Customizing Miriam (Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night)

I've played a lot of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - a Metroidvania and spiritual successor to the Castlevania series - recently. I haven't finished the game and am not ready to share my general thoughts yet. But one of the things I'm really enjoying about the game is the option to customize the playable character with various hairstyles and colours. Character customization is very uncommon in Metroidvanias, so I think there's value in talking about it. So! I just wanted to write a fun article to show off a few of the "looks" I've given Miriam so far. This is a 'just for fun' article, not a serious analysis or critique.

For context, you can customize Miriam's hairstyle, hair color, skin color, eye color and pick two colors for her clothes. She can also be equipped with various accessoires.

Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of the original look I gave her, with red hair, purple clothes and a pirate hat. Fortunately, this does give me the opportunity to express how happy I am that Robert Belgrade got a small role in this game as the vampire on the right, Orlok Dracule. Robert Belgrade was the original voice of Alucard in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and hasn't starred in any Castlevania since, so it feels poetic and just right to have him return like this.

I really like this one, though I probably should've taken the mask off. The blue and green clothes with the blonde hair and bow make for a pretty striking look in my opinion. It's a bit reminiscent of Elsa from Frozen, especially with the braided hair.

I like to call this one the 'dapper' look. It's mostly because of the hat, but Miriam is already pretty dapper by default. I decided to experiment with darker skin in this look as well, as you can even change that. That lead to my most distinctive experiment yet:

I call this one the 'demon' look. I think it's very striking how the blue skin contrasts with the red clothes, and the haircut and demon mask definitely help with the feel. Probably the most aesthetically pleasing look I've given her, in my own opinion.

Have you played any Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night? Please share how you customized Miriam and why.

I'll share my serious thoughts about the game in a future article.