Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

 Switch
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 167 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 136 out of 167
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 167
  3. Negative: 13 out of 167

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  1. Traumvita
    Sep 6, 2023
    8
    Basically an accessible modern day Castlevania with cleaned up NES visuals. It’s good and simple fun.
  2. Joaozow
    Oct 22, 2022
    8
    Muito bom jogo, ele pega elementos de diversos Castlevanias e mescla de um jeito genial, e dar pra ver em alguns detalhes que foi feito com muito carinho
  3. jsh710
    Aug 29, 2022
    5
    I hate this jump system. can't move during jumping. too much love for retro.
  4. soahknam
    Jan 17, 2022
    8
    Good game, it is fun, but not outstanding in its history or visual graphics. however, its essence is sufficient to play it.

    GAMEPLAY: 8
    MUSIC: 9
    STORY: 5
    VISUALS: 7

    PERSONAL SCORE: 8 >
  5. IamSquid
    Jan 2, 2022
    8
    Thirsty for retro-Castlevania? This will do the trick! A short game, but lots of fun.
  6. pott3r
    Apr 29, 2021
    1
    I don't get why so many people support idea stealing. This is 1:1 Castlevania and everyone knows that yet no one mentions that. This game doesn't deserve a high rating because this is a 100% RIPOFF. DO NOT SUPPORT PLAGIARISM!
  7. INU4SH4
    Jan 17, 2021
    7
    Bloodstained is a very entertaining homage to Castlevania with great replayability. Sometimes I feel like it throws some cheap enemies and stages (something you'd not want to see from a modern platformer) but overall it felt like a very rewarding challenge.

    There wasn't much story or dialog but I managed to grow fond of the characters. The visuals could look better but I love the    Bloodstained is a very entertaining homage to Castlevania with great replayability. Sometimes I feel like it throws some cheap enemies and stages (something you'd not want to see from a modern platformer) but overall it felt like a very rewarding challenge.

    There wasn't much story or dialog but I managed to grow fond of the characters. The visuals could look better but I love the bosses' designs and the soundtrack wasn't the best but pretty memorable nonetheless.

    Wouldn't call it a must-play platformer but it's definitely a good investment. Especially if you plan on playing the sequels.    … Expand
  8. thryce3
    Sep 29, 2020
    7
    Short, fun 8-bit castlevania-like sidescroller. The different characters add a nice element, and switching between adds some strategy. It didn't wow me, but I enjoyed it and will pick up the second on sale.
  9. daikengo
    Sep 15, 2020
    8
    21세기의 악마성 전설. 주인공인 잔게츠가 아무리봐도 닌자용검전(FC)의 류 하야부사 짭으로밖에 보이지 않는 것만 빼면 저 표현에 부족할 것이 없다. 솔직히 리추얼 오브 나이트보다 훨씬 잘만든 게임이라고 생각함.
  10. GabFire
    Aug 10, 2020
    8
    É um jogo que tem a cara do Switch, foi muito bacana esse aí e num console portátil fica perfeito.
  11. SALVADORM
    Jun 26, 2020
    10
    Excelent game, Nice stage desing, great music and awesome narrative plot. It's Also a HARD Game To conquest like in old times
  12. yoolen
    Apr 19, 2020
    0
    Decent game marred by a terrible experience with Kickstarter. Unfulfilled promises, massive delays, missing game modes, lots of bugs on release (somewhat resolved). Better off just loading up a PSX emulator and playing SotN.
  13. JustinThyme
    Mar 5, 2020
    8
    The game is hard yet fun. I didn't mind losing all my lives and starting the level again.
    Switching between characters on the fly is a fun mechanic.
    The game looks and sounds great in terms of achieving the retro aesthetic.
  14. Kaiclubbe
    Mar 3, 2020
    2
    Castlevania fan since NES. Bloodstained was a huge disappointment
  15. dharma
    Nov 18, 2019
    8
    Bloodstained is the best Igavania around because, heck..it is made by the master himself. Started out as a kick starter project from 4 years ago, this long gestating game is finally completed and it is a joy to play. Igarashi has done a stellar job in bringing his brand of gaming to the modern era. The bad news for Switch fans? Well, the so called performance issues, but hey...have youBloodstained is the best Igavania around because, heck..it is made by the master himself. Started out as a kick starter project from 4 years ago, this long gestating game is finally completed and it is a joy to play. Igarashi has done a stellar job in bringing his brand of gaming to the modern era. The bad news for Switch fans? Well, the so called performance issues, but hey...have you seen yesteryear's portable titles on the Gameboy. People nitpick too much these days. Still a great game no matter what you call it.… Expand
  16. nusco
    Nov 18, 2019
    6
    Bloodstained is like the worst movie from your favorite director: it feels thrown together, unpolished, and in general a bit of a mess–but you can discern the familiar hand of a real author behind every sequence, so you cannot lend yourself to hate the result.

