Everyone likely is at least aware of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night the saw Koji Igarashi reprise his role as leading the development in a brand new Castlevania callback; it sold immeasurably well, the Kickstarter was a massive success, and then everything promptly fell apart. Backpedaling began in earnest on the Kickstarter page (that ended up being the only place that ArtPlay was willing to talk to purchasers) that saw the roguelike version of the game completely canceled; instead you’ll get the totally not lame ability to change some weapons and items from where you typically get them.
Definitely not a roguelike that was promised, and the reason that many users purchased, and it all seems to stem from ArtPlay having difficulties in developing competently for the Nintendo Switch.
Instead of fixing any of the issues with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, ArtPlay’s publisher at 505 Games met with the developers of Kingdom Two Crowns and now there’s going to be a crossover event in the latter title that prominently features the now stumbling remains of Shardbinder Miriam, along with three other characters that players can switch between.
Kingdom x Bloodstained = Kingdom Two Crowns: Dead Lands.
👑 Coming April 28th 👑
— Raw Fury (@RawFury) April 20, 2020
A total of four different monarchs will be playable in the release that is coming on April 28, which is free for owners of Kingdom Two Crowns.
Aside from Miriam, the three other characters are going to be unlockable are also from Bloodstained. Interestingly, the demon hunter Zangetsu will be playable in a completely different title before ArtPlay has even announced a timeline for the second playable character to arrive on the title that is quickly approaching a year in age. Gebel and Alfred round out the new playable characters.
Meanwhile, ArtPlay hasn’t released a new announcement beyond canceling the roguelike version on May 2nd. The vast majority of items that should have been received for backing the Kickstarter project to the tune of $5.5 million haven’t been shipped, and ArtPlay isn’t communicating.
Seems a bit odd that in order to receive content from one promised title, we’ll have to pick up other titles so developers that didn’t receive the sizeable $5.5 million can do the work of others in a new medium. Heartache of what happened to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night aside, Kingdom Two Crowns continues to receive a wealth of support from the developers at Noio and Coatsink, with multiple free events to celebrate holidays; it’s always worth noting which developers are arguably deserving of your hard-earned money.
