A Year of Castlevania

Around this time last year, when the days were getting darker and the horror holiday was almost here, I decided to go on a new journey: To explore all the Castlevania games that I missed out on, specifically the exploration based 'metroidvania' ones. It was an amazing experience. This year I'm starting on a new journey, but I was reflecting on all the games I played and realized I never even wrote about most of them. That's why, in this article, I just want to go over the Castlevania games I played and share some brief thoughts about each of them. Join me as I re-experience my Castlevania marathon one more time. I'll give a brief overview of each game and tell you what I remember most about each of them.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Symphony of the Night is the game that started it all, the game that defined the subgenre of Metroidvania that we sometimes call 'Igavania.' It's self evident that it made a brilliant impression on me; I went on to play all of its successors, after all. Beautiful sprite animation and magnificent music populates every frame of this game as you explore an enormous castle jampacked with secrets. And as an added bonus, there is some truly meme-tastic voice acting.

https://clips.twitch.tv/FlirtySquareAirGuitarVoHiYo

What I remember the most about Symphony of the Night is the presentation and the sheer size of the game. When they revealed I had an entire upside down castle to explore, I just felt overwhelmed and very impressed. But more than that, the game really whet my appetite for this franchise and genre.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Circle of the Moon is the second Castlevania game and first GBA game I streamed. The power disparity between the PlayStation and the GBA is huge, and as such, the game is much less technologically advanced than Symphony of the Night. But there is beauty in simplicity, and Circle does a lot with what it has. You can equip cards that give you various abilities and buffs, there are plenty of secrets and the story is very different; you're not a Belmont or Alucard, in fact, the game feels completely disjointed from the franchise and is considered non-canon. I still really liked it though!

What I remember most about Circle of the Moon was its music and the final boss. I really love this game's rendition of the 'Sinking Old Sanctuary. And no other final boss in the franchise gave me this much trouble. I had to dedicate a full, several hours long stream just to make it through. But get through it I did, and I don't think I encountered a harder challenge anywhere in the series.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance was a huge step forward for Castlevania on GBA, but only in some ways. Visually, it's incredibly vibrant - probably because the muted palette of Circle of the Moon made it really rough to play on the GBA's unlit screen. With much more impressive visuals and a story that actually involved a Belmont, what could go wrong? Well, the game had to surrender its musical quality to make it work, which meant the otherwise well composed tracks sounded grating or unpleasant most of the time. It also had no breakable walls hiding secrets. Aside from that, though, it's impressive and draws heavily on Symphony of the Night in many ways.

What I remember most about Harmony of Dissonance was being introduced to a new Belmont, Juste, and that I really liked him as a character. I also appreciated them bringing back the "upside down castle" concept from Symphony of the Night, but in this game, it's a parallel world not unlike the Dark World introduced in games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Aria of Sorrow is the third and final GBA Castlevania, and it's the game that most defied my expectations. It took everything I thought I knew about Castlevania and threw it out of the window: It takes place in the future, it takes place in Japan and you're playing as a previously unknown character called Soma Cruz. Even so, it shows the fruits of Circle and Harmony's lessons, having both a strong soundtrack and appealing visuals. It introduces the concept of 'Souls', unique abilities you can acquire from every single enemy in the game, which allows for a truly insane amount of ways to play.

What I remember most about Aria of Sorrow was the compelling and surprising story and incredibly innovative soul system. The twist with Soma caught me off guard and I really liked Julius Belmont as a character. The rendition of 'Heart of Fire' that plays in a certain scene with him is etched into my memory forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxFWgilSyAE

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

With Dawn of Sorrow, we finally made the leap to Nintendo DS, and what a leap it was! The game looked amazing and the soundtrack was even better than Aria of Sorrow's. The game is also unique in that it is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow; direct sequels don't really happen in this series, usually. I really liked the story and characters in Aria, so it was a joy to see Soma and the gang again. In most ways the game did what Aria did but better, although the slightly forced implementation of the touch-screen made me lose a few boss battles.

