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[jshackles]

Anyone knows how to clear the giant pile of rocks in the DIan Cecht church area? I managed to glitch my way through it using inverse and unlock the shortcut, but it's useless since the rocks are still blocking my way otherwise.

Keep jumping on the bell above it, it will fall and break up the rocks

Obscure progression is a hallmark of Igavanias, it's a feature, not a design flaw!

My thoughts exactly. I know people who have played through Symphony of the Night multiple times and never realized that there was an inverted castle. They just got close to 100% map completion and beat the Dark Priest Shaft ("just talkin' bout Shaft!") and went "OK cool that game was fun".

Those same people would probably get the "bad ending" in Bloodstained and think "ok that was fun I beat the game" if it weren't for the Game Over screen following the bad ending.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Gameplay is fantastic, it continues where his DS games left off, stuff you expect is all there with collecting powers from enemies with multiple types, NPC quests from Order and Portrait return, crafting from Dawn is expanded, then you have weapon skills which brings back the fighting game inputs from SOTN. Length is around the same as his Castlevania's, I'm at 18 hours to 100% map and bestiary, still have a little less than half the quests to do. Audio is good, some catchy music, voice acting is very IGA plus you have David Hayter (who was a stretch goal) and original Alucard voice actor voicing the vampire librarian O.D.

I' m far enough to say that this is the apex of the Igavania genre. It looks gorgeous and the things they do with depth is insane. Soundtrack is catchy as hell. Gameplay is basically Aria of Sorrow on steroids. Think of the Soul system, but with added layers on top. Long? I dunno but I'm 8 hours in, with 70% percent of the map. It dwarfs IGA's other games in sheer size.

IMO it's a must play. One of the best games of the gen, flat out.

Cool. Thanks guys. I'll for sure get it at some point. Have never been a Castlevania fan really at all aside from SotN (which to me, out of nowhere, is one of the best side scrolling old school games). All the traditional side scrolling Castlevanias don't exactly hit my top 50 games lists ever.

 

[F0rneus]

Keep jumping on the bell above it, it will fall and break up the rocks

Ahhhhhhhhhh. Thank you!

 

[Dice]

I got most of the ultimate weapons now and I also realized that if you master a passive, you keep it on even if not equipped, so then I started grinding those and also mastering weapon special moves so they transfer to the better ones. Now my stats and abilities are completely insane. Miriam has become a freaking valkyrie. Whenever I find Iga he's going down quick. Also (secret post-game boss spoiler): Carrying all the books at once after beating OD. What a huge boost!

 

[F0rneus]

Just crafted Rhuva Velar. Holy fukkkkkk. Hi Valmanway!

 

[Zannegan]

I'm holding off on starting this until ny 14 hour flight on Thursday. Nothing like an Igavania and an audiobook for travel.

 

[lachesis]

I've been playing the game maybe about 8-10 hour mark. Still very early in the game, as I am trying to get all the items and shards from every new enemy that I meet (and if I like the shard, I would gather 9 of the shards. (plus upgrading it using alchemy as far as I can, and doing all the quests) - Just met Zangetsu first time around 14% explored, and my level is already around 30. Probably I'm savoring the game little too much... seeing so many of you are so far ahead! LOL

Anyhow - the game in early on tells you that having too many shards might have effect on you later on. Is that true? Am I supposed to keep the shards as little as possible?

 

[F0rneus]

My map on the fast travel screen is glitched to hell and back. Areas that are filled out, appear empty etc. Makes it hard to make it to 100%. since I can't really tell what's filled out or not. This game needs a new patch like yesterday. I still love it though. Just don't make a patch that kills the game like the last one.

 

[Darak]

Wow, that secret boss is in another level. He has one certain attack which kills you instantly in hard mode and it seems unavoidable. I was able to beat him, but thanks to pure luck (I paused the game in the middle of that attack and was able to use potions there and survive it). I'm not a fan of this game's bosses. They really need longer tells and better attack animations. You can brute force through most of them, but you end up taking a lot of damage from wonky hitboxes and bullshit stuff filling the entire screen or coming from nowhere. Avoiding certain boss attacks can sometimes be compared to the progression blocks as the solution can be something incredibly obscure.

The yellow shards are completely OP, by the way. If you level them up to rank 9 using alchemy, they become permanent skills, which means they immediately get a x2 (you can still equip them, and the effects of your new skill and the equipped shard stack). Having things like permanent Enhance STR and two Optimize you can do 500+ damage per hit (not to mention many of those shards also increase your attack speed, and that ALSO stacks).

