Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Reviews
If you're a Metroidvania fan, this is definitely a 10/10 title, but newcomers to the series will probably not find the same joy in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night succeeds in continuing the legacy of the Castlevania series but with a different name. As a Metroidvania, it easily ranks in among the best in the genre offering a fairly comprehensive overall package.
if you don't have that nostalgia for Symphony of the Night, what will Bloodstained bring to the table? That's something I honestly can't answer—Symphony is one of my favourite games of all time, and a proper successor is something I've been wishing for since long before this game was announced. But Bloodstained is absolutely, unapologetically a game made for Symphony of the Night's many fans, and it lives up to that legacy better than I ever could have hoped for.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a welcome return to the exploration-heavy Castlevania games of the past.
Is Koji Igarashis return to the world of Metroidvania, Bloodstained Ritual of the Night, worth your buck? Are you kidding?
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.
For our part we only have to congratulate Koji Igarashi and encourage everyone to give him an opportunity, because you will take home a real gem.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Great spiritual successor of Metroidvania with rich content and ancompromising difficulty.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
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.
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
Altogether, it’s the worthwhile successor many fans have been waiting for.
Minus a few iffy aspects, Bloodstained is fun experience. Whether it falls into the realm of one of the greats is unlikely but I enjoyed my time anyway.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night carries on the tradition of classic Igavania games in a masterful way.
At the outset of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night I could see the castle that would be the major setting for the game. In the distance, even just the sight, I knew there would be an immensity to this game. The quest that Miriam, our protagonist, was on would be daunting and hard fought. Most of all, I could tell a great amount of passion and care went into the creation of Bloodstained.
After four years of development time, Koji Igarashi has created the game that fans have craved for years. It’s a love letter, not so much to Castlevania itself but to the fans that helped him distance from publisher Konami. Ritual of the Night is not a perfect game, but it’s a bloody good game. If you’re craving for a new Metoridvania, or IGA-Vania, then this is definitely a title to put on your shelf… or digital library.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a trip down memory lane. While it doesn't revolutionize the genre, it is a great adventure from the legendary Igarashi.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night may have shipped with a nasty bug, and it definitely has some rage inducing boss battles, but in the end its challenges and homages to the Metroidvania genre keep it feeling rewarding and very fun to play. Just prepare to be flustered.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night shows how the Metroidvania genre can appeal to both purists and more modern players, offering something new while giving hearty nods at its roots.
Four years ago in 2015 when Koji Igarashi took to Kickstarter, he wanted to prove to the suits of the games industry that people still loved Castlevania. If they wouldn’t give him the series name, he and the fans would make sure it lived on in spirit. Now, in 2019, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is finally here, and it’s everything we hoped it to be. I might be late to the Igavania party, but it made me nostalgic for a bygone era of gaming all the same. As it turns out, the notion that this kind of game is antiquated turned out to be just a strange illusion.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a well-made kickstarterproject, which manages to redeem his promises in terms of gameplay, but don`t go any new ways and has a few technical issues. Even with its problems, the game makes a lot of fun thanks to its good flow. Fans of Metroidvania and especially Castlevania should set this title on their list.
Review in German | Read full review