What I remember most about Dawn of Sorrow were the snowy opening area (I love snow-themed areas in games), charming enemy animations, memorable boss battles and incredible soundtrack. My favorite track is still Dracula's Tears, give it a listen for something spooky and catchy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1Q4lEM5SWo

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Portrait of Ruin is another game with many daring decisions. It's not about Soma or the Belmonts, it has two playable characters you can switch between called Jonathan and Charlotte. The game revolves around using both characters in tandem and to your advantage. Instead of just exploring a castle, you're also exploring painting worlds in the castle which lead you to very unique locations - a bit like in Super Mario 64. I later learned that the story tied in with a Sega Genesis classic, Castlevania: Bloodlines. Visually, it's a bit more colorful than Dawn of Sorrow, but not much more advanced. In fact, I did find myself missing the Soul system that had been in the two prior games.

What I remember most about Portrait of Ruin is the dynamic between the two characters, Jonathan and Charlotte (in both story and gameplay), the many worlds you could visit through the paintings and the charming enemy animations.

Castlevania: Bloodlines

After realizing that Portrait of Ruin tied in with Castlevania: Bloodlines, I decided to take a break from the Metroidvanias and try this classic style Castlevania on Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. It only has six levels, like the original on NES, but it's tough as nails from start to finish and it took me about four hours to get through it. It has two playable characters of which I apparently picked the hardest one to use, so that might be why.

What I remember most about Castlevania: Bloodlines is how incredibly difficult it is. It's a great game with great visuals and music, but at the end, I was about ready to give up - that's how challenging it got by the end!

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Portrait of Ruin shook up the Castlevania formula by having you travel to many smaller worlds. Order of Ecclesia, the third and final Castlevania game for DS, takes this to a new level and consists almost entirely of smaller areas that are connected by a world map. The only truly large area is Dracula's Castle, and it's the final area you go to assuming you ignore the optional content. Even though the game functions like the other Metroidvania Castlevanias, many of the areas are small and several of them are completely linear, revolving more around fighting enemies - strangely enough, it feels like a step back to the old Castlevania games, even though its story has very little relevance to the Belmonts. But it also expands on the shared ground between Metroidvanias and RPGs by having a town with friendly NPCs that give you various quests to complete. This game brings back the 'souls' in a certain way; the main character, Shanoa, can absorb magical glyphs. These glyphs can be found or dropped by enemies, and when absorbed, Shanoa can use their powers.

What I remember most about Order of Ecclesia is the compelling story between Shanoa and Albus, as well as the game's stellar soundtrack. Dawn of Sorrow has my favorite individual track on the DS, but Order of Ecclesia has my overall favorite soundtrack. Just listen to 'An Empty Tome,' the track that plays as Shanoa, having lost everything, finally approaches Dracula's Castle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj3T7cVy5eA

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

In a way, my Castlevania journey was leading up to this - to experiencing the two revivals of the series, Curse of the Moon and Ritual of the Night. I started with Curse of the Moon, a retro style game heavily based on the classic Castlevania games. It expands on the concept by having 4 characters with unique abilities and has a twist - instead of recruiting the additional characters, you can also kill them to upgrade the one main character instead.

What I remember most about Curse of the Moon are the beautiful sprites and incredible 8-bit tracks... and the tough as nails difficulty. Let me share my favorite music track from the game, 'Defiler of Taboos':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AySSaOeDHmo

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

I played through the beginning and end of a series, and in a way, a whole subgenre of games. And this revival of that formula - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - was the end point, and it was a glorious experience. In Ritual of the Night, you play as Miriam, a Shardbinder (a person who can absorb demon powers) tasked with exploring and destroying a castle summoned from Hell itself. The game draws from the best parts of its predecessors and is everything I could've hoped for. In style, the game is most like Aria and Dawn of Sorrow, because Miriam absorbs demon powers just like Soma. This is the only game in this list that I dedicated a full article to, so I won't waste too much more treading the same ground. Have a look if you're interested: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/some-thoughts-about-bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night

What I remember most about Ritual of the Night is the incredible presentation, especially the soundtrack. I've loved so many soundtracks in this series, but this might be the best one since Symphony. I also loved the new alchemy crafting system and the sheer amount of ways to play; 5 slots for 5 unique types of souls can lead to some crazy and broken strategies. Since I've done it for so many of these, have one more amazing track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBg9tGGz6BU

So, what now?

