The story ofBloodstained: Ritual of the Nightcoming into existence serves as a testament to the power of crowdfunding backing a beloved idea. WhenCastlevaniaseries producer Koji Igarashi departed from Konami in 2014, fans wishing for Igarashi to continue his work and bolster the growing Metroidvania platformer sub-genre has produced a true spiritual successor inBloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
As recently as January 14, the title has seen a nostalgia-minded updateintroducing a classic mode, intended to recreate the feel of playing aCastlevaniatitle. Surprisingly, the update brought with it a hidden mode accessible only through the input of the Konami code at the classic mode title screen, further likeningBloodstained: Ritual of the Nightto its source material with a spike in difficulty and even limited movement options.
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A palette-swap of protagonist Miriam’s outfit indicates the activation of 1986 mode, referencing the release year of the originalCastlevania.With a very deliberate increase in difficulty, 1986 mode restricts the player’s movement in order to emulate how its distant predecessor handled, sacrificing backflips, backsteps, and even jumping onto stairs to begin climbing them. Miriam’s whip behavior is also tactfully limited in not only its reach but also her reduced ability to crouch or jump mid-whip animation.
Frequentlyupdated with new playable characters, challenges, and apparently secrets,Bloodstained: Ritual of the Nightis now capable of scratching that classicCastlevania-itch more authentically than ever. With the retro-enthusiasts undoubtedly satisfied with this discovery, all manner of fans should stay excited about the promising future of Metroidvania titles especially with this project at the forefront.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Nightis available for Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