    Before I tackle the game's shortcoming, let me specify one thing: as I played it, in November 2019, the infamous technical    Bloodstained is like the worst movie from your favorite director: it feels thrown together, unpolished, and in general a bit of a mess–but you can discern the familiar hand of a real author behind every sequence, so you cannot lend yourself to hate the result.

    Before I tackle the game's shortcoming, let me specify one thing: as I played it, in November 2019, the infamous technical issues of the Switch version have been ameliorated. Loading times are acceptable, the controls are fairly responsive, and the game only crashed three or four times as I played all the way to the "good" ending. Bloodstained is not a technical marvel by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not the disaster that it apparently was on release.

    That been said, the problems with the game run deeper than its implementation, right into its much-lauded design. Metroidvanias are often better when they're bigger, and Bloodstained seems eager to please the player with hundreds of items, weapons, and creatures. This plentiful content, however, left me cold. Yes, there are multiple interacting mechanics to find, buy, sell, create, upgrade, grow, donate, combine and dismantle items, including food, power-ups, and weapons. However, those mechanics feel too annoyingly complicated for their own good. Unlocking recipes and concocting potions and food items never feels like joyful discovery–it feels like work, and a lot of pointless browsing through long lists. The same goes for the boring side missions. All in all, the systems in Bloodstained feel like they came out of a desire to have more stuff than previous similar games, not from the need to make the game's design tighter or more fun.

    The same goes for the overabundant weapons and "shards" (the game's stand-in for movement upgrades, power-ups, and magic). They're plentiful, but the game never gives you a compelling reason to explore them. On the contrary, some mechanics actively discourage you from doing that. For example, there are not one, but two different ways to upgrade a shard–which means that once you have a powerful shard that you invested time and resources in, it feels like a waste to switch to a less powerful, non-upgraded shard, even just to give it a try. Ironically, I ended up ignoring almost all those items and using mostly the same handful of weapon types and shards throughout the game.

    Another example of the game's maximalist approach is in the enemy design. You'll find hundreds of enemies across the many biomes of the game's sprawling map, sporting wildly divergent styles (and sometimes shaky animations)–from giant doggy heads to Universal classic monsters to horned kittens to literal sea horses galloping underwater. By comparison with this weird and cheesy kitchen sink of a bestiary, Dungeons & Dragons' Monster Manual looks like a damn zoology treatise. You've got to wonder whether any creature idea was ever scrapped from the game for feeling inconsistent or too silly.

    All of those issues come together into what I believe is the most disappointing and flawed part of the game: the boss fights. The designers clearly spent a huge amount of time building a dozen of challenging bosses with interesting movesets, plus a bunch of optional bosses to boot–but the game's other systems nullify all that work and encourage you to deal with all bosses exactly the same way. Literally all bosses can be cheesed by just facetanking them with powerful magic until they go down. The only bosses that gave me any kind of challenge where the first two, before I had powerful magic at my disposal. All the rest, including the bullet-spongy final boss, were a walk in the park: I just stayed close to them and deployed the exact same, wildly overpowered shard magic until they went down. A few bosses did drain my health faster than I could drain theirs, and in that case I brought a few potions and food to get a refill as I pummeled them. I don't think I ever noticed most bosses' attack patterns.

    I'm pretty sure that if you choose to, you can turn every boss fight into an interesting exercise in tactics and pattern recognition–but why do that, when the game gives you plentiful non-cheating means to turn even the baddest boss into a pushover? It pains me to say this, but combat in Bloodstained is, plain and simple, broken.

    This review might feel extremely negative, but I actually had decent fun playing through Bloodstained. It's a game made with passion by experienced people with a lot of heart. It's far from perfect, but you've got to respect the people who built it, and wish them a long career and many future games. In the end, however, it also feels like a missing opportunity. As I finished Bloodstained, I regretted the fact that it wasn't a smaller, more focused, more tightly designed game, instead of this "more is better" display of unnecessary authorial grandiosity.    … Expand
  17. Enkindled
    Nov 2, 2019
    9
    This game is a must-have for all Castlevania fans, fans of 2D action platformers, pixel art enthusiasts and horror-based games fans. This game was heavily based on Castlevania III in terms of gameplay but polished like Castlevania 4. More bellow!

