With Konami having officially having torpedoed its every single license in a fit of madness, it seems unlikely we will ever see a true Castelvania again. The last one was, after all, a glorified gambling machine which promoted itself on “erotic violence” and completely missed the mark on what made the series engaging. Enter Bloodstained, a spiritual successor to the franchise, offering the same gothic horror, Lovecraftian foes and mechanics as the originals. With Ritual of the Night still some way off, the developer has fulfilled one of its stretch goals early, in the form of its spin-off: Curse of the Moon.
While Ritual of the Night was set to modernise the looks of its inspiration, Curse of the Moon replicates it. This is a definitive effort to replicate the classics as closely as possible, from the mechanics to the visual stylings. It replicates many classic concepts and elements, but at the same time it does all it can to retain its own identity. The musical score, enemies and key weapons are more than just reskins of older creations, and even those which pay tribute to franchise icons typically have a twist to them. Keep that in mind when you bump into the bosses, otherwise you’re going to end up being hacked to pieces.
Many essential levels do hold a surprising number of secrets, and the wide roster of enemies ensures that no single engagement ever starts to feel samey. While a few certainly operate on the same basic premise as those of previous levels, they always have some mechanical surprise to them from fodder to airborne chargers.
Yet, with this being said, Bloodstained does still suffer from several key problems, the most prominent among these being the visuals. The levels are well designed, and feature a number of quite memorable setpieces, but it also suffers from colour choices born of that era. Many are dominated by a single prominent colour, making it surprisingly tedious to run through, while others are overly-detailed with a clash of sickly yellows and dark reds. This makes it very easy for enemies to blend into certain backgrounds and, combined with its staggering difficulty, you can end up simply trying to brute-force your way through levels.
Bloodstained is something which will appeal mostly to gamers of a certain generation or a certain inclination. It’s intentionally archaic, and the levels can be punishing past the point of insanity. Yet, as a game trying to recapture that age, it still does an excellent job and offers a true challenge. Give it a look if you’re an action platformer veteran, but more casual fans might want to steer clear of this one.
BLOODSTAINED: CURSE OF THE MOON / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER:
INTI CREATES CO., LTD. / PLATFORM: PC, SWITCH, VITA, XBOX ONE, 3DS, PLAYSTATION 4 / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
