Hey good lookin’

Yep, sounds like Castlevania. That was my first impression after loading up the demo of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Wow, this game is beautiful, was my next thought. The familiar control scheme fit like a glove. When was the last Igavania? Order of Ecclesia? Eep, I remember barely being out of college when that game released. Too damn long in other words. Tychus Findlay would say: “Hell, it’s about time.” Sorry, random Starcraft II reference.

 I am more excited for Bloodstained than I have been for any game in a long time and, if the demo is anything to judge by, that excitement is well warranted.

Going back to first impressions, while Bloodstained played and sounded just like I would think it should, it’s really the stunning art direction and the very competent application of said art direction that were the real show stoppers. Everything looks great, from the environments to the monsters, and for a side scrolling game it has a surprising amount of “this is a living, breathing world” feel to it.

I’m very interested to see how the story will unfold, although unfortunately story cutscenes and such weren’t a feature for this E3 version of the demo.

Some I think were somewhat dubious of a 2.5D Igavania. I imagine those fears are well put to rest now, although it was never a fear I shared. I’d been hoping for a long time for a 2.5D Castlevania in this style. Konami hasn’t delivered, but IGA is. It’s still in development of course, and I can’t say if the final product will meet my admittedly high expectations. Still, it’s lookin’ good.