    Pros: - Artwork: Hot damn this game is beautiful. The pixel art is absurdly amazing and polished. It`s colorful, appealing and atmospheric. I    This game is a must-have for all Castlevania fans, fans of 2D action platformers, pixel art enthusiasts and horror-based games fans. This game was heavily based on Castlevania III in terms of gameplay but polished like Castlevania 4. More bellow!

    Pros:
    - Artwork: Hot damn this game is beautiful. The pixel art is absurdly amazing and polished. It`s colorful, appealing and atmospheric. I have only praises here.
    - Combat: Fluid and perfect for the genre. Keep in mind that this game is an 8bit game, made to look like an NES game. That might make you think this game is stiff and clunky but it isn`t! Tee developers polished this game thinking about the new audiences so you will not hame drawbacks like that. It is also hella fun because you can change characters on the fly, like in Castlevania III, and they are all great to use. Numerous power ups, and amazing boss fights!
    -Soundtrack: Great 8bit music.
    -Multiple Playthroughs: Yep, this game is made for you to finish more than once, and in the 2nd time, it gives you more of the story. It is also made for you to have different endings to explore, which impact on the difficulty of the game. Thus, it goes way beyond what you would expect from this kind of game.

    Cons:
    - My only complaint here is that the game is too short, you will finish it fast. They try to make it longer with the different playthroughs but for you to have an idea, I completed two of them in 5-6 hours.

    Overall, people, just don`t miss out this game, its a gem!    … Expand
  18. Kosama
    Oct 3, 2019
    7
    Seria un 9 pero tuve que terminar jugando en PC porque me estreso las pantallas de carga.
    Muy Genial, muy buen castlevania clásico, recomendado!!
  19. Cabezaurio
    Sep 15, 2019
    10
    Un juego unico, increible. A pesar de no llevar el nombre, es un Castlevania en toda su ley.
  20. alucard5
    Sep 6, 2019
    10
    This is an amazing game, a real throwback to older Castlevania titles (especially CV3) but made in a modern way. I enjoyed the soundtrack a lot, too. I like this game better than the main Bloodstained title.
  21. SenseiMiguel
    Sep 1, 2019
    9
    Me encantan los juegos retro. Y este juego, al igual q shovel knight, esta bien hecho. Estilo castlevania con su toque de ninja gaiden. Me encanta. Debio ser mas larguito en cuestion de niveles, y no repetitivo para sacar el final completo. Repetir todos los niveles por segunda vez para sacar el final completo se pudo haber evitado o mejorado
  22. Chloe_A
    Jul 24, 2019
    8
    Honestly, I love this game, the only other game I have ever played of it's genre is Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow and I love that they brought this genre back, and to the switch for an amazingly low price for a new release. I can just tell that a lot of love and care has gone into this game, and from the creators of the genre itself, I didn't support this on kickstarter, but seeing how goodHonestly, I love this game, the only other game I have ever played of it's genre is Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow and I love that they brought this genre back, and to the switch for an amazingly low price for a new release. I can just tell that a lot of love and care has gone into this game, and from the creators of the genre itself, I didn't support this on kickstarter, but seeing how good this game is, I wish I did.

    I know there are a lot of issues with some people's games with bugs and lag, but I have been playing 5 hours now and haven't seen a single bug, nor has my frame-rate dropped once, so i guess I got lucky.

    But this game keeps going and keeps surprising me, you start off in a ship under attack and obtain 6 weapons within 30 minutes so you can choose your fighting style, I chose the claymore as I like the extra damage per swing, and this was a great way to start the game, the rest you just experience yourself.

    I love this game and it's been a while since I have actually been excited to pick up and play a game again.    … Expand
  23. iMustang
    Jul 15, 2019
    7
    If you have $10 and want to play a classic Castlevania experience (or are crazy like me and paid double for the physical copy), Bloodstained Curse of the Moon was a pretty fun game. Though it only takes a couple hours to beat the game once, with multiple endings and pathways along the way, the game is perfect for replay value. You can either let 3 other characters join you and SwitchIf you have $10 and want to play a classic Castlevania experience (or are crazy like me and paid double for the physical copy), Bloodstained Curse of the Moon was a pretty fun game. Though it only takes a couple hours to beat the game once, with multiple endings and pathways along the way, the game is perfect for replay value. You can either let 3 other characters join you and Switch between them at will, or choose to fight them as additional boss battles and make the game harder for yourself. You can also choose between Veteran or Casual mode to decide just how difficult you want the game to be for yourself, which was nice for me since I know I'm not the best at the super retro games. Overall this non-canon side game is a fun ride for a fair price.… Expand
  24. cosmo0
    Jul 4, 2019
    8
    Bloodstained is a Castlevania in all but name.

