Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night And Curse Of The Moon!

[Trent Dole]

The inverted castle is still there...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Miriam gets an 'invert' skill at some point that lets you flip the castle over.

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[bork]

Bebpo, the parry ability some swords have takes meter to use- the shield doesn't require it so you can nuts.  It's my go-to weapon and I have been able to wreck so many enemies with it so far.

Didn't have a chance to play for a few days and put in like four hours tonight with 26% map completion.  Spent a lot of time in the lower areas doing some farming and got the shovel knight EX armor and his shovel weapon, plus his summon ability.  The armor makes you strong, have good defense, and you can do the same attacks as the enemy version of him (without it taking meter), but that's it- you cannot do anything else so it feels like more of a novelty to me. 

Also went and farmed to get a faery familiar, did the piano thing, and she helps out every now and then I guess.  Got the bunny suit transformation immediately when killing that enemy.  Died and went back...got it again immediately.  Is it an important transformation or something?   

Zangetsu was hard to defeat. Here's a way to win without 'git gud' if you happen to get stuck there.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

- Level a bit (easily done with some backtracking) until you are level 9 or 10 or so
- Backtrack a bit behind the safehouse. You'll find a farmer, hand him the Rice Seed
- Do the sidequests of the lady in the staircase near the Alchemist and the Shop. (She asks you to kill a certain demon type, after you've done it about 4 more of such quests show up. They are easy to find in the castle, for one of them return to the shit)
- One of these will net you 3 full healing items + Max HP boost and some other helpful items (hold on to these for now)
- After you get the healing item return to the farmer. He'll have your rice ready.
- Go to the Alchemist and craft the Rice Balls (2 of them)
- Eat one Rice Ball for an easy Max HP boost
- Take the other Riceball to the shop. At the end there's an old lady asking you for food
- Give her the Rice Ball, she'll give you the Thorned Whip

The Thorned Whip is the most effective weapon because it outranges Zangetsu's sword. Try to get behind him or stay in front of him.
If found that running from one edge to the other works best. Do note that Zangetsu has a dagger to throw as well but that only does minor damage.
Learn the jump attack cancel. This is pretty easy. Do an attack right before you land from a jump and once you land you can do another attack.
Do note that recovering from a Whip slash takes a bit long so only do one hit at a time if you fail the jump attack.

The fight has two stages. If you're low on Ether I would recommend to hold on to your magic until the second stage.
The second stage of the fight is the toughest, he'll have a flaming sword and more HP. Repeat the above steps in terms of fighting strategy but keep a bigger distance, especially from his jump attacks
which end with an explosion. Use your healing items wisely and Zangetsu is pacified.

If you're more of an aggresive type you can also buy the 'Estee' in the shop, which is a stronger rapier. The rapier has the advantage of landing 3 hits before Zangetsu can do one hit.
However, this is only recommend if you've mastered the backstep.

As far as Shards go, I found the demon hound summon and shockwave very effective and the higher grade True Arrow. Mostly because the animations are quick.
Something like the Fire Canon takes too long to travel and the Tentacle thing is rather slow.

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...Or just get the first 8-bit coin in the beginning of the game, buy THE SHIELD , level up to at least 10, and parry his ass into oblivion.  He barely touched me. SHIELD

[Svejk]

About at 45% map completion.  Got another busy ass week of work incoming.  Won't be able to play again till friday.   

I love the little unnecessary(?) touches like the glasses that can either zoom out, or into the screen.   Yeah, after the Zangetsu fight, every boss since has been a spam central cake walk so far.

[Nintex]

Worthwhile backtracking

Also some sweet tunes in the

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Tower of Twin Dragons

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Another nice touch

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Callabo... whatever, those Fairy things can discover breakable walls. YES, this game has hidden unmarked unbreakable walls 

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What I love most about this game is that I have to figure shit out myself. Some characters give you small hints, but those are so minor they aren't much help.
All the attention to detail is crazy. It seems like the type of game that only after 2 years people find a hidden boss because they equipped the right item when they sat down on a chair.

Returning to your home base doesn't feel like a chore because there's always a new weapon or something else for sale when you return.

