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Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Discussion (Nintendo Switch) [game]
 
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon on the Switch
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So, Koji Igarashi put up a Kickstarter campaign for a Castlevania: Symphony of the Night knockoff, and one of the stretch goals of the campaign was a Castlevania III knockoff, and this is that.

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05/24/18, 06:16    Edited: 05/24/18, 06:17
 
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It's out! Sorta. Steam codes are going out, as are the TEMPORARY Steam codes that are meant to placate those of us who redeemed the game for another platform and won't be getting our codes until after the game launches (these Steam codes are TEMPORARY because they'll deactivate on June 8th and no longer be playable, presumably). I put in for Switch, but I got a temporary Steam code this evening, so I decided to try it out on my laptop.

Long story short, I played for 30 minutes and I'm pretty sure I'm on the final stage of this retro spin-off side-game. And hey, that's fine by me, considering it's basically a freebie throw-in to the Metroidvania game I actually wanted. And it's not bad! It feels a lot like a slightly updated take on Castlevania III, though with less variation in enemy and level gimmicks than I remember from that game (and a lot of the standard enemies feel like retreads). But unless it's got some serious post-game content, it's very much a bite-sized package. There are a few branching paths in each of the five stages, a few collectibles to pick up, four characters each with a few sub-weapons and abilities, and what seem to be a few unlockable difficulty modes.

But uhh, yeah. So far, it's fine, nothing super impressive, but a decent little throwback. I don't think it's worth $10 by any measure, unless there are some big surprises in the endgame/post-game. But as a freebie? Sure, I'm on board.
05/24/18, 06:31   
Edited: 05/24/18, 06:35
As someone who didn't back the game, that's pretty disappointing. I didn't expect it to be six hours long or anything, but more than an hour at least. Oh well, will still get it at some stage.
05/24/18, 08:33   
Edited: 05/24/18, 08:34
Hopefully the harder difficulties will help extend the playtime one could have with it. Even if the game is on the same level of quality as Mighty Gunvolt, I’ll be satisfied.
05/24/18, 15:50   
Was gonna hold off for a bit, more because of my insane backlog than the because of the price, but since I got a raise today I decided to celebrate with some retro platforming.

I've only played two levels so far, but I really like it! Apart from the different paths and characters it does feel more like the original Castlevania than Castlevania III, a bit more barebones and simplistic, but that works for me too! I think they've done a good job of replicating the feel of Castlevania without keeping the worst clunkiness, and if this hadn't been a mere freebie project for a Kickstarter they could have turned this into the Mega Man 9 of the Castlevania franchise. It's not there at the moment, but the foundation is there, I think.

Love the graphics, love the first boss's visual design, and the music is damn fine too! With Michiru Yamane and Ippo Yamada and the gang it shouldn't be surprising, but still! Wonder if the main game will have music of this quality. Maybe these songs are from the other game? Either way these ones sound great with that 8-bit sound.
05/24/18, 21:39   
Edited: 05/24/18, 21:46
Is this out?
05/24/18, 22:22   
@carlosrox
Yeah booooiiiii
05/24/18, 22:35   
Daaaaamn. Must get.

Music could be better based on the post above IMO. Doesn't sound authentic enough to me. I'm picky about this kind of thing.

Same goes for the visuals as well. Looks a bit too Shovel Knight.

Other than that I'm all in for this.
05/24/18, 22:41   
Edited: 05/24/18, 22:44
@carlosrox
The game sounds more like a combo of the IGA-vanias and other Inti Creates games than old school Castlevania, but I think it sounds really good! I will admit that I didn't care for the first stage song when I first heard it, before I played the game, but it felt so right while jumping and stabbing along.

I will admit it looks a lot like Shovel Knight, the colour schemes especially, but I think that's a really pleasant look!

