Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Reviews
All in all, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is exactly what it was marketed as: the revival of the Igarashi Castlevania games. It might not have Konami's IP, but it has the feel, the gameplay, and the style that no other game has quite been able to replicate. You'll love it if you're a fan of the franchise, and it's a great place to start if you're a newcomer. Some annoying design decisions and general performance issues hold it back. In the end, morning has come to vanquish the terrible night, and Bloodstained is hopefully the start of a new generation of Igavania.
Bloodstained has some mighty big shoes to fill but does so admirably. It delivers a classic, yet satisfying experience that fans have been wanting for years.
Is Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night a really good game? Despite having some issues, it certainly is and will absolutely satisfy nearly every old and new player. But is it as fresh and captivating as Symphony of the Night? Sadly, it's not. It just reintroduces features we've seen in the past and perfects most of them, and adds not much of its own to the formula. RotN is a fantastic game that just lacks new & innovative ideas, and a solid foundation for possible future installments to build upon and create groundbreaking titles
Review in Persian | Read full review
Great spiritual successor of Metroidvania with rich content and ancompromising difficulty.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
I think that overall Ritual of the Night will satisfy longtime Castlevania fans. Despite the game’s performance hangups, there is a lot to love in this game. Yet, I am keeping my eyes towards the future, as this particular version is less than ideal
This is the Metroidvania we’ve all been waiting for. If you’ve never played Metroidvanias, this is an easy entry point (example: me). If you have, you’ll adore its mechanics, absurdities, and inexplicable moments.
A worthy successor to the legacy laid out by Symphony of the Night that stands on its own with a compelling new universe and highly customizable build system.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night shows that Koji Igarashi's genius with the invention of the modern Metrovania genre wasn't just a singular event. Through numerous teams working together to bring his vision to life, Bloodstained has become a modern classic for the evergrowing genre.The links above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Wccftech.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Iga finally returns after a long journey with many hurdles, albeit unofficially, to the series that he established and in a genre that he defined.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night captures the essence of the Castlevania series, perfecting the formula that made Symphony of the Night a classic, and even surpassing its spiritual predecessor in many aspects.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is one of those games that is fully aware of its possibilities and, therefore, knows how to make great use of the elements at its disposal. The combat system, the progression of the protagonist and the design of levels generate an experience whose positive sensations are not completely diminished by the performance of this version.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is an outstanding title. Perhaps too short and easy compared to contemporary works, but few titles offer such a precise result regarding the premise of their creation and that they are also tremendously fun to experiment with.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Koji Igarashi's first proper effort since 2008's Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, is a Rococo masterwork.
Other than these small issues (and the aforementioned larger technical issues on other consoles) Bloodstained is great. More content is promised for the future. I sunk way too much time into it when I had other games to review. It’s addictive and likely making my top 10 this year. I hope it does well enough that this isn’t the last we see of Bloodstained.
Igarashi-san has made another masterpiece. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is an unapologetic celebration of the best parts of his previous work, bringing them all together with some fresh approaches to progression. Gorgeous and rewarding, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is phenomenal and is a worthy, near flawless successor to Symphony Of the Night, and that's high praise indeed.
In conclusion, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is the perfect game for fans thirsty for metroidvania games. Iga has finally accomplished what he has promised for the fans and does it well.
BloodStained is the Castlevania that the gamer were waiting for a long time
Review in Spanish | Read full review
GREAT - The wait for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was completely worth it. The Switch version is still plenty of fun to play but is marred with some technical issues at the time of this writing, which holds back its overall score from being even higher. Those that can overlook these issues will find a compelling adventure game filled with secrets and content that should give most gamers over 20 hours of playtime.
Despite the huge parity of performance on different platforms (especially the Switch version) and its long list of bugs and issues, not to mention its lack of polish, Bloodstained is a very decent game that just proves that Igarashi rightfully earned his mark on the Metroidvania genre. It's not in any way a classic, especially compared to Symphony of the Night and its other contemporaries - but its a good, highly enjoyable and replayable, albeit flawed title nonetheless.
Aside from technical issues, Bloodstained remains an excellent title. It's Castlevania in everything but name and fans of Igarachi's earlier work will find a lot to love between excellent combat and rewarding traversal. The Switch port is harder to recommend at present, but the game is likely to be among the console's best after a patch or two. Grab your pitchfork and torches, there's huntin' to do.