VinnyVania: Bloodstained: Part 08

well finally finished this game.

I hope they get to craft that weapon Dan wanted Vinny to craft

The Detective's Eye gets a bigger radius by increasing its grade. You've probably forgotten about Grade but its the number of duplicates of a shard you have and increases the power of a shard, upgrading the rank via crafting usually increases range/duration (The eye and some of the passives are exceptions where its power is its radius). If you want to increase the damage on heretical grinder you also want to increase its grade, but it means farming for duplicate shards (with LCK gear).

Theres also a few shards you can craft if you go all the way right in the crafting menu. Stuff like katana and greatsword expertise, and variants on some of the spell type shards.

@bathala: That weapon is BS and you know it. J'accuse! I forbade myself from using it on NG+ as it makes a mockery of everything. It is a faithful recreation of the situation in SOTN, however.

I loved this game I'm 98 percent explored but still have like 100 food items I still haven't even found ingredients for. I hope they make a sequel it was really a blast.

I had to laugh at Dan getting so excited about cooking and then telling Vinny to make a bunch of largely useless stuff he already had or didn't need. I loved the crafting systems in this games, but they are very much built for you to use a guide and go grinding, and to use a couple key shard combinations to break the economy.

The "salt is not a rock" declaration, and subsequent justification for it, is the most headache-inducing scientific statement that has ever come out of Giant Bomb, and it wasn't from Dan.

(Yes, there's a very technical distinction between rocks and minerals where the former are considered disorganized aggregates of the latter (+ other detritus) - but that distinction was fifty miles from whatever was going on in that explanation.)

@deathpooky said:

What traversal thing is Dan talking about near the end? I've beaten the game but can't remember it.

I remember there was a one off episode of Pinky and the Brain where there was a 3rd rat called Larry that they even put into the intro song. Also liked that episode where they swapped gimmicks and chanted "Big Head, Noodle Noggin!"

Please never encourage Dan to voice act.

I did like Level 2 Dad Vinny forestalling Alex and letting Dan walk himself through what pasta was though. Dan has lived a largely incurious life. Encouraging him rather than berating him will ultimately be better if you actually want him to learn. And this from someone that is often outraged by Old Dan.

I N V E R T !

This game just owns

I still find Abby's fake British accent more offensive.

it hurts to watch

Oh, no Burgling for a couple of weeks :(

I got into Bloodstained because of VinnyVania but then fell off of it because I did the exact same thing Vinny did a few episodes back and died immediately after killing the Vampire Lady and couldn't bring myself to do it again.

Now I see the error of my ways. I'm comin' back Miriam!

@dr1nkurmlkshake: Speed shard. It combos with jumps and other stuff, very easy to max out its power once you have it.

Enjoy your vacation, Vinny!

I fully upgraded that arrow move Dan recommended in the first episode and that carried me through most of the game.

Even knowing what Dan was trying to say with that accent, it is completely nonsense and incomprehensible.

@eccentrix: Burgling I can do without but no Vinny? Damn...harsh weeks coming up.

KILTHOZMURDRAHSDEDD

Great series and great game! Good job guys!

wow that's totally an Omega Metroid meets shin godzilla

@huser: Building on your mention of curiosity, I have more patience with Dan with the salt thing since he acknowledges he doesn't know and wants to know, whereas Alex is completely confident in his bizarre ideas on what salt is and how it's made.

• If you aren't going to use the shortcuts, you can still "favorite" shards and items to put them at the top of their respective menu.
• Food is better than potions. Make something like pizza or a meat dish that heals a lot, then just buy those from the store.
• Kill those murderers dead.

As a British person I can say Dan's impressions of the English are spot on old chap!

Not sure if this was mentioned in past vinnyvania comments, but I think it's very cool:

For the "Kill Those Murderers Dead" lady, most of the quest names are references to Castlevania characters. Quest giver Lindsay wants revenge on Konami for killing Castlevania!

Her second quest, "Avenge the death of Rosaly!" is a reference to Castlevania Curse of Darkness. At the beginning of that game, Hector sets out to kill Isaac to get revenge, and his exact words are, "for the death of Rosaly!", as Rosaly is his wife who was murdered.

For those who have played Curse of Darkness, the reference was unmissable, which is probably why they put this as the first quest in Lindsay's list.

The other quests:

• "Avenge the death of Annette!" Richter's girlfriend in Rondo of Blood.
• "Avenge the death of Lisa!" Dracula's wife in Symphony of the Night.
• "Avenge the death of Simon!" Castlevania 1 main protagonist, of course.
• "Avenge the death of Porter!" Not sure.
• "Avenge the death of Dan!" Not sure.
• "Avenge the death of Edward!" Not sure.
• "Avenge the death of Shawn!" Not sure.
• "Avenge the death of Dario!" An antagonist in either Aria or Dawn of Sorry, can't remember.
• "Avenge the death of Mathius!" An antagonist in Lament of Innocence.
• "Avenge the death of Martha!" Not sure.
• "Avenge the death of Soleiyu!" Antagonist in GB Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge.
• "Avenge the death of Carl!" Not sure.
• "Avenge the death of Mitta!" Not sure.
• "Avenge the death of Sypha!" Castlevania 3 side protagonist, of course.
• "Avenge the death of Juste!" Harmony of Dissonance protagonist.
• "Avenge the death of Richter!" Rondo of Blood / Symphony of the Night, of course.
• "Avenge the death of Julius!" Aria/Dawn of Sorrow side character.

Boy the spirit knight guy seems to suck.

As someone who plays Catan, Alex can tell you Ore is DEFINITELY NOT wheat.

The cooking stuff in this game seems so overwhelming. The last thing I ever want to be doing in a Metroidvania is grinding for stats. This entire game just seems filled to the brim with stuff and all of it is bloating and busywork.

Edit: um wait. I was on Vinny's side with the cheese thing until he said Kraft Singles. That's not cheese, that's orange sin and it tastes like being punched in the face.

I can't believe no one in chat told them they completed the demon quest when this was live.

My daughter is almost 3- sleeping in is 7am

God damn it Dan is so annoying I might have to cancel my premium

There's a shard that shows the amount of HP an enemy has rather than the amount of damage you're dealing. i forget what it was called, though.

I can't believe Dan hasn't mentioned that if you level up passive shards all the way they become permanent boosts even if you aren't wearing them at the moment.

Also the reason you don't currently have to hit candles to break them is because your spikey armor is breaking them.

Vinny upgrades "Welcome Company". YAY!

Vinny does not equip "Welcome Company". Awww.

Have they ever commented on the fact that all the bosses / characters are from Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, a game they played previous to this?