    It has the aesthetics, the gameplay, the level design, even the (fake) box cover and the logo. Even the title Curse of the Moon riffs on Circle of the Moon. The jumps are rigid, many enemies are a throwback to the first episodes, etc. The game is a huge homage to these three first games of the acclaimed series. That being said, it also    Bloodstained is a Castlevania in all but name.

    It has the aesthetics, the gameplay, the level design, even the (fake) box cover and the logo. Even the title Curse of the Moon riffs on Circle of the Moon.
    The jumps are rigid, many enemies are a throwback to the first episodes, etc.
    The game is a huge homage to these three first games of the acclaimed series.

    That being said, it also brings a lot of new things.

    The main novelty of the game is that you can control various characters, 4 in total, and you can switch at any time with the triggers.
    These characters are sufficiently diverse to be useful in different situations, with specific characteristics : life, reach, jump height, spell power, etc.

    Bloodstained CotM has secret passageways only accessible with some characters, even early on when you don't have them yet. You'll have to complete the game in New Game+ to access them.
    Generally, the levels are varied, and the bosses are interesting.

    The game is very short (2h to finish it the first time), but it has enough content for you to hang on a bit longer: new game+, boss rush, hard mode...

    In short, I recommend it to all fans of NES-era Castlevania.    … Expand
  25. zamzuki
    Jun 28, 2019
    0
    Clearly most of these reviews were written before the switch release. The switch port suffers on a multitude of levels and the score does not correctly reflect this. Let me break it down.

    Unresponsive Controls: It controls like a classic NES castlevania NOT like a smooth 2019 metroidvania game. There is lag input and some times, due to this things like a half circle, or jump kick    Clearly most of these reviews were written before the switch release. The switch port suffers on a multitude of levels and the score does not correctly reflect this. Let me break it down.

    Unresponsive Controls: It controls like a classic NES castlevania NOT like a smooth 2019 metroidvania game. There is lag input and some times, due to this things like a half circle, or jump kick either don't happen or miss.

    The graphics are a disappointment. The game is rendered beautifully and with great polygonal shaders on every port except the switch. On the switch it has reduced particles, muddy skins on all the enemies; and even the cut scenes suffer using super low res skins.

    Crashing: It happens, way too often and this isn't the kind of game that saves your progression automatically. Killing a boss, or farming enemies for an hour; you have to safely transport yourself back to a save point. If you crash along the way; well who values time?

    Graphical glitching: This one is when the graphics tear, or don't even render. I loved the big dramatic reveal when all I saw were literally random colored pixels behind the two low res characters talking. Kinda wish I knew what was going on.

    NO RETURNS DIGITALLY: oh yea it's a Nintendo game. If you bought it, welp no one likes money either right?    … Expand
  26. Areinu
    Jun 26, 2019
    6
    In general I agree with the 9-10/10 crowd BUT the technical nightmare that this port is cannot be rated to more than 6. I suggest buying this awesome game on any other platform unless Switch is your only choice. The convenience of portable playing is not enough to justify this.
    The game has already crashed on me 5 times since I've started playing(5 hours). It's almost guaranteed I'll get    In general I agree with the 9-10/10 crowd BUT the technical nightmare that this port is cannot be rated to more than 6. I suggest buying this awesome game on any other platform unless Switch is your only choice. The convenience of portable playing is not enough to justify this.
    The game has already crashed on me 5 times since I've started playing(5 hours). It's almost guaranteed I'll get a crash after switching from docked to portable or other way around. I've even experienced crash when I just wanted to decrease volume a bit in portable mode, since one are was too loud. There goes 30 minutes of progress. The biggest enemy in this port is optimization, crashes and bugs.
    And bugs. The bugs are not some bug type enemy you find (although those are irritating with their poison). In one time limited area I was accompanied by an NPC and the NPC decided to get stuck mid-jump glitching by few pixels to left and right until the time ran out. The NPC was necessary to move to the end of stage. That's game over due to a bug. The drops very often won't open when touching them, meaning you just lost a rare drop, probably. I've had all kinds of glitches with enemies, many harmless, but some required me to reload save.
    After dying it's very possible that pretty much everything will break. I've died on first boss, and when I was back after reloading the scene had glitches everywhere, with background broken, and then game proceed to crash.
    And optimization is terrible on switch. I knew it was locked to 30 FPS and had bad resolution when I bought it. But it's not like it can keep the 30 FPS. While in docked it's still bearable (but if I play docked I can just play on PS4, right?) but in portable mode it stutters all the time. Especially 3D rotating areas are a pain. It goes to around 10-15 frames per second, making the game barely playable. Also, this is the area that is most likely to crash in portable (2 crashes so far). In both modes the scenes with talking characters barely work, with constant glitches, slowdowns, things teleport around. You can just feel that it's barely working and that switch is about to fall apart. I had a crash when I started talking with an NPC. It doesn't help that dialogues look just wrong. The models have terrible lighting, or something. They look very pixelated and as if they lacked enough colors. I've seen screenshots from PS4 and they look alright there.
    I had a situation where after dying the menu took about 30 seconds to open, I though the game would crash. I think there's some memory leak after dying. Or just when playing, because with every 30 minutes of game-play the game starts to run worse.
    Also, sometimes transitions between rooms take too long. There's usually no loading indicator, just black screen. The longest I've encountered was SEVENTEEN seconds, and it was when jumping up from one room to another so I had to hold jump button all this time, otherwise I would fall down back to previous map. I went to the same room after crash and transition was faster, that's why I think there's memory leak.
    Wait till it's patched(a lot) and optimized(A LOT) before buying on Switch. By the way, the game looks around as sophisticated graphically as Bayonetta, which runs on Switch in 60 FPS and better resolution. I'm sure this can run better on Switch.