Thanks for joining me on this little recap of my journey. I'm aware this article is a bit more messy and subjective than my usual stuff, but I just wanted to reminisce a bit. Now, I've officially called 'Ritual of the Night' the end of my Castlevania journey, but more content will be added to the game - and there may yet be future games in the Bloodstained series as well. So instead of calling the Castlevania journey done, let's say it's on break until good old Iga makes us another one. 

While we wait, I've finally started playing the Resident Evil games, another series I missed out on back in the day. I'm making my way through Resident Evil HD and can't wait to share my thoughts on that game.

That's all I wanted to say. Thanks again for your support, and have a very happy Halloween!

Some Thoughts About 'Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night'

Ritual of the Night represents another Kickstarter project by a group of dedicated developers to revive a series the company that originally made it abandoned. In this case, the man at the helm is Koji Igarashi, the designer of famous PlayStation classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a spiritual successor, a revival of Symphony's flavor of Metroidvania which is sometimes called Igavania after its designer.

I was recently able to experience this game, and streamed it from start to finish. I'd like to share some thoughts about it. I'll focus on what the game learned from its predecessors, and to contrast, on what's brand new.

Ancient Rituals, New Rituals (Gameplay Comparison)

Ritual of the Night draws from many of its Castlevania predecessors. Like any Metroidvania worth its salt, it offers a huge area to map out and explore as you gain more abilities and knowledge, but it's easy to name a few specific inspirations.

The game draws from Symphony of the Night - including its name -  but actually has very strong parallels with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow. Like Soma, the protagonist of those games, Miriam absorbs the abilities of the demons she fights. In Soma's case, he collected their souls; in Miriam's case, she collects their "shards" - which is functionally the same thing. In fact, Miriam's abilities as a Shardbinder are a logical evolution of that system after Order of Ecclesia had its own iteration with Shanoa's Glyphs. Soma could equip an offensive, defensive and passive soul - 3 in total. Miriam can equip 5, and the additions can be attributed to modern hardware. The GBA and DS don't have many buttons to manouver with and no joystick, so the Directional Shards that Miriam can use could never work on those systems - they require 360 degree rotation, after all. These new shards offer Miriam some mobility and attack options no other Castlevania hero has had. and the sheer amount of shards in so many categories means you could play the game a dozen times and still find new synergies.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has a town with friendly NPCs. Like in Aria and Dawn, these NPCs buy and sell items. Like in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, the townspeople also give you quests. There are also many parallels between Ritual's story and that of another Castlevania, but you'll have to play it to find out which. Another point about the town - Ritual of the Night has dedicated crafting system. Johannes, the Alchemist, can craft all sorts of items for you - and even food items, which give you permanent stat increases. The permanent stat increases represent something completely new for the 'Igavania' genre. I had an absolute blast trying to make as many dishes as possible. I've always really appreciated games that incorporate cooking, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Paper Mario (I will use any excuse to bring that game up) - after all, what's more relatable than improving yourself by eating good food?

Miriam also moves at a good speed and has many possible ways to attack enemies depending on your preference. Guns, swords, spears or a good kick to the face; whatever suits you, and every playstyle has secret combos to discover and experiment with. These combos can even be mastered so they can be used with even more weapons. Combine that with the aforementioned shards, all of which can be upgraded in two ways for even greater effects, and you've got hundreds of ways to play. The variation is truly impressive.

All in all, Ritual of the Night is the sum of many great ideas across the Castlevania franchise with improvements across the board and a few great new ideas. It plays it fairly safe, but it's everything a revival of the genre could hope to be.

Rebirth (Presentation)

Ritual of the Night got a lot of flak when the first gameplay footage came out. With weak lighting and a distinct lack of vibrant color and contrast, people began to worry that they might have another Mighty Number Nine (a famous example of a Kickstarter game that failed to meet expectations) on their hands. But instead of ignoring the fans or labeling them as haters, the dev team took the criticism to heart and delayed the game to overhaul the visuals completely. And the results really do speak for themselves - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night turned out very pretty indeed. It's fascinating that Ritual of the Night represents a rebirth for its particular kind of Metroidvania, but that the game itself also had such an extreme overhaul.

The characters and enemies are all very distinctive, and the amount of detail is appreciated - for example, each weapon has a unique look and each equippable hat or headpiece shows up on Miriam in game as well. You can also customize various other facets of Miriam's appearance, like her hair, hair color, skin color and clothes, among others. There are a few decorative objects in the background that could use a few more polygons, though, and Miriam's swimming animation is very odd and basic (she basically stands upright and waves her arms a bit). But while there are minor rough edges, all in all the game looks beautiful.

