Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night review

By: Lowfat

Disclaimer: I am only 19% of the waythrough this game. It’s so big!

Bloodstained:Ritual of the Night is an amazing homage to the Metroidvania genre. Fans of thegenre know what to expect: a huge environment to explore; moderately-pacedmonster mayhem; and a constant supply of new weapons, armor, and magic spellsto keep gameplay fresh. This game offers all this and so much more. Every move,every corridor, every sight and sound oozes polish, and I’m having a blastplaying it. Don’t take it too seriously, and prepare to be impressed. This gameis as ridiculous as it is awesome.

**mildstory and item spoilers for the first fifth of the game ahead**

Story

The year was 1793, and the industrial revolution was infull swing. Man was shaking off the chains of faith and gods, and picking up hammersand labor. This was clearly the wrong decision, because somehow it caused avolcano eruption that spewed demons everywhere. The demons did what demons do,and a lot of people died.

Alchemists came up with a plan to make the demons go away, butthe price for their services was steep. The alchemists transplanted crystalsinto people, called Shardbinders, and then performed horrifying rituals on them.Nearly everyone subject to a crystal transplant died. For whatever reason, thedemons hated this practice, and they retreated. Then everybody went back toindustrially revolutionizing.

The game begins ten years after the success of theserituals. Of the many Shardbinders created, only two survived: Miriam, the maincharacter, who was bound to a crystal and then immediately fell into a coma soshe could conveniently skip those pesky rituals, and Gebel (“JEE-buhl”), whowent mad from the whole experience. Miriam and her alchemist friend Johannesboard a ship to track down – and confront, if necessary – their old friendbefore his madness brings the demons back for good.

Yes, the plot is very anime. No, it doesn’t make muchsense. Yes, the silliness makes it awesome.

Graphics

Bloodstained is powered by the Unreal engine. All of thebackgrounds and characters are 3D, so all of the onscreen movement is smooth asbutter, and loaded with extra details. The very first screen finds Miram aboarda clipper ship at sea. She traverses it as in most traditional side-scrollingaction games, but watching the whole “level” rock back and forth in the waves asshe explores from one side of the map to the other is a treat.

The game hosts a cornucopia of diverse locations, from the clippership battered by a devastating storm, to rat-infested sewers beneath thesmoldering wreckage of a town, to a moonlight-soaked castle summoned from Hellitself. The mise-en-scène of each of the myriad areas considerably enhances playerimmersion, which is rare in a side-scroller.

There are other level effects, too. The camera changes perspective as narrow stairs wrap and curl around cylindrical towers, which evokes a stunning sense of world depth and character – Miriam is not just running from left to right; she’s traversing an actual world.

It’s awesome to have so many 3D backgrounds and detailedcharacters, but this fidelity comes with a price, as there is occasionalartifacting and texture collision. Also, in a few rooms overstuffed withenemies, the framerate slows down considerably. But these issues are rare, and thetime spent experiencing them is thankfully only momentary.

Gameplay

The gameplay is perfect. Just as with any Metroidvania, destroyinghanging lanterns will replenish Miriam’s magic supply. Save rooms arestrategically placed to recharge her health before hideous boss fights. Theitems Miriam collects help her traverse the world with greater ease. New itemshelp her reach previously-inaccessible rooms to find even greater treasures.Each weapon controls differently and has its own advantages and disadvantagesto consider when building the optimal playstyle. I have four friends who arecurrently playing this game, and none of us has the same build or gameplayexperience. The controls are amazing, too. Miriam’s moves and attacks are incrediblyprecise, and they need to be to combat the 128(!) unique monsters in the game.

Each monster has its own unique appearance and attack. Someof them are silly, and some of them are downright horrifying. Every other room seemsto make me utter a “wtf” under my breath as I either smile or recoil in fear ofits inhabitants. I have entered several rooms only to say “nope!” and turn andrun the opposite direction, only to return after having gained a level or so.

Customization

Every aspect of this game is customizable, from Miriam’sappearance to her playstyle. Defeated monsters have a chance to explode. Whenthey do, a gigantic crystal breaks from their corpse and rams into Miriam’s body.This process gives her an additional magic ability. Some are straightforwardattacks, like launching a fireball or conjuring a bouncing ball of water, andothers are more nuanced, like summoning a flying sword that slashes at monstersand yells a lot.

Everything Miriam collects can be improved: shards can be refinedto increase their spellpower, the food she grows can be cooked to make dishesthat provide permanent stat increases, and weapon and armor can be crafted andtransmuted into stronger versions of themselves.

The Kung Fu Shoes, for example, are lightweight and fast,allowing Miriam to deal many swift blows before dashing out of the enemy’srange. In contrast, the Claymore is slower, but deals more damage and has alonger range. In true RPG fashion, there are attributes to consider whendeciding which weapon to equip against the next room full of monsters. Somemight be weak against light or poison, while others could resist fire orthunder.

Music/Sound

The music is breathtaking. Each orchestral score is everybit as catchy and fun as it is complex and epic. Fans of Symphony of theNight’s memorable score will not be disappointed.

The sound is wonderful. Everything from Miriam’s lightfootsteps to the screams of attacking enemies wonderfully contributes to a verybelievable world, albeit one filled with ghouls and werewolves.

The dialog is deliciously over-the-top. One can’t help butlaugh in joy as characters recite pulpy lines like “Our powers don’t make usgood or bad – our choices do!” while sweeping violins are interrupted byhammered piano keys to accentuate each silly revelation.

Drawbacks and Conclusion

As quirky and endearing as the dialog can be, itunfortunately also features some typos. One of Dominique’s lines is “He drew alittle scetch here at the bottom of a burly man leaping a great chasm.”

There are also a few bugs: as mentioned before, there is asmall amount of texture collision and artifacting in a few rooms. Sometimes therumble function on my controller turns on, and won’t turn off until after I’vecast a spell. Finally, thanks to Geekly Grind’s Daviot for pointing out issueswith the PC version’s beta save files affecting save files in the full game.Each of these issues is reportedly known, and the developers are working toaddress them.

Blodstained: Ritual of the Night boasts tight gameplay, impressive graphics and music, and a constant stream of rewarding enjoyment. If you have ever enjoyed a Metroidvania, you owe it to yourself to play Bloostained and see the genre at its apex. Yes, it’s pulpy and ridiculous. And highly rewarding. You’ll love every second of it.