There is a long knowledge of creating great video games that have been lost by Konami but luckily there is Kickstarter and a man who still remembers. While there have been a great many failures in the world of Kickstarter one of the most promising games that we will see later this year is Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night written by Koji Igarashi, better known for Castlevania. With the completion of that Kickstarter and stretch goals a 2-D retro platformer was promised and has now been delivered as Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon developed by Inti Creates.
Just for clarity, I did kickstart this campaign.
It Feels Like A Retro Classic
To not gush over this Bloodstained: CoM (can we use this please?) is a little hard for me. There are games that I remember being so good back in the day that it's almost dangerous to play them again but here I am, in 2018, playing a 16bit looking game and enjoying the hell out of it feeling nostalgia for a time I loved and for a game that never existed; Except in some respects, it did exist but with a different name, now almost certainly forgotten in the annals of gaming history. A spiritual successor, done so well that, you can say CoM is the starting pillar to its own legacy. This game has been a great surprise. I didn't think anything of it when I saw the first screenshots and thought it would be a throwaway. Luckily I was wrong.
Much like the 3rd iteration of a game series now long dead you will start out CoM as a single hero on a 2-D level with a basic attack and a secondary weapon you must find charges for by killing enemies or suspended lanterns holding potions across the level. You will pick up more allies along the way, which you will be able to seamlessly switch to mid-combat, allowing you take advantage of different attacks and secondary attacks. Certain purple colored lanterns also carry different secondary attacks for each hero and will change based off of who breaks them. This allows you to easily have the abilities of each character you find best for the level.
The game controls like a classic NES game where inputs are a bit slow and require some timing. This adds to the overall nostalgic feel but does not take away from the gameplay. This game is what it is and if you like the classic feeling games you will get that, only this is as clean as it gets. You move a little slow, but your movement is precise, everything is responsive, and the game just works.
The Campaign is Short
Like any classic game, you will crawl along the levels, fighting your way through various monsters until you reach the end boss. On your first travel through the game, you will find there is one path that is pretty straightforward and is short at around an hour and a half to the two-hour mark. There is replayability because on a second run you have your party with you, allowing you to access new paths and areas you could not find before adding a large replayability to the game. Beating the game will also unlock a few more modes for you that will actually change some dynamics adding even more replayability.
This is all encapsulated in the story of our new hero Zangetsu who has a story of pure vengeance. While we don't get too much context of what is going on, we are getting a taste of the new world of Bloodstained.
Bloodstained: CoM is a bit easy and can be made easier with casual play. After beating it at least once, the more hardcore players will start to see some challenges in their next run and this game is worth running through again. The boss fights are unique and will deliver a tactical challenge in a well-crafted duel to the death. Each one testing your timing and how well you can read the room. They were fun and memorable fights that capped the adventure. It is kind of strange to be talking about the graphics of a game that is going for the retro 16bit feel but it has to be mentioned. The sprites and the levels are top notch works of art. This is on top of an 8bit soundtrack that is just so well done that any fan of the genre will be quick to be picking up the tracks on their own. This game is just well made.
If you would have asked me a month ago about this game I would have rolled my eyes and waved it off as something they threw together just to make us happy. I would have been wrong. Dead wrong. This game was not thrown together but finely crafted into the product it is. This is a game for anyone who enjoys the retro style 2-D games or wants to remember what if felt to pop in a new version of Castlevania. If CoM is any indications of what we can expect of Ritual of the Night, its going to be a good year for those of us who have been dying for another gothic adventure.
I played on the PC but it is available on all consoles.
TL;DR:
If you are a fan of retro gaming or want a great callback to the classic Castlevania, Bloodstained Curse of the Moon is a must pick up. While short in length, it packs quite a bit of replayability and will leave you satisfied.
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