Beat the first boss and stopped at the second one, it seems real cool so far. I picked the hardcore version and not casual. Anyone else playing it?

I was glad to see that they gave time limited steam keys to all console backers since all other codes are delayed currently.

I sure hope that this doesn't end up being better than the actual proper Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

I was gonna say that I hope Giant Bomb takes a look at this somehow and then my eyes steer upwards towards the "VinnyStainia" banner...FRIDAY SAVED!

I'm a little surprised by the E-rating of this game. I know there is a mild amount of pixel blood within, so I figured that would give the game a mild T-rating.

My distaste for Steam is such that I'll probably wait until the console codes are available for Kickstarter backers.

I just hope when it comes to the main game that people who backed physical versions on Kickstarter aren't stuck waiting a considerable amount of time for their copies, while the game is otherwise already sitting on store shelves.

@junkerwoland: After the fiasco with the keys for this, I'm now officially worried about the main release in both digital and physical forms. Someone dropped the ball, which sucks, but I guess I've waited since the kickstarter, so I can continue to do so. It was kinda shitty to see press codes go out and not backer codes, knowing that those aren't comparable, it still sucks.

@outbr3ak: For what it's worth, I give those involved credit for issuing temporary Steam keys, even though it's not a solution I find satisfactory. I don't remember what I thought, back when I backed the project, but now with other Kickstarters in mind, I'm just hoping to have my physical copy within days of release and not weeks. Admittedly, that this mini-game wasn't legitimately released to everyone simultaneously is somewhat less than inspiring.

Oh sweet!

I played 2 levels of this and it's pretty good. I was wondering if GB even knew about it and I'm thrilled that Vinny's playing it.

I didn't want to wait on my backer keys so I bought it on Vita. I just beat the initial difficulty with a total time of 1:47. The game crashed while fighting the final boss, so I had to play through the last stage again. I'm not sure if that's counted in my time total or not. There are permanent stat power-ups to collect throughout the stages and multiple routes to take once you unlock all of the playable characters. After you beat it, a harder difficulty is unlocked, and I won't say anything spoilery, but it has a cool way of encouraging you to replay the game. Many of the enemies are classic Castlevania foes with different sprites, and that's fantastic, but there are also plenty of new experiences that make it feel like its own game. I can't recommend it enough to fans of NES Castlevania.

A Mighty Gunvolt situation? It'd be strange but not unprecedented.

Played through the whole thing on Veteran mode. Really solid, although I don't like that almost every boss has this "fuck-you" move after you've killed them that can potentially kill you. Didn't end up being a problem for me, but I could see that being infuriating for someone else. Otherwise, it has super-tight controls, sounds great, and uses a wonderful color palette. I'll probably play through it a few more times; the level design invites at least a few replays to see all the various paths through each level.

Looking forward to the stream tomorrow.

Man, it's so good. I just wish it was longer and/or harder. But overall it makes me hyped for the real Bloodstained. If they nail that game's atmosphere and gameplay as much as they did with this, it's going to be an exceptional Metroidvania.

I actually like that little detail. Reminds me of Rondo of Blood. And thankfully most of the game is really easy, so it's not like it's that much of a dealbreaker.

The Switch version is pretty solid. Not a big fan of 8 bit games more of a 16 bit guy but it looks and feels neat enough that i might play through it

I'm also bummed about the console key situation. I backed this thing too and don't have a PC. On the other hand, I didn't learn about Curse of the Moon until recently, so it was a welcomed surprise.

Any idea how long this is?

I have some issues with the game but overall it is pretty cool.

It REALLY hit's an 8bit look most "8bit pixel art" games do not.

Definitely gonna buy this when I get home from work, looks like a really cool game even though I don't have any nostalgia for the 8-bit Castlevania games!

I'm real curious how it is on 3DS, New 2D games often look great in 3D if they bother to implement it properly. Wonder what the lower screen will be also.

Is anyone aware of how to unlock the third and presumably final campaign? The text when you hover over it says that certain conditions must be met. I just beat Nightmare Mode, and despite the crazy after-credits scene where Zangetsu finds himself in a modern city, the final mode didn't unlock.

I really love this game but as someone who has never stopped playing the original Castlevania games and games like it for the past...30 years...I think the death and checkpointing mechanic is a bad design decision. It’s one of those aspects that I wish they didn’t make more modern or whatever. It’s very personal to the way I play, so I don’t expect people to agree, but that’s my only complaint with the game so far.