[Svejk]

The portrait shield is really good at finding hidden walls too.  You just activate it and run near walls, jump towards a cieling, or just walk across it and it hits them. 

Not sure where to go next.  Got the..

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Reflector beam shard and traversed through that narrow opening... Found Gebel... And killed him... Got the bad ending... Oops.  . And holy shit... Iga' 8-bit Nightmare boss?... Need to git gud!  Old school hard shit. Will try it again later.

[close]

[Nintex]

I'm completely stuck but this is easily the GOTY so far.

It is just sooo good. The music is relaxing and brings you in the zone 

[Bebpo]

I've actually lost a lot of interest and not playing it much. It's solid but idk, I feel like the genre has advanced since the last Igavania and this just makes me want to play Hollow Knight 2.

I think my main issues around halfway are:

-After Zangetsu, every boss is a pushover that you can pretty much just face tank attack spam while dodging a few attacks here and there because you do so much damage. In retrospect, Zangetsu was the best boss because you actually needed to learn his attacks and how to avoid them. Games like Hollow Knight have excellent boss fights because you have to learn their patterns over multiple attempts.

-Normal enemies stop being a threat around post-Zangetsu as well because you do so much damage + familiar + magics, the area traversal is kind of boring. Compare that to HK where normal enemies can always kill you between save spots and you're always on edge; it's totally different. I mean pretty much nothing beats my bunny suit for the last bunch of hours. Just run up and 2-3 fast quicks and they're dead.

-Areas aren't super interesting and diverse with music and enemy types. A lot of it feels same-y.

-Abilities are interesting but you never need to use most and a ton are just "summon the enemy". Kinda boring.

-Quests are pretty dumb so far.

Game is ok, but I'm just getting bored at this point.

[Svejk]

I had a glimmer of the same feeling, but I was wrong in all aspects.  Iga's 8-bit Nightmare.. find it and try to fight THAT boss.  Enemies do get much more tough and the levels do get more dynamic too.  Shit is so good.
 This game has squeakie shoes, brehs... *pour some for my homey Wimp Lo

I wish I had the same feeling for HK, but it was way too slow of a burn for me... Played 4 hours and only explored, unlocked 2 abilities and had the same 1 weapon the whole time.. 
Maybe someday..

[paprikastaude]

felt it was ok in the beginning, but then it just kept getting better

[bork]

Tried the Switch version.  It's not as bad as I've read some say it is...


...But I wouldn't play it on there over the versions, either.    You can immediately feel the downgrade to 30 FPS and the lower resolution is kinda rough.  That said, the game still looks pretty good on there and the framerate is consistent enough that the game play is still smooth.  If I didn't have any other platforms, I'd be fine playing it on here, but you're definitely going to want to get this on PS4, Xbone, or PC over this version.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Ok maybe I'm just really hyped... but I think this might be Iga's best Vania ever?

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Holy FUCK invert is so cool. This is a thousand times cooler than inverted castle.

[close]

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Does anyone else play almost exclusively in Lili transform? Shits so OP

[Bebpo]

Does anyone else play almost exclusively in Lili transform? Shits so OP

Yeah, it needs to drain MP so much faster.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Does anyone else play almost exclusively in Lili transform? Shits so OP

Yeah, it needs to drain MP so much faster.

Yeah. After just a few meals that give permanent mana regen you can basically stay as Lili forever. Her bullet kicks are insane DPS.

That being said, I'm totally ok with this game letting me get crazy OP and breaking it to pieces. I find that enjoyable and I know there are harder difficulties and other characters to play later.

[Trent Dole]

https://twitter.com/dinominal/status/1143647835008720896
Clearly PC is the best platform to play this on.
https://www.nexusmods.com/bloodstainedritualofthenight/mods/7

[Occam]

Update 1.03 has just been released on PS4. Not downloading it yet, don't want to risk losing the glitch allowing the simultaneous equipping of Bloodbringer familiar and sword.

[tiesto]

I backed the game and received my Switch version in the mail... not sure whether or not I should just sell that and go for PS4 at this point.

[Occam]

I backed the game and received my Switch version in the mail... not sure whether or not I should just sell that and go for PS4 at this point.