EDIT: Ooooh, the third boss! Great design! Too bad it was so easy and brief.
05/24/18, 22:50   
Edited: 05/24/18, 23:08
Pretty annoying that the game is available to the public and yet backer download codes are nowhere to be seen, but I do have lots of other stuff to play... I'm super done with Kickstarter.
05/24/18, 23:53   
nate38 said:
Long story short, I played for 30 minutes and I'm pretty sure I'm on the final stage of this retro spin-off side-game.
Don't listen to this guy! The game is longer than I thought, haha. But I finished it! In a bit over two hours. I unlocked the first extra difficulty mode, which seems to change things up more than I expected.

The bosses are quite good, and the stage design gets better in the later stages for sure.
05/25/18, 04:18   
I beat the game again! This time in Nightmare mode. In classic Inti Creates fashion, the bosses are quicker and more dangerous, and with a really tough new final boss (thankfully lives are unlimited once you get there). And man, what a weird ending, haha.
05/25/18, 06:04   
And I started a third playthrough, this time choosing to kill the partner characters instead of recruiting them!

Makes for a much tougher challenge, for a bunch of reasons:

-- Zangetsu kinda sucks! He doesn't have the mobility, range, or spells of the others.
-- Even his sub-weapons underwhelm. They're like knockoff Belmont items.
-- In regular mode, every character has to die to lose a Life. As solo Zangetsu, you don't have that luxury.
-- Can't take the shortcuts that the other characters have access to.
-- Can't reach the upgrades that the other characters have access to.

He does get a few consolation prizes to make him less crappy, though...
05/25/18, 06:54   
Edited: 05/25/18, 06:54
@nate38@nate38@nate38Well this is all good to hear! I didn't even know you could kill your partners! This is going to be interesting!
05/25/18, 09:16   
Bought and played through yesterday. It was very well made and scratched that old school Castlevania itch nicely.
05/26/18, 01:08   
Do you guys play with knock-back on or off? I've got mine turned on, for that old school frustration factor!
05/26/18, 01:45   
@r_hjort Yeah I've only played on Veteran mode so far. AUTHENTIC.

nate38 said:
And I started a third playthrough, this time choosing to kill the partner characters instead of recruiting them!
Finished! Doing so unlocks Ultimate Mode, which is apparently just Nightmare mode except Zangetsu is playable and has his double jump, aerial slash, and dash. It also unlocks Boss Rush, which...is a boss rush.

I don't think I'll bother with either of those two modes, or any of the several other endings, which mostly depend on which allies you recruited, killed, or bypassed. Six hours, three playthroughs, I think I got my zero bucks' worth. This was a nice little package for sure. Definitely my favorite of the recent 8-bit lineup from Inti Creates (Mighty Gunvolt, Blaster Master Zero).
05/26/18, 03:06   
@nate38
Just started Nightmare Mode, and I think I have to agree with you that this is my favourite of the retro styled Inti Creates games as of late, in my case dethroning Blaster Master Zero. Very good stuff, this.

EDIT: I really like that third boss. I know I'm repeating myself, but it's such a good concept. I especially like how you realize that all that gold was just a mirage when he dies, and you're standing in these huge piles of human bones. Love it!
05/26/18, 14:16   
Edited: 05/26/18, 15:18
Wow, I guess I have to grab this. I love me some old-school Castlevania.
05/26/18, 15:20   
@Anand
Don't expect it to be a Rondo of Blood-killer or anything, but it's a very nice Castlevania style game, IMO. Better than Castlevania Adventure Rebirth and games like that at least, if you ask me.
05/26/18, 15:26   
Edited: 05/26/18, 15:28
@r_hjort Yeah I still like Rondo the best, but Bloodstained is easily second on my Classic-vania list (admittedly I've only played 1, 3, 4, and Rondo). I think I remember 3 having more level design variation, but Bloodstained's bosses are definitely the best.

Speaking of Rondo, I like how most of the bosses have one desperate final attack before they actually die. I don't know if these can actually kill you or not (and I'm not sure if they could in Rondo either?), but they're a cool finale.
05/26/18, 15:52   
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