Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is everything that was great about Igarashi’s Metroidvania titles all rolled into one, and feels like it will be as timeless a game as Symphony of the Night.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night stands as one of the best Vania games of recent memory, and one of the most satisfying games of 2019 so far.

But, despite its issues, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has had me hooked like no other game released this year. Koji Igarashi and those who have worked with him have proved that there’s still life in the old Metroidvania formula and delivered a modern-day classic. It perhaps loses a little something without the iconic Dracula as the big-bad, but the gameplay surpasses that of any previous Castlevania games created with the same mould. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night looks great, has a brilliant soundtrack and is overwhelmingly gratifying to play. If only it had a little more polish, then...

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a comfortable return for Koji Igarashi. It doesn't push any boundaries, but it's a fluid, well-crafted labor of love with tons of content and a satisfying core gameplay loop.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a thrilling and rewarding adventure into the MetroidVania genre. It is a fantastic entry level title for those yet to familiarize themselves with the genre, and a brilliant entry of quality and character for veterans.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is the Castlevania spiritual successor you've been waiting for! Here is our review...

The night begins to shine.

Koji Igarashi created a picture perfect homage to his own games.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a fantastic game and is a sequel to Koji Igarashi’s Castlevania games in all but name. There’s enough familiarity there but also many new ideas which will please newcomers and veterans alike. It may have been a long time coming but Koji Igarashi’s return has been well worth the wait.

Castle crashers.

Genre is mostly bullshit. It’s useful for discussion and for imagining where a certain game exists on the continuum of innovation and progress. These discussions are important, and for them, we need genre. But genre doesn’t do a lot for games, especially once they start to borrow from each other, forcing us to come up with new genres to collect them under. Genre can never really keep up.

Verdict: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night had to overcome a lot of challenges to become the game it is today. While its development might have been rocky and a bit longer than originally planned, it’s earned its place as the rightful successor to Igarashi’s previous games; and while there are a few technical issues, the game stands on its own to be a phenomenal product with tons of options and replayability. Bloodstained appears well-poised to be yet another classic title that will be remembered decades from now, just like Symphony of the Night before it.