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

[MMaRsu]

Did they ever manage to get Kojima involved in Bloodstained?

Chooky you cooky guy is there a higher quality link out there somewhere for us pitiful creatures

[bork]

Got a shipping notification for the Kickstarter Switch version.

[bork]

Circle of the Moon - the best and most well rounded Igavania not named Aria or Symphony

Harmony of Disspnance - poop

Aria of Sorrow - finally a successor to SotN. Has the most interesting plot in a Castlevania game. Contender for favorite Metroidvania and overlooked because of its big brother Symphony.

Dawn of Sorrow - I made a custom weapon in this and used it 3/4 the entire game. Horrible QA. Boring follow up to Aria besides Julius mode which rocks.

Portrait of Ruin - uses interesting JONATHON!!!! CHARLOTTE!!!!! gimmick, has more classic Castlevania-isms to it than previous games but is ultimately forgettable.

Order of Ecclesia - fun at first but gets boring quick. Never finished was done with Igavania and hoping he was kicked from Castlevania after it. He was.

For me it's also SOTN and Aria >>>>>>>>>>> Everything else.  I also never finished Ecclesia and still would like to go back and try it again sometime.  I never even got to the castle, lol.   I think the two PS2/Xbox-era CV games also count here, but I just couldn't get into them.  2D Igavania is the best Igavania.  I beat Harmony and got to the last bosses in Circle and the first two DS games, but never did beat them.  Circle at least needs another play-through sometime.  Dawn Of Sorrow was still good, but was a let down compared to Aria. 

If they ever gave Aria a SOTN-quality soundtrack, it would beat it for sure.  I put SOTN on top because it's the overall best all-around package, but Aria's game play is better and the setting/plot are more interesting, too.  Too bad we never got that Julius 1999 game.

Speaking of which...there's a nod to the latter in Bloodstained.  You'll get it if you have the DLC. 

[Svejk]

Lament of Innocence was actually decently, tolerable.  Arguably the best 3D CV.  The controls were fast and responsive, music was beautiful, and I liked that it was the Belmont origin story.  It certainly had its flaws transferring to 3d, but it could've turned out way worse... but wanted to give it a shout out.

[Occam]

Fun game, glad I helped fund it. But I'll try to stay far away from 505 Games from now on, and I hope so will IGA.
Unfortunately the way this kickstarter was handled and how they didn't deliver what was promised to the backers soured lots of people, meaning any future kickstarters won't rake in anywhere near as much as this one did.

[Himu]

The 3d vania games diminish Iga’s vania legacy even further tbh

[Chooky]

Lament of Innocence was actually decently, tolerable.  Arguably the best 3D CV.  The controls were fast and responsive, music was beautiful, and I liked that it was the Belmont origin story.  It certainly had its flaws transferring to 3d, but it could've turned out way worse... but wanted to give it a shout out.

agreed. game was budget as hell and the level design was trash, but it was still a fun game with very solid and fun combat. i still go back to it every once in a while.

[toku]

Can't comment on 3d CV games because I thought they all sucked until Lords of Shadow and even that wasn't perfect while shamelessly ripping off God of War (but with way more platforming and running around in circles ofc). First one is a solid 7, maybe an 8 if I put on my rose tinted glasses. Second is legitimately awful and worth the scorn it gets but I just choose to ignore it. I wouldn't put any of the PS2 games past a 4 or 5. Some great art and designs, good scores too but they looked and felt goofy as hell. Iga should have really spent more time figure out 3D spaces or just stuck to 2d.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Devil May Cry 1 still the best 3d Castlevania we've ever had. Bless up

[close]

[Himu]

Devil May Cry 1 still the best 3d Castlevania we've ever had. Bless up

So true.

I never understood why they didn't take the fundamentals of RE and apply it CV. It's an obvious combination.

If Rygar ps2 can be good why couldn't they make a good 3d CV? I never got it. I still don't.

I mean look at this shit.

[bork]

I got a shield!  Seemed kinda lame, but then I tried it and you can use it to parry enemy attacks holy fuck! 

Then I fought Solid Snake Zantetsu!  HOLY FUCK! 

'STAINED!

[Trent Dole]

I got a shield!  Seemed kinda lame, but then I tried it and you can use it to parry enemy attacks holy fuck! 

Then I fought Solid Snake Zantetsu!  HOLY FUCK! 

'STAINED!