 

[#Phonepunk#]

man this game is really great. just so many cool areas. so many wonderful beautiful backgrounds. SOTN was good because even when a room was just a box with an enemy in it, it looked amazing & evocative of this cool Dark Fantasy world. this does that at HD. love the area with the gold inlaid walls, holy crap, i felt like i was in the Vatican or something.

i really like the lore too. a lot of the demons are based on the Ars Goetia, a famous medieval grimoire. they are also searching for a similar book in this game, with Alfred as the corrupted sorcerer. they say it was written in "Enochian script" which is a IRL thing medieval demonologists talked about, it was the language of angels (demons are just fallen angels). the involvement of alchemists is very faithful to medieval demonology too. they used to craft magical talismans/rings/swords/wands/other implements in order to summon a familiar or guardian spirit. knowing how to melt metal and what sign of the moon to do this under, lol, it was a bit like farming/gathering materials for crafting in a video game.

 

[jshackles]

I also realized that if you master a passive, you keep it on even if not equipped

I did not know this, but that's amazing. That'll definitely add a few dozen hours to my play time as I try and max them all out.

 

[WhiskeyDiver]

I beat the game fully finally. I got good ending. That's not the best part.

Spoiler

Winning the race against the demon ninja is. ACCELERATOR SHARD BABY! I've been waiting all fucking game for something like this! You can just steamroll the shit out of weak enemies and gather up crafting supplies in no time. It's a shame it didn't become available a lot earlier in the game. I love zooming around everywhere. Now I just have upgrade it to 9. I hope the speed boosts make it even more insane.. Also, Rip Zangetsu. You went out like a boss against hopeless odds.

Edit: Part of my spoiler made no sense.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

just tried on the Convex Glasses lol. the camera is now much closer -- i might play the game like this!

 

[Deleted member 752119]

If anyone is looking to get the PC (Steam) version, Fanatical has it on sale for $31.59.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | Steam PC Game

Get ready for exploration-focused, side-scroller RPG action...

www.fanatical.com

Thanks for sharing! Just bought and downloaded.

 

[Dice]

30 hours played. Level 75. 99.8% of the map.

I understand now. The map is the final boss.

 

[F0rneus]

Spoiler: Boss spoiler/speculation

Dominique will totally be the 3rd DLC character ain't she?

 

[Starlight Lotice]

Pro tip: Invert and he becomes a joke lol

Seriously!?!?! I am stuck on this boss so this may help.

 

[McCheese]

Spent a few hours power leveling my pickpocket and luck skill shards to max.

This must be how twitch girls feel, I can't even leave the starting area without people throwing money and loot drops at me.

 

[Fatalmephisto29]

Just finished 100% nightmare mode. Man that was fun

 

[jshackles]

Just hit 14 hours of play time and got my first crash to desktop. I just beat the Zengetsu boss and got his sword. Luckily I saved it immediately afterward. Went down a screen and read a bookcase, and boom.

Level 42, 76% of the map completed.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

Grinding the Dragon at Lava Caves gives a TON of exp if you stack the ring and multiplyer on it.

Can also get Dragon Eggs this way.

Can the OP add segments that might get some players stuck throughout the game? Figure out the Spike protection Armour myself that would help others.

 

[Mista]

Still haven’t played it much. Too busy with Judgment for now

But from what I played, I like the game.

 

[Salvatron]

I spent a 10 hours yesterday playing Bloodstained. Woke up hyped to play, went to bed dreaming about it. I haven't had a game appeal to me that way in a very long time. (I hate to admit this, but I've never played SOTN). I am loving this game. Got about 65% of the map complete and just got to the entrance of the lava style area. For those that are already in NG+, do you ever get to play as Zangetsu?

 

[jshackles]

I spent a 10 hours yesterday playing Bloodstained. Woke up hyped to play, went to bed dreaming about it. I haven't had a game appeal to me that way in a very long time. (I hate to admit this, but I've never played SOTN). I am loving this game. Got about 65% of the map complete and just got to the entrance of the lava style area. For those that are already in NG+, do you ever get to play as Zangetsu?

This game has definitely dominated my gaming thoughts since it released, having put in 14 hours in less than a week on any one game is kinda crazy numbers for me.

Also, if you like this game you should definitely give Symphony of the Night a play. There's a reason it's so beloved and also a reason it's been re-released so many times. If you've got a Playstation I recommend the Requiem Collection.

Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood

Castlevania Rondo of Blood, first released in 1993 and Castlevania Symphony of the Night, first released in 1997 are now available in one combined package for the PS4 Experience two of the greatest games from the famous Castlevania series. Make your way to the top of Draculas castle as...

store.playstation.com

If you've got an Xbox you can pick up the 360 version which is also backwards compatible and playable on the Xbox One:

Castlevania: SOTN

marketplace.xbox.com

Finally, Zangetsu as a playable character is DLC that is planned for release later on.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

if you've never played SOTN then you should definitely make it the first game you play after this. there is a reason it is a classic even after 20 years. that status is well deserved.

 

[F0rneus]

FInished it. Masterful is the word I'd use.

 

[BruceCM]

Finally, tomorrow is when I hopefully get my digital code....

 

[JCK75]

I'm about 6 hours into it, and I can't wait for the Switch version to drop tomorrow so I can start all over there while still trying to finish it on PC, game is amazing.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

can someone clear up the upgrading/shard system for me? do i sell shards or not? is there a benefit to having more of a kind of shard, does it make it more powerful like DoS? it seems like you just make them more powerful by crafting other things that u get from material drops.

i feel like the ARPG elements in this have fully kicked in now. i have a big open map and can seek out certain baddies to farm for upgrade material. trying to max out my upgrade potential and hunting down specific monsters is cool. this is so much fun.

 

[EviLore]

can someone clear up the upgrading/shard system for me?

do i sell shards or not? is there a benefit to having more of a kind of shard, does it make it more powerful like DoS?

i feel like the ARPG elements in this have fully kicked in now. i have a big open map and can seek out certain baddies to farm for upgrade material. trying to max out my upgrade potential.

Shards have two components: Rank and Grade.

Rank (1-9) is upgraded through the crafting system. The crafting screen will tell you what an increase in Rank will do. Usually this will increase the duration, area of effect, or number of projectiles of the spell. The effects of upgrading a shard's rank tend to be significant. Ranks 1-4, 5-7, and 8-9 cost different upgrade materials.

Grade (1-9) is determined by how many of the same shard you carry. Usually this will make the shard incrementally stronger, e.g. a +1 damage increase per Grade level.

Yellow shards that you upgrade to Rank 9 will become permanent passive effects that don't require the shard to be equipped anymore to function (effect can be toggled in the menu).

 

[Ceadeus]

I certainly would have prefered 2D pixel art over ugly UE4 graphic but the game is really good.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

I certainly would have prefered 2D pixel art over ugly UE4 graphic but the game is really good.

they made a whole 2D pixel art game, and it is amazing! Curse of the Moon. you should play it if you haven't. it rules. where this is like SOTN that is like Castlevania III.

DAMN that's a satisfying Kickstarter.

the graphics look really good to me. i think the 2.5D works very well with this level design. usually you are just moving vertically or horizontally, which makes having 3D stuff in the background a good idea, cos it moves in parallax with the player. it's like the old parallax scrolling they used to have to fake, only real.

i have a PSP and got the 2.5D remake of Rondo of Blood and while it played ok i found the graphics to be a massive disappointment. they were just too muddy for me, too low res. SOTN was so good largely because of the catalog of meticulous pixel art it contained. i think they could do a lot of new backgrounds because the enemy sprites were already there. those sprites were re-used in multiple games by this point. it was a series sampling itself, making the best by leveraging the expansive disc space of the new CD-ROM for gratuitous pixel art. this is a main reason SOTN is so unique and beloved.

IMO they do a good job here. they have the same spirit of doing all the old themes, reinterpreted with new designs, with high def rendering that still retains a stylized animated look to it. at times it is reminiscent of Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin. or any of the DS games that Igarashi had been involved with. he is carrying the torch, that legacy from the old school. so great to see him create wonderful new things.

 

[jshackles]

Shards have two components: Rank and Grade.

Rank (1-9) is upgraded through the crafting system. The crafting screen will tell you what an increase in Rank will do. Usually this will increase the duration, area of effect, or number of projectiles of the spell. The effects of upgrading a shard's rank tend to be significant. Ranks 1-4, 5-7, and 8-9 cost different upgrade materials.

Grade (1-9) is determined by how many of the same shard you carry. Usually this will make the shard incrementally stronger, e.g. a +1 damage increase per Grade level.

Yellow shards that you upgrade to Rank 9 will become permanent passive effects that don't require the shard to be equipped anymore to function (effect can be toggled in the menu).

