The story behind Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night it should be known by now to most, but it is always good to remember how the aforementioned title was born, as it is one of the greatest crowfounding successes related to the videogame world. Starting with a Kickstarter campaign of only $ 500, the final result in fact came to exceed $ 5 million, a record surpassed only later by Shenmue III.
At the head of the project we find none other than Koji Igarashi, better known as Iga, the man who directed the Castlevania series for over 10 years starting from 2001. For some disagreements with Konami, in 2014 Iga decided to leave the company Japanese and become a founding member and executive producer of the Japanese division of ArtPlay, a Chinese company dedicated to the world of mobile games.
From that moment on, Igarashi began looking for investors for his new project: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, or a spiritual sequel to Castlevania in which he could finally give free rein to his creativity without the pressure of a publisher like Konami. The search was not successful and, therefore, he decided to opt for the crowfounding solution, especially after seeing the success achieved by Keiji Inafune with his Mighty No. 9.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is set in England around 1700 and follows the adventures of Miriam, a girl who wakes up from a sleep that lasted 10 years. Her awakening is not the happiest, as she finds herself plagued by a curse that is turning her into a crystal. The only way to save himself is to face Gebel, a childhood friend who in the past had managed to defeat that very same curse. The problem is that now he is at the head of a corporation of alchemists who want to dominate the world with an army of demons summoned through special rituals.
Some time ago, we went to the offices of Digital Bros, to try a second demo of the game, exactly one year after the one shown at the last E3 2016 and later available only to the backers who had funded the project. In this new build, played on PC with Xbox One pads, we faced a new stage set in a castle, an aspect that definitely goes beyond the simple homage and reference to the Castlevania series, and the same goes for the structure of the maps, the enemies , the secrets and above all, the fighting style.
In the demo we had the opportunity to test 8 weapons including swords, spears, kung fu shoes and the inevitable whip, each with unique characteristics and suitable for different types of situations. The weapons will be equipped in the appropriate menu, as well as all the other pieces of equipment divided into head, body, two accessories and scarf (of which we have not yet understood the real use), which will serve to enhance our statistics in full RPG style , also emphasized by level ups as experience points are gained from defeated monsters. As we level up, we will also increase our life and spiritual points, the latter particularly useful for casting spells such as fireballs which are often the best solution to solve unpleasant situations, such as an encirclement of enemies.
The test then ended with the classic boss fight against a very sexy succubus capable of manipulating blood. The clash, we must say, was very exciting and satisfied us.
The feeling of the game leaves no room for misunderstanding: Bloodstained will be a full-fledged Castlevania, just with a different name. This in some ways is reassuring since the game is practically born with that goal and guarantees its quality, but we admit that we would not have been sorry to glimpse some more characteristic or innovative element. Obviously never say never, it is said that the best will not be revealed later.
Graphically, the game convinces thanks to the excellent artistic direction and the excellent use of Cel Shading that goes well with its two-dimensional structure. The only uncertainties occurred only in the lack of fluidity of the combat system which does not give a homogeneous feeling in the continuous flow of chained shots.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is expected in an unspecified month of 2018 and will be available on Playstation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.