That's about the same spot I got up to. Lemme know if you figure out where to get the

spoiler (click to show/hide)

giant hand shard

[close]

[Bebpo]

You can parry right from the start with the Katana with F,F+X. I know this because I'm a weeb and any game that offers a Katana build I always go for that. It's doing good so far. The arc of the swing starts a little lower so you can hit grounded enemies like plants that you can't hit with a sword and otherwise it's just generally a sword with a parry and that.

[bork]

You can parry right from the start with the Katana with F,F+X. I know this because I'm a weeb and any game that offers a Katana build I always go for that. It's doing good so far. The arc of the swing starts a little lower so you can hit grounded enemies like plants that you can't hit with a sword and otherwise it's just generally a sword with a parry and that.

Nice!  The shield doesn't need any inputs though and feels a bit faster than the katana.  I do miss that arc however.  I started with the Gamesack sword, messed with the boots (rekkas!) and then switched to the katana before getting that shield.  Lots of crazy weapons pop up for sale with an 8-bit coin.

[Bebpo]

You can parry right from the start with the Katana with F,F+X. I know this because I'm a weeb and any game that offers a Katana build I always go for that. It's doing good so far. The arc of the swing starts a little lower so you can hit grounded enemies like plants that you can't hit with a sword and otherwise it's just generally a sword with a parry and that.

Nice!  The shield doesn't need any inputs though and feels a bit faster than the katana.  I do miss that arc however.  I started with the Gamesack sword, messed with the boots (rekkas!) and then switched to the katana before getting that shield.  Lots of crazy weapons pop up for sale with an 8-bit coin.

 

I got the 8-bit coin but haven't been back to the shop. Wasn't sure what it was used for...

[paprikastaude]

Dawn of Sorrow is a pretty good follow-up to Aria that suffers from bad anime art and touch screen gimmicks.

When I replayed DoS recently on that big 3DS touch screen, the touch screen spells were actually fun to pull off with my hands and no stylus. And apart from the animu art, it's still one of the GoaTs

[HardcoreRetro]

Is there a porn parody called Cumstained: Ritual of the Night yet?

[MMaRsu]

My new lock screen after 2 years of P5 background

[bork]

If you got affected by the 1.02 patch on PS4, you have to restart the game- and they're saying the same will happen on Xbox and Switch when they receive the same patch.  Why are they not holding these updates back on those platforms until they FIX THE PROBLEM? 

We have been investigating a PS4/Xbox One issue that is blocking player progress in the game. We apologize for this bug and thank you for your patience while we investigate.
The issue occurs when a new game is started before downloading the 1.02 update. After the update, treasure chests will appear in the incorrect open/closed state.
 
Without the items from these chests, progress is blocked.
 
Players affected by this bug will be required to restart the game with a new save in order to properly progress.
 
We investigated a number of options to address this issue and each fix requires a new game to be started. Despite our efforts to provide a fix that preserves pre-1.02 progress, this is the best solution to avoid future issues. 
 
Xbox One players will also be affected by this when the 1.02 patch is delivered next week. Switch players who have a physical copy should download the 1.02 patch before playing.

[bork]

Is there a porn parody called Cumstained: Ritual of the Night yet?

"Bloodstained" makes me think of that South Park Chipotle episode.

[Svejk]

If you got affected by the 1.02 patch on PS4, you have to restart the game- and they're saying the same will happen on Xbox and Switch when they receive the same patch.  Why are they not holding these updates back on those platforms until they FIX THE PROBLEM? 

We have been investigating a PS4/Xbox One issue that is blocking player progress in the game. We apologize for this bug and thank you for your patience while we investigate.
The issue occurs when a new game is started before downloading the 1.02 update. After the update, treasure chests will appear in the incorrect open/closed state.
 
Without the items from these chests, progress is blocked.
 
Players affected by this bug will be required to restart the game with a new save in order to properly progress.
 
We investigated a number of options to address this issue and each fix requires a new game to be started. Despite our efforts to provide a fix that preserves pre-1.02 progress, this is the best solution to avoid future issues. 
 
Xbox One players will also be affected by this when the 1.02 patch is delivered next week. Switch players who have a physical copy should download the 1.02 patch before playing.

About how far in the the game is this glitch?  Guess it's a good thing I haven't been able to plat it yet. 

[bork]

It seems like it can happen at any time.  It shouldn't be an issue for you since you haven't started playing it yet. 

But this is a game-breaking bug and needs to be addressed ASAP.  I don't like "you should just start over" as their current workaround.

