Recently we’ve seen a lot of Kickstarters that started with a lot of promise, but ultimately failed to meet expectations. Mighty No. 9 felt rushed and didn’t quite capture what made Mega Man great. Yooka-Laylee made the opposite error, making an experience that felt dated. Naturally there are some concerns Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night might suffer from similar problems, but the current build seemed to capture what it was going for.
Anyone familiar with Castlevania should have a general idea of how Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night plays. There are multiple weapons, with the developers shooting to add around 30, breakable objects, hidden paths and more.
First and foremost, the weapons in the current build might sound fairly similar, be it a knife, katana or rapier, but they all have their own play style, advantages and more. For instance, the claymore weapon is slow, but hits hard. Knowing what to use and when to use it looks to be a key element and give players something to do. That being said, there were also items that were objectively bad, that were added for other reasons. The kung fu shoes are more difficult to use, do less damage and have limited range, but they’re there for fun, which they certainly were.
The biggest addition was the new boss fight. The fight itself wasn’t terribly difficult, but emphasized reading attacks. Often times there is specific ways to avoid attacks, like her flying parasols block her blood rain attack, giving newcomers something to learn and more experienced gamers something to master. Once you get things down, it all starts to click and makes for an enjoyable experience.