30fps for a game like this is unacceptable, imo.

[bork]

I backed the game and received my Switch version in the mail... not sure whether or not I should just sell that and go for PS4 at this point.

30fps for a game like this is unacceptable, imo.

Completely disagree.  But some of the bugs the Switch version reportedly has are unacceptable.  That's what they're saying they're working on fixing.

Tiesto, if you want to play this game now, definitely get it on another platform- no telling how long it will take them to get stuff fixed on Switch and if they really will come through on it, for that matter.

[Himu]

Does this have a physical version

[Human Snorenado]

Does this have a physical version

Yup, both PS4 and Switch.

I was looking at getting the PS4 version earlier today, but it's on sale on Steam for 10% off? I dunno, I kinda wanna sit my ass on the couch to play this and not at my desk, even though I do have a 32" 4k monitor at my desk.

[Trent Dole]

Does this have a physical version

Yeah, on everything. Well not on PC yet maybe since they're waiting until all the promised stretch DLC is out and then they're going to press up discs with all of that on them for PC backers.

[Bebpo]

Played some more of this and got the bad ending and then beat the umbrella loli. Umbrella gal had so.much.hp, damn. Kinda felt like a grind.

[Bebpo]

Damn, Gebel was annoying lol

[Bebpo]

so these last two bosses (blood loli & gebel) have reminded me why I'm not all that big on the combat here compared to other metroidvanias. I feel like the bosses don't have any tells to read to dodge their moves because they just come out instantly if you're attacking them. Like Gebel's ice throw, it's instant and if you're slashing him and he decides to do it you always take at least the first hit before you can react and jump away. Blood girl has the smaller blood stream attack that instantly comes out in the direction you are and hits you.

Is the "proper" way to fight bosses in Bloodstained to just sit back and bait them into attacks, dodge it and then get a few slashes in -> repeat? Because the way I fight where I stick on them and try to dodge their stuff doesn't work that well because these boss moves come out instantly as opposed to like Hollow Knight or Devil May Cry or most action games where there is a sound or animation for a half second to tell you an attack is coming.

[bork]

I just upgraded the hell out of the ghost summon (the flying books that surround you) and keep them out while using THE SHIELD to get no-MP parries.  It's Tank Miriam- just get right up and strike away and dey dead.

[bork]

Didn't realize that you can use the kung-fu shoes to essentially fly through the air and get to some hard-to-reach places!

Am at about 50% map completion now.  Got the bad ending vs. Gebel- I love how the "true battle" is such a callback to SOTN's Dracula boss fight, lol. 

Found the 8-Bit Nightmare level-- that's the only part of the game so far with actual hard-to-kill enemies, at least at my current levels.

[Svejk]

So what's the deal with crafting/upgrading being limited to Affinity (?) Points??  How do you build those points?  I have so many things I can craft/cook, but those points are preventing me from doing any more.

Edit:  Ok, yeah, Alkahest is what it's called.  You can farm them from the floating portrait enemies, or even Dominique sells them too. 

[Bebpo]

Haven't tried shield yet because I haven't needed it, but will check it out at some point. So many 8-bit coin weapons but only have 1 of those and their expensive to buy so holding on to it.

Didn't realize that you can use the kung-fu shoes to essentially fly through the air and get to some hard-to-reach places!

Am at about 50% map completion now.  Got the bad ending vs. Gebel- I love how the "true battle" is such a callback to SOTN's Dracula boss fight, lol. 

Found the 8-Bit Nightmare level-- that's the only part of the game so far with actual hard-to-kill enemies, at least at my current levels.

I'm at 65% and haven't found the 8-bit area yet...

Just beat Hidden Desert.

[Human Snorenado]

Welp, I was in Walmart for fruit fly traps and almond flour this morning and they had one Switch copy left for $32.84 before tax, so I bit.

[Svejk]

At about 65% complete.  I can't believe it took me so long to realize you could just jump down that well. 

I'm still highly surprised and glad that you can customize your character, however I'm so spoiled by other games that I wish there was more variety of outfits and outfit colors.  The blue outer wear doesn't even look blue. 