[demi]

thanks for beta testing PLEBS LUL

will wait for the fixed version when it appears on GWG / PS+

[MMaRsu]

Or just play on pc

 

[bork]

Here's a bunch of codes you can enter as your name when starting new games to start with bonus weapons/helmets, do big head mode, and unlock hard/nightmare difficulty:

https://www.yekbot.com/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night-cheat-codes/

Or just play on pc

 

[MMaRsu]

Cheats 

[The Sceneman]

How is Harmony of Despair? I see that is available for the 360 but I never played it, its bc too

It has its fans. It’s basically multiplayer Igavania. Sceneman is big on it. He’s the guy to go to about that.

Its a weird game but pretty good if you're into IGAvania. Trent Dole and myself played it a bunch in its heyday - it was very good when you could always get a full lobby.

It's basically a multiplayer level rush game - with lots of grinding for rare loot drops. Not really sure what its similar to, maybe raids in WoW? You basically fight the same bosses over and over for their rare drops, and your goal is maxing out your character by using spells, sub-weapons, racking up kills etc.

Probably not worth playing without the community but it was sweet at the time - especially how DLC was dropping regularly. The dlc did cost a lot too but damn it was worth it

[Trent Dole]

HoD still had people playing on weekends for AGES. I'd go play something else and then hop on HoD again and people would still be there. If I still had gold I'd hop on once in awhile. ...You think once IGA had made a few of these there'll be a BS version? There's already 3 playable people planned for this game.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

And you can get Shovel Knight armor as well apparently

[close]

[bluemax]

Why would a modern sidescroller ever allow sub-60fps?

For that matter why isn't this 2D sprites

The Japanese dev team working on this apparently had a tooooon of problems with UE4. It used to literally overheat Switches is what I heard.

If you're a sidescrolling platformer and not hitting 60fps in 2019, I'm gonna ask some questions.

Mostly: what the fuck were they thinking.

This is true though.

Getting this on PC because of the 30fps.

It’s not like the switch cant handle it. This is made on unity isn’t it? Unity games always run like trash.

This is blatantly false, and I say that as someone who would never ship another console game on Unity if at all possible.

If you got affected by the 1.02 patch on PS4, you have to restart the game- and they're saying the same will happen on Xbox and Switch when they receive the same patch.  Why are they not holding these updates back on those platforms until they FIX THE PROBLEM? 

We have been investigating a PS4/Xbox One issue that is blocking player progress in the game. We apologize for this bug and thank you for your patience while we investigate.
The issue occurs when a new game is started before downloading the 1.02 update. After the update, treasure chests will appear in the incorrect open/closed state.
 
Without the items from these chests, progress is blocked.
 
Players affected by this bug will be required to restart the game with a new save in order to properly progress.
 
We investigated a number of options to address this issue and each fix requires a new game to be started. Despite our efforts to provide a fix that preserves pre-1.02 progress, this is the best solution to avoid future issues. 
 
Xbox One players will also be affected by this when the 1.02 patch is delivered next week. Switch players who have a physical copy should download the 1.02 patch before playing.

Once your patch gets past a certain point int he pipeline there's no going back :/ And you can't roll back.

[Occam]

The only advantage I got from not receiving the game at launch: When I downloaded it on PS4 on the 19th, the 1.02 patch was already included.

[Svejk]

Finally get to start this fucker tonight. 

[The Sceneman]

bluemax running shit

Listen to bluemax or sit back down 

[Freyj]

nearly done but game definitely suffers from the same bizarre progression / backtracking issues that igavanias always had so true to the source material there, it’s as bad as harmony in some cases and I’m still scratching my head to figure out if there was a different way to progress at one point than to grind a specific demon’s shard drop and I don’t think there was

[kingv]

Why would a modern sidescroller ever allow sub-60fps?

For that matter why isn't this 2D sprites

The Japanese dev team working on this apparently had a tooooon of problems with UE4. It used to literally overheat Switches is what I heard.

If you're a sidescrolling platformer and not hitting 60fps in 2019, I'm gonna ask some questions.

Mostly: what the fuck were they thinking.

This is true though.

Getting this on PC because of the 30fps.

It’s not like the switch cant handle it. This is made on unity isn’t it? Unity games always run like trash.

This is blatantly false, and I say that as someone who would never ship another console game on Unity if at all possible.

If you got affected by the 1.02 patch on PS4, you have to restart the game- and they're saying the same will happen on Xbox and Switch when they receive the same patch.  Why are they not holding these updates back on those platforms until they FIX THE PROBLEM? 

We have been investigating a PS4/Xbox One issue that is blocking player progress in the game. We apologize for this bug and thank you for your patience while we investigate.
The issue occurs when a new game is started before downloading the 1.02 update. After the update, treasure chests will appear in the incorrect open/closed state.
 
