Back in 2014, well known game developer/creator Koji Igarashi left Konami and sought his own studio to make a new game akin to the Castlevania games he originally crafted. After a very successful kickstarter, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was funded and work began to make this ambitious new title. After 4 years, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has officially released, and after having played the beta, you knew we here at Honey’s Anime would be reviewing the final product. Did Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night live up to our hopes and dreams? We have the answer for you but you need to keep reading our full review of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for the PS4 down below!

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is like Castlevania mixed with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and—of course—Metroid. Take the role of Miriam who must navigate numerous trap filled locations flooded with enemies waiting to take her existence! You’ll need to utilize Miriam’s special ability to harness powers from shards to take down these foes and come out alive. With a mass amount of weapons and spells at your disposal, you can enter the battle with various strategies at your beck and call! Level up, gain even greater power and save the world in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night!

Miriam has never lived an easy life as an orphan. Forced to undergo cruel experiments and cursed by an alchemist’s magic, Miriam found her body undergoing strange changes that led to her being crystalized for a long while. When she awakens, Miriam learns that her curse has given her powerful skills but also can possibly lead her to an ill fate. To make matters worse, the curse Miriam has undergone is being spread throughout the land and only she can save humanity from an ill fate. Joined by her friend Johannes, Miriam must stop the evil plague spreading demons and monstrous creatures and equally must put a stop to a friend gone rogue. Miriam is about to enter a dark adventure but with her skills, she is the only force capable of putting an end to this nightmare.

Over the years, many gamers have come to know the greatness of Castlevania. This long running series that debuted on the NES has had a legacy that has outlived numerous franchises. That’s why it’s not surprising that many games have tried to mirror the style of Castlevania—or Metroid which is where the phrase Metroidvania comes from—to some success and some failure. However, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night isn’t just paying homage to those great titans but was produced by Castlevania creator Koji Igarashi. That’s why when we played the beta a while back, we saw potential in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and felt if it fixed just a few things…it could be great. With the final version released, does Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night do justice to its predecessor? Let’s find out in our review of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for the PS4!

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is—as we mentioned—the mirror image of how most Castlevania games play. Player’s assume the role of Miriam who has joined a special unit given the task of ending a plot that could possibly wipe out humanity. Luckily, Miriam isn’t just an ordinary woman, within her lies a power crafted from experiments that allows her to harness magic and otherworldly spells to aid her in this battle. With an array of weapon training and these supernatural talents, Miriam is ready for the battle ahead. However, will you want to join her in that battle? The answer is a simple yes.

Akin to Castlevania, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a 2D side scroller/adventure game that has players running, jumping and hacking away at enemies. You’ll explore various locations fighting numerous baddies and gaining an arsenal of powers/weapons along the way. Miriam can consume shards that fall randomly from enemies she defeats which enable her to use their powers or even summon them in battle. Miriam can also equip numerous weapons that range from whips—a Castlevania tradition—swords and even pistols/guns. With guns, players can equip varying types of ammo, but once that ammo reserve depletes, you’ll use normal bullets which don’t do much damage. One of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night’s strongest elements is how it copies not just one type of Castlevania game but numerous ones and seems to take the best elements of each.

Now in terms of gameplay, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night excels without a doubt. Combat feels great and each weapon/power handles differently to suit the player’s individual needs. An example of this is using a bastard sword for heavy—but slow—damage while maybe using quick magic like shockwaves or long-range fire/water to conform to an in and out form of combat. If you want to be an assassin and skewer enemies you can use rapiers or daggers for low but quick damage and boost your shard magic with defensive skills or magic that can pepper the enemy with damage. Some bosses can be defeated by using specific gameplay maneuvers, but Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night doesn’t force you to cater to one style it allows you a wide berth to really make the game work in your favor.

Exploration is another strength of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. We loved running around wide vistas and dreary castles/ruins to find secrets and ways to move forward in the story. Just like most Metroidvania games, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has players backtracking a lot to make progress. You’ll often hit dead ends that seem impossible to move past, but once you find a key in a room or a special power, you’ll once more resume progress and repeat the process later. If you’re new to mechanics like this, you might see Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night as a bit of a repetitive romp at times. Luckily, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night succeeds in learning from past titles and doesn’t rely on constant backtracking every few minutes. You’ll often make a lot of progress before finding a dead end and being forced to backtrack to a missed area or find a spot you didn’t explore thoroughly.

Visually—and sound wise— Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is another real treat. The visuals—which were improved after a lot of backlash during the beta—look ten times better with character models having a nice and clean cel-shading. The backdrops also look marvelous with a ton of detail in every faucet possible. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night sounds incredible to with a very similar Castlevania OST that works to make every moment—from walking through dark rooms to strange paranormal locations—feel impactful and important. The voice acting is also solid with Miriam stealing the show.

Now as great as Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is, there are some minor gripes we have with it. The main issue we noticed comes from the story which—let’s be honest—isn’t that great. Miriam’s childhood friend turned baddie has been done in every type of genre like it and never were we moved by any story revelation. Equally, one of our previous gripes about too many weapons in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night still remains but with a new kind of problem, stiffness. Some weapons just feel overly stiff to use such as the bastard swords and even katana. They do work and can be used efficiently but using them feels off at times and often we’d rather rely on quicker—but lower damage weapons—as they offer more ways to make combat feel smoother.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night copies many ideas from Castlevania—for obviously good reason—but retains its own individuality in the process. Fans of Castlevania games will love Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and newcomers will find its 2D action/exploration to be fun as well as challenging. With dozens of weapons to collect, spells to harness and bosses/demons to beat, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a wild experience that never feels repetitive. While we would have liked a stronger story and some more unique bosses, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night hits all the right notes to be the perfect homage—or possibly revival—of the Castlevania series. If you’ve been on the fence about buying Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night then let us end your question and say it’s a must buy for fans of the genre and newcomers alike!

Crafted by Castlevania creator Koji Igarashi, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has been long awaited by fans of his works and the end result was well worth it. Koji clearly listened to fans all the way through as the beta led to numerous last-minute changes with visuals and some gameplay themes that made Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night just that much better. We truly hope more Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night titles come out in the future, but for now, we can say this is a must buy for fans of Castlevania or Metroid for that matter. Are you thinking of buying Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night or have already done so? Comment below to let us know your thoughts! For more game reviews, articles and all things anime, be sure to keep stuck to our hive here at Honey’s Anime!