, porque la calidad emana de todos los costados, tanto a nivel técnico, visual, OST y con una historia interesante.
    Un juego pensado en su rejugabilidad, con muchos DLC's y contenido extra gratuitos    Este juego ha sido el título que he querido que Konami lanzara durante muchos años (y no han hecho). Se nota que los creativos de los Castlevania: Symphony of the Night han hecho este juego, porque la calidad emana de todos los costados, tanto a nivel técnico, visual, OST y con una historia interesante.
    Un juego pensado en su rejugabilidad, con muchos DLC's y contenido extra gratuitos (que viendo el mundillo sorprende ver contenido gratuito) los cuales nos harán cambiar la experiencia original que tiene el título para poderlo experimentar de distintas maneras.
    Si tenéis la espina de que Konami tiene secuestrada la IP de Castlevania y con ganas de jugar nuevos títulos como los clásicos de la empresa, recomiendo esclarecidamente Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, ya que es claramente un sucesor espiritual a la serie de Castlevania.    … Expand
  11. furyohfury
    Sep 24, 2021
    5
    -1 for 3 screens between death and respawn
    -1 for whoever's idea of separate save points and teleports
    -1 for difficulty spike in bosses after abyssal guardian
    -1 for absolute misunderstanding how much damage you should deal to bosses
    -1 for dumb double last boss
    5/10 it is then. Good job, it was too hard to think about all of this, right?
  12. MohakAoki
    Jul 5, 2021
    8
    a good game. good gameplay and graphic. good dub and characters. the only thing that I think it could be better, is storyline. also final boss difficulty was very higher than previous boss fights.
  13. Luigichief
    Jun 7, 2021
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Castlevania Spiritual Sequence by Koji Igarashi.

    The story's premise is very interesting and original. But thanks to the few cutscenes the story is generally just mediocre, with the Dominique twist being pretty good. And that's okay since the focus of the game is not that.
    This Bad Ending thing about killing Gebel, it got a lot a little meh, but the real problem is later, because you're pretty way out of the way dude and the backtracking you need to do isn't obvious at all. And wow, the phase inversion system was a genius move, and the boss was fun too. And the moon puzzle is really interesting, especially after the boss fight with Gebel you need to remember the red moon you passed it at the beginning of the game.

    Combat and exploration are the game's charms, and both really don't disappoint.

    But NO DUDE, you have to get a shard of water to be able to move forward, what a bloody slut, besides that later to find out where to go is awesome, too many areas open up.

    I really liked the graphics and the highlight goes to the great scenes.

    The soundtrack is good, there are 2 in particular that are really solid, the castle entrance and the Twins Dragon Towers.    … Expand
  14. PsychoJoona
    May 8, 2021
    7
    Bloodstained.. there really isn't that much blood... But anyway! Bloodborn.. stained is a metroidvainia game and I liked it so much that I 100 % it! But I still give it 7/10 because it doesn't just feel right I don't know why.
  15. niallaptz
    Apr 10, 2021
    4
    This game isn't as great as people say it is. It isn't even that good. It's ugly, clunky and feels paper thin. I don't understand how the developer asks a whopping $40.00, what a joke. Once again I'm duped by the "gamers" stating that this is a great game and best of the "Castlevania" -type games, but if it is then these games are truly going down the gutter. It isn't new, refreshing,This game isn't as great as people say it is. It isn't even that good. It's ugly, clunky and feels paper thin. I don't understand how the developer asks a whopping $40.00, what a joke. Once again I'm duped by the "gamers" stating that this is a great game and best of the "Castlevania" -type games, but if it is then these games are truly going down the gutter. It isn't new, refreshing, inventive. So if you want to play an average side scrolling game that is similar to Castlevania, here you go. That's all it is.… Expand
  16. Poopoobutter
    Jan 28, 2021
    9
    This is a great game. I don't understand the points that people made who gave this game a low score. This game craps all over hollow knight.
  17. donnifeb
    Dec 23, 2020
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. for those who does not like this game and give it poor review.. certainly never played symphony of the night ... bloodstained is the medicine for those who longing for the exact same feel of the SOTN ... ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️… Expand
  18. doproyee
    Nov 20, 2020
    6
    it's a hard game but controlling in this game is not comfortable. too bad..
  19. NoIdeaName
    Nov 13, 2020
    8
    Bloodstained is a good metroidvania that will make you revive the glory days of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. However, if you are looking fr something surprising or new, this is not your game.
  20. Drabolik
    Aug 11, 2020
    8
    Buen juego, buenas mecánicas, banda sonora, variedad de armas... me mantuvo segregando dopamina por unas 25 hrs... ahh y una historia regular (aunque nada del otro mundo)
  21. Babutto
    Jul 21, 2020
    9
    Pros.:
    - Castlevania fans will love the game.
    - The game is user friendly.
    - Metroidvania.
    - Characters.
    - Easter eggs.
    - Encourages to explore the castle and craft.