Without the items from these chests, progress is blocked.
 
Players affected by this bug will be required to restart the game with a new save in order to properly progress.
 
We investigated a number of options to address this issue and each fix requires a new game to be started. Despite our efforts to provide a fix that preserves pre-1.02 progress, this is the best solution to avoid future issues. 
 
Xbox One players will also be affected by this when the 1.02 patch is delivered next week. Switch players who have a physical copy should download the 1.02 patch before playing.

Once your patch gets past a certain point int he pipeline there's no going back :/ And you can't roll back.

I just remember there being a bunch of Switch unity games that ran like dog shit or were delayed because they had trouble getting the engine to work properly on the switch.

Yooka-Laylee, overcooked, that teleporting game that was kind of like hotline Miami, night chasers are the ones that immediately come to mind.

Also Remember this being a common complaint on several ps4 unity games like broforce.

Most of those are pretty old though, so I guess it’s been fixed.

[Bebpo]

Wait, progression is blocked behind RNG shard grinding and not mandatory boss power-ups? Why would you do that. That seems strangely bad design out of place.

[Freyj]

Wait, progression is blocked behind RNG shard grinding and not mandatory boss power-ups? Why would you do that. That seems strangely bad design out of place.

I mean it took 3 minutes in the room before you needed it but like I said I’m still not 100% sure it was necessary but the progression is so odd at times regardless. It’s very igavania.

edit: I looked up a few guides and that does seem to be the intended route. Sometimes the store NPC will give you hints on how to proceed and she probably mentions it but man it’s kinda dumb.

[Trent Dole]

I got past where I was stuck, just went through one door I hadn't before and had access too. 'Wait I just hadn't gone here already?' Opened up a bunch more to wander around. I only stopped cause it was late/early and needed to try to sleep.

[Occam]

By the way, you can use the Bloodbringer familiar and the Bloodbringer sword at the same time if you assign the Bloodbringer sword to a shortcut, then activate the familar, then select the shortcut.
I discovered this when playing around with Bloodbringer today. I'm pretty sure this is a glitch and you aren't supposed to have the sword and familiar active at the same time because it's really powerful (the stronger the familiar gets, the more damage the sword does); when you try to equip the sword the usual way using the inventory you can only do it if the familiar is inactive.

I am currently at level 25, 25% in and I can kill any enemy with 1-2 hits. My sword familiar is at level 21 and does 53 damage per hit while the sword does 43. The Critical Ring makes it even better. And because I keep using the familiar it continues to level up.
The strongest weapons I could buy at the moment do ~30 damage. I'd say that makes this combo overpowered.

[Nintex]

Played this for one hour.

This is SOTN 2

 

[Svejk]

Yeah this game is fantastic.  Only problem is, is that I need more time to play it.  .  Loved hearing Hayter again.  The shield shard is crazy powerful and makes it way more a breeze traversing.  I'm some ways past the Giant Hand part, iirc.  It was like 3am, so I can't remember exactly. Lol

[paprikastaude]

Have only encountered one bug in 5 hours on PS4 unpatched The rumble wouldn't stop at one point, other than that, nothing so far.

[Freyj]

PC has been super smooth other than drops sometimes getting stuck in walls

[Bebpo]

This Zangetsu fight at the beginning is fucking bullshit. Feels like the type of combat that works when you have a roll/dodge or block button. I still get hit with the step back and whenever I try to jump over and behind him he jumps up and slashes me. Can't even get past phase 1 wtf.

[Bebpo]

And I beat him on my next try :|

[Svejk]

To totally nit pick some, the music, although still great so far, hasn't been as jammin' as SotN.  I think it may just need to grow on me some...  So far from what I've heard, it's close to the level of Curse of Darkness... which wasn't her best.

Still.... wouldn't want anyone else to do the score..

[Freyj]

There are some bullshit boss fights that the SOTN movement doesn’t really accommodate but just remember you can always take a few potions into them and power through.

Finished the true ending (and the others) and now looking at going for 100% but jesus some of these achievements are going to be a grind, especially the item completion one.

edit: and yeah the music is just okay to me, nothing to the level of SOTN, Aria, etc.

[Bebpo]

Around 30% now after double jump, it’s weird how the bosses after Zangetsu have been a joke. Strange balance. Also I got that bunny suit transform and it uses so little MP and does like 1.5x-2x damage my normal attacks I just use it regularly and kill everything in like 2 hits.

[paprikastaude]

lmao everything about swimming in this game. thank god it's only like 3 minutes.

most bosses were cool so far.

