KickStarter Bloodstained - Koji Igarashi's new metroidvania game

[HoboForEternity]

so hollow knight is still the superior modern metroidvania?

 

[Valky]

so hollow knight is still the superior modern metroidvania?

Bloodstained is not something that you have to put in a ranking above or below HK, but parallel to. The itemization and progression system of the game is something that HK completely lacks and as such Bloodstained has its own seat at the table for a niche that HK can not fill. It's difficult to wholeheartedly bring HK into a direct comparison because of how it blew away the competition in genre overnight, but both are incline worthy of archival.

 

[HoboForEternity]

so hollow knight is still the superior modern metroidvania?

Bloodstained is not something that you have to put in a ranking above or below HK, but parallel to. The itemization and progression system of the game is something that HK completely lacks and as such Bloodstained has its own seat at the table for a niche that HK can not fill. It's difficult to wholeheartedly bring HK into a direct comparison because of how it blew away the competition in genre overnight, but both are incline worthy of archival.

oh yeah. i forgot bloodstained have multiple weapons like sotn. definitely gonna pick this up later. too bad the price isn't region friendly. damn japs developers.

 

[Perkel]

so hollow knight is still the superior modern metroidvania?

It is great metroidvania but poor igavania.

 

[Vincente]

Spoiler

Bael is kicking my ass.

 

[Valky]

Spoiler

Bael is kicking my ass.

I got sick and tired of it on my hard mode playthrough so I just made 3 full restore potions for the fight.

 

[Vincente]

Spoiler

Bael is kicking my ass.

I got sick and tired of it on my hard mode playthrough so I just made 3 full restore potions for the fight.

I barely did any grinding so i don't have materials nor gold to make them, might as well return to Hidden Desert to finish some parts I haven't seen yet.

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

so hollow knight is still the superior modern metroidvania?

It's not trying to be Hollow Knight. People who buy Bloodstained don't give a shit about HK. They buy it because they want more Symphony Of The Night.

 

[Tigranes]

so hollow knight is still the superior modern metroidvania?

It's not trying to be Hollow Knight. People who buy Bloodstained don't give a shit about HK. They buy it because they want more Symphony Of The Night.

I'm almost completely new to Castlevania, but Hollow Knight and Bloodstained were GOTY material for me. Different shakes but both great games.

 

[RoSoDude]

Bloodstained has deeper mechanics and systems and much greater variety in its combat options, but it quickly loses steam in the content department (other than the bosses, which stay great aside from major balancing issues that render them helpless against certain shard setups). The level design quickly gets stale as they run out of new enemy types and compositions to challenge the player, and the progression signposting near the end is pretty absymal. Hollow Knight is comparatively simple but its world design is much more fleshed out and cohesively constructed, and the game is also filled to the brim with unique and memorable content. I finished the latter a few days ago (everything but the Godmaster DLC), and will have more to say on it soon. As much as it pains me to admit as someone who loves the Igavania formula more than just Metroid-like games generally, HK is definitely the better game though Bloodstained still has its moments.

 

[Jenkem]

whatever happened to the free DLC for this game?

 

[Valky]

Koji worked himself to death on that 2 hours of sleep a night.

 

[Perkel]

whatever happened to the free DLC for this game?

Yeah i am still waiting for that. From what i remember there was a lot of cool shit they wanted to add to game like other characters etc.

 

[Valky]

The best possible thing that could happen is for the Zangetsu playthrough to have a different told story and different game mechanics from the shardbinding, as well as different movement options. Rather than bodyswapping Miriam for the same game.

 

[kaisergeddon]

It's supposed to be 13 free DLCs in fact, with two new playable characters, co-op, a procgen rogue-like mode, several other things I either forgot or actually haven't been revealed yet. It's a great way to give a second wind to this game, and I'm definitely looking forward to it once Iga wraps up the kickstarter obligations which are holding things up I bet.

 

[Damned Registrations]

AFAIK the big delay is because for once, the console got shafted instead of PC when they multiplatformed the game, and the Switch version has been unplayable shit since launch. So they've been working on getting that fixed. Hopefully they've moved on by now though to the fun shit.

 

[HansDampf]

I've played through this game on Normal. I hate it when harder difficulties are locked until you beat the game once. While the game offers many (many) options to customize your character and loadout with gazillion different shards, it didn't seem to matter much in the end. Do you prefer killing stuff with fireballs, arrows, or some laser? The difference is only cosmetic, because the game is too easy. I defeated most bosses very sloppily on my first try. It didn't feel earned at all. I have a suspicion that this is one of those games that hide their real game away in harder difficulty settings. Is this the case? Like, I've been playing an entirely different game? I started a new game on Hard and died before I even got to the first save room, because I didn't even know the basic movement and attack patterns of the first enemies you encounter on the ship.

Is it worth playing again on Hard? Will I have to grind for resources like a retard?