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Hahaha holy shit. Forget Lili transform. Chisel barrage DPS is so broken.

[bork]

[Svejk]

Got the True Haggler trophy last night... Is the trophy thumbnail hiding something?   

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Miriam coming to Smash confirmed.

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[Nintex]

Digital Foundry did the whole analysis thing
- Xbox One S 900p, not very stable
- PS4 1080p, a bit more stable
- PS4 Pro 1080p, most stable
- Xbox One X 4k native, best resolution but a bit less stable than PS4 Pro
(if you prefer image quality go with X, if you prefer stability PS4 Pro but both are great)

- Occasional crashes in all versions, one late boss also tanks the performance
- Xbox One X uses 'fake' HDR tone mapping, might be an issue on some TV sets
- PS4 Pro does not have this issue and does not enable HDR at all
- Otherwise smooth overall
- Probably one of the best looking 2.5D UE4 games yet and that certainly wasn't expected after the backer demo

Switch
- 720p docked / 576p portable
- Fixed 30fps (and it holds that target well)
- Not as bad as expected as far as visuals go
- UE4 game, so downgrades (especially the water stages in the first area of the game, which started the speculation that the Switch looked very bad) but not much different from the likes of DOOM and/or Wolfenstein

The bad:
- Longer load times (especially when you have to perform cross room jump, this can be an issue
- Stability (more crashes)
- Some flickering particle textures, overall lower texture quality along with lower resolution and agressive AA makes it look a bit washed out (AA could probably be removed, might increase shimmer but allows for a 'sharper' image)
- Input lag (140ms) this is the big one, which along with 30fps makes the game feel more sluggish than it actually runs

Patches are coming, so the input lag and such will probably be improved which would make the game better. Unclear at this point if visuals can be improved at all. UE4 is quite demanding, even for 2.5D games.

[tiesto]

Just beat the twin dragon boss, had to actually consult a guide as to where to go next. Great game so far, at parts beautiful, but I feel like the input for attacking isn't as responsive as SOTN or the GBA/DS Metroidvanias.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Lol 140 ms input lag lol

[BIONIC]

Been playing on Switch handheld and didn’t have any real issues so far

The game has weird slowdown after closing a book, and there is inconsistent loading times at times when going between rooms. Games is perfectly playable and fun though. Beat Zangetsu third try 

Also played until the after the ship boss on PS4 Pro, it obviously performs and looks better, but not to the point I feel missing out by playing it on Switch. I prefer playing Metroidvanias cozied up in bed 

[MMaRsu]

Im only at the clocktower where i have to fight the two dog heads

[Svejk]

Here' my current Miriam...   I REALLY wish there were more outfits to choose from.  Bloodstained 2, Iga!... Make it happen!

[BIONIC]

I’m really glad I kickstarted this game.

Giving me that SOTN feels

[MMaRsu]

I need this game

Its not that expensive plus should run on your pc man

[bork]

Secret enemy:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[tiesto]

Just beat the train and now onto the upper parts of the library. A bit tough with some of the more tricky platforming I faced in the game so far...

[bork]

Mods are popping up on PC now.

O.D. Alucard

Nicholas Cage portraits

Kramer portraits

Miriam pantsu~ changed to bikini and tattoo removal


NSFW-ish

Spoiler:

[close]

[Trent Dole]

There's an official discord for moddery if that's your thing https://discord.gg/b9XBH4f
I'm keeping the game 'pure' until I've fully cleared it once and then I'll turn all the portraits into Kramer and what not.

[Nintex]

Managed to make some more progress.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

It took me some time to figure out how to progress by getting on the train and the Speed Demon battle was pretty great.

[close]

[NekoFever]

Managed to make some more progress.

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It took me some time to figure out how to progress by getting on the train and the Speed Demon battle was pretty great.

[close]

I did the same part last night.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Got the silver nitrate, had my photo taken, and then had to resort to a walkthrough to find out that you had to visit OD to get the ID card – was there any hint there that I missed? Seemed really random, like the only way I'd have worked that out would have been to get frustrated and explore room by room until I triggered something. I can only assume that I wasn't paying attention when it was hinted at in dialogue.