[Bebpo]

I think I’m stuck at that part mentioned on the last page where you need a normal enemy drop to advance?

I just finished the bone dragon tower boss (which was kinda bs, but just used some potions and facetanked it) and right now I’ve explored all the areas and I either need:

-some kind of dart that will reflect off mirrors and go through mid-air thin passageways?
-ability to swim underwater
-or bat flying ability

I think I’ve explored everywhere ~37% and the only roadblocks are rooms where I need one of those three abilities.

Any help?

*edit* - looked it up. Seems a lot of people get stuck at this point because you need to take the photograph from the bone dragon boss to the librarian to get the train pass. Librarian guy never said anything about a photograph to me? I only talked to him once and borrowed a book and he just said remember to bring it back and that was it -_-

[Bebpo]

Yeah, when I talked to him again it triggered the photograph/train conversation. They should make that conversation happen in the initial dialogue with him.

Anyhow, what's the connection story-wise between this and the 8-bit Bloodstained Curse of the Moon? Are they both the same game but with different graphics/map layouts/gameplay? I remember the ship and train parts in that one. Also same 4 main characters. Are they completely unrelated just different takes on the concept or is there an actual connection between the two story-wise?

[Trent Dole]

Curse was initially planned to be a prequel but ended up being an AU/side story thing instead.

[Svejk]

Got to the Iga 8-bit nightmare... Shit's kinda brutal.  Had to stop there for the night. (4am atm  ). 

[Nintex]

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.

[close]

[Bebpo]

Oh, that's where you get Rice. I still haven't been able to finish that old lady's food quest because I have a ton of food ingredients but never found rice and I have the rice seed. Will look for the farmer.

[Freyj]

At 41/45 achievements and that’s where I’ll stay. The changes to dismantling in 1.0.2 (Alkahest is 800g rather than 50g and the cost to dismantle used to be 2 Alkahest for every item) make item completion and the 500K gold achievements an enormous grind.

Also lack two Demon’s souls that are late game scenario spawns that each take about 3 minutes or so to get to and have a 4% chance to drop for whatever inane reason. No thanks.

I’ll never understand why the need to make that drastic of balancing changes to a single player game but whatever onto Judgment.

[Nintex]

Oh, that's where you get Rice. I still haven't been able to finish that old lady's food quest because I have a ton of food ingredients but never found rice and I have the rice seed. Will look for the farmer.

I'm a fan of the I suppose 'jankiness' of some of these quests. Stuff that's in the game, that's not even hinted at and you have to discover for yourself.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

If you don't go back behind the safehouse you'll never find the villagers there and I suppose you an finish the game without doing so.

I'm also seeing some chairs you can sit on that do 'nothing' yet, my bet is that with the right item or shard equipped that holds secrets

All we need next is an inverted castle DLC 

[close]

[Svejk]

Oh, that's where you get Rice. I still haven't been able to finish that old lady's food quest because I have a ton of food ingredients but never found rice and I have the rice seed. Will look for the farmer.

I'm a fan of the I suppose 'jankiness' of some of these quests. Stuff that's in the game, that's not even hinted at and you have to discover for yourself.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

If you don't go back behind the safehouse you'll never find the villagers there and I suppose you an finish the game without doing so.

I'm also seeing some chairs you can sit on that do 'nothing' yet, my bet is that with the right item or shard equipped that holds secrets

All we need next is an inverted castle DLC 

[close]

Based on one of the prior trailers, there's supposedly an "invert" shard and/or ability...

[Nintex]

Oh, that's where you get Rice. I still haven't been able to finish that old lady's food quest because I have a ton of food ingredients but never found rice and I have the rice seed. Will look for the farmer.

I'm a fan of the I suppose 'jankiness' of some of these quests. Stuff that's in the game, that's not even hinted at and you have to discover for yourself.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

If you don't go back behind the safehouse you'll never find the villagers there and I suppose you an finish the game without doing so.

I'm also seeing some chairs you can sit on that do 'nothing' yet, my bet is that with the right item or shard equipped that holds secrets

All we need next is an inverted castle DLC 

[close]

Based on one of the prior trailers, there's supposedly an "invert" shard and/or ability...

oooh

I like the music too btw. Is it SOTN level, too early to tell. But it is certainly great Castlevania music. 

[paprikastaude]

new ability in the lava stage 

[Svejk]

My Miriam currently looks like SF's Cammy. 

[Bebpo]

Oh, there isn’t an upside down castle for 200%? I sorta expected there would be since this is very SoTN nostalgia plus Iga saying it’s his biggest game yet.