Haha and snotty things like people saying positive things like “the soundtrack is just like the nes Castlevanias” when it most closely resembles Harmony of Dissonsance, a soundtrack that people notoriously hated. And also I’ve heard more than one person say there’s no knockback damage and I’m like THEN WHY DO I KEEP GETTING KNOCKBACK DAMAGE?

Lord. I need coffee. GotY Though!

@relkin: Ultimate and Boss Rush are unlocked by beating Normal using only Zangetsu, killing all your potential allies along the way. Just play the first stage again, kill Miriam with your sword, and you'll see what a Zangetsu-only run is all about. That's all I'll say.

@axersia: Thanks! I don't think I would have ever figured that out. I was convinced that the answer was probably finding something or multiple somethings along various paths of each level and having that change the final encounter in some way.

EDIT: Literally just went through the entire game doing what you said, only to not have it unlock the next thing. Turns out I forgot the bit about killing the three allies; I was just walking past them. Got a different ending where Miriam/Alfred/Gebel show up and save you from the final boss and end up dying. Guess I have to do all that again, making sure to kill them all this time. It's a good thing this game is so much fun or I would probably be frustrated right now.

I just beat stage four, I love the look and feel of the game so much. I definitely appreciate that it's slightly more forgiving than the old school Castlevania games, even on Veteran mode. Overall this is probably my game of the year so far, I'm a sucker for games like this and can't wait for the full Symphony style one.

@relkin:

Sorry if that was my fault. I added the little note about not talking to her in case you tried that expecting to be given a choice, but then I realized that might've been confusing.

But hey, what you just did is easily the hardest challenge in the game (except maybe Boss Rush), so anything else the game throws at you will be a breeze. Might as well try for 100% completion now.

@axersia: Not your fault at all, I misinterpreted your post.

Yeah that was a pretty good challenge; level six (and it's boss) is especially rough with just base Zangetsu. I had never had her fight go beyond ten seconds or so because I would just spam Alfreds Lightning spell, so learning her while playing as the character worst suited to her was tough. Did as you suggested and unlocked Ultimate mode/boss rush; thanks again for that. Buffed up Zan is absurdly good.

What I'm curious about now is how many endings there are. You have three choices at three different points throughout the game; do you Recruit, Ignore, or Sacrifice? Is there a unique ending for it the player kills Miriam, Ignores Alfred and recruits Gebel? What about if you recruit Miriam and sacrifice the other two? Does Ultimate mode have different endings from Normal?

I suspect that there is probably just some sort of generic BAD END for if you do something like one of the two examples I provided above, but I plan on finding out. This thing really has its hooks in me, and is quickly turning into a GOTY contender, as far as I'm concerned.

Castlevania 3 is like my favorite Castlevania, so while I thought that the game was "fine" and decently enjoyable at first, it wasn´t until I got into the later half of the game, and did the more punishing Zangetsu only run (basically once the game pushed back enough that I couldn´t just stumble my way through it) that I started to love it.

Once I realized that it was also enough of its own game, with it´s own style and unique ideas besides being a homage to old school Castlevania I stopped getting hung up on things like comparing its character balance when the system was already a big departure from CV3 or the different aspect ratio making the enemy design feel a bit off. Some of the differences also grew on me as good improvements on some of NES Castlevania issues, such as making sub weapon lanterns more recognizable, or just the tighter feel of the stairs in general.

Yeah it might have fewer levels and no branching paths to alternate ones, but it also doesn´t reuse bosses and level layouts as CV3 did.

Two final points: One, it looks gorgeous with a style and color scheme reminicent of NES castlevania but at times has more detailed sprite designs or other advanced graphical effects that very much reminded me of Shovel Knight. The only issue I had was that I felt like some of the boss designs had an odd design to them. Like the dragon looks less like a gothic monstrosity and more like a monster card from Yu-gi-oh! Some of it is them taking designs from the main game, I´m sure, which very much has that more vibrant anime style. Otherwise it could just be that, that´s what the artists at Inti Creates do. Either way it wasn´t my favorite.

My second point comes to the writing, which while it doesn´t matter much, and has an easy enough to follow main plot with maybe 2 or 3 beats in it, is still kind of bad. It could have been more consise or better structured overall, instead it throws around terms like "shardbinder" without ever going into it at all. No doubt a result of the characters being taken out of context from a game that will have a more comprehensive scenario written from it, but I still thought that they should have just ignored the supposed "canon" of these characters to make them fit more into the simple setup of the game they were currently in.

That´s all I have to say. Gotta get back to finishing that Nightmare run and try doing an ability less Zangetsu one as well. I´m still excited for the main Bloodstained, but part of me wants another, even bigger one of these.