Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, a new Metroidvania-style platformer by Koji Igarashi, has been officially released today, June 25th. Fans of old-school platformers will definitely want to give this one a look.
Bloodstained has often been called a “spiritual successor” to the Castlevania series of games because its lead producer, Koji Igarashi, was also the former lead producer for Castlevania. Koji left Konami in 2014 and conceived of Bloodstained after many fans begged for a new Metroidvania-style game. Much of the hype for the game is based on this; fans of original Metroidvania-games from the ’80s and ’90s wanted a game that revisited the best parts of the series.
Koji couldn’t ignore the need. In 2015, the famous producer started a Kickstarter campaign to generate funds for the game, which ended up earning around $5.5 million from fans of the series. To date, Bloodstained remains one of the biggest earners for video games on the crowdfunding website. After numerous delays, the game is finally available for the general public. (The game had been initially scheduled for release in 2017 by its developers.)
The plot of the game takes place in the 19th century. You will be playing as Miriam, who is taken as a child to be experimented on by the antagonists of the game, the Alchemist’s Guild. This grants Miriam incredible powers as a “Shardbinder,” but it also causes her body to slowly crystallize over time, which will lead to her death. Later on, players find out that all of the experiments had been done by the Alchemists to summon a horde of demons. Miriam ends up taking the fight to them in an attempt to reveal more about her past and save some old friends.
ArtPlay, the game’s developers, faced a bit of controversy after releasing first-look footage. Many fans complained about the graphics in the first-look. Some said Bloodstained resembled a pre-alpha game and hoped it would be fixed before release.
About a month ago, Koji responded with an exciting new trailer that superimposed the negative comments over footage from the first-look. In a quick cut, Koji appeared at a long, dark table holding a glass of wine. Throwing it to the side, the developer exclaimed, “I will prove them wrong!” The rest of the trailer shows off updated and much-improved game footage. If the trailer proves true, fans won’t have to worry about today’s release if they found Bloodstained‘s first-look disappointing.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is available on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, and the Nintendo Switch. Be sure to check it out if you’re a fan of old school Metroidvania games like Castlevania.