Castlevania: Symphonia of the Night producer Koji Igarashi caused a stir among fans last week when he created the “Sword or Whip?” website that seemed to hint at a Castlevania-like game. Today, he unveiled his new project, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is being developed with Inti Creates, and Michiru Yamane will provide the music. It also coins the term Igavania, “a gothic, exploration-focused action platformer.” I’m not sure if this will catch on as a subgenre name the way Metroidvania has, but it does make for a much easier hashtag than the game’s full title.
The main appeal is the gameplay, which focuses on exploration, crafting, and RPG elements. It’s a 2.5D Gothic-style game clearly inspired by Castlevania, although it uses its own lore rather than classic figures such as Dracula. In Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, you play a girl named Miriam who is suffering from a curse that slowly crystallizes her skin. She has been summoned to the hellish castle by Gebel, who survived the curse but has gone insane due to its effects.
I really love the character designs shown so far.
Although it hasn’t seen the insane success of Yooka-Laylee (the Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor that destroyed its funding goal almost immediately), Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is already well on its way to being funded. (Update: within two hours since I wrote this, it met its goal.) You should still check out the Kickstarter, though, if not for the backer rewards then to learn about the special backer achievements. New things will be added to the game or as backer rewards when people follow the game on Twitter, create fan art, etc.
The Kickstarter video is also pretty cool.
It’s planned for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, in both digital and retail formats. This is great news for all Castlevania fans, and even those of us who have gotten into the series slowly (I’ve played… one). Spread the word, and then let me know in the comments what your favorite Castlevania game is!