Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Reviews
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is as close to perfect as fans of metroidvania games could hope for.
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.
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.
Given that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a crowdfunded game, the amount of love and attention evident in its production comes as no surprise. The level of quality that is present in this package is truly astounding, and the appreciation grows even more when considering the free content promised for the coming months. Perfection should not be expected from Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. However, the result is exactly what was promised by the developers, and fans could not ask for more. Throughout its development, Igarashi-san provided continual assurance that he desired to make the game a product of its fans. By listening to criticism and acting on it, he fulfilled his promise with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is one of those masterpieces in gaming that only comes once every generation. With responsive controls, great combat and a massive list of weapons and items, it will keep you coming back for more.
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.
Aside from a few script malfunctions and some odd enemy behavior at points, this is a perfect Metroidvania game. If you are a fan of the genre, a fan of Castlevania, a fan of Metroid, or just a fan of 2D platformers in general, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up.
Aside from some minor performance issues and localization typos barely worth mentioning, Bloodstained is an incredible feat in independent video game development. I’ll be coming back to this one for years to come.
Igarashi delivered exactly what his fans wanted — an incredible game which is one of the best metroidvanias out there.
Review in Russian | 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 a love letter for all the fans that waited for a real new Castlevania game. Igarashi delivered what he promised 5 years ago.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
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.
Ritual of the Night is one of the best games released so far this year, and even if you don’t love 2D platformers, the excellent exploration elements, movement, and combat are good enough to win anyone over.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is pure fun, and I couldn't be more pleased with the experience.
An almost perfect game with just some minor flaws that don't ruin the overall experience.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is an incredibly well-made adventure, and a heartfelt ode to games past.
A sprawling and beautifully executed monument to the Castlevania titles of old, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night feels like a promise delivered for fans of not just the series, but intricately structured action adventures too. The king has returned.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a wonderful love letter to Castlevania fans. It's gothy, camp, and unabashedly old school. But it's also a meticulously crafted game that constantly rewards players for exploration and offers unbridled options in combat. For long-time Metroidvania fans, Ritual of the Night is an unmissable celebration of the genre from the mind of one if its chief architects, while for newcomers it's an accessible entry-point that's easy to pick up and oh so difficult to put down. Let's hope the next one doesn't take quite as long.
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.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night could be one of the biggest surprises this year. For Castlevania fans, this represents the best chance you'll ever have to experience that franchise's golden days. For everyone else, this game is a tightly paced and engaging explore-'em-up that will devour your attention span and reward you appropriately.