    Now, you read all that and still would like Switch version? The games is amazing. The gameplay is addicting, castle design is cool. Some of first demons you meet look very uninspired with black gooey texture, but once you're out of village and get to castle proper the monsters are fine. It's first Castlevania where I actually use different types of magic, abilities etc. instead of focusing almost entirely on one OP weapon. There's one transformation spell that is a bit OP though.
    I like the ability to improve stats trough cooking, as it means I can go around gathering food instead of just blindly farming monsters when I have a problem with boss. There are many callbacks to Castlevania games. Characters are rather bland, but they are mostly there to be useful NPCs. Somehow even Medusa heads room is fun this time, although they are Dullahan heads in Bloodstained.
    Everything makes sense in this game and I fully suggest buying the game. Just not on Switch in it's current broken form.    … Expand
  27. Cancery1987
    Jun 23, 2019
    6
    Story : 6/10
    Graphic: 7/10
    Music: 9/10
    Gameplay : 7/10 ( Control are bad)

    Nothing special
  28. BarkFishy
    Jun 18, 2019
    10
    For a Castlevania fan this is a perfect game to play. I hope we get to see more from this universe.
    I am glad this kickstarter worked out and produced a great game.
  29. Neatqt
    Feb 25, 2019
    7
    Cast: 5/10
    Story: 5/10
    Fun: 8/10
    Gameplay: 7/10

    Not-Recommended
    ----------------------
  30. BlueFalcon90
    Dec 1, 2018
    9
    A castlevania inspired game what more can you ask for. It has that classic N.E.S. look in the graphic department and plays just like one. It gives the option to play as a casual or veteran depending on your choice. Controls are on point and any mistakes are defiantly on the player. Music is par nothing to great. Gameplay offers a variety of options depending on the character you play as.A castlevania inspired game what more can you ask for. It has that classic N.E.S. look in the graphic department and plays just like one. It gives the option to play as a casual or veteran depending on your choice. Controls are on point and any mistakes are defiantly on the player. Music is par nothing to great. Gameplay offers a variety of options depending on the character you play as. It will take about 3-5 hours to beat it in one go depending on the level you chose. That's not a bad thing as there are branching paths and a variety of endings depending on if you kill, pass, or join the characters you cross paths with. All in All I recommend this game to veterans of Castlevania 1-3 and newcomers who are looking into action side scrolling games.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Best Switch Game of 2018
37
#37 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018
95
#95 Most Shared Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Sep 5, 2018
    90
    If Konami won't give us our Castlevania fix, at least we know its legacy is in bloody good hands! [Issue #34 – July/August 2018, p. 18]
  2. IGN Japan
    Jun 26, 2018
    80
    This 8-bit spin-off of Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is at the same time a nostalgic linear sidescroller and a modern game that manages to be accessible to new players.
    Read full review
  3. Meristation
    Jun 20, 2018
    85
    Beautiful pixel art, good music, well designed levels and several endings to promote replay. Only a few more levels and maybe a more modern controls would have improved what's already a game no Castlevania fan should miss.
    Read full review
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