    Cons.:
    - Can't find any except maybe difficulty at the beginning.
  22. DJKrimson
    Jul 15, 2020
    8
    A good metroidvania game. Fun combat with and amazing music. Definitely worth a go if you're into this genre. Some minus points to the character models that look terrible (when in conversations) and it being way too cryptic at times.
  23. Drakilliam
    Jul 7, 2020
    10
    Fun awesome game!! Best indie game I have ever played. Plays like old school Castlevania with beautiful graphics.
  24. ironviv66v
    Jun 21, 2020
    9
    Me la pase genial un gran homenaje a castlevania, único defecto, creo se me hizo un poco corto
  25. Chain_Affinity
    May 22, 2020
    7
    This game should be called Bloodstained: Farming of the Night, because you'll be farming well into the night. Or Bloodstained: Ritual of the Farming, because it'll become a ritual every time you play. There's so much farming in this game, it's practically a farming simulator. I've never farmed so much in a game, and I've played some pretty intense MMO's throughout the years. You get theThis game should be called Bloodstained: Farming of the Night, because you'll be farming well into the night. Or Bloodstained: Ritual of the Farming, because it'll become a ritual every time you play. There's so much farming in this game, it's practically a farming simulator. I've never farmed so much in a game, and I've played some pretty intense MMO's throughout the years. You get the point.

    Bloodstained should be a good game. It has all the elements to make a pretty engaging Metroidvania styled game. Here's the problem if you would like to get the most out of the game: It's 1% story, 6% actual gameplay, 15% exploration, and 78% farming.    … Expand
  26. Sepherim
    Apr 8, 2020
    7
    Bloodtsained: Ritual of the Night no es un juego innovador y original, sigue los cánones del subgénero metroidvania al dedillo, pero lo hace muy bien. Se nota la mano de sus creadores a la hora de un cuidado diseño de mapas, una buena variedad de tipos de armas con combos secretos y cosas especiales, otro equipo con posibilidad de personalizar un poco al personaje (los tomos que llevas,Bloodtsained: Ritual of the Night no es un juego innovador y original, sigue los cánones del subgénero metroidvania al dedillo, pero lo hace muy bien. Se nota la mano de sus creadores a la hora de un cuidado diseño de mapas, una buena variedad de tipos de armas con combos secretos y cosas especiales, otro equipo con posibilidad de personalizar un poco al personaje (los tomos que llevas, por ejemplo), etc. El juego, quitando la historia que es del montón, es muy bueno en ejecución. Quizás lo que peor llevo es que los drops de los monstruos sean aleatorios, impactando directamente en el funcionamiento de algunas subquests de recolectar objetos o fabricar cosas (en general, las quests secundarias son malas), pero el resto es bastante redondo. Ah, y que para encontrar el camino al final real hay que encontrar un objeto muy específico y muy bien escondido que nadie te dice que busques, cuando si te han ido guiando con todo lo demás.