In other words: that bitch that says "You should really sell me your extra shards to make some spending money" is trying to hustle you out of your precious shards.

 

[Danjin44]

Shards have two components: Rank and Grade.

Rank (1-9) is upgraded through the crafting system. The crafting screen will tell you what an increase in Rank will do. Usually this will increase the duration, area of effect, or number of projectiles of the spell. The effects of upgrading a shard's rank tend to be significant. Ranks 1-4, 5-7, and 8-9 cost different upgrade materials.

Grade (1-9) is determined by how many of the same shard you carry. Usually this will make the shard incrementally stronger, e.g. a +1 damage increase per Grade level.

Yellow shards that you upgrade to Rank 9 will become permanent passive effects that don't require the shard to be equipped anymore to function (effect can be toggled in the menu).

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!!! I thought I was suppose sell them. Damn!

 

[Ceadeus]

they made a whole 2D pixel art game, and it is amazing! Curse of the Moon. you should play it if you haven't. it rules. where this is like SOTN that is like Castlevania III.

DAMN that's a satisfying Kickstarter.

the graphics look really good to me. i think the 2.5D works very well with this level design. usually you are just moving vertically or horizontally, which makes having 3D stuff in the background a good idea, cos it moves in parallax with the player. it's like the old parallax scrolling they used to have to fake, only real.

i have a PSP and got the 2.5D remake of Rondo of Blood and while it played ok i found the graphics to be a massive disappointment. they were just too muddy for me, too low res. SOTN was so good largely because of the catalog of meticulous pixel art it contained. i think they could do a lot of new backgrounds because the enemy sprites were already there. those sprites were re-used in multiple games by this point. it was a series sampling itself, making the best by leveraging the expansive disc space of the new CD-ROM for gratuitous pixel art. this is a main reason SOTN is so unique and beloved.

IMO they do a good job here. they have the same spirit of doing all the old themes, reinterpreted with new designs, with high def rendering that still retains a stylized animated look to it. at times it is reminiscent of Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin. or any of the DS games that Igarashi had been involved with. he is carrying the torch, that legacy from the old school. so great to see him create wonderful new things.

Well, I'm harsh but I do miss the 3DS style and SoTN as well.

I actually did the whole playthrough in only two sitting lol! 21 hours of pure crack. I'll be grinding every inch of the castle and doing new game plus etc.. Was totally worth the 4 years. Iga is my absolute favorite.

Curse was totally awesome too, reminded me of Castlevania 3!

 

[Ceadeus]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!!! I thought I was suppose sell them. Damn!

Lol, don't sell anything. Collect the shit all the way through 100%

 

[EviLore]

In other words: that bitch that says "You should really sell me your extra shards to make some spending money" is trying to hustle you out of your precious shards.

Yup.

 

[jshackles]

I've seen a few people online, some in this very thread, that complain the game is too obtuse. #Phonepunk# 's question about shards is a good example of something the game doesn't hold your hand on - and in a great tradition dating back to the days of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, the game actively lies to you. One NPC in Bloodstained says you can't gather too many shards or it'll destroy you - which makes most people think there is some kind of limit to the amount you can hold before you "lose the game" which prompts them to sell their extras. The shopkeeper NPC has multiple lines of dialog at multiple different times explaining how you should sell your extra shards for extra cash which reinforces the idea that you'll hit some kind of cap. And yet, no cap exists and you'll be actively hurting yourself if you listen to them. The game expects you to learn this lesson on your own, it's imploring you to explore all the shard possibilities and what the strongest combos are. If you're planning on speed-running the game and have a particular build in mind, by all means sell all the extra garbage you don't plan on using.

The same is true with how the game handles player progressions. It doesn't hold your hand and give you a giant flashing arrow saying "GO HERE NEXT", it's something you need to figure out on your own in most cases. The game expects that you'll do a fair amount of "wandering" around the castle and seems to have built it's leveling system around this fact. If you followed a guide and went directly from point A -> B -> C without making any detours, by the time you made it to the boss at the end of C you'd likely be struggling. I've spent at least a few hours wandering around the castle trying to figure out what to do next all the while getting extra experience and items while leveling up my shards.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: embrace the obtuse, it's all part of the experience.

 

[Durask]

In other words: that bitch that says "You should really sell me your extra shards to make some spending money" is trying to hustle you out of your precious shards.

I sold all my extra shards. Oh well.

 

[TheDuskwalker]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!!! I thought I was suppose sell them. Damn!

The bitch successfully jebaited you.