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Bloodstained is not something that you have to put in a ranking above or below HK, but parallel to. The itemization and progression system of the game is something that HK completely lacks and as such Bloodstained has its own seat at the table for a niche that HK can not fill.

I would say that's because Igavania's seem more interested in combat, enemy design and lite RPG mechanics, while Metroid clones are more oreinted towards exploration, level design and worldbuilding.
Maybe this is due to the fact that Castlevania's before SotN where more linear/straightforward in their progression, with enemies being the biggest threat, while Metroid had backtracking since the begining and the navigation was the buggest challenge of the game.

 

[Valky]

I've played through this game on Normal. I hate it when harder difficulties are locked until you beat the game once. While the game offers many (many) options to customize your character and loadout with gazillion different shards, it didn't seem to matter much in the end. Do you prefer killing stuff with fireballs, arrows, or some laser? The difference is only cosmetic, because the game is too easy. I defeated most bosses very sloppily on my first try. It didn't feel earned at all. I have a suspicion that this is one of those games that hide their real game away in harder difficulty settings. Is this the case? Like, I've been playing an entirely different game? I started a new game on Hard and died before I even got to the first save room, because I didn't even know the basic movement and attack patterns of the first enemies you encounter on the ship.

Is it worth playing again on Hard? Will I have to grind for resources like a retard?

See my review earlier in the thread. Hard should be considered the de facto difficulty shipping with the game, and normal is probably not normal, but in fact journalist difficulty that probably ruins the game for you if you have more than two brain cells to rub together. So yes, you should play on hard, and you could have used the NIGHTMARE cheat in naming your save to start with it on your first playthrough.
I did not have to grind in hard mode, but that's because I wasn't trying to overly game the system with shards, but it is certainly an option if you want to be stronger or collect everything. It was a proper difficulty in the vein that I died at least once to every boss I fought and had to learn how to play properly.

 

[HansDampf]

Can't say Hard mode changed much beyond the initial difficulty spike. Once I got past the first Zangetsu fight the game slowly became even easier than before, for some reason. I wasn't grinding levels either. No need. And it's not like there is only "that one op shard combination" that trivializes the game. Many of them do. I guess, I could have restricted myself from using certain shards and equipment, which I consider to be too strong. Or I could play without shards altogether. Or I could play blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back.
There is a cool game underneath, but the more I play it the less I like it. The excessive crafting also doesn't help. 3 ranks per shard would have been enough, with each rank costing more resources and having a more noticeable (and more interesting) effect. Higher grades are often more useful than higher ranks, anyway. And the UI is really bad for quickly checking which monsters drop the required ingredients and in which area you can find them. Reminds me of CrossCode, except crafting isn't as prominent in that game.

I don't know how this compares to the Castlevania games. Are they also this big on crafting? I'm carefully adding Symphony of the Night to my txt.

 

[TigerKnee]

Are they also this big on crafting? I'm carefully adding Symphony of the Night to my txt.

No. SOTN is mostly found items with maybe farming low percent drops if you really feel like trivializing an already easy game

 

[Grauken]

The Castlevania metroidvanias aren't hard in general

 

[RoSoDude]

Order of Ecclesia can be genuinely challenging, and Portrait of Ruin on Hard NG or Hard NG+ Max Level 1 is as well. Whatever their level of challenge, the prior Igavanias (aside from maybe SOTN if you ask me) are much less cheesable games even accounting for endgame gear and spells. This is my biggest criticism of Bloodstained, followed by its lackluster mid-endgame content. I liked the game despite this because I restricted myself to exclusively using weapon techniques since all the shards seemed busted even without upgrades, but it's a shame I couldn't just have had an organic and balanced experience with it.

Though SOTN is fairly easy and can be completely cheeseballed with some of the more ridiculous endgame options, it's still worth playing for its engaging world design and character progression. There's a lot of interesting stuff to see and explore as you make your own journey through the castle. Mechanics aren't as fleshed out as the later titles, but it is at its most sprawling and experimental.

 

[HansDampf]

Though SOTN is fairly easy and can be completely cheeseballed with some of the more ridiculous endgame options, it's still worth playing for its engaging world design and character progression. There's a lot of interesting stuff to see and explore as you make your own journey through the castle. Mechanics aren't as fleshed out as the later titles, but it is at its most sprawling and experimental.

Would you say it's the best Castlevania? That's what I usually hear.

 

[RoSoDude]

Though SOTN is fairly easy and can be completely cheeseballed with some of the more ridiculous endgame options, it's still worth playing for its engaging world design and character progression. There's a lot of interesting stuff to see and explore as you make your own journey through the castle. Mechanics aren't as fleshed out as the later titles, but it is at its most sprawling and experimental.

Would you say it's the best Castlevania? That's what I usually hear.

Nope, I rate it below Portrait of Ruin, Aria of Sorrow, and Order of Ecclesia for problems with its difficulty curve and mediocre boss design. It is definitely the one to start with, though.