[close]

[Nintex]

If I recall correctly

spoiler (click to show/hide)

- Dominique says you need the silver bromide to take a picture if you sit on the chair in her shop
- In the library Gebel escapes
- If you return to Dominique; Miriam asks if and how she can get through such narrow spaces, Dominique says something about an alchemist in a secret lab that had invented a method
- When you defeat the Two Headed dragon you get the Silver bromide so you can take your picture
- If you continue towards the train station and return to the Librarian after lending your first book, Miriam will ask about the train. He mentions photo ID and photography.
- You have your picture taken with the Silver Bromide
- Return to O.D. with the picture and he will create a Photo ID for you, that allows you to enter the train

I pieced it together without a guide in the end. The hardest part for me was that it took me a while to figure out that the area with the gate was supposed to be a train station.
Plus, that O.D. had to create the ID from the picture. I went back to him to get a new book after unsuccesfully trying to enter the water area and he just randomly brought it up.

[close]

There's hints but they aren't very obvious. I ran a few laps around the castle leveling up and discovering secret rooms before I figured out how to continue. That was also well worth it.

[NekoFever]

Ha, that would have been me a few years ago, but I don't seem to have the patience anymore, particularly when I'm blindly looking for a way to advance the main story.

[Human Snorenado]

Big patch supposedly coming for Switch on July 15

https://wccftech.com/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night-major-update/

[tiesto]

Having trouble with the vampire chick in the bloody bathtub. I whittle her down, she heals back all her health, and then by that time I die. I think I need to grind potions or food or something and just plow through.

[Svejk]

Yeah, that seems to usually be a sure fire way to get past a tough boss.  Strawberry cakes provide good HP plus temp stat boosts for not too much gold.  Or just grind levels too. 

I'm at about 96% map completion.  Had to look up a guide on a certain part...  Not sure how/when I would've figured out how to do this... 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Slicing the Red Moon in that one corridor in the old garden area (?) to get to the next area.  Almost some cryptic Simon's Quest shit there. 

[close]

[Trent Dole]

Having trouble with the vampire chick in the bloody bathtub. I whittle her down, she heals back all her health, and then by that time I die. I think I need to grind potions or food or something and just plow through.

She just heals herself once, so consider her as having about twice her actual initial hp if you're using the item that lets you see that. I go into all the boss fights as loaded with potions as I can - it's $200 cheaper to make a Hi Potion than buy one since they're made of 4 regular which go for $200 each. I'd always just keep smashing the light right at the start of the alchemist's room in the village then exiting quickly to gather up the funds for that stuff if I'm lacking - there's other faster ways to get money but I never got around to setting them up.

[Svejk]

Beat the game/story with 100% map completion.  Very happy with this game and the way it turned out.  Iga truly showed that he's a veteran in the industry and still has what it takes to make this 30+ year old genre fun and exciting.  Glad I backed this.  Loved every second of it.  Thank you, Iga.

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Now please make a sequel.

[close]

[paprikastaude]

I think this sold a lot to hardcore gamers, so there should be more. I mean, we already have two games.

[Svejk]

My new favorite directional shard is the Heretical Grinder.  Ranked it up to 7 and it is ruthless!  Was doing about 7-8 hits per second doing 40 damage per hit.

[Nintex]

My new favorite directional shard is the Heretical Grinder.  Ranked it up to 7 and it is ruthless!  Was doing about 7-8 hits per second doing 40 damage per hit.

Thanks for the tip killed the boss I was stuck on with this very powerful weapon.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

It was the blood lady in tub. She was quite challenging. What came next was classic IGA. One or two boss monsters and then with a little skill you easily find Gebels' hide-out.
You kill him, nothing has changed. GAME OVER

[close]

Based IGA 

Has anyone figured out if there's more to..

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Celeste's room?, a room with music boxes and the picture of a cat. Sit on the chair and a ghost appears. It feels like there could be some sort of cryptic puzzle there or it could just be a reference to something 

[close]

[Svejk]

I never did, if there is something about that room.

[Trent Dole]

There's nothing to that room other than it being there. Don't know if it was an intentional troll or not.