 

[Fatalmephisto29]

So I have over 62 hours played. Beat it on normal three times, once on hard and once on nightmare mode. Got all boss medals and im still not sick of this game

 

[Dynasty8]

8 hours in, 5 bosses down. Loving it so far. Definitely giving me that SotN vibe.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

Seems quite hard to make a lot if money when you need it for items in crafting .

Whesre is the best place for grinding cash with the Gold Ring?

 

[Fatalmephisto29]

Seems quite hard to make a lot if money when you need it for items in crafting .

Whesre is the best place for grinding cash with the Gold Ring?

There is a sweet build out there that can net you about 500k in less then 30 mins.

 

[dirthead]

I've seen a few people online, some in this very thread, that complain the game is too obtuse. #Phonepunk# 's question about shards is a good example of something the game doesn't hold your hand on - and in a great tradition dating back to the days of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, the game actively lies to you. One NPC in Bloodstained says you can't gather too many shards or it'll destroy you - which makes most people think there is some kind of limit to the amount you can hold before you "lose the game" which prompts them to sell their extras. The shopkeeper NPC has multiple lines of dialog at multiple different times explaining how you should sell your extra shards for extra cash which reinforces the idea that you'll hit some kind of cap. And yet, no cap exists and you'll be actively hurting yourself if you listen to them. The game expects you to learn this lesson on your own, it's imploring you to explore all the shard possibilities and what the strongest combos are. If you're planning on speed-running the game and have a particular build in mind, by all means sell all the extra garbage you don't plan on using.

The same is true with how the game handles player progressions. It doesn't hold your hand and give you a giant flashing arrow saying "GO HERE NEXT", it's something you need to figure out on your own in most cases. The game expects that you'll do a fair amount of "wandering" around the castle and seems to have built it's leveling system around this fact. If you followed a guide and went directly from point A -> B -> C without making any detours, by the time you made it to the boss at the end of C you'd likely be struggling. I've spent at least a few hours wandering around the castle trying to figure out what to do next all the while getting extra experience and items while leveling up my shards.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: embrace the obtuse, it's all part of the experience.

Ignoring the fact that NPCs are lying to you, the system is just really weird. Games have taught people for decades that duplicate items are worthless. It was a really bizarre design decision to actually make duplicates valuable. What's the end result? You end up grinding more? I don't see any real interesting mechanics there. It's just a lame attempt to pad the game by encouraging people to farm duplicate items. Really, you could have achieved the same thing by simply making shard drops more rare and requiring the same number of kills to get 1 as it currently takes to get 9. The system is unintuitive and weird.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

There is a sweet build out there that can net you about 500k in less then 30 mins.

Sweet! Tell me more!

 

[Fatalmephisto29]

Ignoring the fact that NPCs are lying to you, the system is just really weird. Games have taught people for decades that duplicate items are worthless. It was a really bizarre design decision to actually make duplicates valuable. What's the end result? You end up grinding more? I don't see any real interesting mechanics there. It's just a lame attempt to pad the game by encouraging people to farm duplicate items. Really, you could have achieved the same thing by simply making shard drops more rare and requiring the same number of kills to get 1 as it currently takes to get 9. The system is unintuitive and weird.

Ive seen this get talked about before on reddit. I just did a test video to see how long it will take me to farm 8 shards for one of the shards I had at 1/1. It took almost 7 mins to get 8 and each grade increased how much damage the shard did. So yes its worth doing it for whatever shards your using. Is it a grind? Of course, farming the mats to rank it up is a longer grind but can be less time with the right build setup.

Sweet! Tell me more!

Okay give a min to type it all out. Not sure if I should us the spoiler tag.

 

[EightBit Man]

I really want to play this game, but I'll wait until the game has all the features and it's bugs ironed out.

 

[SirTerry-T]

Playing on Switch (undocked) and loving it. I can get the people complaining about the graphics not looking quite as sharp but the wonderfully imaginative art direction still holds up and even at 30 fps, the game feels great.
Not feeling any input lag using the plain old joycons, if there's is some it's certainly not enough to notice or hamper my enjoyment so far.
A patch or two to help any outstanding bugs or glitches and sharpen the image quality in the Switch wouldn't be unappreciated but if they don't happen I won't feel shortchanged after my kickstarter backing.
Good stuff, Iga Crew.

 

[BruceCM]

Just got to 1st boss myself (on Switch, since that's only platform I have).... Looks & plays great, so I have no idea what the complaints are about