The game has voice acting, and I feel the voice actors did a good job. Unfortunately, there are some problems with how the game uses the voice acting; for example, some attacks will cause Miriam to call out the name of the attack or some other vocalization, every single time the attack is used. In a hectic battle where you're trying to sneak attacks in every second, hearing Miriam's voice clips repeat can get pretty grating. This is purely a problem with the implementation of the audio. For example, why not give a voice clip a 10-second cooldown after it's been used so you don't get so many repeats? Many of the voice clips could've used a few more takes, as well, just for variation. Implementation aside, though, the performances are great. It should also be mentioned that the game stars David Hayter, famous for doing the voice of Solid Snake, as Zangetsu. It also stars Robert Belgrade, who did the voice for Alucard in Symphony of the Night on the PlayStation. It's a real treat to hear David Hayter's gravely voice from Zangetsu, and seeing Robert Belgrade symbolically return to the role he's most known for is poetic, not to mention his excellent performance and deep voice.

The soundtrack is brilliant and I have no gripes with it whatsoever. Michiru Yamane, the genius composer responsible for so many classic Castlevania soundtracks, handled this game's soundtrack and she outdid herself again. Every track represents the atmosphere of the moment or environment perfectly, and many of them instilled a sense of wonder in my as I listened to them. The Garden of Silence is one of my favorite tracks:

The game's presentation has a few rough edges in its visuals and audio implementation, but the plentiful creative designs, great looking models, great performances and excellent soundtrack make it a treat worth experiencing. 

Shards of a Story (Narrative)

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night's overarching story is very similar to the Igavania Metroidvania's that came before at its core. A castle has been summoned from Hell, and it's up to our hero with her special powers to send it back where it came from. The backstory is a little different, though, as there's no Dracula in control of the castle this time. Rather, the castle was summoned by Gebel, a Shardbinder (people who can absorb and use demon powers, like Miriam), as revenge for how the Alchemists sacrificed the lives of so many Shardbinders to summon demons to our world. As Miriam and Gebel were friends, she makes her way to the castle to see what has happened to her old friend and what has driven him to take such drastic measures - and to stop him by force if necessary.

As usual, I don't want to spoil the story, so I'll keep this vague:

There are a few emotional moments in the story, and while they are well written, we spend so little time with the characters that the impact is lessened a bit. The game is definitely not focused on its story too heavily, with much of it hidden in optional conversations with the alchemist Johannes and on the bookshelves you can encounter. You spend much of your time exploring, and it can be easy to forget all about Gebel and the tragic story of the Shardbinders when you're just running through the halls kicking demons to death and having a great time. But even though the time you spend with them is limited, the characters are pretty well realized and the dialogue is enjoyable. Miriam in particular is a very likeable protagonist with a friendly and enthusiastic demeanor, in contrast to Shanoa from Order of Ecclesia who was (justified by the story) lacking in emotion and expression.

In short, the story is fine; it offers enough justification to move the game along and has interesting and entertaining characters, but it mostly stays in the background and can easily be ignored, for better or for worse. This does mean that when emotional scenes come along, they may be less impactful.

Conclusion

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is everything it sets out to be. Learning from the best ideas of its predecessor while implementing a few new ones, it's truly a revival of the 'Igavania.' It's big, it's fun and there are more ways to play than you can count. Its visuals thankfully got a necessary overhaul before release, and the results are a shining example of how taking feedback to heart can lead to major improvements. There are rough edges, but it's hard to be judgmental when you see how far the game has come. The game's audio is fine, with only some repetitive voice clips potentially harming your immersion. The soundtrack is a magnificent work of art. The story, like the game, is classic - but with new elements. It unfortunately stays in the background to the point that you may not get invested, but this will vary from player to player.

_

And that's it. I had the pleasure of streaming this game, and it was a really amazing experience for me. Streaming the game definitely helps me get my thoughts out as I play through the game. If you've played Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, did you enjoy it? What were your favorite Shards? How did you customize Miriam? All thoughts are welcome in the comments below and I'd be happy to answer any questions.

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.