    Gráficamente el juego está bastante bien, con esas 3D gráficas sobre una jugabilidad 2D que le permite hacer giros de cámara y otras cosas que quedan muy bien. Aunque las animaciones fuera de combate son flojas. El sonido tiene más altibajos, con unas voces que a veces no suenan convincentes, y unas músicas que no siempre encajan (una canción en especial siempre me parece que va a arrancarse a ser Camela en el momento más inoportuno). Y el juego tiene algunos bugs, pero menores y que no fastidian la experiencia demasiado.

    El resultado es que, sin reinventar la rueda, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night se convierte en un metroidvania muy sólido en lo jugable. Un 7,5.    … Expand
  27. MVMOFFICIAL
    Apr 1, 2020
    8
    IGA finally gives us back his creativity after a long time... without Konami's brand on it. A metroidvania experience that delivers us great boss battles, majestic soundtrack and many weapons to use. Although, i have to talk about the level design... even though the castle is VERY big, levels just didn't feel too linked like in Symphony of the Night for example.. and sometimes the gameIGA finally gives us back his creativity after a long time... without Konami's brand on it. A metroidvania experience that delivers us great boss battles, majestic soundtrack and many weapons to use. Although, i have to talk about the level design... even though the castle is VERY big, levels just didn't feel too linked like in Symphony of the Night for example.. and sometimes the game pretended you to understand were to go and how to go in certain locations. Like in that water area where i had to use a shard of a certain monster to propel Miriam into the water to reach an opening. How were you supposed to know that? Did i miss some indications? Also i never actually used any food and MOST demon shards. There just seemed to be too many of them. Again, the game is not perfect, but it is a great take on metroidvanias by a forefather of the genre. The game also has many cool secrets to find. Here's my take on this great game.… Expand
  28. Dco326
    Mar 25, 2020
    7
    The ending was **** inventory was sometimes **** the game is okayish, and I will never play it again.
  29. Relkad
    Mar 23, 2020
    8
    Definitely takes you back to good old castlevania days.
    Fighting,story,mechanics,visuals are pretty good overall.
    It can be pretty irritating when you find yourself saying "where do i go now?" because game the doesn't really help you with that.
    Don't expect a masterpiece,just some good 20 hours.
  30. PHDIKOULAS
    Feb 7, 2020
    9
    so you liked symphony of the night and waited in praying some time it would come, while konami was knee deep in slot machines.Pray no more and go buy this game quick fast and in a hurry. This Is symphony of the nights sequel!

    Bravo Iga and thank you
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Awards & Rankings

30
#30 Best PC Game of 2019
44
#44 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
42
#42 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. RPGamer
    Oct 1, 2019
    80
    Anyone who never liked the Metroidvania entries in the Castlevania series is extremely unlikely to be enthralled by Bloodstained. Koji Igarashi made no intimations of reinventing the wheel in Ritual of the Night, and the game is recognizably from the creator of Symphony of the Night. Playing this game nevertheless reminded me of how much fun a quality Metroidvania can be, and Konami is certainly in no mood to use its own intellectual property for anything other than Pachinko machines lately – plus if it had, something like paying money for additional save slots might have been introduced. Kickstarter-funded games have a decidedly mixed record, but Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is fortunately one of the success stories.
    Read full review
  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Aug 2, 2019
    75
    Iga promised to make a spiritual successor to all but defunct Castlevania series – and that’s exactly what he did. Not only that, but he managed to successfully expand upon the familiar formula with nifty additions like skill shards. [Issue#239, p.74]
  3. Eurogamer Italy
    Jul 11, 2019
    90
    Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is the best love letter to Castlevania addicted. Created by the programmer, director and producer from titles like Simon’s Quest, Vampire’s Kiss and Symphony of the Night, Koji Igarashi, the game finally arrives to home consoles and PC after a successful crowdfunding campaign, but also a troubled development. Thankfully, the wait was definitely worth and we finally have a huge game, with deep combat and craft systems and loads of game modes. This is without any doubts one of the best Metroidvania of the year and a great Castlevania spiritual successor.
    Read full review
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